II John: Truth and love.

December 13, 2o15. Daily Reading: II John. Background: This is John’s second epistle written to those that he loved in truth, likely disciples of whom the aged apostle had some role of oversight (see background to I John). The elder expresses his love for them and his joy in finding some of them walking in…

John 7-8: Words of the I AM.

September 19, 2015. Daily Reading: John 7-8. Background: John 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 Jesus at the feast of booths: After Jesus gives some pretty hard teachings in the last chapter, we pick up here as He avoids going to Judea because He perceived that they were seeking to kill Him. The feast of…

I Timothy 4-6: Instructions for the church.

August 28, 2015. Note: I am switching Friday and Sunday’s reading, so today’s reading will be I Timothy 4-5, and Sunday’s will be Ezekiel 43-48. Thank you for understanding. ___________________________________________________________ Daily Reading: I Timothy 4-6. Background: I Timothy 1-3. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 4 1. The Apostasy: Paul begins this chapter talking about the apostasy…

I Timothy 1-3: Training for leadership.

August 23, 2015. Daily Reading: I Timothy 1-3. Background: This is the first letter (that we have) of Paul to his “child in the faith,” Timothy, likely written while Paul was in Macedonia (see Acts 19-20). Timothy had worked very closely with Paul, joining him on his second missionary journey and accompanying him on his…

Psalm 78-80: Learning from the past and pleading for deliverance.

July 8, 2015. Daily Reading: Psalm 78-80. Background: Psalm 75-77. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 78 Learning from the past: Psalm 78, of Asaph, is a psalm of remembrance and teaching of things that had transpired throughout Israel’s history that they should look to an learn from. History was often passed down through oral tradition, and…

Mark 11-12: The Christ.

April 25, 2015. Daily Reading: Mark 11-12. Background: Mark 9-10. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 11 1. The triumphal entry: To prepare for the triumphal entry, which had been prophesied about in the days of old (see Zechariah 9:9), Jesus sent two of His disciples to go get a young donkey on which no one had ridden…

Should we bind examples as commands?

December 14, 2014. There is a hermeneutic that is used in our fellowship to try to lay out a systematic approach to biblical interpretation. This hermeneutic is given the name Command, Example or Necessary Inference (CENI). The logic behind this hermeneutic is that we can figure out all of God’s laws for Christians in the…

Paul’s mission and our mission.

December 13, 2014. Paul is probably one of my favorite characters in the New Testament. His story is quite unlike any of the other apostles, as he calls himself as one “untimely born (ref. I Cr. 15:8).” Being stopped by Christ on the way to Damascus where Paul was headed to persecute and arrest any…

A history of baptism.

November 19, 2014. The topic of baptism seems to be a topic of peculiar controversy amongst different denominations and continues to drive a wedge between many believers. It is interesting to me that we have been able to take a concept that is so simple (simple in practice, not in meaning) and argued about it…

What sermons have you been preaching lately?

November 16, 2014. I read a short article this morning (I know, surprise surprise) that put something in perspective for me. The article was about reasons we don’t do all that well retaining visitors when they give Christianity a chance. The author made some valid points, but the one that stood out to me the…

Why I don’t care too much for contemporary Christian music.

November 13, 2014. I read an article the other day regarding someone’s thoughts on contemporary Christian music in comparison to the older hymns and why he had a higher affinity to hymns. Many of you who know me know that I tend to shy away from contemporary Christian music as well. Other than the fact…

4 Introductory lessons on wisdom from Proverbs.

November 5, 2014. I think I have decided that I want to write a book on the concepts laid out in the book of Proverbs. Of course, I say this about a lot of biblical topics and I think this is probably the five or six book that I have planned to write without follow…