Acts 9: Saul’s conversion.

November 21, 2015. Note that I have decided to only do Acts 9 today, as chapters 10 and 11 shouldn’t be split up in my opinion. Thus, next week we will do Acts 10-12. Thank you for following along with me. ___________________________________ Daily Reading: Acts 9. Background: Acts 7-8. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 9 1….

John 5-6: The testimony of Jesus.

September 13, 2015. Daily Reading: John 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 1. Healing on the Sabbath: Now that Jesus has stated His ministry, John gives us an account of His healing a lame man on the Sabbath, something that was notorious for getting Him in troubles with the Jews. Here we find Jesus traveling…

John 1-2: Come and see.

August 29, 2015. Daily Reading: John 1-2. Background: The gospel of John is quite different from the other three synoptic (meaning synopsis, or summery) gospels, containing different stories, miracles and theological emphasis. The differences in this gospel reflect a different purpose in writing, likely written after a good amount of theological reflection of the author,…

Luke 17-18: Jesus and the people.

July 11, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 17-18. Background: Luke 15-16. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 17 1. Forgiveness, faith and humility: At the opening of this chapter, Jesus teaches thee core concepts in our relationship with Him and with others around us. First, He warns that temptations to sin are sure to come, but condemns out…

II Kings 1-5: Elijah and Elisha.

July 7, 2015. Daily Reading: II Kings 1-5. Background: I Kings 19-22. The book of II Kings picks up right were the book of I Kings left off, after the death of Ahab with his son Ahaziah reigning in his place. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 1 Elijah and Ahaziah: We learn from the final chapter of I…

Luke 7-8: Stories of Jesus.

June 6, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 7-8. Background: Luke 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 1. The centurion’s servant and the widow’s son: There are two stories of Jesus’ healing in this chapter. The story of the centurion’s servant is very unique and interesting in different regards. What might be surprising from the beginning of…

Luke 3-4: John and Jesus.

May 23, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 3-4. Background: Luke 1-2. Concepts and Connections. Luke 3 1. John the baptizer: One of the hints as to the idea that Luke was writing to a Roman citizen is how he sets the time period of the things that he writes about, using Roman official’s and the ruler’s name…

Exodus 5-8: Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh.

April 13, 2015. Daily Reading: Exodus 5-8. Background: Exodus 1-4. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 When it’s darkest before the dawn: Have you ever been in a position where it seemed like the more you tried to do the will of God, the harder your situation became? This was precisely what Moses and Aaron were…

Mark 7-8: Missing the big picture.

April 11, 2015. Daily Reading: Mark 7-8. Background: Mark 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 1. Traditions of men: Jesus has had many run ins with the Pharisees, and this instance is not all that dissimilar to the other disputes they have had with Him. In this case, they attack His disciples for not washing their…

Mark 5-6: Healings, signs and the limited commission.

April 4, 2015. Daily Reading: Mark 5-6. Background: Mark 3-4. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 Three accounts of healing: Though this chapter is a rather lengthy text, it has one overall theme, and that is miracles of healing done by the Christ. There are three accounts of healing depicted here, one of a man who has…

Mark 1-2: The early ministry of Jesus.

March 20, 2015. Just as a heads up, I have switched the order of reading for today and tomorrow. Today we will look at Mark 1-2, and tomorrow we will look at Isaiah 56-61. _________________________________________________________ Daily Reading: Mark 1-2. Background: Mark is the beginning of the testament of Christ, a recording of His ministry. Many…

Matthew 8-10: Miracles and teaching.

January 31, 2015. Daily Reading: Matthew 8-10. Background: Matthew 5-7. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 8 1. Faith in Jesus’ power: This chapter focuses heavily on Jesus’ healing miracles after He came down off the mountain where He gave the sermon on the mount. In the next chapter we will see more of the purpose of…