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From the Pastors at Joy

From the Pastors at Joy

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What Is Your Life Built On?

The Christian life is a life with roots. It's built on something; it has a foundation. That may seem self-evident (I hope it does!), but it's way too important to assume. I see this point screaming at us in the text by this little word, "Therefore," at the beginning of the sentence: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast..." That word is massive! There's a whole wor...

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2016 Short-Term Missions Trip

Perhaps you’ve heard. There is another short-term mission trip afoot. And you ask yourself, “Should this be the year that I go?” The location for next summer’s short-term trip is Guatemala, Central America. ...

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The Gospel Answer to Pluralism

In a blog post last week, I put forward one possible way for a Christian to respond to the common charge that holding to the exclusivity of Christ (that is, the idea that God has spoken finally and definitively in and through Jesus, and that no one can come to God or hear from God apart from His revelation in Christ) is a narrow-minded bigot....

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Religious Pluralism and the Exclusivity of Christ

“How could there be just one true faith? It’s arrogant to say your religion is superior and try to convert everyone else to it. Surely all the religions are equally good and valid for meeting the needs of their particular followers.”...

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Resources on "Same Sex" Marriage

In the recent sermon I preached on the subject of homosexuality, I did not have time to say much about the issue of "same sex" marriage and the pending Supreme Court decision that would potentially legalize such marriages (many Christians are hesitant to call such a union marriage, which is why you often see the term in quotation marks) as a constitutional right in all fif...

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Tough Love

"I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children" (1 Corinthians 4:14). This verse, and its surrounding context, teach a very important lesson on biblical love: love is willing to say hard things for the good of the beloved....

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How God is Like a Great Niagra

God is never irritable or edgy. He is never fatigued or depressed or blue or moody or stressed out. His anger never has a short fuse. He is not easily annoyed. He is above any possibility of being touchy or cranky or temperamental....

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Earnest Love and the Church Directory

In a previous blog post I noted from 1 Peter 4 that one implication of living in the last days (“the end of all things is at hand”) is that we in Christ’s Body ought to love one earnestly. In this post I want to mention one simple, easily overlooked way of loving one another faithfully and earnestly....

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Earnest Love at the End of the Age

"The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:7-8...

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The Gospel Proclaimed in Job

The book of Job provides great pointers, directing our eyes toward the person and work of Jesus Christ....

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