Well, things finally come to a head in today’s Bible reading. The Judaizers have raised such a ruckus that the church has its first council, the Jerusalem Council, to codify how the church should handle its first major problem. The problem: Does a new convert to Christianity have to be a good Jew in order…
In today’s Bible reading, Paul brings out the fact that believers are not servants; they are sons. There is a tremendous difference between the responsibilities of a servant and the privileges of a son. Several years ago, some friends of ours adopted a baby girl from an unwed teen. It was a win-win-win, and to…
Today’s Bible reading is Galatians 1. Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to counter a dangerous theology that added to Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. They began to believe a different gospel. A group of Judaizers (not just “Jews”) said that Jesus’ death was sufficient for our forgiveness, but in order to be a good Christian,…
James doesn’t mince words about suffering. He is clear that there is no shortcut to spiritual maturity. He begins his book by urging his readers to rejoice whenever they experience trials. And he concludes his book with today’s Bible reading, urging his readers to be patient in suffering. (James 5:7-11) He fills in the gaps…
In today’s Bible reading in Acts 12, we see that Herod kills James. Because the Jewish leaders respond favorably, Herod imprisons Peter, presumably to be executed. Knowing how badly things have turned out in the past with Jesus and His followers, Herod assigns four squads of soldiers to guard Peter. This seems like overkill since there were…
In today’s Bible reading from Acts 11, we read that several people call into question Peter’s wisdom in taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. Peter did something that ran contrary to everything he knew about Jew and Gentile relations. And now, he has to give an account to the Circumcision Party (also called Judaizers) for why he…
