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    <title>Truth Encounter: Romans Series</title>
    <link>http://www.truthencounter.com/#!romans/c6s6</link>
    <description>How can we be sure everything will be alright when we die?  Written 23 years after crucifixion of Jesus, the book of Romans has provided the most influential answers in Christian history about our ultimate destiny.</description>
    <language>en</language>
    <copyright>2014</copyright>
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      <title>Truth Encounter: Romans Series</title>
      <link>http://www.truthencounter.com/#!romans/c6s6</link>
      <url>http://rsste.s3.amazonaws.com/images/romans144.png</url>
      <width>144</width>
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      <title>God’s Good News (Romans 1:1-7)</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:08:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[These days everyone feels that things will work out on the other side. The materialists believes there is nothing after death, but the vast majority of people I meet think that things will work out okay for them when death strikes. After all, they are as good as the next person. But the Book of Romans stands strongly against this blasé view of eternity. ]]></description>
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      <title>Power for Salvation (Romans 1:8-17)</title>
      <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:12:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[There's power in a reputation. It takes years of concrete actions to build up a good reputation and it can be destroyed in a few minutes of craziness. What do our daily actions this week have to do with the reputation of Jesus Christ? Dave Wyrtzen begins our study in Romans chapter 1 today with some business mottos. See if what you think about the ratio of image and reality in these companies, then your church, and then your life. ]]></description>
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      <title>The Horror of Suppressing the Truth (Romans 1:18-32)</title>
      <pubDate>Thu, 2 Aug 2007 12:04:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[If you suppress the truth about God and flagrantly worship false gods and live for degrading, destructive passions, what will the just holy God do about it? Our society says, “I’m okay, you’re okay!” How does God weigh in on this question?]]></description>
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      <title>Hypocrites in the Hands of an Angry God (Romans 2:1-16)</title>
      <pubDate>Fri, 3 Aug 2007 03:07:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Will God judge fairly at the final judgment? Will those who judge others and do the same destructive things duck by? Paul declares that God’s judgment will be totally fair and just. The person who persists in doing good, who seeks God’s glory, and honor will achieve immortality and life, and the individual who lives for himself, rejects the truth, and lives for evil will face God’s eternal judgment. God shows absolutely no favoritism. So how do you think you will do when God judges the secrets of each of our hearts based upon His moral standards?]]></description>
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      <title>Radical Heart Surgery (Romans 2: 1-29)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 5 Aug 2007 17:09:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Heart disease, like the Stealth Bomber, flies in to destroy under the radar. Physical heart disease can shorten this present life, but spiritual heart disease can cause us to lose our life forever. This is the stealth disease the Apostle Paul tries to expose in Romans 2:17ff. He was Jewish and he exposes the deadly, blinding pride that religious arrogance can bring into the lives of those who take pride in exposing the sins of others but never allow a spiritual arteriogram to expose the clogs in their own heart system.]]></description>
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      <title>Total Depravity--The Most Politically Incorrect Revelation in the Bible (Romans 3:1-20)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 6 Aug 2007 08:12:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[From Imus' vocal violence on the Beltway to Cho Seung-Hui real shots in Blacksburg, VA our entire culture again grapples with the thorny question--how do basically good human beings do such hurtful, violent things to one another.  In a by-gone era the word "sin" would have been raised, and the idea of our basic goodness would have been called into question. Now we are enlightened, and we talk instead about crudeness and context, isolation, and mental illness.  I believe it's time to open the pages of the book that shaped our culture more than any other and think again about total depravity—that’s what the dusty old theologians used to called it. It’s the most politically incorrect doctrine in the bible, but after a week where we mourn 32 victims of raging, murderous violence, its time to turn to Romans 3 and think again about what goes on deep inside the human heart.]]></description>
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      <title>The Gift--Not Guilty (Romans 3:9-31)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 6 Aug 2007 23:03:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Jews do have an advantage when it comes to possessing the revelation of the true God in His Word, their Old Testament Scriptures. This does not mean that they will be excluded from God’s judgment against sin because they had the book that defined what sin is. Neither will Gentiles.  In His spiritual MRI, the Great Physician gives a tough diagnosis. If we are all terminally ill spiritually and religious moral principles and practices can’t cure us, what can?  This is the question the Apostle Paul finally answers in this section as we continue our study in Romans 3. ]]></description>
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      <title>Faith's Father (Romans 4:1-11)</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 8 Aug 2007 02:06:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[From Little League Trophies to a cruise in the Caribbean for winning a sales contest in your company most of us understand the thrill and the pride of standing before a reward stand and winning. There is a legitimate pride of accomplishment and the sweet satisfaction of a well-earned reward for hard work, but did you know that when you stand before God, this is one judgment where all your hard work will not get you across the threshold of heaven? Abraham is viewed as the father of both Jews and Arabs, but few understand how you actually do become a son or daughter of Abraham. ]]></description>
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      <title>True Credit Forever (Romans 4:13-25)</title>
      <pubDate>Thu, 9 Aug 2007 18:10:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Ever feel like you're drowning in credit card debt and there’s no way you will ever get things in the black? The good news is that you can pull yourself out of the credit card blues. The bad news is that you have a worse debt and the advice you get from many experts about how to make these payments is dead wrong.

