“1 Corinthians 12:31 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.” Paul left a cliffhanger right in the middle of his first letter to the Corinthians. Although he didn’t divide his letter into chapters, the early fathers who assembled the text...
1 Corinthians 12:8-10 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working...
I recently began thinking about music and the church. In my early twenties, I shifted from the Lutheran Church to a Baptist Church. More on that another time, perhaps. But what is germane to this topic is the music. Granted, the Lutheran Church I attended was relatively small, but...
“It is better to leave a space empty of words than to choose the wrong ones.” – Bee Farseeer This quote is from a fictional character I was reading yesterday. She was a very young girl who was wise and articulate beyond her years. But it still struck me...
Deuteronomist history Abandonment is a theme throughout the OT from Israel’s perspective. The response was the articulation of Hope. Deuteronomy was written while the Israelites were still in exile which is why there is no real conclusion because the resolution hasn’t happened yet, from the Israelite perspective in antiquity. Deuteronomy focuses...
The authors of the Old Testament weren’t concerned with getting it right. They were only concerned about articulating their own understanding of God. It’s important to talk about the ambiguity. We all have opinions because we all learned to talk about things from a certain way. If we put...
It is important to remember that Christianity is a sect of Judaism. It is further important to remember when reading the Old Testament that in the ancient Mediterranean, it was an Honor/Shame culture . Our culture is a guilt culture. The Bible, the canon within a canon is the way that we...
Preface: The Bible says many things. Each of us has our own interpretation of the books, stories and songs of the Bible. Many theological scholars believe that the events of Exodus may not have actually occurred. This introduction to the Old Testament shares the scholarly view but it is important...
Luke 16: 10-13 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the...
Luke 15: 1-10 (NAB) Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you,...