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BRIMSTONE AND BEDTIME STORIES

By Brandon Hurlbert Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: lauren rushing | Flickr (Creative Commons)

Imagine a children’s storybook filled with images of chaotic carnage, of bodies strewn across the damp hills and burning cities crumbling under the weight of molten brimstone. Imagine tucking a child into bed after recounting these gruesome stories and then simply telling them that God loves them. With no further explanation than moral directives, the child is left with a nightmarish fear of divine retribution. The thought is horrifying.

A reciprocally horrifying thought is reading to that same child a storybook filled with evil villains who constantly escape punishment and are praised by society. A story where a sexual assailant is released from prison only three months after conviction; another story where a genocidal maniac is worshipped as a god and savior of a nation. Still yet another story where the bad guy cheats the system and vindictively tramples down upon the innocent, forcing them into poverty, imprisonment, and slavery. Imagine tucking that child into bed simply telling them that God loves them and not to worry about the lurking evil. The thought is equally horrifying.

We might thank the publishers for redirecting the focus of the story of Noah from the drowned bodies that floated past the ark on its voyage to salvation, to all the cute little animals that were saved. However, we wouldn’t thank them for gleefully celebrating the plot of Jezebel and Ahab in seizing their neighbor’s land and the lack of divine involvement. To be sure, God’s judgement is terrifying, but the lack of God’s judgement is more so.

Hell and the idea of God’s judgement is a complicated and hotly debated topic among scholars with a few major viewpoints. While I can’t take the time to cover the different perspectives and interpretations, I do want to focus on God’s judgment as it is seen through the eyes of our culture and explore what it means for followers of Christ.

God’s judgment is taboo in today’s current cultural climate, and for good reason. The very concept of hell or divine wrath is so repulsive to most people, that many have discarded the doctrine altogether. Yet, their alternative either faces the same problems of a traditional understanding of Hell, or in the name of tolerance, unrepentant pedophiles may go free. Surely, there must be a better way. Why is it that when we ask for such unobstructed tolerance, we are shocked with the result? Why are we so immediately repentant of our wish when we discover that the sexual assailant only gets a slap on the wrist? What did we expect? This is why I suspect that our problem with God’s judgement is not with the concept itself, but with the context it is used in.

Within the context of scripture, we find a compelling drama, where the author allows his characters to rebel and commit theatrical mutiny as they attempt to tell their own fledgling story. All efforts to derail or improve the author’s show reveal a flaw within the character’s reasoning: that their stories do not make sense apart from their author’s. Although these characters are able to understand their position, they delude themselves with visions of grandeur, and they strive to become a self-cast star. Instead of abandoning his work, the author writes himself into the story as the main protagonist. In doing so, he reveals how the part is truly to be played and he invites his characters to rejoin the original production, freely offering the characters their own parts as supporting roles in a larger story. While many characters accept this gift, others choose to continue to disrupt the play. These members are eventually dismissed and cast out of the drama just before the final curtain.

Surely, this example may find some faults of comparison, yet I believe most will find the author’s actions an appropriate response to the rebellion. Here, the context determines the appropriateness of God’s judgement. While there may be competing narratives and power struggles on stage, there can only be one playwright. And while he may tolerate a certain level of rebellion amongst his cast, he will not do so forever; the show must go on.

What happens when the context is shifted from history to our story? Our problem with God’s judgement and with Hell is that many of us feel like we haven’t done anything to deserve it. Often, we compare ourselves with those we find inferior, and use their actions to justify ourselves: “well at least I am not as bad as them.” These comparisons might be atoning if we simply had to be better than another person, or if the contest was only about observable outward actions. Therein lies the problem with our response to God’s judgement; we are just wrong.

