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To Philemon – Philemon 1:1-3
What would it be like to receive a personal letter from the apostle Paul? Philemon had that experience, but he did not keep his letter private. It became a possession of and blessing to the whole church.
Continue reading...Great Is the Mystery of Godliness – 1 Timothy 3:14-16
Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:6 that the mystery of the gospel is “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
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...All Our Springs – Psalm 87
Though we must say that the Old Testament is Israel-centered, there is a consistent strain throughout of the conversion of the Gentiles. Here in this psalm, in the second stanza, we are surprised to
Continue reading...Lord’s Supper – 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
It would be wrong to say that Paul did not value the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But in the first chapter he makes it clear that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach
Continue reading...Church Discipline – 1 Corinthians 5
One of the most important things Jesus did for the ordering of the congregations of disciples that would form after his ascension was directions on how to deal with sin in the congregation: Matthew 18:15–20,
Continue reading...The Church of God – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
I live in Memphis, Tennessee, a big city with hundreds of churches. If the President of the United States wrote a letter to the church of Memphis, who would it come to and how would it be communicated
Continue reading...The Work of Ministry – Ephesians 4:7-16
I recently saw a short video explaining the irreducible complexity of the cell. Each cell has so many working parts that are essential to its existence and functioning that they could not have developed
Continue reading...One’s Suffering, Another’s Glory – Ephesians 3:1-13
According to Open Doors, an organization that carries on the work of Brother Andrew, a missionary who sought to get Bibles to those behind the iron curtain, “Globally there are 2.48 billion Christians.
Continue reading...One Holy Temple – Ephesians 2:11-22
The United States has a sad history of exclusion. President Arthur signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which suspended Chinese immigration to America and made Chinese people ineligible for
Continue reading...Enlightened Hearts – Ephesians 1:15-23
At one time in my life Jesus was no more than a curiosity and most of the time someone I only thought about in church on Sundays, and that not very deeply. I was sixteen years old when I realized the error
Continue reading...Chosen to Be Holy Children – Ephesians 1:3-6
In a book blurb I recently read: “Progress in genetic and reproductive technology now offers us the possibility of choosing what kinds of children we do and don’t have. Should we welcome this
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