Category: Uncategorized
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Arrested Development
“Jacob’s portion is utterly different because God has formed all things, including Israel, his very own people— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name!” (Jeremiah 10:16 CEB) Our 3 year old, Hayley, thinks she’s in charge. And if being in charge means being the loudest and the most stubborn then she’s right! (She’s also…
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More Than Conquerors
“The LORD proclaims: the learned should not boast of their knowledge, nor warriors boast of their might, nor the rich boast of their wealth. No, those who boast should boast in this: that they understand and know me. I am the LORD who acts with kindness, justice, and righteousness in the world, and I delight…
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Looking Back to Go Forward
“The LORD proclaims: Stop at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths. Where is the good way? Then walk in it and find a resting place for yourselves” (Jeremiah 6:16a CEB). I love innovation. Smart phones, smart watches, smart water—I’m a sucker for all of it. I figure if I use the…
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New Year, Same Resolutions
“I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 CEB). Happy New Year! It’s the season of resolutions. My personal New Year’s resolution is to work out three times… that’s it. Maybe you were…
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Heroes of the Holidays
“As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13a CEB). I grew up in Michigan, spoiled by snowy Christmases. Dad took me out on all sorts of chilling adventures: sledding, tobogganing, downhill skiing. Some of my earliest memories are getting bundled up in immobilizing winter gear to make snowmen, snow angels,…
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Christmas Spirit
“The LORD God’s spirit is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release for captives, and liberation for prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2a CEB). After being tempted in the wilderness,…
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Light and Life
“Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the LORD’s glory has shone upon you. Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the LORD will shine upon you; God’s glory will appear over you” (Isaiah 60:1-2 CEB). Michel Siffre, a French geologist, spent 6 months in a darkened cave. Why? Because it was the 70s,…
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Incarnation
“The one who is high and lifted up, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says: I live on high, in holiness, and also with the crushed and the lowly, reviving the spirit of the lowly, reviving the heart of those who have been crushed” (Isaiah 57:15 CEB). As a child, without question, my favorite…
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CANCELED
“I swept away your rebellions like a cloud, and your sins like fog. Return to me, because I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22 CEB). I grew up in Carrollton, Michigan, a little township that was known for a sugar beet factory that filled the air with a smell that was anything but sweet. Occasionally I…
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When Everything Falls Apart
“Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness” (Isaiah 43:19 CEB). Every so often, something peculiar happens at seminary. A student who starts off fired up for Jesus and eager to be trained for ministerial work winds up…
Justin Berkobien 