First, the basis of recieving judgement is not based solely upon outward actions, but also upon the entire world located inside your mind and heart. All of your thoughts, motives, emotional responses, ideas, hopes, and deepest desires are weighed before a God who “searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (1 Chronicles 28:9). Like an iceberg, our actions are merely symptoms for much deeper issues lurking beneath the surface. Second, the proper standard of comparison is not our neighbor, but God himself. The minimum requirements for being found outside of God’s judgement is that you must perfectly reflect God. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15-16). On both accounts, we fall short. Not only are we worse off than we think, but our standard itself is not remotely high enough. This “falling short” is our way of subtlety admitting that we aren’t perfect. To borrow Paul’s words, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Before we begin picturing a medieval god of maniacal anger, capricious in thought, and greedily planning destruction for his creation, we must check our ideas with what God himself has communicated in scripture. What does God care about? David, one of Israel’s greatest kings, had this to say about God, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land” (Psalms 68:5-6). Here, God is presented as one who cares deeply about the marginalized and the oppressed, and who actively works on their behalf. Hear what the prophet Isaiah says about the mission of the Messiah (anointed one of God), “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2 ESV). This passage speaks both of healing and judgement. While God makes whole what is broken, he will not tolerate the systems, the people, and the ideas that made this brokenness.

Interestingly enough, in the 1st century Jesus gave a sermon on this very passage in Isaiah. He simply read the passage, sat down, and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Throughout the gospels, Jesus demonstrates that he is this same messiah that Isaiah described, and is the perfect picture of who God is (John 1:18, Colossians 1:15-20, Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 1:1-3). So what does Jesus reveal about God?

There is a particular story that has always struck readers in an odd way. It is a week before Jesus’ death and he enters the temple wherein an oppressive economic system has taken over. Every year, worshippers would come up to the temple to offer sacrifices using a variety of unblemished animals. Many times, people would not want to travel with these animals, and would buy them at the temple. However, due to supply and demand, these sellers would jack up the price for a larger profit. Yet, to purchase anything at the temple, you had to use a particular currency so as to not dishonor God. The money changers would also fix the exchange rates in their favor. All of this corruption was taking place in the court of the Gentiles, essentially communicating Jewish ethnocentrism and that Israel’s God does not care about the foreigner. When Jesus surveys all of this injustice his does not sit idle. Instead, he flips the tables of corruption and drives out the money changers, the salesman, and even the animals. It’s possible that in this moment he is symbolically declaring himself the temple, revealing that the presence of God could be with the people without having to suffer this unjust and oppressive system. In Jesus, the fullness of God dwells.

All of this happens days before Jesus willingly takes on the greatest injustice of the cross. He truly reveals the righteousness of God by dying on behalf of sinners. Like the author who enters into his own story, so Jesus enters into his own creation, coming to his own people only to be rejected and murdered. Yet, this is God’s story. He would allow himself to be rejected so that he could provide a way out of sin, rebellion, corruption, and even death.

When we think about God’s wrath and justice we must let our thoughts be formed by God’s example. At the end of the day, there will be those who continually reject Jesus. Not only have they, like all of us, not perfectly reflected the character of God in our thoughts and actions, but they have also rejected the free grace of God. We must be assured that God’s judgment is just, and that Hell, although terrifying in itself, is an appropriate response. Eternal punishment and death is an appropriate response because this rebellion is not against a human author or playwright, but against the Creator who made all things. The riotous mutiny has wreaked havoc upon this world and there has been mass casualties in the name of prideful autonomy. Hell is God’s reciprocal response to injustice. They have not simply rejected God in the abstract, but God in the flesh. They have rejected Jesus willfully. C.S. Lewis explains it this way, “The damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; the doors of hell are locked on the inside. . . . They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved” (The Problem of Pain, 130). By this, Lewis explains that those who reject God do not simply do it one time haphazardly; they do it constantly and continually forever.

We must understand that the justice of God is ultimately displayed in Jesus. God has provided a path of redemption that is open to all. God has suffered injustice both at our hands and on our behalf. He does so to redeem us from our own sin and brokenness. Ultimately, he does so so that we don’t get what we deserve, which is the wrath of God. He has made a way for rebels to rejoin their king in Jesus.

There are many things that can be said about Hell, and all of them are terrifying. However, God cares too much about his world and his people to let evil go unchecked. He shows us how far he is willing to go to save us in that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The end of the gospel story is not about heaven; the point of salvation is not that we don’t go to Hell. The whole goal of Jesus’s sacrificial death, is that we are able to be with our creator again. Through faith in Christ, we are reconciled to God as we experience the fullness of his loving kindness and forgiveness.

