Will Humes has drawn up a four year lectionary, which he believes offers the chance to give the gospel of John its own place in worship, and also covers some passages we never see in our three year version. He’s looking for comment. My immediate comment is that I really like the basic idea. I’m…
From the forthcoming participatory study guide to Philippians, by Bruce Epperly: The way of Christ differs markedly from the way of Caesar, who was also worshipped as a deity. Christ’s peace is based on non-violence and inclusion, while Caesar’s peace is based on the sword and subjugation. (Used by permission.)
I once met a woman who claimed that Jesus had come to her in her kitchen and spoken to her. The reaction of friends, neighbors, and even family to this story was fairly negative. She was regarded as a bit odd, and finally quit talking about it. It was only with some hesitation that she…
The following is another extract from the forthcoming study guide on Philippians in the Participatory Study Series, by Dr. Bruce Epperly: For Paul the issue is two-fold: 1) the status of Gentiles as members of the Christian community and 2) the relationship of grace, faith, and works. As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul affirms that…
I haven’t blogged much, recently and I may go back and look at some earlier, lessons, but I wanted to quote something we’ll be looking at in class this morning. This comes from the forthcoming study guide to Philippians by Bruce Epperly. He has just described two groups, the first those identified in 1 Corinthians…
From the forthcoming study guide to Philippians (from my company, Energion Publications), in commenting on Philippians 1:27-30: Even now in our time, we can take confidence in Paul’s assertion that God is with us and that, in life and death, and celebration and persecution, Christ sustains us. We are resurrection people. But, our lives are…
And some that aren’t … After much of what I heard about Paul in school, which was really rather a lot, I think one of the most important things to remember when reading Paul’s letters is that they are letters, and that Paul writes pastorally. He is not writing systematic theology. On the other hand,…
In my recent reading from the book of Job I came across the following from Zophar. I’ll quote just a bit: “Shouldn’t the multitude of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified? Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed? For you…
How’s that for a boring headline? I mentioned in an earlier post that I was trying a new reading plan by Robert Murray McCheyne. I don’t usually like Bible years, and I still have some problems with this one, but I still plan to use it through the year. I’ve made this my evening Bible…
My daily lectionary readings for the day included both Ephesians 6:10-24 and Mark 5:1-20. (I get my readings from The Voice.) It’s an interesting combination, because the Ephesians passage is the famous one about the armor of God and thus features in just about any discussion of spiritual warfare, while the passage in Mark, regarding…