Paul has something to say in 2 Corinthians 10! It was something he had been building toward the entire letter. It concerned a problem that had been brewing at Corinth for quite some time. Things weren’t as they should have been because there were some people who weren’t as they should have been. They complained,Continue reading “God’s POV”
Category Archives: Opening the Bible
Don’t Miss the Treasure
Paul had addressed the Corinthians’ tendency to exalt certain messengers of Christ in 1 Corinthians 3:1ff. As he writes the letter we know as 2 Corinthians, it doesn’t seem as if his words had their desired effect. The Corinthians still seem caught up with the messenger rather than the message. The situation has been exacerbatedContinue reading “Don’t Miss the Treasure”
Death Row Discipleship
In 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, Paul speaks to the Corinthians about an extreme crisis he and his companions were delivered from while in the province of Asia as an example of his experience living under “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (v. 3). While we might be tempted to think of theContinue reading “Death Row Discipleship”
Caring and Committed
In 2 Corinthians 8 & 9, we have a minister to the Gentiles raising funds for Jewish people. That might sound a little strange to us, but it is totally consistent with the biblical principle that we are people first and everything else (all of the adjectives we choose to describe ourselves) is a distantContinue reading “Caring and Committed”
The Value of the Book of Numbers
I remember teaching a Wednesday night class years ago. It wasn’t very big—15, many 20 people—mostly 30-somethings in age. I don’t remember what the class was about, but we got off on a tangent about how the church of the previous generation didn’t know grace like we did. The discussion went on for a little whileContinue reading “The Value of the Book of Numbers”
The law, the land, and the Lord
Land is of monumental importance in the Scripture. God chose to make man from the earth, so we have an innate relationship with the land. It is literally in our bones! He placed him not just anywhere, but on a special plot of land to take care of it and when he rebelled his banishment from thatContinue reading “The law, the land, and the Lord”
Something You Can Always Ask For
Israel is in the process of unraveling in Numbers 13. After being marvelously responsive to God during their time at Sinai (post golden calf incident), they began to break down. The hardships of their circumstances was wearing on them. They became bored with their blessings (read: manna) and began to complain. It started on theContinue reading “Something You Can Always Ask For”
Prayer and Humility
Before there was an internet with an Amazon Wish List and other wish list sites, there was the Sears-Roebuck catalog. For people growing up in my time, this functioned as our wish list. (In fact, I think the Christmas catalog was even called The Wish Book). My father was an engineer—a man given to practicality.Continue reading “Prayer and Humility”
Numbers and Organized Religion
It wouldn’t have occurred to a Jewish person to think there was anything other than organized religion! And for the enlightened follower of Yahweh, that such a structure was oppressive wouldn’t even have moved the needle for them (I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’Continue reading “Numbers and Organized Religion”
Hearing the Message of Numbers
I watched a little bit of a show recently called Major League Fishing. It follows a professional fishing circuit of the same name and this particular show featured a tournament at Lake Fork Reservoir in Texas. In the few minutes I watched, they caught one big fish after another! No one went more than a fewContinue reading “Hearing the Message of Numbers”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 