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Loving

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Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 Hands-down, this might be my favorite passage in the Bible. I know some people find it cliche or overused or taken out of context, but I sincerely believe that you cannot emphasize love enough in a world like the one we’re living in today. Love is everything, and I think Paul does such an excellent job of reminding us why. For a bit of context, in case you may not know or remember, Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, because they were hindering their own mission after becoming obsessed with flashy spiritual gifts, acting selfishly, and becoming divided. With this specific part of the letter, Paul seeks to point them back to love, as everything is meaningless without it and engaging in love as an action builds up the church of Christ. Now having a deeper understanding of why this passage was written, I wanted to emphasize a couple of points Paul made: Verses 1-3: In spite of anything we do, say, or have, none of it matters without love. Verse...
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Releasing Assumptions

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“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” — James 1:19 Assumptions are easy to make, in every single aspect of our life. When communication is fast and schedules are full, it’s natural to fill in gaps with our own interpretations. But assumptions can quietly create misunderstanding, frustration, or even distance where unity is meant to grow. This past week at work, I attended a communication seminar to help with my serving on our school conduct board hearings. We talked about going into those situations with a preconceived notion of the student already being guilty or sneaky because the situation has been brought to that level. The scenario we talked about was someone egging someone's car. We made so many theories and had many assumptions about the situation, but one crucial thing was missing. There were no eggshells. (this was after seeing a picture and everything). So in this part a whole room full of professionals were so sure this poor...
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Check Your Flashlight (Online Bible Study)

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Check Your Flashlight Colossians 2:6-7 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Why might a flashlight troubleshoot? Check the batteries: They may be dead, low on charge, or inserted incorrectly. Inspect battery contacts: Look for corrosion or dirt, which can block the electrical connection. Clean the contacts with a cloth dipped in alcohol or vinegar. Inspect the switch: The switch mechanism can fail. Try pressing it multiple times or cleaning around the button. A faulty switch may need to be cleaned or replaced. Replace the bulb or LED: The bulb or LED can burn out over time, especially in older models. 1.To Glow for Christ we must check our power source. With a traditional flashlight this might include making sure that it has batteries. In your Bibles, highlight or underline part b of Colossians 2:6 and write in your jo...
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The Inconvenience of Christmas

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The Inconvenience of Christmas by Meghan Williams As a society, we love Christmas. The lights, the decorations, the joy, the merriment, family and friends. We have expectations of a perfect day. But many times Christmas can be plagued with sorrow, suffering, stress, and overall inconvenience. If that's you, you're in good company. The first Christmas was full of inconvenience. It started with a God who had been silent for 400 years that came to a young girl, no older than 15 or 16 years old, and asked her to do the unimaginable. Being pregnant outside of wedlock, even more so in that time, would have ostracized her from her community and subjected her to constant judgment. We don't know how her parents reacted, but we do know she spent a few months with an out of town cousin, perhaps revealing she was sent away due to her condition. Once she was far along in her pregnancy, she wasn't even able to stay with family. She had to travel 90 miles, probably a week...
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Staying Focused on God

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Staying Focused on God Emily Peedin Bible Readings: Philippians 4:6, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Matthew 6:34, and Matthew 11:28 If there is one thing I can distinctly remember from my four years in undergrad, it is just how fast the fall semester seemed to fly by after midterms. Within the blink of an eye, we had Halloween, Fall Break, Thanksgiving, finals, and Christmas before I could even register what was going on. It truly felt like, no matter how hard I wanted things to slow down a bit, someone else’s foot was on the gas, and I could seemingly never catch up. That being said, I did cherish my fall semesters in undergrad– arguably so much more so than my spring semesters. Something about the weather cooling down, sports seasons heating up, and my favorite holidays approaching made the semester feel a lot faster and more bearable to get through. That certainly wasn’t the case for everyone else I knew, though. As wonderful as the fall and winter seasons were to me, I would be remiss if I did...
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Others: Live for the Good of Others

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With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years coming up, we are more likely to interact with family and friends; some who we might not have seen all year. The Holidays can become chaotic, with milestones being announced, unresolved conflicts being mentioned, the urge to watch our favorite football game, or to answer the golden but awkward question by our favorite aunt. This month’s focus is on the word “others” where we just take a second (or more) to focus not on ourselves, but on others. Philippians 2:3 (NIV) states “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves”. I used an acronym generator to create an acronym for the word “others” which the results said “Outreach through Humility, Empathy, Righteousness, and Service. We can bring in Outreach through the holidays by checking in with our family members and friends. The year could be overwhelming and with a simple “How are you?” could make the gathering less stressful. The one c...
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Let: Don't hide your light (9000 fireflies)

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“9000 Fireflies” Full Disclosure, despite all the bows and dresses that I love to wear, I am a wrestling fan. I love watching all of the characters that each of the wrestlers have and the stories that they tell by their videos, promos, and wrestling matches. One particular wrestler and the nicknames he gives the fans resonate with me. Whenever he was nearby, the whole arena darkened and everyone all of a sudden turned on their flashlights on their cellphones. However, at that moment, they weren’t just flashlights to him. They were fireflies that lit up the dark arena. I remember my own fireflies at Longwood University. It was a scary time coming in as a transfer student, not knowing most of the students, and the only organization that I had planned on joining was BCM . My first BCM experience, I saw a group of girls sitting together, laughing, and cheering each other on if they had to speak at our large group meeting. The next week, I saw one of the girls at the Bible Study in gre...
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