Ephesians 4:24 NIV
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Real Talk – Globilization
Matthew 5:14-15 NIV
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
I named this website The Center City Christian because I went to a church in Allentown for seven years. And I’m riding on the bus through the city right now, appreciating how the code of the streets is just a little different. Like the encryption is unique—just on a smaller scale, like Little Apple to Big Apple. I see the old historic homes and wonder what they looked like in their heyday. That is what The Skilled Craftperson Project was originally based on—revitalization. But I also like it the way it is now—that was a different time meant for a different generation.
The scientific method of one element combined with mined iron ore, I am not certain of. But the chief industry in Pennsylvania was steel. Bethlehem Steel in the Lehigh Valley rivaled by Andrew Carnegie’s U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh (PA had it cornered). In the 1990’s, the Clinton Administration introduced globilization. The theory was simple—maximize profit margin by lowering manufacturing cost—outsourcing overseas. The backdoor (both literally and figuratively) that nobody saw coming was that the industry would stay overseas. And the United States would slowly become a consumer society.
I moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2003. I heard the worst of the city’s depression was in the late 1990’s (a few years earlier). I was also told the the economy began to exit in the 1980’s—perhaps a precursor to globilization. But the Lehigh Valley was my home then, and it feels like home once again. I attached some photos walking around Levitt Pavilion—a fun hangout spot to get a drink and watch a concert during the summer months—an attraction which was built around the strongest Bethlehem Steel buildings.
Gospel Swag – The Easton Assassin
I took up boxing in Los Angeles a few years ago. But I lived in the Lehigh Valley, PA for twenty years before that. I don’t think I knew about Larry Holmes, “The Easton Assassin” for the entire time. Maybe about ten of those years.
I’ve been back in the Lehigh Valley for a few months and had never seen this statue in Scott Park, known to the Eastonians as Larry Holmes Park. So I took some pictures of it. The sun broke through an overcast day right beforehand.
As the dedication points out, someone who won the World Title so many times, decided to come back to his hometown and make the difference in the community that he did.
I hope this blesses you today!
Gospel Swag – Moral Compass
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Real Talk – Eternity Writer
While I was in therapy with a Christian counselor for approximately two years, she told me not to spend time correcting old posts, but to add new ones.
Can you imagine if every decision you made was a win or lose “eternal decision”? Let me explain. An eternal decision is a decision that you make, either with or without thinking it all the way through entirely, that will last for the rest of your life.
Would life be worth living anymore? You may not feel that way after a while. A series of poor eternal decisions and you might look forward to spending eternal life with Jesus.
John 8:36 ESV
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Philemon, a beautiful letter written by fellow prisoner, Paul, on behalf of an escaped slave, Onesimus “Whom I wished to keep with me, that . . . he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.” (Philemon 1:13 NKJV)
Have you ever felt like you were a slave to something in your life? A recreational drug? Nicotine? A material possession? A phone, or apps? A slave to sin, perhaps?
The previous two verses, John 8:34, 35 NKJV read like this:
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
A question was posed in Real Talk – If the Son Sets You Free. A spirit of divination can put us into bondage in various ways (Acts 16: 16-18 NKJV). Maybe placing a meaning on numbers, beyond numerical value. But John 8:36 declares freedom over divination.
Why is divination a sin? Because our God is a jealous God. He loves us so much, he desires us not to worship other gods (Exodus 31:7, 8).
Interesting fact: The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel that is centered around Jesus’ power over demons. It was written by John Mark, Barnabas’ cousin, who was Paul’s first missionary journey companion. John Mark abandoned the first missionary journey after only a short while, which caused Paul to feel he was unreliable. Leading to friction between Paul and Barnabas, and Paul looking for a new missionary journey compadre, Silas. Paul and John Mark reconciled years later.
Just saying . . . .
If every decision you ever made was an eternal decision, wouldn’t you like to know that if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you would find refuge (Colossians 3:3) in Christ?
Is there freedom in Christ? The Bible says that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV) What is the baseline for God’s truth—that the sun will rise at dawn and set at dusk (Genesis 1:1-5). There is freedom in Christ.
Gospel Swag – The Spaceship
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Real Talk – God, Country, Home, School
An ode to prose.
In 1995, my family moved back to Naperville from Lawrenceville. The adjustment was gigantic. My class at St. Ann’s in Lawrenceville consisted of maybe 12 or 13 kids. And I was about to start school with 4,000 other high schoolers. I became lost—emotionally.
I came extremely close to dropping out. So on the second day of the second semester of my sophomore year, my father yanked me by the collar at the front door an brought me upstairs to my parent’s room. A military duffle bag was on the floor, somewhat out of sight, which consisted of my SOP. And so we drove from Naperville to Boonville in central Missouri. It took 6 hours with minimal conversation between the two of us.
When we arrived at Kemper Military School, it was time to say goodbye, and he looked sad. I received a crash course on marching into the Mess Hall and ate my first meal at my new school. And for the rest of my sophomore year and summer school, I was a New Boy. New Boys lived servant lives in the barracks.
If I had no Standard of Honor violations, as a New Boy, I would become eligible to sign the Standard of Honor. The Standard of Honor was simple; it states: I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate thereof. And in return, I would receive a Greek cross, with the letters “GCHS” on each corner of the cross, from top to bottom, left to right; representing “God, Country, Home, School.”
After I was crossed by every Old Boy, I would receive my privileges—being “blood-crossed” by many would earn them—pinning your cross to the white T-shirt of your Class B uniform without the backing, where it meets the palm of an older Old Boy’s hand. Privileges certainly made student life easier, and Kemper slowly became my home.
Did I violate the Standard of Honor? Of course I did; I was a high school student. When I was a senior in a leadership position, I was susceptible to immature leadership, and could dish out the same hazing I had received as a sophomore. And I did some terrible things. But under the new covenant, I repented of my sins before the Cross and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. And I became found—spiritually.
As a result of Kemper Military School and the Standard of Honor, I am allergic to lying. I try to be a person of integrity that fights to uphold the truth. Jesus spoke of the devil saying, “he does not stand in the truth, because there is not truth in him.” (John 8:44 ESV) He also said “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31, 32 ESV)
Image by Dino Reichmuth via Freely Photos
Gospel Swag – Wilderness Crew
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Real Talk – Word on the Streets
The word on the streets is the weight of the world.
Malice vs. forgiveness. Below is a comparison between Old and New Testament themes—Deuteronomy 19:21 vs. Matthew 5:38, 39 and Leviticus 24:20 vs. Matthew 7:1-5. And closing is Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees on the greatest commandments of all—Matthew 22:37-40.
Deuteronomy 19:21 NKJV
21 “Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Vs.:
Matthew 5:38, 39 NKJV
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also.
And:
Leviticus 24:20 NKJV
20 ‘Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.
Vs.:
Matthew 7:1-5 NKJV
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 “For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Closing:
Matthew 22: 37-40 NKJV
37 Jesus said to him, ‘”You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Gospel Swag – You Riding?
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