In Romans 4:13-25 a Jewish rabbi tells us how to get in the clear with God, and his advice goes totally against the advice of the major religions, including Judaism and Islam, and major parts of Christianity. ]]></description>
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      <title>Peace with God (Romans 5:1-11)</title>
      <pubDate>Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:01:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Hamas gunmen stormed the Fatah strongholds in Gaza last week dragging men into the street and gunning them down. On June 13th Sunni extremists with links to Al Qaeda finished their destruction of the twin golden minarets of the al-Askari mosque in Samara, Iraq’s most revered Shiite shrine, and right here in Texas two little babies were murdered. Is there a battle ground more hopeless than Gaza, Iraq, or the streets of Dallas, and is there any hope for peace? Turn to Romans 5:1-11 and listen for some answers in our study titled Peace with God. ]]></description>
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      <title>Breaking the Reign of Terror (Romans 5:12-21)</title>
      <pubDate>Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:04:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Damien Hirst, the bad boy of English art, released his latest work of art early in June-- a platinum skull imbedded with 8, 601 diamonds. The skull is worth $98 million and wears a big grin of real teeth, but is death a joke, a friend we can smile at? The Apostle Paul in Romans 5:12-21 has a far different response to the fact of death. He tells us its origin and he gives us a promise that can give us hope because diamonds don't last forever.]]></description>
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      <title>True Body Language (Romans 6:1-14)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2007 16:08:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Americans are obsessed with their bodies. We starve them, have surgeon artists cut on them, and rub youth producing oil on them seeking to conquer the wrinkles. It's assumed that our bodies belong to us; therefore, we can feel free to use them as we see fit. But suppose that this is a crock—that our bodies don't actually belong to us? 

In Romans 6:1-14 the Apostle Paul confronts believers in Jesus. If you believe He died and rose again to forgive your sin, then you are to use each part of your body as an instrument that plays God's song instead of sin's song. What does your body say to others about your life commitments?]]></description>
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      <title>Whose Slave Are You? (Romans 6:15-23)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:11:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Airlines sell tickets by challenging us to Celebrate Our Freedom by jetting around the country, but what happens when we feel free to celebrate our passions without restraint? You probably won't buy it, but true freedom is found in making a decision to become totally enslaved. Check out Romans 6:15-25 as we let the Apostle Paul ask us, "Whose slave are you? 
]]></description>
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      <title>A Second Marriage That Lives (Romans 7:1-14)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:03:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Do you find yourself in a second marriage? Because of death or divorce millions do. Often you feel pressure from step children or from friends, and even at church you can feel like you have not lived up to God's ideal. Take heart! In a sense the Lord wants all of us to be in a second marriage. Check out Romans 7 where Paul talks to us about A Second Marriage That LIves. 
]]></description>
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      <title>The Deadly Command (Romans 7:14ff)</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:07:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Do you ever feel that you are in an internal wrestling match with sin and sin is winning? Now there are some super spiritual believers who present an image that they have moved beyond this struggle with the evil inside, but the Apostle Paul is not one of them. Want some authentic revelation about how to really change your behavior? Open your New Testament to Romans 7 and let's pick up the discussion at verse 14. 
