“In the Likeness of God”

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Book Review: In the Likeness of God by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey I’ve been reading this in small doses for a long time, because there’s so much depth and wisdom here. This particular edition (which I read on my Kindle) was actually a special edition combining two of Brand and Yancey’s co-authored works: [...]

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New Year…but not so Happy

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Nothing is certain and nothing can be taken for granted. My planned “Happy New Year” wish to my readers seems hollow in the face of a phone call I just received telling me that a fine young man who was in my daughter’s high school class and whose parents are friends of mine was killed [...]

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Joyful Giving: A New Connection with Money

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Our connection with our own money informs so much of our behavior and attitude to others in life, as well as our Connection with Self and our sense of well-being. It’s the time of year that many churches are conducting Stewardship Campaigns. The Stewardship Chairman at my little church has done an amazing job over [...]

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“Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith”

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Book Review: Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott Just reading other reviews of this book took me on an emotional roller coaster–since I agreed with much of the praise as well as the criticism–so you can imagine what reading the book did. Anne Lamott is one of the most gifted writers I’ve known, [...]

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Prayer offers a less busy heart

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BOOK REVIEW: A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul E. Miller I wish I had read this book 30 years ago so that by now I would have re-read it several times. As faithful as I have tried to be to my spiritual habits, personal prayer has often eluded me [...]

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A Way Through the Wilderness…

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Introducing Connection Messenger: The Rev. Alexander D. MacPhail Life does seem like a wilderness sometimes, doesn’t it? We’re blown by winds that are beyond our control. We’re scratched and bloody from making our way through thorny issues and prickly people. Sometimes we hear siren songs. Sometimes we hear banshees. When we’re genuinely seeking God, why [...]

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