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Christ and the new life

Holiness Is Not the Same as Forced Solemnity

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  • Kevin DeYoung

This article explains that holiness is not a temperament, nor forced seriousness. One can be funny or dull, quiet or loud, and still be holy.

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Your Deepest Identity

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  • Tim Challies

The day you put your faith in Christ, you were given a new identity, which is being in Christ.

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What You Need to Understand about Taking Up Your Cross

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  • Michael Horton

What does Jesus mean when he calls his disciples to take up their cross (Mark 8:34-38)? This article explains that cross-bearing is sharing in the suffering of Jesus.

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The Paradoxical Pattern of Jesus' Life

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  • G. K. Beale

Christ's saving work in overcoming the enemy was accomplished through Christ himself being overcome. This article explains that we should reflect in our own lives this paradoxical pattern of the Lord's life, where we overcome through faith while suffering. For God causes all things to work together for our good.

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Peace, Not Shame: The Gospel of Luke Ch. 1

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  • Le Ann Trees

What motivates the choices you make? Many people are driven by fear of shame and a need for approval. This article shows from Luke 1, particularly the account of Elizabeth, that in Christ your shame is taken away and replaced with peace.

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The Comfort of "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

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  • David Zadok

What does the knowledge of Jesus Christ as the light of the world, the way to God, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) offer to mankind? Read the article to discover what comfort can be obtained from knowing Christ in this way.

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Is Jesus Meeting Your Needs?

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  • Judith Riddel

Are you asking the right questions to determine whether or not Jesus meets your needs? Many people struggle to see who Jesus is and what he provides because of their materialism. Scripture reveals that Jesus often reshapes our mindset and thoughts so that we may know our real needs that he came to fulfill.

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The Normal Christian Life As Portrayed in Romans 6-8

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  • Jan Wesseling

This article discusses the normal Christian life according to Romans 6, Romans 7, and Romans 8. The author looks at the unity of these three chapters, as it describes the place of sin, the struggle against sin, and the work of the Spirit in the believer.

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Sharing in His Suffering

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  • J. Van Amstel

This article identifies what it means for Christians to share in the sufferings of Christ, carry their cross behind him, and live a life of self-denial.

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Sanctification

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  • Al Baker

This article considers the need to please the Lord, as a fruit of salvation. Ephesians 5:10 is its starting point.

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Our Renewed Image

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  • Chris Donato

What does it mean that a believer dies to the flesh in Christ and lives to righteousness in Christ? The article addresses this question by referring mainly to 1 Peter 2:24 and Colossians 3:1-11. It then discusses what should be the Christian's response in view of this gracious transformation in his life.

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The Truth Will Set You Free!

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  • C. J. Den Dulk

This article explains what it means to be set free by the truth (John 8:32).

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A Foretaste of the Future

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  • Ronald C. Christie

This article is about the already and the not yet of the new life. The author discusses the new creation, regeneration and the new heaven and earth.

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Christ Must be Preached

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  • Jakob Geertsema

It is evident from the teaching of the Scriptures that Christ comes to us and gives Himself to us, placing us in His fellow­ship, in and through His Word. This article is about Jesus Christ as the central focus of our preaching, the relation of law and gospel, and Jesus Christ and the believer's new life.

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Jesus Christ is Life

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  • Wybren H. Oord

This article is about life and death. The author talks about the new life in Jesus Christ, and life according to the gospel of John.

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Christ, the Second Adam

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  • A. Noordegraaf

This article focuses on Jesus Christ as the second Adam, our new creation in Christ, and our renewal in the image of Christ.
 

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The Three Most Important Words for the Christian Life

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  • Nicholas Davis

What are the most important words you should know for your Christian life? The article describes the three most important words you should know: guilt, grace, and gratitude.

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Eight Practical Ways to Love Christ

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  • Paul Tautges

How can you express love for Christ? This article provides from J.C. Ryle eight ways of expressing love for the Lord.

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Biblical Counseling and the Spiritual Danger of “If Only…” Christianity

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  • Casey McCall

One of the hindrances to living the Christian life is basing faithfulness and contentment on ideal circumstances. This approach to the Christian life is utopian spirituality: it denies Christ and accepts the lies of Satan. This article shows four ways in which this happens.

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Rethinking Biblical Application

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  • David E. Prince

How does biblical application work? Applying the Bible is rooted in finding our life in Christ and his story. The gospel itself is what transforms us, and thus we are to apply our lives to the gospel story and our union with Christ.

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Taking Back Christianese #1: "The Christian Life Is All about Being Transparent and Vulnerable"

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  • Michael J. Kruger

Should transparency or vulnerability be a defining characteristic of a believer? This article considers why people say, "The Christian life is all about being transparent and vulnerable," and how it is helpful when shunning hypocrisy, yet unhelpful when it creates a culture that is more about authenticity than repentance.