]]></description>
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      <title>The Spirit, the Law, and the Children of God (Romans 8:1-17)</title>
      <pubDate>Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:11:00 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA["Condemned to death!" These are the most fatal words that a criminal can ever hear. Can we be sure that we will never hear these words from the divine Judge of the Universe? Men like Martin Luther broke down when faced with the horror of this question. Post modern men and women smile and say, "Such childishness!" Paul's letter to the Romans doesn't think this question about condemnation before God is childish, but the Apostle doesn't just scream condemnation at us. In fact declares, "There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." Does a dark spirit of condemnation ever assault your heart? I want the Spirit of life to set you free from this law of sin and death and Romans 8:1ff is a certain cure. Listen to the beginning of one of the most comforting sections in Romans--chapter 8.]]></description>
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      <title>From Groaning to Glory (Romans 8:18-27)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:34:19 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Americans are obsessed with working out, yet they have never been fatter. Al Gore has made the environment a top news story, yet plastic bags and other trash continue to choke our planet. Christians often get attacked for heath and environmental problems, yet maybe Jesus is the only one who can help you face the reality that both your body and your planet will run out of gas. Jesus, alone, can deliver on a promise of energy and life that will last forever. Check out Romans 8:26-27 if you want to overcome the groaning of both your planet and your body. ]]></description>
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      <title>Bonded to God's Love (Romans 8:28-39)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 2 Sep 2007 18:16:46 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Floods in Texas, as well as other parts of the U.S., have taken lives this summer. One of the most tragic was a mom who had her little child ripped out of her arms by the deadly current. Are there deadly currents that can rip us from the arms of God in the floods of this life? The Apostle Paul answers this question in Romans 8:28ff as he speaks to us about the unbreakable bonds of God's love expressed in Christ Jesus. ]]></description>
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      <title>The Jewish Messiah? Not Jesus? (Romans 9:1-18)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:09:49 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA["Moses is for Jews and Jesus is for Gentiles." It's a commonly accepted fact of religious life in today's pop culture, but the truth is that neither Moses nor Jesus would ever put up with such a lie! In Romans 9-11 the Apostle Paul deals with a pressing question, If Jesus was the King of the Jews, why didn't Israel accept Him? For many Jews today "Jews for Jesus" is an oxymoron. Why would Paul disagree and why should you? ]]></description>
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      <title>Mercy Me (Romans 9:6-18)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 7 Oct 2007 14:40:52 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Already the promises are flowing from all the candidates running for office. The big question I have has to do with security. Can President Bush promise us that the United States will not be struck by another terrorist attack? In fact can any political leader provide us this kind of security? Here's a far more serious security question—Can God promise us eternal salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, and is it certain? For the answer listen to what Paul has to say in Romans 9:6-18 in a message we have titled "Mercy Me!"]]></description>
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      <title>Clay in the Potter's Hand (Romans 9:19-32)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:18:33 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Have you ever seen a skilled potter shaping a vase? Now animate that picture. Suddenly, the clay jumps off the wheel and declares to the potter, "You don't exist!” or “You're an idiot. I'd rather do it my way!" Sound ridiculous? It’s what a lot of us do with our Creator. Romans 9:19-32 declares that with all of our strutting and fist raising, we are, after all, just clay in the Potter's hands. The question is, “Do we respond to His merciful touch or have to be trashed because of hardened resistance?” ]]></description>
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      <title>Closer than a Hearbeat (Romans 10:1-15)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 2007 13:22:03 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Have you ever been driving on a road totally convinced that you were headed to a certain destination and then discovered, you were wrong? Sincerity and fervency is not enough when it comes to driving from New York to Washington. If you head north you'll be in Montreal, not D.C. We all know this when it comes to directions. Why do we think we can take any road to heaven as long as we are sincere and fervent? This is the question the Apostle Paul discusses in Romans 10:1-15 in a message we have titled "Closer than a Heart Beat."]]></description>
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      <title>Outstretched Arms (Romans 10:16-11:10)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 28 Oct 2007 17:13:29 -0400</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[When you stretch out your hands to your eight-year-old, their usual response is to thrust their hands out to you so that you can grab them up into a big hug. Imagine a situation when instead of responding, your child obstinately turned away. That would hurt and amazingly that's what some of God's children do as He stretches out His arms toward them. You need to carefully read Romans 10:16-11:10.
