Category Archives: ‘CHOP Talk’ Blog

• Beseeching God

  Posted on August 18, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city […]

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• On Our Radar

  Posted on August 4, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    “Great Ceasar’s ghost!” That was one of my grandfather’s favorite expressions.  Most of us have certain pet phrases and ways of saying things that others recognize in our discourse. One friend of mine in campus ministry frequently used an expression to describe responsibilities or intent.  He would say, “It’s on my radar.”  In other […]

  Post Tagged with evangelism, Great Commission, neighbors, prayer, radar
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• Prayer Log

  Posted on July 21, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    I was a bit dispirited. I had just met with a couple from my congregation who told me they were looking elsewhere for a church. One of their grievances was that I talked and preached too much about prayer. I thought about that. Was I harping on prayer? In our conversation the couple had […]

  Post Tagged with faithfulness in prayer, pastor, prayer, servant
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• Justification and Sanctification at the Table

  Posted on July 7, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you […]

  Post Tagged with confession, justification, obedience, repentance, sanctification, sin
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• When God Answers Prayer the Wrong Way

  Posted on June 23, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    God’s answers to prayer don’t always follow our expectations. David, king of ancient Israel, was reaping the fruit of his sin. God had told him after his adultery with Bathsheba that, although his sins would be forgiven, his household would never be the same. Sure enough rape and murder and strife descended upon his […]

  Post Tagged with Absalom, Ahithophel, David, expectations, prayer
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• Suspect Submission

  Posted on June 16, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    The year was about 586 B. C.  Jerusalem had been taken, the walls torn down, the temple destroyed, the people taken captive and deported. Because of Judah’s unfaithfulness to the covenant, Yahweh had given them into the hands of the Babylonians. Jeremiah, the prophet of Yahweh, had been allowed to stay in the land.  […]

  Post Tagged with honor, Jeremiah, obedience, prayer, submission, trust, Word of God
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• The “Cause” of the Cross

  Posted on June 9, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    I read a devotional recently that spoke of a young boy taken by his mother to church.  At the front of the church hung a cross on which was nailed a man.  The boy asked his mother who that was.  When told it was Jesus, the Son of God, the boy asked his mother […]

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• Ask and You Will Receive – the Holy Spirit!

  Posted on June 2, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    “…how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13) What would God’s answer to this prayer look like?  What do we miss out on from neglect of asking for the Holy Spirit from our Heavenly Father? This invitation to ask for the Holy Spirit concludes […]

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• God’s Answer to Today’s Depravity

  Posted on May 26, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    Nowadays people wear their depravity on their sleeves.  Jeremiah said of the sin of the people of ancient Israel that they no longer “knew how to blush.”  Acts once thought abhorrent became accepted and commonplace.  There was no shame.  History repeats itself. Not only do people today wear their depravity on their sleeves, it’s […]

  Post Tagged with depravity, gospel, religious conformity, shame, social stigma
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• Prodigal Giving

  Posted on May 19, 2014 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.

    We all know how much we like solicitations.  Whether by phone or by mail, the defenses go up when we realize someone is reaching for our wallet. We can react like that to sermons on financial giving.  But why is that?  Do we treat them as solicitations from God?  If we do, what does that say about our […]

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