Grace on Ice
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Grace on Ice

At this time last year, South Korea hosted the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. As host country Korea could field a hockey team for the first time. This took planning: in 2013 the National Korean Hockey Association started to recruit hockey players worldwide via Facebook, looking for Canadians who had Korean names.

Childlike prayer (III)
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Childlike prayer (III)

What is new for me about praying to God as Abba, our loving Father, is that as God’s adopted children we are free, even able to be frisky, in our thanksgiving, petitions, confession, vow, disappointments and praise, because the Holy Spirit as our defense lawyer and counselor will tie up the loose, unsanctified ends of our prayers (Rom. 8:26-27). Yes, childlike prayer is as serious as exorcism, but we children are not responsible for saving the world.

Childlike prayer (II)
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Childlike prayer (II)

God will give us a fish if we pray for a snake, because God always gives good things to God’s children, including the Holy Spirit! (Matt. 7:7-11, Luke 11:11-13). We can trust that the Lord will always answer childlike prayer with more than we ask for, because Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, you little flock [of children], because your Father is very pleased to give you the kingdom [of God]” (Luke 12:32).

Childlike prayer (I)
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Childlike prayer (I)

“Abba,” “Daddy,” is the actual setting for biblical prayer (Mark 14:36, Rom. 8:15). Praying grown-ups become like little children who want to become hugging close to God as our Father.

Meeting God: the relay race of generations
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Meeting God: the relay race of generations

The best place to meet God is in the biblical writings, because the Scriptures existentially embody God’s speaking to us. We humans need to capture that primal reality by exercising the oral character of the Bible. One needs to read the Bible out loud so you can hear God’s word spoken to you.

The bravery of the weak
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The bravery of the weak

A prison cell is 6 feet long
and hardly 6 feet wide.
The piece of ground awaiting me
is smaller still, outside.