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Ben Gates
Sep 4, 20234 min read
Some Thoughts on Social Media and Friendship
"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for...
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Ben Gates
Jul 30, 20235 min read
The Powerful Intimacy of Meeting Jesus
"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, King Agrippa, as I...
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Ben Gates
Jul 15, 20235 min read
Praying as Trouble Closes In
"Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see" --2 Kings 19:16 Perhaps you have had a moment or two in your life when...
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Ben Gates
Jun 24, 20237 min read
A God Who is Not Silent
"The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is...
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Ben Gates
May 27, 20234 min read
Don't Waste Your Sorrows
"Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." --Romans 5:3-4 This is Memorial Day weekend; this...
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Ben Gates
May 13, 20235 min read
A Mother's Day Tribute
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" --Proverbs 31:30 Well, I've not been a...
58 views1 comment
Ben Gates
Mar 28, 20235 min read
Will Animals be in Heaven?
"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little...
111 views3 comments
Ben Gates
Mar 11, 20234 min read
Growing in the Fruit of the Holy Spirit
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such...
85 views2 comments
Ben Gates
Mar 4, 20235 min read
What Should I Know about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit?
Pentecost Mosaic, Holger Schue, 1500. "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. All of these are the...
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Ben Gates
Feb 5, 20235 min read
What Does the Holy Spirit Do?
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and...
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Ben Gates
Jan 22, 20235 min read
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Dove of the Holy Spirit, circa 1660, stained glass, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Italy. And...
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Ben Gates
Dec 24, 20226 min read
One Last Wish at Christmas
Simeon in the Temple, Dutch artist Rembrandt, oil on canvas, c. 1669, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. Simeon took him in his arms and...
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Ben Gates
Dec 14, 20226 min read
A Disturbing Group of Star-Gazing Gift-Bearers
"The Adoration of the Magi," 1304-1306, Fresco painted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy. “After Jesus was born in...
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Ben Gates
Nov 27, 20224 min read
Jesus Moved into the Neighborhood
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the...
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Ben Gates
Oct 22, 20224 min read
The Song of the Mountains
The Mourne Mountains, Newry-Annalong, Northern Ireland--C.S. Lewis' inspiration for his fictional land of Narnia. (2018) “You will go...
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Ben Gates
Sep 25, 20225 min read
Hearing God on the Mountaintop
“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and...
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Ben Gates
Sep 19, 20225 min read
The Mount Carmel Showdown
“Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God,...
76 views1 comment
Ben Gates
Sep 3, 20226 min read
The Glory of Jesus, High and Lifted Up
“After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he...
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Ben Gates
Aug 25, 20225 min read
The Tragedy on Mount Gilboa
Beivushtang at the English-language Wikipedia “They cut off (Saul’s) head and stripped off his armor . . . They put his armor in the...
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Ben Gates
Aug 13, 20225 min read
The Value of Self-Doubt
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” --Exodus 3:11 I just did a...
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