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Showing posts from September, 2025

At the End of Strength (1 Kings 19:1-18)

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by Bart Denny There are moments in life when failure isn’t the hardest thing. Sometimes, the hardest thing is the exhaustion that comes after doing the right thing. After you showed up. After you prayed. After you stayed faithful longer than anyone ever noticed. You didn’t quit. You didn’t walk away from God. You just ran out of strength. That experience can be deeply confusing for people of faith. We know what to do when we sin. Scripture is clear about confession, repentance, and renewed obedience (1 John 1:7–9). But what do we do when we’ve obeyed God, and yet we find ourselves worn down, discouraged, and empty? That question sits at the heart of 1 Kings 19, and it’s why this passage matters so much. Elijah’s Collapse Comes After Victory The story of 1 Kings 19 only makes sense when we remember what has just happened in 1 Kings 18. On Mount Carmel, Elijah stands alone against 450 prophets of Baal. God answers Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven (1 Kings 18:36–38). The people fall ...
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When Civility Fails: A Pastor’s Response to Violence, Rage, and the Hard Work of Truth

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  by Bart L. Denny, Ph.D. Introduction — Why I must speak I have been reflecting on recent events in our nation and wrestling with how best to speak into them. As a follower of Jesus Christ and as a pastor, I believe my calling is to shed more light than heat in times of turmoil, and to offer the seasoning of grace in a culture that often tastes bitter. This will not be an exercise in soft-peddling. It will be frank, pastoral, and, where necessary, unflinching. Somewhere, this post will fail to address a consideration that it might have spoken to. I own it, saying in my defense only that space prevents my discussing everything that might be said on a subject and my views on it. Yet undoubtedly, this will cover more ground than most newspaper op-ed articles. Some readers may focus on one thing I say in the post without taking the entirety of what I said here in context. I pray you won't. But I resign myself to the likelihood some will. What I saw this past week I saw a young...
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