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Joy in Community
Do you remember graduating from high school? For many of you, the video cameras were rolling, family was in attendance, and friends were there to congratulate you. With the level of pomp and circumstance that you enjoyed, the uninitiated might have thought you had found a cure for a disease. Instead, you had merely completed the basic academic expectations of all twelfth-graders across the United States. And yet, there was a rmation, encouragement, and celebration. This was likely not the first time you experienced such joy, and, it is hoped, it was not the last. Imagine how such major life … View Resource
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And Now You Know the Rest of the Story
The late radio broadcaster Paul Harvey was famous for telling stories of little-known facts about a range of topics that were fascinating to learn about. (Did you know that Fidel Castro, as a twelve-year-old boy, wrote to newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt, congratulating him on his presidency and asking for a ten-dollar bill?) After dazzling his audience with engaging tales, he would inevitably sign off by saying, “And now you know the rest of the story.” This leads me to think about many Christians and their knowledge of the Bible. Too often, entire sections of the Bible are virtually … View Resource
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Loving Your Neighbors by Praying for Their Churches
“What’s wrong with that church?” she asked me in a hushed voice as she leaned in close. There I stood in the lobby of our church in 2008 with one of the members looking for insider information. “Which church are you talking about?” I responded, genuinely confused. “The one you prayed for this morning during worship,” she said. Then it clicked. She was so taken back by the fact that I had prayed for another church in our city that she assumed, based on practices many Christians learn in “prayer meetings,” my prayer was my way of saying: “Something … View Resource
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Congregational Counseling
Premarital counseling can be an entertaining exercise for an older couple offering guidance to a younger couple. Across from them sit two individuals eager to wed. Apart from occasional disagreements about planning the ceremony, the soon-to-be-newlyweds are prone to think all is well, and their excitement is reflected on their faces. A church and its new pastor can be like that young couple — eager to get started in the ministry for which they have waited. The candidating process tempts them to believe all will be well. While their enthusiasm is encouraging, they also need some “premarital counseling.” View Resource
Eric Bancroft
Rev. Eric Bancroft is senior pastor of Castleview Baptist Church in Indianapolis.