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Filed Under: Connect, Featured, God Talk Tagged With: Issue 34

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New Identity | Exploring Faith
We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 Issue is out today! There are some great articles inside that we hope you'll love! Enjoy! 🤗 #linkinbio⁠
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Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishl Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishly want happen; it’s about making us want what God wants.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Prayer - The Alignment of Our Souls With God"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” – Haldir⁠
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In Lothlorien, Haldir is encouraging a downcast Fellowship with a glimpse of the larger story in which they find themselves. His words reflect the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the church, that we “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). For there is a form of grief from which there is no recovery – one in which there is no resurrection of the dead. If death is the final word, then we must suffer grief without hope, grief that diminishes our love for life because of the crushing weight of the loss we’ve experienced. But Tolkien believed that death was not the end; therefore, we may experience the beautiful juxtaposition in our own lives of deep sorrow mixed with rivers of joy. Instead of crippling us, our grief may actually help to cultivate in our character the virtues of faith, hope, and love that are necessary to continue to carry our heaviest burdens. ⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
#faithhopelove #lotr #thefellowshipofthering #thelordoftherings #middleearth
The Bible stresses that despite our differences we The Bible stresses that despite our differences we are called to love each other above our political positions. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14). You may feel like how politics and religion intersect in the public sphere communicate the exact opposite of this, and you’d be right. Media outlets report drama and conflict. Gracious and loving political opponents are not newsworthy.⁠
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✍🏽: Matthew Hamilton in "Our Identity In Christ Is Always Greater"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
#politics #voting #love #loveyourneighbor #loveyourneighbornotmattertheirpolitics
The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest, with its scars and wrinkles, lean toward me, and brush me with their limbs. The leaves beg me to examine their veins. “Have you seen this?” Each different, but each spectacular. The infinite busy creatures. The carpet of green, the dome of blue.⁠
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A few moments later, I feel like an amazing creature in a world amazingly made. I feel the astounding power of God, where the smallest thing around me, a leaf, an ant, is more complicated, and alive and amazing than anything humanity has ever thought of.⁠
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Really, there is nothing like it. The author C.S. Lewis noted that the best place to take a non-believing scientist or a real thinker is nature.  Eventually the noise of God in nature is deafening.⁠
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Once you’re in that place, just a few minutes into your walk, your mouth will hardly be able to keep from pouring out praise to God. It becomes so easy. Connecting to God like that, in praise, as a consequence of observing nature, is so freeing and so empowering that you will return to your office balanced and ready, clear headed and encouraged.⁠
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The prayer that most blesses God, most blesses the one who prays it. And there is almost no easier way than from within the sanctuary of nature, which itself raises up its branches to him in prayer with every sunrise.⁠
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✍🏽: Tom Koel in "Muting The Noise of the World - Deconstructing The Prayer Hike for City Dwellers"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
#prayerhike #prayerworks #prayandpraise #prayerwalk #timewithgod #prayerchangesthings #heispraiseworthy #faithjourney
Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own culture, language, and historical understanding. Sometimes we use these to interpret the Bible, but the hard work of bible study requires that you get rid of those things and interpret the passage by allowing it to speak for itself in its own language, cultural context, and historical background. In other words, interpretation is hard work because you are trying to to discover what the passage meant to its (original) audience 2000 years ago (even though we are reading it today). ⁠
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✍🏽: @the_christopherscott in "How Anyone Can Study The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
#biblestudy #biblestudytools #growingingod #godsword #spendingtimewithgod #biblejournaling #holybible #christianliving #biblescriptures #dailybiblereading
Everything we do should be done for the ultimate e Everything we do should be done for the ultimate enjoyment of God. For instance, our enjoyment of a loving relationship with our spouse is a reflection of our relationship with God, and is therefore something God uses in order for us to better understand his love and how we can love him better.⁠
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This entails that God has given us the Bible as a means to an end. The point of reading the Bible is to come to enjoy God better and more fully. It might seem odd, or even a little sacrilege to think of the Bible as a means to an end. This is because we rightly think of the Bible as holy or sacred. But, it is not God. It is holy and sacred insofar as it is the word of God, given to us so we can better understand who God is. ⁠
