briandedmon.blogspot.com
Woodridge Students Blog: Beatitudes: The Pure
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2016/10/beatitudes-pure.html
Wednesday, October 5, 2016. Continuing His recipe for blessedness, Jesus speaks these words: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Verse 7 stood out from previous verses because each were structured like verse 8: blessing = action result. Once again, we see that structure. Blessing = pure hearts seeing God. But what is a pure heart? Why do we use that terminology? More importantly, why did Jesus? What is the difference, then, between a pure heart and a moral life? The Bible gives us a n...
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Woodridge Students Blog: March 2015
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2015_03_01_archive.html
Wednesday, March 18, 2015. There's one trait that most convicted serial killers have in common: to most people who knew them they were perfectly normal. Their friends and neighbors had no idea that sinis. I am not accusing anyone of burying bodies in their backyard, but we do fake it so that no one knows how messed up we really are. There are things in our life that we say, "If anyone knew about this it would ruin me." We all sin and we all have secrets, but is hiding the best place for us to be? The bad...
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Woodridge Students Blog: April 2015
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2015_04_01_archive.html
Wednesday, April 8, 2015. At the Movies: Wreck-It-Ralph. Is the story of Ralph, the villain from the video game "Fix-It-Felix", who decides that he no longer wants to be the bad guy. After adventuring through the vast universe of the video game world trying to prove his worth by earning a medal, Ralph discovers that his worth is defined not by what he does but how he does it. (View the movie trailer here. We Are Not Defined By Our Circumstances. Is our fate determined by our surroundings? God knows our h...
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Woodridge Students Blog: December 2014
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2014_12_01_archive.html
Wednesday, December 10, 2014. Tonight we will begin our night by reading the children's book Everyone Poops. This may seem a little out of sorts, but follow me on this. This book serves to illustrate to children who are potty-training that everyone, and every living thing, poops - which is true. The book describes types of poop, where different animals, and people poop, and presents the act of defecation as perfectly normal. I'm sure you're asking, "Brian, where are you going with this? All people make d...
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Woodridge Students Blog: Obscure Characters: Naaman
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2017/01/obscure-characters-naaman.html
Wednesday, January 11, 2017. There are many "characters" in the Bible that are very well known. Jesus, of course, is known across the world, as well as Abraham and Moses. Other characters may not have the same renown but are part of our collective consciousness like David, Paul, Samson, Delilah, and the Disciples: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Thomas, and. Bartholomew? Did you know there was a disciple named Bartholomew? Take a few moments to read 2 Kings 5:1-19. You never known when you sharing your...
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Woodridge Students Blog: January 2015
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html
Wednesday, January 28, 2015. God is my BFF. My relationship with my parents, over the years, matured from a parent/son relationship to a friendship - and I love it that way. God is our provider. God is our comforter. God is for us. This message has been imprinted in our minds thanks to Christ Tomlin who quoted Romans 8:31 when he wrote the lyric "And if our God is for us than who could ever stop us? I always knew that no matter what I did, my parents had my back and would defend me. God is our defend...
briandedmon.blogspot.com
Woodridge Students Blog: October 2016
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2016_10_01_archive.html
Wednesday, October 5, 2016. Continuing His recipe for blessedness, Jesus speaks these words: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Verse 7 stood out from previous verses because each were structured like verse 8: blessing = action result. Once again, we see that structure. Blessing = pure hearts seeing God. But what is a pure heart? Why do we use that terminology? More importantly, why did Jesus? What is the difference, then, between a pure heart and a moral life? The Bible gives us a n...
briandedmon.blogspot.com
Woodridge Students Blog: November 2016
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2016_11_01_archive.html
Wednesday, November 30, 2016. Tolerance: A Necessary Conversation. Traditional definition: recognizing and respecting others when you do not share their beliefs, convictions, values, or practices. New age definition: recognizing and respecting all views as being equal. The contradiction between these two cultural definitions is evident: one is tolerant, the other is not. But which is the culprit of being contradictory and how? Let's explore through some recent happenings in our national news media. Last ...
briandedmon.blogspot.com
Woodridge Students Blog: Beatitudes: The Merciful
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2016/09/beatitudes-merciful.html
Wednesday, September 28, 2016. Those who are merciful are blessed, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7. As we continue to follow Jesus' road map to blessedness, we come across this verse that uses the word "mercy" both as the duty and as the reward. Have you ever experienced someone who is unmerciful? You mad, bro? These are some pretty harsh words from David! He essentially wishes death and devastation on this man and his family. Why is that ok to do? There are several kinds of mercy, or ways tha...
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Woodridge Students Blog: June 2015
http://briandedmon.blogspot.com/2015_06_01_archive.html
Sunday, June 14, 2015. A Pure Life In Relationships. Moreover, are we even dating for the right reasons? Trying to balance a pure life with belong "in love" brings a slew of challenges including excitement, lust, and other hormone-related feelings that make us do wacky, unexpected things. So where do we start? We have to ask ourselves this question: Why do we date? The most common question amongst Christian teens in dating relationships is "How far is too far? Why do you want to be in a relationship?
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT