Several months ago, we read through Paul’s letters to the Church at Corinth. We saw that one of the Corinthians’ biggest problems was their focus on themselves. They were consummate narcissists. As a result, the Corinthian church was extremely dysfunctional in the way it ministered to itself. In today’s Bible reading, Peter echos Paul’s concerns…
Peter continues his discussion of submission in today’s Bible reading with the words, “In the same way” on how wives should submit to their husbands. (1 Peter 3:1) He also concludes his thoughts on submission with the same words when addressing husbands, telling them to live with their wives in an understanding way. (1 Peter…
When Paul talks about honoring the elders in today’s Bible reading, he isn’t talking about honoring your parents or honoring people who are older than you. He’s talking about honoring church elders. Elders in the First Century church were pastors and mature men who had been called to provide spiritual and financial leadership of the…
In today’s Bible reading, Paul tells Timothy to guard against people looking down on him because of his youth. We don’t know how old Timothy is. There may have been some concern that this young pastor may not have enough experience or maturity to fulfill his ministry. There’s a lot to be said about someone…
In today’s Bible reading, Paul tells Timothy what to look for in church leaders. I don’t know that Paul’s checklist is so much a checklist as much as it is a reminder that character matters. And character matters … a lot. I find it interesting how Bible teachers and commentators read their Bibles. Many modern…
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…
