The Word Worker

Tag: Hope

  • Whose Righteousness is Our Passion?

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    wordworkerrussell
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    By the time Jesus was born into the physical world, the Jewish culture had become centered around scholarship. Status, wealth, and privilege were guaranteed to increase according to the detail of one’s familiarity with the Hebrew scriptures and the eloquent certainty with which one spoke of them. Their entire political system revolved around heated arguments…

  • The Significance of a Baby

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    wordworkerrussell
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    In a tiny, insignificant town a baby was born. His first cries were drowned by the loving and cackling of farm animals and by the busy merriment of hostel guests just the other side of the wall. His young mother wrapped his flailing arms in linen strips stored nearby for the care of newborn lambs,…

  • I Remember

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    wordworkerrussell
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    I remember.The stunned faces of teenagers watching horrific history play out in real time on classroom tvs. I remember.Teachers calling relatives in New York and crying for missing loved ones and the inevitable death toll. I remember. The face of a president in a room full of children when the news was whispered in his…

  • Unveiled

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    wordworkerrussell
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    II Cor. 3:13-18; Ex. 34:34-35 When Moses descended from the presence of God for the second time, bringing the record of God on slabs of stone, the people of Israel avoided him in terror. Though Moses himself, having spent so much time bathed in the glory of God and having no desire for power for…

  • God in the Moments

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    wordworkerrussell
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    This morning I woke up with a heart that felt like lead in my chest. The future lay in shadows that I could not penetrate, and I doubted even the point of me. I did not think anything I tried to do came to anything. I felt as if all my gifts from God were…

  • The Darkest Valley

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    wordworkerrussell
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    When Moses was called to release God’s people from Egyptian servitude, he feared to obey, and the first results of his efforts seemed to justify his fear. Pharaoh was so incensed by the challenge to his perceived authority that he responded with harsh punishment. Beatings, killings, and impossible expectations made the Israelites utterly wretched. Moses,…

  • Forsaking Assembly

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    wordworkerrussell
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    “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is” “not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people” “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” “not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing” This passage may…

  • Fallen Faerie

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The wooden towers of Crann still soared above the forest floor as Sean passed the mighty gate posts. The gates themselves were long gone, eaten away by time and exposure. Loam crunched beneath his feet and he winced at the now familiar twinge between his shoulder blades. How long had it been? He couldn’t remember…