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ON CHRISTIAN “HYPOCRISY”

By Délice Williams Leave a Comment

ON CHRISTIAN "HYPOCRISY" - New Identity Magazine

I once paid for gas with a counterfeit bill. At the time, I had no idea it was counterfeit. I thought the $20 I pulled from my purse was valid, perfectly real. Paying for gas with it was supposed to be a routine transaction. Only when the cashier used a bill detector and told me she couldn’t accept my money did I learn the truth. It was embarrassing, and I almost tripped over myself trying to explain that I wasn’t a criminal. It also made me angry. Somebody who’d bought something from me had paid me with that bill the day before, so someone else’s dishonest actions led to my public embarrassment.

Most other people in my situation would’ve felt the same way. Nobody likes counterfeits, and all of us would rather not experience the disappointment and anger of feeling cheated on any purchase. But the feelings we have about being sold counterfeit goods are even stronger when we sense that we’re dealing with counterfeit people—phony people who pretend to be one thing when in reality they’re something (or someone) else. Some of us have trusted such people and found ourselves annoyed, frustrated, and in some cases deeply hurt by them. Such things happen in life often enough, of course, but when they happen in the context of Christian community or Christian churches, the pain that results from them can become spiritual pain that might even threaten our faith. If we feel that we cannot trust those who claim to be God’s people, mistrust of one person can quickly become mistrust of everyone who claims to be Christian. We might even find it much more difficult to trust God.

Hypocrisy—the performance of counterfeit character—is often associated with the church. Many people who shy away from or outright condemn Christian churches charge them with being “full of hypocrites.” Sometimes these charges are justified: when Christians who are supposed to be loving (John 13:34), generous (Luke 10:34-36) and humble (Luke 18:14) also gossip, cheat, abuse people, and preach racist rhetoric, such “Christians” are rightfully called hypocrites. They are not behaving like Christ. They’re using the label Christian to identify themselves, but their actions are totally out of sync with God’s character and will. And if we take an honest look in the character mirror and see someone who is calling him or herself a Christian while not behaving at all like Christ, then guess what? The person in the mirror is a hypocrite.

Even if we haven’t had personal experience with our own or other people’s hypocrisy, many of us can point to Christian public figures who’ve been exposed as hypocrites because of financial wrongdoing, moral scandals, abuse, or other criminal activity. The televangelists that most people think of are probably the ones who’ve been involved in such scandals. The result is a tarnished reputation for televangelists, churches, and Christians in general. That is why people who are guilty of hypocrisy and of helping to damage the reputation of the church have so much to answer for. Even Jesus condemned this kind of counterfeit character, comparing one group of hypocrites to “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27). He uses this kind of strong language more than once (Matthew 15, Matthew 16, Matthew 22, Mark 7).

ON CHRISTIAN "HYPOCRISY" - New Identity Magazine

It’s clear, then, that Christians, non-Christians, and God himself hate hypocrisy, which is ultimately a form of lying. But in our rejection of the hypocritical, we need to be careful about a couple of things. One is this: one person does not represent all of Christianity. Five or 10 people don’t either. There are many, many people in churches all over the world who are doing their best to demonstrate their faith through kindness, truthfulness, and compassion. It’s a sad and terrible thing what hypocrisy has done in the church, but there are many people who are working hard to undo that damage by restoring relationships and offering apologies to those who’ve been hurt by counterfeit character in the church. These authentic Christians shouldn’t be lumped in with the ones who’ve done wrong. I didn’t throw out all my other 20 dollar bills because that one bill was counterfeit. We shouldn’t throw out the whole church because some people are counterfeits too.

The other thing to be careful about, I believe, is this: there’s a real and important distinction between a hypocrite and a person who is in the midst of a genuine struggle to transform his or her character into Christlike character. If you generally abide by God’s command to be truthful, and lie to your boss about the reason you’re not coming into work one time, then you’ve sinned and failed to live up to your beliefs. But if you feel guilty about it, confess your sinful action to God, accept the forgiveness that is available to you because of Jesus’ death on the cross, and recommit to honesty as value, you are not a hypocrite. You are a person who failed and then repented. There are a lot of such people around. We’re called Christians. And all of us stumble, many of us daily. But because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we not only have forgiveness, but we also have power to recover from our failures so we don’t have to fall into hypocritical life patterns.

