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Legion. We understand the word, but we don’t necessarily understand its true historical context. For most people, legion just means many. For the Romans, a legion meant at least 5,000 people and frequently as many as 6,000. Furthermore, that only describes the fighting force; it wouldn’t
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Getting what we need is seldom as easy as it looks. A good education takes lots of consistent work. Raising a good family takes an enormous amount of continued effort. Thriving in a good marriage takes regular intentional action. All these are good, and the work required should be satisfying
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Jesus frequently adopts a mind-blowing perspective. He voluntarily allowed Himself to be baptized by a man wearing camel hair and eating locusts. Jesus redefined family, calling those around Him His mother and brothers. Jesus willingly confronted the powerful elite in Hebrew society. Jesus fell asleep when a storm threatened His
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Imagine feeling the rebuke of Jesus upon your life. For most Christians, we would categorize it as a low spot in life. Who wants to disappoint the Son of God? Yesterday, the story ended with the disciples being so afraid they accuse Jesus of not caring. Said like this, it
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Genuinely following Jesus is not always easy. With respect to today’s passage, a bit of discomfort is in order. Jesus does something here that should make the uninitiated stop and think. Before getting to that, it is important to understand a history lesson. The Sea of Galilee is notorious
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Even Jesus had favorites. As a teacher, it is routine to have students argue about who my favorite is. Children do the same with their parents. Employees may even do this with their bosses in the right working environment. The reality is that everyone has people with whom they get
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The life cycle is an amazing thing. Science can explain about how organisms grow, yet it is amazing that most life on the planet starts off as a single cell, growing piece by piece for millions of cycles until it becomes complex and amazing. I’m a rather big guy,
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Living by faith is a real skill we all need. When I fall asleep, I have faith I’ll wake up fine, my house won’t get broken into, my electric will be on, and my hot water tank will function. When I stick clothes into my washer, I have
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You are what you eat. This phrase may have started with a dietary understanding, but it has developed a more generalized truth in our culture. You become the things or ideas in your life you pursue with the most effort. If you spend most of your time being angry, you
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Secrets are meant to be shared. Isn’t that why we all enjoy hearing secrets in the first place? We like being in the know. We also like being the one who lets other people in. We like sharing juicy gossip. We like telling punchlines to jokes. We like explaining
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Good soil produces a good harvest. As someone who frequently struggles to grow plants, I always raise an eyebrow at this thought. I cannot tell you how many times I have planted things only to watch them not grow. If I am being fully transparent, though, I’m not the
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Failure is always an option. This was one of the catchphrases from one of my favorite television shows, Mythbusters. In that context, it was understood that whenever you are trying something new, or experimenting, things can always go sideways. It is impossible to foresee every possibility and circumstance. Sometimes you