When the New Testament writers told their stories, they had the memorized and printed Word of Scripture to draw from. Their Bible (our Old Testament) was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. It had been recorded in the language of the common people at the time. By the First Century, many people in what is now…
I mentioned yesterday the importance of noting repeated words and phrases in a limited number of Bible verses. In today’s Bible reading, “pain” and its derivatives occur seven times in 2 Corinthians 2:1-7. Evidently not all was well between the Apostle and the church at Corinth. Where the first paragraph in 2 Corinthians 1 was…
I’ve said many times that when you see a word or idea repeated several times in a few Bible verses, it’s a pretty good sign that the word or idea are important. Well, in today’s Bible reading the word “comfort” appears nine times in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. That’s nine times in five verses! It’s safe…
In today’s Bible reading, Paul addresses yet, another problem in the church at Corinth: the Lord’s Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:1-26) He recalls that famous night when Jesus sat down to celebrate the Passover Meal with His Disciples. But when the Corinthians come together to remember Jesus, they are divided. He describes this division in 1…
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, expecting different results.” Two versions of the deadliest seven words in advancing a cause: “We’ve never done it that way before.” and “We’ve always done it this way before.” Such were…
Paul offers hope for perpetual sinners in today’s Bible reading. Some will tell you that your sin defines you, that once you discover your “true self“, that’s who you truly are and you should celebrate your true self. But what if your “true self” is opposed to the revealed Word of God? How do you…
