In Genesis 15, Abram laments that he has no son, and that a household servant will be his heir. But the Lord said, “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir” (Gen. 15:4). Isaac was the immediate fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Abram….
Tag: the apostle Paul
The Tabernacle of Christ (Part 2)
In part one, we began comparing the building of Moses’s tabernacle with the body of Christ building itself up in love (Eph. 4:14-16). We will continue this comparison in this post… According to the Pattern Revealed “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all…
To Judge or Not to Judge (Part 2)
Previously, we explored the subject of judging and the confusion it can cause. We discovered that judging in itself isn’t wrong but that it does matter who the source of a judgment is. If God is the source, we are called to express that judgment. If self is the source, our judgment is wrong. The…
Fact & Fiction
The fiction: Trying circumstances, instability within or without, personal failure, weakness, a lack of spiritual discipline, temptation, and the devil can separate us from God. The fact: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put…
The Myth of Heaven (?)
Our Pastor is preaching through 1 Corinthians. Today we started chapter 15. Paul is dealing with a Corinthian coterie that says there is no resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12). It’s possible this was a group of Gnostics. Gnostics said the body was meaningless. It was only a house of corruption imprisoning the spirit. Bodily resurrection would…
Lord of the Dead and of the Living
Picture by Patrick Murphy Death and resurrection cannot be separated. This is so obvious it seems like a platitude. Often our words and thoughts divide these into separate categories. For the sake of clarity it’s sometimes helpful to consider them separately. But it’s disastrous in real life. Perhaps we are too used to treating death…
Give Me Your Worst
Sketch by Patrick Murphy “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). “Grace” is the Life which can suffer and die yet be raised again. Christ in us is grace. He can go through weaknesses, difficulties, persecutions, and the like (2 Cor. 12:10). Not only do these not…
The Voice of One 