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Learning to Dance at the Altar - The Man Who Taught Me to Preach

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  Over my life there have been only a handful of sermons that I remember almost word for word. One of them was preached at a funeral. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Rocky Mount was overflowing. Every pew was filled. People lined the outer walls, and many stood quietly in the back of the church. We had gathered to mourn the death of a young man named Kevin. There was every reason to be overcome with grief. Morning light poured through the stained-glass windows, filling the church with color. The only sounds were the muffled sobs of grieving family members and friends. Then Fr. Javan Saxon stepped into the pulpit. Something remarkable happened. He reminded us that death does not have the final word. The hope of every Christian rests in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His victory over death. That day, that message of hope came through a powerful preacher standing before us. Fr. Saxon was a large man with a commanding voice, yet as he preached, tears streamed down h...
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Changing Trains - What Jesus Meant by "Repent"

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  Walking Through the Gospel of Mark • Part 4 As you walk into the train station in my hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, you see two sets of railroad tracks. One carries trains north. The other carries trains south. If you arrive on a southbound train, step off, and then board a northbound train, you have done more than simply change trains—you have completely changed your direction. That simple picture captures the very heart of what Jesus means when He calls us to  repent . Repentance is more than feeling sorry for our sins. It is a change of direction. It is a change of heart and mind that leads us away from ourselves and toward God. We leave one way of living behind in order to begin another. Jesus makes this even clearer in His call to His first disciples: "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." (Mark 1:17) Notice that Jesus does not simply invite them to believe certain truths about Him. He calls them to follow Him. To leave their boats. To leave t...
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Power: Two Presidents, Two Kings, and One Cross

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This weekend our nation celebrates Independence Day. It is an appropriate time to reflect on a subject that has shaped not only the history of our country but the history of humanity itself— power . In the Gospel for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Matthew 9:1–8), Jesus heals a paralytic. At first glance, the miracle appears to be the center of the story. Yet Matthew concludes with an observation that deserves our attention: "Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men." (Matthew 9:8) Power. Authority. Influence. These are words that have fascinated mankind from the very beginning. Power is often defined as the ability to act, to produce an effect, or to exercise authority over others. It can be used to build, to protect, to heal—or to dominate and destroy. History is filled with examples of both. The first temptation in Scripture was, in many ways, a temptation of power. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent promised Adam a...
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The Verdict – Onscreen Transformation

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  I have always enjoyed watching older movies. Perhaps it is because many of them were willing to take their time, allowing characters to grow and stories to unfold. One of my favorites is  The Verdict . Released in 1982, it stars Paul Newman in what many critics consider the finest performance of his career. Newman plays Frank Galvin, an alcoholic lawyer in Boston whose life has fallen apart. Once a promising attorney, he has become little more than an ambulance chaser, visiting funeral homes in search of easy cases that can be settled out of court for a quick payday. His addiction to alcohol and his love of money have slowly become the center around which his life revolves. A friend brings Frank a medical malpractice case involving a young woman named Deborah Ann Kaye. Admitted to the hospital to give birth, she was given the wrong anesthetic and left in a permanent coma. The lawsuit is against two prominent doctors, the hospital, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, whic...
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What Does It Really Mean to Put Christ First

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One of the most challenging statements Jesus ever made is found in the Gospel of Matthew: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me... Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  (Matthew 10:37-39) At first glance, these words can sound almost shocking. Is Jesus telling us to love our families less? Certainly not. Throughout Scripture we are commanded to honor our father and mother, to love our spouse, and to care for our children. What Christ is teaching is something much deeper:  God must always come first. When we love God above everything else, every other relationship finds its proper place. But when anything—even something good—takes the place that belongs to God alone, our lives begin to lose their proper order. This has been humanity's struggle from the very beginning. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect communi...
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The Kingdom of God Is at Hand

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Just what is a kingdom? For those of us living in the modern world, this can be a difficult question to answer. When we hear the word  kingdom , we often picture kings and queens dressed in beautiful robes, wearing crowns of gold. We imagine grand processions through crowded streets or medieval castles filled with knights and servants. But is this what Jesus means when He proclaims, "The kingdom of God is at hand"? The short answer is no. So what does Jesus mean? More importantly, what does His kingdom have to do with our lives today? How does the Kingdom of God become present in our hearts? A good place to begin is with another promise from the Old Testament. In the seventh chapter of Second Samuel, the Lord speaks to King David: "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you... and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." (2 Samuel 7:12-13) One thing should immediately stand out: this is somet...
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The Time Is Fulfilled

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Time is an important thing in all our lives. Many of us feel as if we never have enough of it. We rush from one task to another, trying to catch up, only to discover that time keeps moving forward whether we are ready or not. The famous Pink Floyd song  Time  captures this struggle: "And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking  racing around to come up behind you again..."    The song expresses something deeply human. Time seems to move faster as we grow older. The years pass quickly, plans remain unfinished, and we wonder where the time has gone. Yet Scripture offers a different perspective. The Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1) The biblical view of time is not one of randomness or chaos. Time unfolds according to God's purpose. There is a season for every event and a moment appointed by God for every work He intends to accomplish. At th...
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