Tag Archives: compassion

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Why Hate the Sin and Love the Sinner Doesn’t Work

Why Hate the Sin and Love the Sinner Doesn’t Work
It surprises many to learn that the phrase hate the sin and love the sinner is not in the Bible. This idea seems to have originated with St. Augustine (c.424) in one of his letters when he used the phrase "Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum" which translates as "with love for mankind and hatred…
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Welcome to my Garden

Welcome to my Garden
Take your shoes off in the garden of my soul for it is holy ground. You are welcome in the vulnerability of your bare feet to spend some time and be refreshed. All I ask is that you stay to the path as not to trample and crush the most delicate of new vegetation, and…
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War on Christmas? Still?

War on Christmas? Still?
Fresh snow has fallen on the CornCob City, my prairie home.  The Town has the parks adorned with decorations and lights.  It’s quite pretty - the twinkle of the lights and the Merry Christmas signs.   And yet not so heartwarming because over the past few years, in reaction to a manufactured War on Christmas,…
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Loving our Lepers

Loving our Lepers
There is an old story about St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), the founder of the Catholic order known as the Franciscans. The story goes that Francis was revolted by people with leprosy. As you may be aware, leprosy is a horrible and disfiguring disease.  While leprosy is curable today, people did suffer terribly and from…
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The Lesson I have Learned from a Stuffed Rabbit

The Lesson I have Learned from a Stuffed Rabbit
  Being free to be truly authentic is a genuine desire for many people. To be known and still loved. Folks are also looking for authenticity in those who lead them, but this is contrary to many conventional leadership styles.  It can be dangerous to be authentic because some see it as a weakness, and,…
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Bruised and Broken? God has a Plan for You!

Bruised and Broken? God has a Plan for You!
Thornton Wilder's play, “The Angel that Troubled the Waters” is based on the story found in John 5:1- 5 with an interesting twist. The play tells the story of a doctor who visits the pool of Bethesda in hopes that he could be the first in the water when the angel appears and troubles the…
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The Word that Lives

The Word that Lives
Once upon a time there was a faithful man named Philip.  Philip loved God very much and spent his life serving and sharing the “Good News” in the foreign country of Zamzam.   Zamzam was a lovely place, and the people were even more lovely.   Philip spent many years traveling all over Zamzam telling…
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The Least of These?

The Least of These?
Jesus tells a story in Matthews 25 of a King who calls a meeting of his subjects. He said to the group to the right of him, "I want to sincerely thank and commend you.  For I was sick, and you cared for me.  I was hungry and thirsty, and you fed me and gave…
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Oh Father – Our Right of Prayer?

Oh Father – Our Right of Prayer?
There was a bit of controversy in our small country town.  One of the public elementary school's staff and students have been starting each school day by reciting the Lord's Prayer - until the school administration received a letter from a mom describing herself as agnostic,  expressing concern that on two separate occasions, her sons returned home after…
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Jesus. A Parable of God

Jesus. A Parable of God
They say a  picture is worth a thousand words.  A story can hold so much more than dry propositions or facts and one of the reasons Jesus was such an effective communicator was because He employed stories.  In these stories, Jesus could communicate big ideas in a way that they could be more accessible.  These stories have come to…
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