Rapture Forecast?

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Hm, how to dress on the 21st?

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After Orlando: A Believer’s Response to Tragedy

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The massacre of fifty people at an Orlando night club is a horror story. Unless you are emotionally numb, you ought to feel incredible sorrow when hearing about the victims. And as you learn about the gunman's perverted views on the value of life, you should feel some sense of revulsion. But is it enough to feel anger or empathy? Isn't there something we ought to do? How should believing people respond to tragedies like the one in Orlando? What should our words look and sound like in the wake of disaster? How do we bear witness to the hope of Jesus Christ when folks are torn by grief and fear? Here are three biblical responses to tragedy. 1. Be present and be silent. Job's personal disaster would make headlines in our world today. Job was a leading figure in his society, one of the wealthiest and largest employers around. Yet in one fell swoop, Job experienced a terrorist attack and natural calamity rolled into one. He lost all his family (except his wife),...
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Think of Gilligan's Island as a parable based on the Seven Deadly Sins. Many folks think the creators based the series on these classical vices. ( Here's one example .)  A three-hour cruise turned into a seeming eternity. They were hopelessly marooned on a deserted island.  One of the most common story lines across the show's 99 episodes is a potential rescue. And in almost every case, one character unwittingly or incompetently destroys any hope of leaving the island. It's Gilligan, the figure who most readily represents this week's vice: sloth . Many in our contemporary world equate sloth with laziness. But the ancient vice of sloth, as brought to us via John Cassian from the desert fathers, comes from the Greek work acedia . This word is best translated as apathy or avoidance. This is what Cassian wrote about a theoretical monk faced with the danger of sloth ( acedia ): "He must also contend on both sides against this most wicked spirit of acedia ...
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Editor's note: Here’s another in our series of guest columns on church decline. During the rest of March, you'll read thoughtful words from church leaders like Tim Spivey, Stan Granberg, Aaron Metcalf, Rick Gibson and more. Articles in April will focus on renewal. Our seventh guest column is from Andy Wall, a native of Southern California. Andy preaches for the Conejo Valley Church of Christ , just 20 minutes from the Pepperdine University campus. Having grown up as a missionary kid in Greece, Andy has the eye, not just of a skilled minister but also of a missionary—a powerful combination in helping understand our role in the unfolding mission of God. The View from Andy Wall Decline and Renewal: A Study of What Former Members Are Saying My journey of wrestling with the decline within Churches of Christ began during the early 90s, when circumstances caused me to reflect on two questions: why were so few of my former youth group members still in the Churches of...
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