Posts

What is a "Righteous Man"?

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One of my favorite stories about Jesus is when he’s approached by His friend, Peter, who asks how many times he should forgive a person. (See Matthew 18:21-35 ) Peter threw out a number, suggesting that a person should be forgiven 7 times. Seven (7) was understood to be the number of perfection and completion, so Peter was demonstrating his understanding of how important it is to forgive. But it’s hard to discern a person’s heart, especially from a short and simple story. Was Peter asking in order to justify himself and his own self-righteousness or was he being sincere in trying to understand God’s view on forgiveness? Regardless, Jesus responds in a way that Peter wasn’t expecting, saying that we should forgive 70 times 7, figuratively explaining that there is no limit to the number of times we need to forgive others. Jesus then goes on to tell a story that explains this concept, tying how we are forgiven with our ability to forgive.   As we know, Peter like all Jesus’ friends abando
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Popular Blog Posts

Occasionally I look back to see what some popular blog posts have been and thought I'd share.  Over the past 12 months, the top two are: What is Alpha?  - A great, non-judgemental class to better understand Christianity If I Were an Atheist  - Truthfully, I'd be pretty wicked Challenges of a Father  - Reflecting Jesus as Father And all-time most-read posts: What is a Soul? (and other related questions)  - By far, the most popular post Two Sides of the Coin  - Grace & Holiness End of the Age Handbook  - Remain close to Him despite the pressures of this world I sometimes wonder what these stats tell me about the spiritual hunger in the world. I believe many people have forgotten true Christianity and only have a pop-culture image of what it means to be "Christian". In all likelihood, they practicing secular humanists without really considering how our spirituality is the essence of who we are but longing for something more, wondering if it truly exists.  Let me know
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A Very Good Friday

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35 years ago, I asked God a question: “Who was Jesus?” I did not want to just trust what others had told me no matter how well intentioned they may have been. I had been reading a chapter per day in Psalms and on that Good Friday opened the next chapter: Psalm 22 “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?.” Verse 1a , Jesus' words on the cross “They say, ‘Commit yourself to the LORD! Let the LORD rescue him! Let the LORD deliver him, for he delights in him.’" Verse 8 - the words of the crowd, mocking Jesus “They are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments.” Verse 18 - the actions of the Roman guards This Psalm was written 1000 years before Jesus, and if you read it you’ll find more of the crucifixion story described in it. It was God’s answer to my sincere question, and just one example of what sets the Bible apart from all other religious books: fulfilled prophecy. In that one answer, God showed me two things: Jesus was who He said He w
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Christian Unity

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I’ve been hearing a repeated plea for unity within the Church, and I agree there is a real need for this. But what does that look like? The apostle Paul wrote “There is one Body” ( Ephesians 4:4 ), and in John’s gospel we see how Jesus prayed for Christian Unity, asking that we be one just as He and the Father are one. ( John 17:20-23 ) And even if Scripture didn’t discuss unity we could still embrace the practice. After all, practically speaking, there’s strength in numbers. For example: a healthy herd chases away predators, demonstrating how this plays out in nature. Likewise, we can observe that political parties push their agenda through when all party members vote in unity around an issue. But understand this: Christian Unity is only possible when we are knit together through the Spirit of God. When Jesus said that He and the Father were one or that He abided in the Father, it defined unity as reflecting the likeness of God. When Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father, Jesus ex
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People are not Projects

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I would never dispute that Jesus said: “make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you.” ( Matthew 28:19-20 God’s Word). It’s come to be known as the Great Commission, and its pretty clear what Jesus wants us to do, but what does that look like?  Let me start by saying what it’s not: It’s not to treat people as a means to an end, even if it’s arguably a good end. The philosopher Immanuel Kant described it as this:  Every man is to be respected as an absolute end in himself; and it is a crime against the dignity that belongs to him as a human being, to use him as a mere means for some external purpose. Just going back to the book of Genesis, we see that God created men and women in His image. We are His Image-Bearers, and as such everyone is invaluable. Every person regardless of background or decisions has that in common. We are worthy of love if for no other reason than th
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New Years Day 2024

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  "So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away - look, what is new has come!"  2 Corinthians 5:17 Is our Christian walk a single “one and done sinners prayer“, or is it a journey? I believe acknowledging our sinful nature is a part of that journey, and it happens on a daily basis. Sure, we need to accept the free gift of God‘s grace, and there is no salvation that we can work out on our own independent from Him. But it doesn’t end with a single acknowledgment, and we can look at how the original Christians were labeled as the pattern to follow. They were called: “followers of the Way.“ Our life as a new creation begins as we hand the keys of our life over daily to the God of creation. So I have no resolution this year other than this: to hand over my life’s goals to Him daily and trust Him to lead me to green pastures.  With His help, I will follow well and lead others well, using whatever influence I have to represent His Kingdom well.
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The Shepherd’s Letter

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Published in paperback on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Shepherds-Letter-Mitchell-Malloy/dp/1973415933/ Copyright © 2007 Mitchell Malloy All rights reserved. ISBN: 9781973415930 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All our talents come as a gift from above, and all we do is to imitate the Great Giver with gifts of our own. Soli Deo Gloria!
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