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  • As is…Just as I am… | Posted by Mart De Haan on Feb 28 2009

    In a recent conversation one of our friends made a comment that I haven’t been able to forget. It was something to the effect that “You probably would all think I’m a creep. Have been married several times…”
    My guess is that along the way others have also made self-disclosing comments that have gotten lost or [...]

  • Ruth and the Economy | Posted by Mart De Haan on Feb 21 2009

    Economic crisis is the setting of the story of Ruth in the Old Testament.  A famine in Israel, during the difficult, dark days of the Judges, prompted a Jewish family to leave their home in Bethlehem and move to the land of Moab.
    Ironically, Bethlehem means “house of bread”.
    These were  extreme times. To make matters worse, [...]

  • The Tough Side of Grace | Posted by Mart De Haan on Dec 26 2008

    Going into the Christmas holiday, I was focused on what can appear to be the scandalously generous side of grace. Found myself drawn back time and again to the priceless gift expressed in the words, “The Word (God) became flesh and lived among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only [...]

  • Entitlement and the Holiday | Posted by Mart De Haan on Nov 26 2008

    Started thinking that entitlement and thanksgiving are mutually exclusive, and that what’s at risk, if I don’t see the difference, is not only a heartless holiday, but also a shrinking spirituality.
    Then the most basic Google search gives me definitions that complicate my thoughts. For openers, I find,
    “The state of meeting the applicable requirements for receipt [...]

  • Auto CEOs and Labor | Posted by Mart De Haan on Nov 24 2008

    As CEOs from Detroit’s Big Three appealed to Congress for government relief, a friend sent me a link to a short 3 and 1/2 minute piece of video journalism by the Detroit News.
    What I found was a compelling story about one of the most sophisticated and efficiently run car manufacturing plants in the world. The [...]

  • Messianics, Law, and Grace | Posted by Mart De Haan on Nov 07 2008

    There are a number of reasons to have issues with the Apostle Paul. Even Peter acknowledged that Paul had written things hard to understand (2Peter 3:14-18).  But in addition to the fact that, in this text, Peter acknowledged Paul’s God-given wisdom and grouped his letters with “other Scripture,” here are some things I think we [...]

  • Applying for Heaven | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jul 02 2008

    We endure application forms for credit cards, employment, life insurance, and driver’s licenses. We fill them out when applying for tax credits, college entrance, and passports. Sometimes they are required when applying for church membership.
    So let’s push the idea of applications to another level. Think about what it might mean to fill out papers for [...]

  • Reflecting on Yesterday | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jun 29 2008

    Yesterday’s post was upsetting to many of us. In some cases it shifted our focus from our agreement about Christ to disagreements among ourselves–or with “Charles”– over our relationship to Old Testament law.
    In retrospect, we don’t know what’s going on in “Charles” heart. He could be a brother who believes in Christ while being conflicted [...]

  • Better than a Miracle | Posted by Mart De Haan on Mar 26 2008

    Seems to me that we can be thankful that God’s ability to care for us is not limited to obvious suspensions of natural law. Your responses to my post on “Miracles” shows something better than “first century” expressions of supernatural power. The fact that none of us have seen anyone feed 5000 people with a [...]

  • What I Can’t Do (3rd of 3) | Posted by Mart De Haan on Feb 21 2008

    In my last post, I talked about some specific examples of things I can’t do regardless of how much faith I have in God, myself, or anyone else. Let me give you a couple more examples and see if we can come to terms with what we can’t do:
    In addition to all of the things [...]