New Eyes
Pastor Doug Dent
When we look at people different from us, people from another ethnic heritage, or religion, or a different sort of community, do we assume certain things about them based on old prejudices? Or do we approach each encounter open to what God is ready to show us? When we look at the physical world around […]
The Other Samaritan
Pastor Doug Dent
Visual art offers us so many perspectives, and each time we come back to it we discover something new. The same is true of our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. Living water flows at the heart of that relationship: refreshing, restoring, and reviving. If you feel that your spiritual life is a little dry, […]
Faith-150
Paul’s focus on faith is a world-changing idea. Paul says a person may be made righteous by believing God, not by following religious rules. Anyone and everyone can be justified, not just the people who follow the law and do good works. “It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise […]
Bet You Can’t Eat Just One
Pastor Doug Dent
Rationalizations can be deadly, but there is a way out: God’s grace. When we recognize temptation for what it is and acknowledge we cannot beat it on our own, God enters in and gives us what we need to succeed. It is all a matter of whom we trust. If we trust ourselves alone, we […]
The Confession Gadget
God does not intend for us to live our lives in spiritual hospital gowns. God’s intention is that we turn in our hospital gowns and be clothed instead in the finely tailored garments of God’s righteousness. So, go ahead, confess your mistakes and missteps. Tell God your all faults and your failures. Name your defects […]
Unclimbed Mountains
Pastor Doug Dent
This ordinary conversation between two people somehow manages to traffic in the profound as the traveler reflects: “It doesn’t seem so much to climb a mountain you’ve worked around the foot of all your life.” It feels somehow very sad that this farmer spends his entire life staring up at the mountain’s looming form, but […]
The First Step Toward Reconciliation
Pastor Doug Dent
There is no easy path to mastering everything that Jesus asks of us, especially in the Sermon on the Mount. But we move closer to Jesus and his way when we speak with honesty about our sins and our shortcomings, and when we take steps to repair relationships with the people around us. None of […]
Integrated Faith
Pastor Doug Dent
A public figure once made a speech about conservation and the environment. He ended by saying, “I now call upon the Christian part of myself.…” Really? Is Christianity just one part of ourselves? Perhaps the speaker meant that statement as a transition to acknowledge that his faith shaped his environmental views. I hope so! But […]
The Search for Satisfaction
Pastor Doug Dent
The promise of this verse is the gift of satisfaction. When we act justly, we have better relationships with the people around us. When we love mercy, we are building a better community for all. When we walk humbly, we feel in step with Almighty God. True satisfaction does not come from property or power […]
Foxhole Faith
Pastor Doug Dent
The observant student will notice that this psalm is not about David at all; it is all about God. The Lord is cited 17 times (including pronouns) in 14 verses. The contrast is between the weakness, fear, pleadings and prayers of a faltering human being, and a powerful deity who can extract him from certain […]
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