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      <title>Jews in Love with Jesus (Romans 11:11-32)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:52:29 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[A Christian believes in Jesus. Jews do not. But as we open up Paul’s 1st Century letter to the Romans, he tells us about a future time when the majority of Jews will believe in Jesus and about the need in the present to try to turn as many Gentiles and Jews as we can toward Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. Paul actually claims that he tries to bring as many Gentiles as he can to Jesus with the hope that he might arouse jealousy in the hearts of his own Jewish people. Can there be such a thing as redeeming jealousy? ]]></description>
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      <title>Glory (Romans 11:33-36)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:46:23 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Mention theology and it brings to mind professor types arguing over how many angels can stand on a needle point. Actually, true theology is more awe-inspiring than 50, 000 foot thunder heads leading a powerful charge into Texas from Oklahoma, and as Paul catches a glimpse of God's amazing mercy revealed in Jesus toward both Jews and Gentiles, all he can do is shout, Glory! It's time to get down on our knees with Paul as we listen to his conclusion in Romans 11:33ff. It's the close to the theology section of Romans, but it's hardly a yawner.]]></description>
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      <title>A Living Sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 2 Dec 2007 13:41:03 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[In the TV ad the self-reliant, gorgeous woman finally buys herself the gift that she deserves--a brand new Cadillac. During this Christmas season, we will be challenged again and again to indulge ourselves, but deep inside we know that somehow this is exhortation to self indulgence doesn't ring true. In Romans 12:1-2 the Apostle Paul urges us to remember God's mercy and then find life by doing the opposite of indulging self. Have you ever considered becoming a living sacrifice? 
]]></description>
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      <title>Gifts of Grace (Romans 12:3-8)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 9 Dec 2007 14:00:13 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[Christmas Gifts…unless you’re Scrooge, I pray that all the driving, sizing, debating, searching, and returning, and finally giving don’t smother your Christmas cheer. After all, we do all this not just to make sure that our friends in retail can make salaries for the year, we do it to get in the spirit of our Father who gave His most precious gift on the first Christmas. Did you know that God is still into gift giving? If you have entered into the faith that Paul has been telling us about in Romans, then you, too, have received a gift package. Do you know what is in your package? ]]></description>
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      <title>Overcoming Evil With Good (Romans 12:9-21)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 6 Jan 2008 14:23:31 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[This present world is full of feigned love, jokes about sex, and biting disrespect for all in authority. It’s 2008 and the world hasn’t changed, but have we? What does it look like for a believer in Christ to live as a living sacrifice? What concrete actions result when believers are renewed in their core values by the Holy Spirit? The Apostle Paul’s exhortations in Romans 12:9-21 make a great New Year’s resolution list, but it will take the power of the Spirit every second for us to start to react and live with these Christ-like characteristics.]]></description>
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      <title>The Government Official—God’s Servant from Law Enforcement to Taxes (Romans 13:1-7)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:55:07 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[There are many reasons why we disobey the Law of the Land—“The speed limit was designed for power cars like mine!” “The politicians are only a bunch of liars. What right to they have to legislate my life.” “I don't need to report that income I received in cash. They will never know and they only abuse the money they do receive.” We live in a lawless society, but if you submit to Jesus, what does He tell you about obedience to the governing authorities?]]></description>
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      <title>An Unpayable Debt (Romans 13:8-10)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:51:33 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[There are many reasons why we disobey the Law of the Land—“The speed limit was designed for power cars like mine!” “The politicians are only a bunch of liars. What right to they have to legislate my life.” “I don't need to report that income I received in cash. They will never know and they only abuse the money they do receive.” We live in a lawless society, but if you submit to Jesus, what does He tell you about obedience to the governing authorities?]]></description>
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      <title>Christ’s Return-A Second Away (Romans 13:11-14)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:57:24 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA["Did you know that Baghdad has the largest international embassy complex in the world and that there are already ten major Islamic nations united to make their mark on the stage of power politics?" My friend was breathless with excitement. Could the coming of Christ be near?

