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Continue reading →: Let your light shine before others
By Jesse Strutko. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Read that daily… Soak that into your life and know that every day we are like lights in this world of darkness and…
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Continue reading →: Celebrating Adoniram Judson and 200 years of Christian missions
This year marks the bicentennial anniversary of the commissioning of North America’s first missionary, Adoniram Judson, and his wife, Abigail. Although they intended to go to India, the Judsons had to venture to Burma (Myanmar) instead. There, he put the language into writing, translated the Bible, printed tracts, and preached the…
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Continue reading →: Baptists do Lent too
The other day I went into a local Christian bookstore and asked if they carried any children trinkets for Ash Wednesday–things like stickers and pencils and stuff. I was caught off-guard when the store clerk informed me that, no, they don’t carry Ash Wednesday stuff because Baptists don’t celebrate…
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Continue reading →: Encouragement for ministers of the Gospel
My mentors and professors at seminary did not promise an easy road when we ministers, wet behind the years, sought positions in local churches across the South. We all knew ministry wasn’t easy. There are the ups and the downs, the good days and the bad days. The sermons that…
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Continue reading →: Bully Pulpit does not communicate the compassion of Christ’s contemporary voice
Some preachers put the “bully” in bully pulpit. All of us can tell at least one story of a preacher who said something that went over the line simply because he thought he could say almost anything from the pulpit. In fact, the pulpit plays such a central role in…
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Continue reading →: Jonah the Cranky: Zapping People with God’s Wrath since 700 BCE
My name is Jonah, but some people call me Jonah the Cranky. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I tell people that if they don’t get right with God, I’ll zap them with His wrath. Did I mention I’m a prophet? Been one my whole life. Once, in third…
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Continue reading →: An Open Letter: Your plans for Lent…
Dear Baptist Spirituality readers, Lent is coming up rather quickly. It begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd. Lent is the time in which we follow Jesus into the wilderness and place our trust on God in a renewed spirit of faith. It consists of 40 days (Sundays not included) that…
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Continue reading →: Are you the thorny vine that chokes the life out of other Christians?
In the parable of the sower (Mark 4), Jesus explained how God spreads the seeds of the gospel lavishly upon the ground. Some seed fell upon the ground only to be plucked up by birds. Faith does not have time to last or take root. There is happiness in receiving…
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Continue reading →: Flip-Flopping: A Christian Virtue
I’m still confused as to why “flip-flopping,” or the act of changing one’s mind, is such a big deal in American politics. First it was John Kerry in 2004 who was accused of changing his mind (you remember, “I was for the war before I was against it,” and so…
Engaging Heart, Mind, and Soul
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia is a pastor, writer, and chaplain residing in Florida. He is author of three books and regular contributor to Smyth & Helwys’ Formations Series. His articles have appeared in USA Today, Baptist News Global, Christian Ethics Today, TCPalm, and Rockdale Citizen.
Baptist Spirituality explores the intersection of faith and culture incorporating biblical scholarship, culture and the arts, politics, science, and theology.
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