Philemon is the second shortest book in the Bible (Obadiah has 4 fewer verses), but it was the topic of debate a few hundred years ago in the United States. People on both sides of the slavery issue used the book of Philemon to prove that they were in the right. Just another example of how you can twist the Bible to pretty much back up anything. In fact I know some moron who thinks there will be promises popcorn trees in heaven based on how he reads the Bible.
Read MoreI may have bailed on my Word post last week, but this Friday I'm back with a vengeance... a vengeance for the people of Crete! Actually, I don't have anything against the Cretans, but it seems like you won't find Paul wearing an "I ♥ Crete" shirt. The same dude who told us to do everything in love now sounds like he's demonizing an entire race. What's up?
Read MoreSorry, folks! No time to do a write up this week. Anyone else want to write it for me? Leave a few sentences in the comments saying what this verse means to you and if I get enough of them, I'll make those the write up for this week giving credit to each commenter/author.
Read MoreIf you're female and grew up in the church at all, chances are you've heard 1 Timothy 2:11. Paul states "A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness." Not real surprising he stayed single, huh?
Read MoreWe've been walking through the books of Paul for a while now and it's pretty obvious that this dude is a spiritual giant. He's written about renewing your mind, doing things in love, being persecuted and the seal of the Holy Spirit. When this guy writes, heavenly rainbows shoot out of his quill pen which is made from the horn of a unicorn. In addition to being a good instructor of all things spiritual, Paul also gave great advice on a much more difficult topic... how to get along with other people.
Read MoreDay and night. Darkness and light. It may sound like Paul is giving an astronomy lesson to the folks in Thessalonica but he's actually using those opposites as a metaphor. I've heard this verse before in songs and sermons and usually it's understood to be a description of who we (Jesus followers) are. We are children of the light. We're awake, ready and see the truth of who God is. We're not asleep, unprepared and in the dark about God's true nature. I think all that is good and true, but I want to take this in a little different direction.
Read MoreColossians has a lot of cool stuff in it. Paul affirms the ultimate authority of Jesus, gives encouragement, direction on basic "how-you-should-live-and-act" stuff and even finds time to drop some doctrine. (Pretty impressive the amount of stuff he can communicate in a letter, huh?) But there was one phrase in last verse of the book that really caught my attention. "Remember my chains."
Read MoreIn Philippians we find Paul encouraging people to think about good things. However, I don't think Paul's goal was to just make them feel happy. Rather, I think he wanted them to have a mood and mindset that makes them more receptive to to hearing and following God.
Read MoreOne of the first things I do when starting a Word design is to ask "What if" questions. What if 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 was displayed as an info graphic? What if the story of John the Baptist being beheaded was a kid's handout? What if battle of David and Goliath was portrayed as a old boxing poster? For Ephesians, I asked "What if the seal of the Holy Spirit was literally a seal?"
Read MoreMany of the first followers had previous occupations before they became Jesus people. Matthew was a tax collecter. Peter and Andrew were fishermen. Paul helped murder followers of Jesus. Wait, what?
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