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The day after the election …
We have been building up to the 2016 election for quite some time, but what about looking forward to after the election?
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God made …
The following are reflections on Psalm 139:13-14 today from Bible.com as well as the stories making headlines now. God made men God made women God made people who are gay, straight, lesbian, transgender, bisexual God made people who become terrorists God made black people, white people, and tan people God made police officers and criminals
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“This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” Psalms 91:2
Sometimes I read the Psalms and almost gloss over them, but this one got me this morning from bible.com and it took me in some interesting places. First, the simple word “declare” was used – not “I think about” or “I consider” or anything like that, but declare. It’s active. It’s on-going. It’s personal. Whatever
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Praying for those who can’t pray for themselves
I am now ending my third week on sabbatical. So far, it’s going way too quickly! In addition to working on research for my doctoral thesis, I’m using this time to have more thorough prayer time. My prayer and devotional life was getting pretty dry. It was more perfunctory than relational; more of an obligation
Categories: Christianity, Church in the World, Community, Devotion, Discipleship, Faith Practices, Prayer, Supporting Neighbors
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The beginning of my sabbatical
At 11:59:59PM tonight, my world will change … at least for about 6 weeks while I’m on sabbatical to work on my doctoral thesis. Maybe that sounds overly dramatic, but, at that time, I will turn off my church email, I will redirect our congregational care telephone number, and I will turn my cell phone
Categories: Pastoral ResponseTags: BethelManassas -
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of
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Fiddling while the world burns — Prophets and Monarchs
What follows is an excellent historical/faithful reflection on the legend that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. It was written by a friend of mine from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia who recently graduated with an MBA from Harvard. Enjoy the read. The world burns. God fiddles. The story is told that Nero fiddled while Rome
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Welcoming Jamie Donahue: Bethel’s Summer Intern
I’m thrilled to welcome Jamie Donahue to Bethel as our summer intern. This really will be a different kind of internship. Jamie is a business and marketing major at Roanoke College. We talked a few months about her interest in having a summer internship and remaining in the Manassas area. I jokingly said “Hey …
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Prayer at the Prince William County Board of Supervisors Meeting 5/6/2016
Chairman Stewart, members of the Board, fellow citizens. It is good to be here tonight. Let us pray. Almighty God, we give you thanks for those who serve in public office, especially today we give you thanks for the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and all who work with them to help them govern
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