Winter weather chapped my hands. Even though I wore gloves and applied lotion, my hands remained rough. Then one day a heart condition prompted an ambulance ride. As a medic attempted to insert an IV needle, he remarked, “You’re dehydrated! That might have triggered your heart condition.” All my life I drank whenever I got […]

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Genesis and Revelation are bookends to God’s big story. Genesis tells us how everything got started; Revelation explains how it will all end. Their similarities and contrasts are intriguing: creation of heaven and earth, creation of new heaven and new earth; a garden, a city; tree of knowledge, tree of life; death pronounced, death destroyed; […]

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You may be wondering which Mary this article is focusing on. You have probably noticed that there are many Marys in the New Testament. At the cross, we are told that “many women” followed Jesus (Matthew 27:55), but of those named, Mary is the most common. John indicates the popularity of the name when his […]

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I look back over a year of roadblocks, missteps, failures, and frustrations. I look ahead to a future shrouded in fear and uncertainty. And all I want to do is sit down in the middle and cry. Yet a nebulous sense of guilt keeps me from taking the rest I crave. The state of the […]

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In 1959, my family moved thirty miles across Los Angeles. We brought our two cats with us — Cheeses and Crackers. After a few days in our new home, Cheeses disappeared and never returned. But Crackers seemed content with her new surroundings and stayed with us for the next ten years until she passed away […]

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Kenya is located in the eastern part of Africa, covering 591,971 square kilometers. It borders Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan to the north; Uganda and Tanzania to the west; and the vast Indian Ocean to the east. Kenya’s population of approximately 48 million is composed of 43 tribes. Nairobi is the capital of Kenya, […]

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On the outside, I am probably what many would deem an average millennial youth — aiming to get established into my career and learning to navigate the nuances of adulthood. However, those in my inner circle would attest that I have made some different choices from most youths around me. For one, I am 27 […]

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In Kelso, Scottish Borders, you can buy a church — this church — for the price of a one-bedroom flat without a garden. All this could be yours: the gothic stonework, gargoyles, stained glass windows, and the cold echo of your footsteps as you walk inside. You could kneel in here alone like a hermit […]

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Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God (1 Peter 4:8-10). Hospitality seems to be forgotten or neglected in today’s hectic lifestyles. Few […]

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In September 2001, I was thrilled to be living again in New York City after a few months away. The city was booming. I rode the subway and walked through Central Park alone, feeling more confident and comfortable than when I first arrived in 1993 as an idealistic 23-year-old from Florida. Barely past our first […]

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In 1972, Harold (not his real name) received his draft card welcoming him to the Vietnam War. Our family had been dreading this day for several years, as Harold had issues with war and refused to participate in it. Besides this, young Harold is the Forest Gump of our family, and as such, he is […]

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How should we view 1 John 3:17, 18 and try to obey it? “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in […]

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