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Four Ways Christ Conquers Our Fears

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  • Leah Baugh

What are your fears as a Christian? Do you know that the gospel brings peace and confidence that is so much greater than our fears? This article explains four ways Christ conquers our fears.

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The Exclusivity of Christ Isn't an Abstract Doctrine. It Will Change Your Life

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  • Thomas R. Schreiner

This article shows how believing the exclusivity of Christ changes the way we live and interact with others. If he is the only way, we must be courageous, we won't detract from the truth, we will promote the Lord Jesus, and we will be thankful.

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Location, Location, Location

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  • Paul David Tripp

How does location impact the way you follow Christ? This article explains four ways in which it matters.

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True to Ourselves Why the modern mantra is so misleading

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  • Madeleine Turner

Is there any merit in the modern saying, "Be true to yourself"? This article shows how misleading this statement really is, and therefore it should not be used, by Christians of all people.

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Triumph in Weakness The most encouraging of Christ's many paradoxes

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  • Peter Barnes

This article explains from Scripture that one of the many paradoxes of the Christian life is that strength is found in weakness.

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The Heart of Holiness

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  • Martin Foord

At the heart of living in communion with God is the call to holiness. This article shows that holiness in increased in the Christian life by looking at Christ, for holiness comes by Christ and for Christ.

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Are You Serious? Christian gravitas in a narcissistic age

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  • J. I. Packer

"Do you love the Lord?" is a question to ask in order to test the genuineness of the Christian life. However, another question to ask is, are you serious? This article explains why.

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Infinite Worth God’s esteem is all that counts – and Christians have it

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  • J. I. Packer

This article gives biblical principles for self-esteem or self-worth.

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Bearing the Cross How readily we forget that Christianity means death

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  • James Montgomery Boice

Cross bearing was a key term of Christ's in defining discipleship. This article shows that it must be the key terms for today’s church in discipling others.

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The Practical Calvin: Holiness and the Christian Life

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  • Brandon D. Smith

John Calvin taught that the Christian life is rooted in our union with Christ, the inseparable link of faith and the Word, the need for daily repentance, and self-denial.

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The Prideful Pursuit of Humility

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  • Greg Wilson

It is only in Christ that the fight against pride and self-doubt can be won. Why? For in Christ we gain humility.

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Response to Your Baptism: Chapter 11 – What Must We Renounce?

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  • Karel Deddens

This article discusses what it means to forsake the world and crucify our old nature, a formulation found in the Continental liturgical form for profession of faith. The article considers passages like 1 John 2:15-17 and Romans 12:2.

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Pursuing Discipleship in All of Life

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  • Allen Nelson IV

The purpose of discipleship is to make disciples Christ-like. Therefore, discipleship is not just a program; it’s life. This means that discipleship should be formal, informal, spontaneous, and intentional.

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Put Down Your Phone, Pick Up Your Cross, and Follow Jesus

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  • Scott Slayton

Do you struggle with spiritual growth because of all the distractions around you, like technology? There are five things you can do to better your walk with Christ, and all have to do with what you do with your time.

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When Gospel-Centred Goes Too Far

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  • Zach Barnhart

When is it that one is gospel-centred? You are gospel-centered when Christ is the centre. Once Christ is lost, the gospel is lost.

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Our Reputation Precedes Us

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  • Alan Dowd

Must Christians care about a good reputation? There are two reasons that make a good reputation crucial for a Christian: Christ and the church. This article explains how.

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How Are You to Be More Than a Conqueror?

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  • Justin S. Holcomb

What does it mean that the Christian is more than a conqueror (Romans 8:31-39)? This article explains that it is by living by faith in Christ, whose resurrection confirmed his victory.

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The Normal Experience of the Reformed Christians

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  • David J. Engelsma

As described in the Heidelberg Catechism, the life of the Reformed Christian is characterized by a threefold experience: misery because of sin, glad assurance because of deliverance in Christ, and gratitude that expresses itself in good works and prayer.

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Slaves of Christ

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  • Mike Riccardi

This article discusses what it means to be a slave of Christ.

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Filthy Rags or Fully Pleasing?

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  • Kevin DeYoung

It is possible to please God! This is a truth that many Protestants would object to, and refer to Isaiah 64:6, for example, as proof that everything we do is filth in God's eyes. This article challenges such an objection by pointing to who God is and what his perspective really is toward good works.

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The Difficult Life

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  • Daniel Kleyn

Jesus Christ described the Christian life as walking the narrow road and entering through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). What makes this path narrow and how can Christians travel it?

