Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18), part two

Fasting isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be difficult. It’s supposed to be challenging. Intentionally refraining from something that is important to you, which is essential to your well-being, is a difficult thing. The longer the fast, the harder it is supposed to be. Spending forty days fasting, as Jesus did, has to […]

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Modern Giants

Rich Dixon is thinking about giants. +++ January is the month we focus on raising awareness about the horrible crime of human trafficking. Last weekend, Timberline Church hosted a remarkable speaker. Ruth Dearnley leads STOP THE TRAFFIK, an organization dedicated to gathering data to aid law enforcement and others in the fight against this global […]

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Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18)

Don’t you love the difference choosing one word can make? One word makes things optional. One word makes them expected. One word makes you think about the perhaps. One word makes you think about the procedure. One word is about whether. One word is about how. One word is “if”. One word is “when”. Jesus […]

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Lord’s Prayer: Please take care of me (Matthew 6:12-13)

“You aren’t going to leave me, are you?” When you are getting to know someone too good to be true, you have questions. You acknowledge their greatness. You ask them for help. You acknowledge your weakness. As you are starting to relax a bit, you are suddenly seized with fear. What if they aren’t going […]

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A prayer for the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

God. We come to you today aware that we are not perfect. We hate to say that out loud, not because we think we are perfect, we know we are not.But when we say it out loud, we are a little afraid that you or someone else will say, “It’s about time you noticed.”And will […]

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