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By reading Scripture we learn more about God, his work in the world, his plan for us, and his expectations for us. This is one of the means God has provided for us to enjoy him more. In fact, St. Augustine of Hippo believed that if a Christian could hypothetically enjoy God perfectly in this life, that they would no longer need to read the Bible. Of course because we will not come to love God perfectly in this life, reading, meditating on, and yes, memorizing scripture, will regularly be a source of knowledge that help us to love God more. However, Augustine wants his readers to remember, that knowledge is not the goal for reading the Bible.⁠
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✍🏽: Jeffery Porter in "How A Roman Bishop Changed The Way I Read The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @ rickyrecap from Pexels⁠
#biblereading #heartknowledge #
People with unbelieving hearts only seek after wha People with unbelieving hearts only seek after what prospers them. Apart from Jesus, we set in motion lives filled with harm, with no hope and no future. A person can only have hope and a future when life is lived out for Christ. We get light through reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. This light of life can be obtained through an open line of communication with the one who gives it—Jesus. Apart from him, life can appear meaningless. Our purpose in life is to glorify God with who we are and what we have. –Steven Butwell⁠
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"No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." –Psalm 25:3 NLT⁠
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✍🏽: Steven Butwell in "The Light Christ"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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#hopeinchrist #hope #faith #godsplan #godisgood #hopeinthelord #bethelight #godislove #livinghop #thegospel #godislove #godisfaithful #christianliving #bethelightinthedarkness
What’s your favorite article in the new issue? F What’s your favorite article in the new issue? Follow the link in our bio to read it online or download it free to your tablet. ⁠
Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to die on the cross to take punishment for our sins, God reminded people of the importance of fearing him. God is not only our savior, comforter, and friend who promises to be with us always (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20), but also the most powerful being in the universe. There is a place for the right kind of fear—the reverential awe and respect—in our lives.⁠
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✍🏽: Délice Williams in "Fear The Lord?" Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @emrrekuzu from Pexels⁠
Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Word who brings light and life to the darkness. Jesus is God’s Word that comes to us, to those who are dwelling in darkness. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus declares his mission to be in John 12:46: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” This Light and Darkness imagery pervades the gospel of John. People love darkness because they don’t want their actions, thoughts, motives to be exposed by the light. But the truth is that deep down we need (and want) to be seen. We want to be loved despite our dirtiest deeds and foulest feelings. We need to restore the relationship that Adam and Eve once had with God–complete openness, and deep love–but we can’t do it on our own. Only God can (and did through Jesus) bring that relationship back.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "The Light of God's Love"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Emre Kuzu from Pexels⁠
In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener a In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener and he prunes every branch that does not produce fruit. A person stuck in his or her ways of sin is like a prickly shrub growing a lot of branches with no fruit. These branches must be removed so good fruit can grow. In the same way as a bush is unable to prune itself, a person who is living in sin is unable to remove all the unfruitful branches in life. Paul described this condition in chapter seven of Romans when he called himself a wretched man and realized only Jesus can change him.⁠
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Jesus provides the essential elements for growth; he gives us his Word (the Bible) for fertilizer, other believers for sunshine, and the Holy Spirit for water. When our roots begin to receive this new water, sunshine, and fertilizer, new branches begin to grow. This time the branches are not prickly bushes, but beautiful new branches adorned with the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control,” (Galatians 5:22). Our old acquaintances will marvel at who we have become. When we allow God to be the gardener, he will shape us into his design.⁠
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✍🏽: Delbert Teachout in "God The Gardener"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Timothy Grindall from Pexels
As new creations, those who have been forgiven by As new creations, those who have been forgiven by and reconciled to Jesus, we now have the task of being reconciled to each other. As Christians, we are not just called to forgive others in our hearts but keep them at an arm’s length away. No, we are called to be of one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32) with our brothers and sisters—we are called to be reconciled.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "Repairing Broken Bridges"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
