- You are here:
- Home »
- Author's Archive:
All posts by Randall Johnson
The Law Is Good If Used Lawfully – 1 Timothy 1:8-11
What is the purpose of the Law? This is the question Paul addresses here in short. We need his clarification. Return to a wrong use of the Law is a big temptation for the church. How do we use
Continue reading...Myths and Endless Genealogies – 1 Timothy 1:3-7
We have a tendency to make mountains out of mole hills, in the church and out. If I were to draw a target, with a bulls eye and several larger areas of circle, we could describe what is the bulls eye
Continue reading...To Timothy – 1 Timothy 1:1-2
It is often said that every believer ought to have a Paul, a father and discipler in the faith, a Barnabas, a brother in the faith who holds you accountable, and a Timothy, one you are disciplining.
Continue reading...Demetrius Has Received a Good Testimony – 3 John 1:11-15
It is good to have multiple testimonies about someone’s character and doctrine before you bring them into your church to teach and lead your people. We are all too familiar with pastors and teachers
Continue reading...Diotrephes Likes to Put Himself First – 3 John 1:9,10
It is fascinating that here, in the first century church, there are people who brazenly reject the authority of the apostles and seek to elevate their authority above God’s appointed leaders in the
Continue reading...We Ought to Support People Like These – 3 John 1:5-8
There was a long tradition in the Roman Empire of traveling teachers who expected to be paid for tutoring wealthy families’ children. Paul experienced such traveling teachers all too often, people
Continue reading...The Elder to the Beloved Gaius – 3 John 1:1-4
Whereas 1 John does not begin with John claiming any title, though he addresses his recipients as his little children, in 2 and 3 John he uses the title elder. This emphasizes his church leadership role.
Continue reading...I Have Much to Write to You – 2 John 1:12,13
John finishes his short letter with the prospect of more that he wants to share with this congregation, but that he wants to share it in person. Sometimes a letter is to be preferred, as when Paul, in
Continue reading...Watch Yourselves – 2 John 1:4-11
What is the full expression of the church? Is it adherence to the true gospel? Yes. But it is also living lives of obedience, and the most important command to obey is to love one another. A healthy
Continue reading...To the Elect Lady and Her Children – 2 John 1:1-3
Whenever my son, who lives in the Boston area, drives us around, he points out churches that are church in name but that do not hold to the historic faith. He tells me of the history of their abandonment
Continue reading...Take With You Words and Return to Yahweh – Hosea 14
What words must you, as an Evangelical Christian, bring to God for your repentance. Just like the person who offends you, it is not enough to hear them say, “I’m sorry if I’ve offended
Continue reading...Unusual Healings – Luke 8:40-56
Do you find it weird that once people got healed just from Peter’s shadow falling on them (Acts 5:15,16) or from one of Paul’s handkerchiefs touching them (Acts 19:12)? Divine healing through
Continue reading...Inappropriate Fear – Luke 8:26-39
“COVID-19 fears keep millions of Americans from seeking hospital care” So reads the headline of the Star Tribune in June 2020. The virus is to be feared, but people with serious, life-threatening illnesses
Continue reading...Besides Me There Is No Savior – Hosea 13
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully
Continue reading...Ephraim Feeds on the Wind – Hosea 12
Evangelicalism faces the same choices as Israel. She can return to her first love, Christ and the gospel, or continue to sell her soul for cheap to the east wind of politics and Christian Nationalism. Ephraim
Continue reading...