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The Most Common Command in the Bible

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 I was surprised recently to learn what the most common command is in the Bible.  Go ahead and guess what it is.  My first guess was: worship God.  Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  But this is actually not the most repeated command in Scripture. The most common, most repeated, command in the Bible is "Do not be Afraid."  As someone who has struggled with anxiety recently this really struck me.  A lot of my anxiety comes from a fear of not being able to control the future.  What if this happens... What if that happens... And what if it's my fault.  But God repeatedly throughout Scripture commands us to not be afraid. I've been working on some Christmas messages lately and you find this command to not be afraid even in the Christmas story.  Joseph, Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds are all told "do not be afraid."  There is something about the Chris...
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My One Great Sin

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  For many years I thought that I had one great sin.  Something I hid, was ashamed of, and didn't tell many people.  This post is about lust and pornography.  I'm not going to get into gross detail about this topic, but if you want to skip this post I completely understand. But this is a topic that affects everyone. It has invaded our culture and effects so many people today.   I was introduced to pornography in elementary school, probably sometime around fourth grade.  My friend found his dad's playboy magazines. I still remember him pulling them out of his backpack in secret when he brought them to school. Or going over to his house and finding his dad's stash.  In middle school I found it online and was introduced to the playboy channel on TV by a babysitter.    It was a secret struggle for years.  I didn't tell my youth pastor, or my high school friends.  I didn't even tell my college friends, even though we were in an accountab...
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The Land Between

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I've been reading a really good book lately called "The Land Between."  It tells the story of the Israelites in the desert as they are between Egypt and the promised land.  Over and over again they long to be back in Egypt where they had food and were comfortable, even though they were slaves.  They complain, gripe, and lash out to Moses and God.  But, they are also on a path toward the promised land.  A land flowing with milk and honey and God's blessings.  They are in this strange in between place. I can relate so much to this analogy.  I miss 2019 and life before Covid.  I've complained a lot to God about how my church and job have changed overnight.  I hate social distancing and not being able to see people's faces because of masks.  Church is so different.  And we're not out of the woods yet, we're not through this pandemic thing.  We haven't reached the promised land of the "new normal."  For the Israelites, God used...
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