ON CHRISTIAN "HYPOCRISY" - New Identity Magazine

For example, if a former addict moves into recovery, remains clean and sober, and starts telling other people not to abuse drugs, is that person a hypocrite because she is now telling people not to do something she once did? I hope it’s clear that the answer is no. She’s not pretending to be one thing while doing something else. She’s made a break with her past and is working to be something new and better. Hypocrites are people who continue pretending to do right while doing wrong when no one is around to witness their performances. That’s what Jesus meant about being a “whitewashed tomb”: pleasant enough outside, rotten and disgusting inside. But if those same people who had heard Jesus’ strong rebuke had admitted that they were rotten inside and asked Jesus for help to get clean, they wouldn’t be hypocrites anymore. They’d be people who know their weaknesses and are humble enough to ask God for strength to overcome them.

Some scholars say that it is a show of this kind of humility that the Apostle Paul is referring to when he admits in Romans 7 that he often ends up sinning and doing some of the things he hates and doesn’t believe in (Romans 7:15). His candor shows us that even people as venerated in the church as Paul have also failed to live up to God’s standards. But Paul was no hypocrite because he didn’t pretend there was nothing wrong with him. He didn’t consistently ignore or gloss over his sin in the way a hypocrite would. In fact, he calls himself out for sinning: “what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:24). Thankfully, for Paul and for the rest of us, there is rescue: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25).

This is not to say that there is no such thing as hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is real and dangerous to ourselves and to those we hurt by our behavior. Any of us, Christian or non-Christian, can become hypocrites if we consistently and unrepentantly say we believe one thing and then act in a way that contradicts our beliefs. However, I believe that we sometimes use the label hypocrite to judge and condemn people who are simply struggling. I think that too often, we point to a Christian’s single failing or maybe even a series of recent failings and condemn them with the label hypocrite. Maybe the Christian we condemn is ourselves, in which case we’re often left feeling pretty discouraged. But we need to remind ourselves of the truth that struggle is not the same as hypocrisy. Indeed, hypocrites don’t struggle because hypocrites don’t acknowledge that there’s anything wrong with their repeated behavior. That’s why Jesus called out that group of Pharisees: because they were blind to their own sin. Once we see our failure for what it is, confess it to God, and begin seeking God’s help to overcome it, we’re in a different place, a place in which God’s grace can enter, heal, and transform our character. The important point is this: the failure that sometimes happens in Christian lives—even when it is serious failure—does not have to define us. If we’re okay with doing the wrong thing and we act as if everything is fine, then we are hypocrites and we have a problem: we’re counterfeiting our Christianity, and we’re probably damaging the reputation of Christians in general. But if we recognize our sins and failures, confess them to God, ask for God’s help, and continue doing our best to walk in the right direction, we are merely Christians on a sometimes difficult spiritual journey. God knows this. That’s why there’s provision for our forgiveness even after we’ve come to believe in Christ (John 1:9).

So yes, hypocrisy does exist. But sometimes the person we condemn for being a counterfeit is a person in the middle of a struggle to align his behavior with his beliefs. Only God knows the true difference, since only God sees the full truth about other people’s hearts. Instead of dismissing other people as hypocrites, or dismissing all churches and Christians because of the sinful and hurtful actions of some people, let’s let God handle the labeling. We can focus on our own behavior and character, and we can start by giving other people room to recover from stumbles. Integrity is undoubtedly a good thing, and as Christians, we should want to walk Jesus’ talk and live out what we claim to believe. We should strive to be good people inside and out. However, we have to acknowledge that there are times when we mess up. On those occasions, God’s grace and forgiveness are available. And just as we need to accept that grace and forgiveness for ourselves, we need to extend it to one another. In fact, as John 13:35 reminds us, it is in showing grace and forgiveness to others that we show our own Christianity to be the real deal.

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Filed Under: Community, Connect, Featured Tagged With: Issue 32, viewpoints

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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.⁠
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#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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RECOVERING EDEN

The first earthly paradise, according to Genesis, was a garden. Chapter 2 of the first book of the Bible tells us that after God created his perfect universe “and … [Read More...]

HOW DO HABITS BECOME ADDICTIONS?

What is it that you just can't live without? For Christians, the answer is simple: God. We literally cannot live without God. Without God there would be huge, gaping … [Read More...]

Be Anxious For Nothing

I am no expert in the field of mental health, but it seems that anxiety is crippling more and more people than ever before. Upwards of 40 million American … [Read More...]

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