Blog

  • The Good Wife

    The Good Wife

    1 Corinthians 7 gives a general outline of how marriage works by God’s rules along with some good advice by Paul.

    The Proverbs writer gave us the blueprint for the kind of woman to look for and to be. The “Proverbs 31 Woman” is the backbone of her family and Christian men would do well to look for her.

    The Good Wife

    10 It is hard to find a good wife,
    because she is worth more than rubies.
    11 Her husband trusts her completely.
    With her, he has everything he needs.
    12 She does him good and not harm
    for as long as she lives.
    13 She looks for wool and flax
    and likes to work with her hands.
    14 She is like a trader’s ship,
    bringing food from far away.
    15 She gets up while it is still dark
    and prepares food for her family
    and feeds her servant girls.
    16 She inspects a field and buys it.
    With money she earned, she plants a vineyard.
    17 She does her work with energy,
    and her arms are strong.
    18 She knows that what she makes is good.
    Her lamp burns late into the night.
    19 She makes thread with her hands
    and weaves her own cloth.
    20 She welcomes the poor
    and helps the needy.
    21 She does not worry about her family when it snows,
    because they all have fine clothes to keep them warm.
    22 She makes coverings for herself;
    her clothes are made of linen and other expensive material.
    23 Her husband is known at the city meetings,
    where he makes decisions as one of the leaders of the land.
    24 She makes linen clothes and sells them
    and provides belts to the merchants.
    25 She is strong and is respected by the people.
    She looks forward to the future with joy.
    26 She speaks wise words
    and teaches others to be kind.
    27 She watches over her family
    and never wastes her time.
    28 Her children speak well of her.
    Her husband also praises her,
    29 saying, “There are many fine women,
    but you are better than all of them.”
    30 Charm can fool you, and beauty can trick you,
    but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
    31 Give her the reward she has earned;
    she should be praised in public for what she has done.– Proverbs 31:10-31 NCV

  • Sex

    Sex

    Sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage is sin.

    Straight. Gay. Whatever.

    I tell you this because you need to know. It’s not because I hate you. It’s just because I love you enough to try and convince you before it’s too late.

    I’m going to keep reminding you that God will turn his back on you if you keep doing these things. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:18-32 – Go ahead, read these. I’ll wait)

    Even if you call me names for telling you, it doesn’t change what God said about it.

    Of course, it doesn’t even matter how I feel about it – In the end it is between you and God.

    There is a way back though. You can start by fleeing that lifestyle. (1 Corinthians 6:11-20)

  • Forgetting How to Blush

    Forgetting How to Blush

    A glass of wine here. A cuss word there. A lottery ticket. Skip worship one Sunday. It starts to pile up fast.

    Paul saw it first hand in Corinth. The church he planted was proud to be tolerant of some evil stuff. Didn’t they know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? (1 Corinthians 5:6) Little sins grow into bigger sins in a hurry. Sin can become so natural that we forget to be ashamed of it. (Jeremiah 6:15)

    In your self, family or church, making a habit of avoiding the “little” sins will make the “big” sins non-existent.

  • God First

    God First

    As the rebuilding of the wall is completed, Jerusalem is in a good mood. Their exile was over, their wall stood in full protection and the priesthood was functional. They began their service to God right away.

    God has a way of blessing those who are thankful and focus their “day to day” around him first – worship isn’t just for Sunday. Philippians 4:6 says to ask for what we need but to do it with thankfulness for what we already have. From the beginning, God has expected us to credit him and depend on him – and in return, he takes care of the rest.

  • Seed Sowers

    Seed Sowers

    Paul was addressing a little problem of “preacher-itis” in 1 Corinthians 1 and again in 1 Corinthians 3. It still happens to some extent today – people following a preacher to the extent that they would leave a congregation to follow him to his next duty. Worse, some congregations have split over a preacher leaving.

    Paul puts that idea in its place in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 with a seed sower metaphor and again with a foundation metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. Ministers, which includes all Christians, are sowers and waterers. God gives the increase and reaps the harvest. We will answer in like kind for our labor (1 Corinthians 3:8)

  • The Gospel Stands Alone

    The Gospel Stands Alone

    The current trend in the world is for educated people to look down at those who teach the gospel. However, Paul was a student in Tarsus, a widely respected university, and even spent time “at the feet” of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).

    In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, we see Paul snub the “excellency of speech or wisdom” in favor of the pure and simple Gospel. In fact even though he quotes a number of learned men in his letters (Aratus in Acts 17:28, Epimenides in Titus 1:12, Menander in 1 Corinthians 15:33), He considered that rubbish compared to the gospel.

    If we are to follow the Apostles example (Philippians 4:9), we cannot be discouraged by “educated” folks, but depend on the testimony of God. Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 1:1 insinuates that the gospel didn’t depend on the conformity to the philosophy of the Greeks nor on the eloquence of its preachers. It depends only on God and he confirmed it with miracles.