Many of my charismatic and pentecostal friends have a habit of commanding satan to “go back to the pit” where he came from. This prompts me to enjoy on days when I see someone about to eat a peach or cherry or apricot to warn them to be very careful with the pit, looking very serious. When they ask why, […]
Time doesn’t heal wounds. Rottenness invades wounds and grows there. Even when we forgive those who have sinned against us, the work is not finished with one act of forgiveness, no matter how genuine and love-motivated it may be. Every time I think again of the offence, I have to go through the entire process of forgiveness again. Every time […]
At what point does it become weird to have faith in Jesus? The woman with perpetual menstruation had seen all the physicians who could be seen, apparently. The boy on the funeral cart near Capernaum was not getting any more opinions about his condition. Bartimaeus was definitely blind. Their problems were out of the reach of the professionals of the […]
James mentioned prayer in passing in his letter in two places that I would like to draw a point from: 4:3 and 5:17 & 18. In the first, he wrote that it is possible to pray with selfish intent and harm the effect of my prayer. In the second, he described Elijah’s prayers asking for famine and then rain. In […]
Paul wrote to the churches in Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:15-22): In this confidence, I planned to come to you first, so you could have a double benefit, and to go on to Macedonia with your help, then come to you again from Macedonia and be given a start by you on my journey to Judea. So when I planned this, […]
Many people have the idea that ministries should not accept gifts or investments from unbelievers, and that believers should not accept gifts or investments from people who got it in a foul way. One of Isaiah’s prophecies to the city of Tyre: On that day Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years—the life span of one king. At the end […]
When Christ came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation […]
Appeals for support of ministries are abundant around us. The range of styles stretches from attempting to make us feel guilty that we are heartless with regard to the suffering of some beneficiaries of the work of a ministry to making us fearful that we will never be blessed again by God if we don’t give Him immediate proof that […]
When Jesus was being arrested, Matthew quoted Him (26: 55,56) as saying that He had been teaching in the temple every day without being arrested. He asked why they were coming with clubs and spears in the night to conquer Him as if He was a criminal. Then He answered His question Himself: it had to be done the way […]
Unconverted human nature is much more likely than our new nature to provoke us to accusation than to intercession. Our new nature should be even more “more likely” to provoke us to intercession when we see failure than when we used to be accusers. Our behavior is not yet perfected, though… In Luke 13:6-8, Jesus described a fruitless fig tree. […]