As a child I remember a learning game that recently came to mind while thinking about a New Testament letter. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is an interesting study in human nature and in what he believed it means to be followers of Christ— together. From his opening words he is focused on what […]
Follow the money. The tomb was empty. The soldiers who had seen what happened were terrified. When the religious leaders who demanded Jesus’ death heard what happened, they paid off the guards to say that, while they were sleeping, grave-robbers had stolen Jesus body (Matt 28:11-15). Women told another story Meanwhile Mary of Magdala, with a […]
While meeting with a group of co-workers in Singapore, I looked out a seventh-story window and noticed a pile of huge, concrete blocks. When I asked about it, a colleague gave me some background. He said that since Singapore is a city-state built on an island, it is a common practice to test the stability […]
We started in our last conversation to talk about why the term “disciple” fell out of usage in the New Testament after the Gospels and the record of Acts. Its formal absence from the letters of Paul, James, Peter, and John catches my attention just as I’ve often wondered why those same writers didn’t make […]
This isn’t going to be about losing pounds. It’s about feeling down, confused, and wondering why prayers keep coming back like undeliverable e-mails, or unopened envelopes marked “return to sender,” … and then finding help from someone who endured similar fears and frustrations– but to a far greater degree. He had made a name for […]
He knew things he wasn’t allowed to talk about. Bound now by a law of silence he lived with the memory of being caught up into what he called “the third heaven” where he says he heard things that a man is not allowed to repeat. Am wondering whether he was allowed to see anything. […]
Since our recent discussion about “why Paul didn’t quote Jesus” I’ve spent more time thinking about the question. Since what follows is about 3 times longer than a post of “reasonable length” you may not have time for it now. But I hope that, if not now, when you have a chance you will see […]
In so many ways, the Apostle Paul mirrors the heart of Christ. Where can we find a better example of a transformed follower of Jesus who suffered so much, and worked so tirelessly for the growth and perfection of “the Body” (i.e. 2Cor 11:23-31)? Who else can we point to who so faithfully speaks in […]
When Paul acknowledges in his 1st letter to the Corinthians that “All things are lawful” (1Cor 6:12), he uses a word that occurs about 40 times in the New Testament regarding whether a behavior is legally permissible. Since Paul adds in another letter that we are under grace, not law (Rom 6:14-15), how do we […]
There are a number of reasons to have issues with the Apostle Paul. Even Peter acknowledged that Paul had written things hard to understand (2Peter 3:14-18). But in addition to the fact that, in this text, Peter acknowledged Paul’s God-given wisdom and grouped his letters with “other Scripture,” here are some things I think we […]