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	<title>Reading... and Thinking</title>
	<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com</link>
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		<title>Barabbas</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Lots of speculative energy has been expended wondering who Barabbas was, and what became of him after he was released. But the fact is that we have no reason to think that he did anything other than remain a violent political rebel. What’s often missed in the Barabbas story is the supreme irony behind his deliverance from death.]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/09/03/barabbas/</link>
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		<title>Glory beyond all comparison</title>
		<description><![CDATA["For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."  So writes Paul to the Corinthians. He's talking about such minor inconveniences as beatings, shipwreck, imminent death...]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/08/27/glory-beyond-all-comparison/</link>
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		<title>Fast</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In the Old Testament, we read about people fasting (that is, not eating for a period of time.) They did so in mourning, or in devotion while they gave themselves to prayer. In the New Testament, we find that the Jews of Jesus' day fasted with some regularity. John the Baptist's disciples also fasted, but Jesus and his disciples did not. How about believers now?]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/08/20/fast/</link>
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		<title>Remnant</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The prophecy in Isaiah 17 is one of many that tell us about an important concept -- the "remnant" of Israel in the last days.]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/08/13/remnant/</link>
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		<title>The only hope</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The death and resurrection of Jesus are, as Paul says, "of first importance".  The very core, in fact, of our faith. The importance of Christ's death would be acknowledged by anyone claiming the designation 'Christian'. But the significance of the resurrection is missed by many, just as it had apparently been lost in Corinth.]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/08/06/the-only-hope/</link>
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		<title>No provision</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It's early morning, just before dawn. It's time to get up. Instead of an alarm clock, there is someone standing beside your bed. They're saying, "Come on, you know what time it is. It's time to get up!"  What went on in the night is past. The party, the fight, the sleep. It's daytime, and a whole different set of behaviors is appropriate for the day.]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/07/30/no-provision/</link>
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		<title>When trouble comes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Job is generally considered to be the oldest book in the Bible. How fitting, that it deals with one of the oldest challenges to faith: the problem of suffering in the life of a believer.]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/07/23/when-trouble-comes/</link>
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		<title>Ready?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Most Bible students can immediately identify the Olivet Prophecy. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 record how Jesus gave his disciples signs of his coming. This prophecy receives a lot of attention, but a lot of people don't realize that Matthew 25 is also part of this same talk.]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/07/16/ready/</link>
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		<title>Born in Jerusalem</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Orthodox Jews take note of those who are born in Jerusalem: an Orthodox man born in Jerusalem wears a knee-length coat that is taupe with black stripes. No one else is permitted to wear this coat. It is immediately obvious that "this one was born there".  But is this the sense in which the Lord records those who are born in Zion?]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/07/09/born-in-jerusalem/</link>
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		<title>An appeal to God</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Nehemiah's response to the bad news about the condition of Jerusalem was to pour out his heart to God. He asked the God of Israel for help -- something any of us might well do. But I wonder if our prayer would sound anything like Nehemiah's!]]></description>
		<link>http://reading.hopeinchampaign.com/2010/07/02/an-appeal-to-god/</link>
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