Lessons from II John and III John

These are two of the shortest books in the Bible, with 13 and 14 verses, respectively.  But you won’t be surprised to learn that good things can come in small packages.  Both letters were written by  the apostle John around A.D. 90 from Ephesus, according to my NIV study Bible. Here are the four lessons … [Read more…]

Lessons and Notes from I Peter

I’ve noted below the verses in I Peter that seemed to me to be most, well, noteworthy.  That is, these are the verses that tell us most directly how to live, or that contain important theological information. 1:1 refers to those “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God.” 1:1 refers to all three elements of … [Read more…]

Lessons from II Peter

There’s a good list of qualities here for Christians to cultivate:  diligence, faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance/patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.  I had first noted that this list seems to be in order of ascending importance, but I’m not so sure of that now. On the other hand, Peter warns against lust, sensuality, … [Read more…]

Lessons and Notes from James

The Books of James & First and Second Peter: Faith, Suffering, and Knowledge by Mal Couch and Ed Hindson has a useful listing of the injunctions from James (“The commands of James are these:”); I’ve included a few additions in boldface and  brackets: James 1 Consider it all [that is, all trials] joy. Let endurance … [Read more…]

A Proverbs 31 Wife for 2018

Who can find a virtuous woman?  For her price is far above Bitcoin. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that they spoil each other. She will do him good and not evil all the days of televised sports. She seeketh coupons, and worketh willingly with scissors. She is like the … [Read more…]

An Obvious Difference

A point that Christian apologists sometimes make is that the Resurrection’s veracity is evidenced by the fact that many Christians who said they witnessed it were willing to die for that belief.  It is sometimes rejoined, big deal, there are plenty of, say, Muslims now willing to die for their beliefs. But there’s an obvious … [Read more…]