Praying for Discernment
All of Paul’s writings are quite dense. This week I have chosen to focus on just three verses from our passage. Paul’s prayer for the Philippian Christians is a model prayer for all of us. We should pray it for ourselves, our family members, our friends, our...
read more
Moving Toward Maturity
Ephesians 4 through 6 This is one of those weeks when I feel guilty that I will write only 1500 or so words on these three chapters. That is not nearly enough for any one of the sections to follow, let alone all three chapters. Be that as it may, here are some...
read more
Saved For Holiness
Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the Bible. The very first full chapter of the Bible that I memorized was Ephesians 5. My hope and prayer is that as we read this week that we will experience the grace, and peace, and power that we all need to lead a life of...
read moreChrist Formed In You
After taking a couple of weeks off from blogging prior to Easter, I'm continuing our series based on the Ocoee Oaks Bible reading plan. You can find the plan by clicking here. Galatians 4 Verses 1-7 The imagery here is somewhat convoluted because Paul uses a...
read more
Persevering Through Adversity For God’s Glory
2 Corinthians 2 Verses 1-11 On one of Paul’s previous visits to Corinth, someone was apparently antagonistic toward Paul and threatened the well-being of Corinthian church and the Corinthian believers took action against him. They had apparently expelled him...
read more
How To Use Your Spiritual Gifts
This entire reading is on one subject: spiritual gifts. Apparently, there was a dispute (imagine that: a dispute in a church!) about the relative value of certain spiritual gifts. Chapter 12 Verses 1-3. Idolatry causes one to be led astray. When we place anything or...
read moreShould Pastors Be Paid
Paul covers a variety of topics ranging from pastoral compensation, to how to properly hold the Lord's Supper, Chapter 9 Verses 1-14. Paul considers himself to be an apostle in the same way that Jesus’ first followers, like Peter, were an apostles. That role in the...
read more
Sex, Marriage, and Idolatry
Chapter 6 Verses 1-11. In addition to the incest that was described in the previous chapter, Paul adds to the list of evils in which the Corinthians were apparently engaging. There were apparent legal disputes within the fellowship and rather than handle their...
read more