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Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

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Vacations: A Gift of Grace

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By Glen Van Andel. In his well-known play Our Town, Thornton Wilder describes how Emily, a woman who died in childbirth, is allowed to return to earth to spend one day with her family. She chooses to do so on her twelfth birthday, fully expecting it to be a day filled with rich memories and happy experiences.

But as the play unfolds, Emily becomes more and more frustrated with her family’s lack of interest in and sensitivity to the impor

Biblical Fun: Holy Laughter

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By Emmett Cooper. Part of the perceived problem about fun among Christians in general, and the local church in particular, is the tension often felt between “holy” and “laughter.” Holiness and laughter, like sacred and the profane, seem to be in direct opposition to one another. As Christians, does God expect us to laugh in a holy sort of way, or perhaps to become holy in a laughable kind of way? What does the Bible say about loving God and having fun?

The word fun is not specifically mentioned in Scripture. But it is implied throughout. A biblical word, however, that is in the same family of meaning is “enjoy.”

Paul explicitly declares that God has given us all things to enjoy. As defined by Webster, enjoy means to feel good, have a good time, delight in good fun.

Enjoyment is God’s idea. Deep capacities for fun are woven into the very fiber of our being. It’s part of bear

Tattered Tom Versus Snow White: Two Gospels

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By James Sauer. In the latter half of the 19th Century, the American Unitarian cleric and author, Horatio Alger, penned over 120 books for boys. The various series-Ragged Dick, Luck and Pluck, and Tattered Tom-were optimistic sagas of young bootblacks and newspaper boys whose virtues and gumption allowed them to rise from their humble ori

Trusting God: Just Whose Money Is This Anyway?

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The author (unknown) of this article wishes to preserve the anonymity of those featured.

Money was tight in 1970. Should Mom get a job? Should we consider not tithing for a while? Dad called a family conference.

After reading Malachi 3, we decided not to give as much as before-we should give more. We had been robbing God by not giving tithes and offerings to Him.

Prayerfully, we determined to: continue giving 10 percent of our gross income as the tithe; begin giv