Then in my Bible reading I turned to Romans 13 and discovered that the Apostle Paul thought the end was near in AD 57. Was he wrong to think so? Is my friend wrong to get excited about Christ's soon return today? And perhaps the more pressing question is --How should we prepare for Christ's return? Turn to Romans 13:11, read it for yourself, and then join Dave as he applies Paul's words to the Roman believers to our 2008 lives.]]></description>
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      <title>Food Fights and Jesus (Romans 14:1-14)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 3 Feb 2008 17:06:54 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA[What are the triggers that ignite fights, disunity, and then fracturing in a local church? To drink or not to drink? Hymnals or projected contemporary praise? Coats and ties or jeans and open shirts? African-American Soul and Tony Evans type oratory or Bach fugues and Max Lucado’s quiet story telling? Each of you could add to this list and you could also color in anecdotes of how church fights have divided friends, families, and wounded delicate new believers. The Apostle Paul knew the power of food fights in the church and the debates over when and when not to worship. In Romans 14:1-12 he took on this challenge. ]]></description>
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      <title>My Rights vs Stumbling Blocks (Romans 14:13-23)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:44:20 -0500</pubDate>
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      <description><![CDATA["I've got my rights!" "Why should his conscience dictate my behavior?" "Didn't Christ call us to be free?" The strong believer stands on solid ground. Jesus did declare all foods clean; thus destroying the legalistic system of the religious rigorists of His day who tried to conquer evil on the inside with rules on the outside. Does all this freedom mean that grace causes us to forget about the conscience issues of a more delicate believer? In a culture that worships personal rights does Christ call us to be willing to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of another? Romans 14:12ff gives us not my answer but the Apostle Paul's strong advice to arrogant believers who think they only have to worry about themselves.]]></description>
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      <title>Keeping the Promises (Romans 15: 1-13)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:08:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <enclosure url="http://s3.amazonaws.com/mp3serieste/romans/ro34_promises.mp3" length="19112020" type="audio/mpeg" />
      <description><![CDATA[It’s one thing to be excluded from a pick up basketball game. It’s another to be excluded when you come to church. Tragically, Sunday morning groups of believers can become one of the hardest games in town to crack. In the 1st Century Roman believers still keeping the Jewish law condemned those who didn’t, and the “liberated” distained the “legalists.” Why not simply divide the Church into a Jewish service where they played Jewish music and ate kosher and a Gentile service where they sang Roman praise songs to Jesus and ate ham? Why should believers in Christ welcome each other as family? The Apostle Paul in Romans 15:8-13 did not solve the problem of disunity by creating two homogeneous groups. Instead, he challenged them to think deeply about their true unity factor.]]></description>
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      <title>Aid Programs from Heaven (Romans 15:14-33)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 9 Mar 2008 14:38:10 -0400</pubDate>
      <enclosure url="http://s3.amazonaws.com/mp3serieste/romans/ro35_aid.mp3" length="19600196" type="audio/mpeg" />
      <description><![CDATA[For two chapters, Romans 14 and 15, the Apostle Paul struggled to get believing Jews and Gentiles to unite as brothers and sisters.But Paul doesn’t just talk about the uniting power of Christ’s blood, he lives it. In his conclusion of chapter 15 in vv. 22-33,  he explains his present mission. He is on his way to Jerusalem with Gentile body guards to deliver a large material gift to the Jewish Home Church.]]></description>
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      <title>A Woman Named Phoebe (Romans 16:1-16)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 6 Apr 2008 13:33:57 -0400</pubDate>
      <enclosure url="http://s3.amazonaws.com/mp3serieste/romans/ro36_phoebe.mp3" length="17050645" type="audio/mpeg" />
      <description><![CDATA[The Samsung 500 powers up at the Texas Motor Speedway today. What makes NASCAR fans brave even the threat of Fort Worth tornados is not the speed, but the connections. NASCAR has become the largest spectator sport in the country because they have rushed to fill a vacuum. In a culture with no front porches but large treated wood decks and stainless steel grills in the backyard—all defended by a high privacy fence, NASCAR invites thousands to an old fashion area wide celebration and tops it off with the roar of engines. Will the Church rush into this passion for connections or will we leave the relationship building to NASCAR and tailgate parties before an A&M football game? ]]></description>
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      <title>Uniters, Dividers and the Benedection (Romans 16:17-27)</title>
      <pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:23:55 -0400</pubDate>
      <enclosure url="http://s3.amazonaws.com/mp3serieste/romans/ro37_uniters.mp3" length="19194358" type="audio/mpeg" />
      <description><![CDATA[Have you ever spent weeks, maybe months or years, trying to reason with a divisive person with a silver tongue? Whether it’s your extended family, your church, or your business­­—almost every place has a person who divides. Maybe the best policy is to stop listening to their speeches, give them a straightforward rebuke, and then, if they fail to respond, avoid them? The Apostle Paul closes the most powerful statement of the Good News about Jesus Christ in the New Testament with some closing words about Uniters and Dividers and then blesses us all with the benediction. Our passage is Romans 16:17-27. It could save you hours of pointless conflict. ]]></description>
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