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Propagation

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  • Al Baker

This article recalls the great work of the Lord in bringing the sinner to salvation, and from there it encourages vital living as a Christian in this dark world.

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Enslaved by Entitlement

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  • Doug Van Meter

Entitlement breeds bitterness. This is not the attitude Christians must have. Like Christ, Christians are expected to lead a life of servanthood. It is only in being secure in Christ that the slavery of entitlement is destroyed. Let the article explain.

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The Biblical View of Freedom

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  • Art Lindsley

True freedom can only be experienced once we are freed from sin and made slaves to Christ. This article shows how such freedom flows to bring freedom in the community.

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Christian Orthodoxy Must Lead to Christian Orthopraxis

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  • Geoff Thomas

The Christian life finds its motive and purpose in true biblical doctrine. Without true doctrine there is no true Christian living. This is what God has joined together, and this is what distinguishes Christians from non-Christians in their moral behaviour.

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Perfection

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  • Gert Kwakkel

When the words blameless, perfect, and innocent are used to describe God's people, they do not mean that they are without sin, but that they have made a radical choice for God through the grace of God. Let this article explain.

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Better Than a Mulligan

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  • Doug Van Meter

This article shows how our identity in Christ helps us face our regrets.

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United to Christ

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  • Jeremy Walker

2 Corinthians 5:17 shows that a Christian is a new creation because of his union with Christ. He has moved from being without Christ to being with Christ and in Christ. By being in Christ, the believer has inherited all that Christ did for him in life, death and resurrection.

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The Christian's Semi-Perfect State

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  • Maurice Roberts

This article is about the perfections and imperfections in the life of the Christian.

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The Root of All Godliness

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  • Michael Horton

How do you pursue godliness? This article explains that the root of all godliness, of true piety, is faith in the gospel.

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Ambassadors for Christ

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  • Paul David Tripp

As Christians, you are called to be ambassadors for Christ. What does it mean to be an ambassador? It means your whole life is a life of ministry.

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The Christian Job Description

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  • Paul David Tripp

Words in Scripture that identify the Christian are "alien," "soldier," and "ambassador." Do these words describe you?

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More Than Motions Why personal righteousness matters

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  • J. I. Packer

This article gives four reasons why in the Christian life a righteous life matters.

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Why the Meaninglessness of Life?

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  • Matt Manry

Absurdism is the struggle facing humanity. It is the struggle of seeking the meaning of life while at the same time feeling the meaninglessness of life. What is the answer to this struggle? The article explains that the answer can only be Jesus Christ.

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Re-Grounding True Identity in Christ

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  • Jonathan K. Dodson

Where do you find your identity? This article makes a call for Christians to find their identity in Christ, and shows how can the church be a community that points its members to the redemption that is in Christ.

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Dressing Up as Jesus for Halloween (and Every Other Day)

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  • Christy Britton

This article explains that the Word of God has much to say about the kind of clothes we should put on. The Bible calls believers to show off their clothing to the world, in the way of displaying their identity as heirs of God.

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Practice What He Preached: Imitating the Goodness of Jesus

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  • Justin Huffman

By imitating the goodness of Christ, the church can be an appealing community. This article explains what following in the footsteps of Jesus actually looks like.

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The Heart-Cry of the Christian

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  • Jason Helopoulos

Why is it worth longing for the day when our eyes shall see Christ? This article shows that our seeing now by faith and our seeing then by sight differ in at least three ways: now we only see Christ partially but then we shall enjoy a full view; now our view of Christ is mediated, but in the future we will revel in an immediate view of the glory of God in Christ; now our view of Christ is too often disrupted by sinful barriers, but then our view will be uninterrupted.

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The End of the Struggle

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  • Stanley Voke

Coming to Christ puts and end to the struggle for your own righteousness, living by the law, and pleasing people. The article explains.

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Christ Is Altogether Lovely

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  • Samuel Rutherford

This article celebrates the beauty and loveliness of Christ, while inviting people to come and enjoy him for who he is.

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The Freedom God Is Giving You Today

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  • Leah Baugh

What does freedom in Christ look like? This article explains that freedom is being united to others, is demonstrated in our unity by the Spirit, and is learning to carry the cross with others.

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Seven Traits of the Considerate Christian

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  • Le Ann Trees

What traits are to characterize considerate Christians? This article covers seven such characteristics.

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God Does Not Want You to Live Your Best Life Now

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  • Caleb Wait

What should be our definition of the "good life"? The world provides numerous ways of self-help and steps to follow for a person to obtain a good life. This article explains that only in Jesus Christ is there the guarantee of a good life.

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A church married to the world finds itself a widow in short order. Jelle Tuininga
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