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Showing posts with the label verses

Memories from a Cautiously Optimistic Vikings Fan

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Sports fans in America love rooting for the underdog. Just over a year ago, the Chicago Cubs had many people pulling for them (myself included) as they won their first World Series in 108 years. Now another franchise with a reputation of losing big games has a chance of finally winning it all. It happens to be my favorite football team. The Minnesota Vikings began playing in 1961 as an NFL expansion team. Eight years later, they appeared in their first Super Bowl but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Three years after that, I started watching Vikings games on TV while growing up in Moorhead, Minnesota. The following season, they reached Super Bowl VIII, which was played on my tenth birthday. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a Super Sunday for me as the Vikings lost to the Miami Dolphins. Nevertheless, I remained a Minnesota Vikings fan with quarterback Fran Tarkenton as my favorite player. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, I watched almost every Vikings game on TV. They consistently w...

Kicked Out of Church

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Church should be a safe place for believers. Unfortunately, no fellowship is perfect. Even pastors can sometimes get in the flesh and act in ways inconsistent with Scripture. A friend told me about one church he went to where the congregation took turns giving a short sermon since the pastor wasn’t there that particular Sunday. My friend didn’t have time to complete his message but the handouts he gave revealed a doctrine the leadership disagreed with. A couple of weeks later when my friend returned to this church, the pastor instructed him not to come back there again. Assuming my friend told this story accurately, I thought the pastor acted too hastily. He could have privately discussed the matter with my friend before possibly excommunicating him. In Matthew 18, Jesus taught us the right way to confront someone in error... 15 “ Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But i...