We are faced with a challenge: to make God the cen We are faced with a challenge: to make God the center and purpose of our lives in a world of demands. God asks us to listen for his voice, and it’s no wonder why he chose to speak to Elijah in a “still, small voice” in 1 Kings 19:12-13. He doesn’t always shout at us because he wants us to choose to listen, to put other things aside so that all of our focus is towards discerning his will in the specifics of our lives. We have his will for us in general, as communicated in the Bible, which is to make disciples of all nations, to glorify the one true God, to serve no other gods, to love our neighbors as ourselves, etc., but sometimes we need to figure out how those general plans fit the specifics of our lives. Hearing God’s voice is part of how we relate to him, but in those moments of uncertainty, quieting ourselves becomes even more important.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Listening For A Whisper"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Jara from Pexels⁠
Imagine if every Christian started praying to God Imagine if every Christian started praying to God and asking for him to bless us with gifts of encouragement for the sake of the world around us. The Church would make an immediate impact on the lives of people.⁠
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✍🏽: @lukegeraty in "The Gift of Encouragement from the Great Encourager"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
Everything sad will come untrue because we are not Everything sad will come untrue because we are not doomed to be forever parted with those we love, nor will our souls simply turn to dust and fade with the memory of those we leave behind.⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth - Why I'm Always Tolkien In Movie Quotes"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Dirk Förster from Flickr
"Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness a "Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness as a community will help us to endure our sorrows for the night, for joy comes in the morning." @slimkeman from his article The Beauty of Community & The Beast of Isolation 🌤 Can you name some of God's promises that keep you encouraged and grounded? We'd love to hear in the comments below - and just maybe it might be the hope someone else is needing right now! 🤗⁠
“Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors “Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keepin’ me awake. I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it’s gonna take. A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.” ⁠
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As P.T. Barnum sings these words to Charity in the beautiful montage of their young lives, we are captivated by the hope that they share, the possibilities of their bright future, and the chance of their love overcoming the wall between privilege and poverty that keeps them apart. The Greatest Showman asks us to wrestle with the quest for the holy grail of our modern world: success and happiness. ⁠
What is the good life? If a million of our wildest dreams came true, would we truly be happy?⁠
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In Jesus, we find a man who invites us into his presence with these words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is the only one who can fill “the infinite abyss” of desire in our souls. When you have fully devoted yourself and your dreams to your Creator, you will discover that “everything you ever want” and “everything you ever need” is “right here in front of you” in Christ Jesus.⁠
{Steve Limekman}⁠
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✍🏼: by @slimkeman in “The Greatest Showman”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: from newidentitymagazine
Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten under the age of five dies of a preventable cause, and nearly every day in America eight in ten adults consume coffee. What do these numbers have to do with each other? A lot, according to the One Cup Project, which is using America’s love for coffee to reduce the number of children dying in Africa by converting coffee profits into life-saving aid.⁠
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The One Cup Project started in 2010, when Christian Kar, the founder of an award-winning Seattle-based coffee company, partnered with the Christian humanitarian aid organization, World Vision.Remarkably, every dollar spent on One Cup Coffee generates a dollar of aid for Africa.⁠
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Buy some coffee, put up a post on your Facebook page, ask your church, local café, or workplace to change their coffee, or run a One Cup Fundraiser. In doing so, you just may help hurting people find healing, hope, and life. Change the world for the better, one cup at a time.⁠
{Thame Fuller}⁠
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✍🏼: @thamefuller in “One Cup Project”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio or click on this link to take you directly to the One Cup website: https://onecup.org/our-story/⁠
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📸: by @AftaPuta from Pexels
When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old p When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old priorities behind and make Jesus the center of their life. Jesus calls each of us to share the good news with the world. He came to give living water to a thirsty world, and we have the honor and privilege of sharing his message by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).⁠
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The most important thing you can do is enter each conversation with a posture of prayer. Pray for the person you’re sharing with, that God would open their heart to accept him. Pray that God would give you the words to say. And a loving way to say them.⁠
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Expect God to work in your relationship and use you to share Jesus through your friendship in his own timing. No matter how long you have been a believer, you can share Jesus with the confidence that he is with you and that he will use you for his glory.⁠
{Eric Gulley}⁠
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✍🏼: Eric Gulley in “Sharing Your Faith”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: by @OliverSjostrom from Pexels
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