Analyzing Conjecture from the Scriptures Used for Dividing the Body: An examination of 2 John 10-11 as a proof text

Imagine you are driving down the highway after work as you head towards home. It’s the same highway you take every day after work, Monday thru Friday, to get to your house. The roads are the same, the signs are the same, and the speed limit is the same. Nothing changes. This particular Friday afternoon, though, something different is about to happen.

A few miles before you exit the highway to get to the street that takes you to the entrance of your neighborhood, you notice blue and red lights flashing behind you. A little shocked and wondering what may be going on you turn your blinker on and pull over onto the shoulder of the road. You roll your window down, turn off the ignition, go ahead and pull out your license and insurance, and await an answer from the officer strolling up to your car.

Analyzing Conjecture from the Scriptures Used for Dividing the Body: An examination of 2 Thessalonians 3:6 as a proof text

I grew up with my Mema for quite a bit of my childhood. My Mema was what we call “old school.” She was raised on a dairy farm, worked 14-16 hours a day hard labor, and as the eldest child she took care of 9 brothers and sisters. She walked to school uphill, both ways, in daily and perpetual blizzards. I don’t know that I believe the last part of that, but she insisted it was true.

When Mema was 19 she got her Realtor® license and began to help buyers and sellers with one of their biggest life decisions ever. She was in the real estate industry for 36 years and was a Top Producer© until the year she died of colon cancer. I was privileged enough to hold her hand as she took her last breath and I watched her go to be with God in the fullness of her resurrected life. Truly amazing!

Analyzing Conjecture from the Scriptures Used for Dividing the Body: An examination of the 1 Corinthians 5:11 proof text

I remember as a child lying in my room late at night after all the lights had been turned out. The only light I had was the dim, single beam of moonlight that would find its way through the small gap in my curtains. That single beam of moonlight would cast a thousand shadows on my walls. As I lay there with the covers pulled up to my chin I would strain my eyes to make out the shapes and patterns. Often times the shapes and patterns seemed to be the things that would go bump in the night and I’d lay there in fear. However, when the sun began to rise, what once was something to be afraid of turned out to be absolutely nothing at all.

Bad exegesis, pastoral intimidation, neo-legalistic exhortation, and socio-psychological, party spirit coercion presents us with the same type of scenario. Far too many Christians are walking around with the covers pulled up to their chins as they lay in fear of the moonlight exegesis. And they are straining their eyes to make out the doctrine that goes bump in the night. However, when sound exegesis is given then the Son dispels the ominous shadows and we realize that there is, in all reality, absolutely nothing to fear.

Eschatology in Georgetown, TX

To anyone who is looking for honest, objective, exegetical and critical analysis of the differing eschatological positions (specifically in Georgetown, TX) please contact me via this blog.

I am exhausted by the pseudo Exegetes who brand and divide as they sway to and fro when challenged.

The Truth is Most Important

If anyone has ever struggled with the 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 pericope, as I have, then there is a must read for you. The hodge podge of theological constructs, especially since the 1830′s, has overwhelmed the exegete. However, there is now a clear, cogent, albeit exhaustive and comprehensive, look at 1 Thessalonians 4.

Don Preston’s We Shall Meet Him in The Air, The Wedding of the King of Kings is brilliant. I have a suspicion that it will be a long while before someone with an opposing view will write anything objecting. And when/if they do it need be as honest, exegetical, and exhaustive as Preston’s work rather than the typical regurgitation of presuppositions (non sequiturs).

For a great review of Preston’s book that is far lengthier than what I’ve written go to Sam Frost’s site – HERE. Sam Frost is another great mind of our day and a force to be reckoned with.

Serving Two Masters

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? (Galatians 1:10)

I am amazed at the things I did in middle and high school because of my desire to please man. I became the class clown for the sake of approval. I dressed in a way that associated me with the wrong kinds of people. I skipped school when asked because the “cool” kids wouldn’t think I was so cool if I didn’t. I treated young ladies as though they were not ladies. Sadly, I even began to drink and do drugs over time. And it didn’t happen all at once. It was a slow and progressive trek down the wrong path. The approval of man is a strong and driving force!

The author of Galatians, Paul, was warning the Galatians about the temptations of seeking the approval of Israelites, Jews (1:11-14). He did not want them to turn from the good news of Jesus Christ, the freedom Christ brought from the Law of Moses, or the freedom that Christ brought from man made laws heaped on top of other laws. Instead of being bound to those old and decaying remnants of a time now gone, Paul wanted these Galatians to thrive in the freedom that they now had so that they moved towards the Savior that rescued them (Colossians 1:12-14).

Only God is Worthy of Worship

“…because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:25)

I am saddened to be writing a devotional on this subject. I am saddened because I am not writing this devotional to adults. I am saddened because I am writing this devotional to youth. It would be shocking enough were I writing it to adults. But the fact that youth are more involved in this behavior than adults is an overwhelming reality to me. The behavior I am speaking of is homosexuality! And this behavior has become cool now. It is the “in” thing to be bi-sexual (which is homosexual). It is cool to be feminine for a man, manly for a woman, and “curious” about these things.

Directly before our verse of the day, Paul says “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves…” (v.24). It is after he says this that he gives us the “because” in v.25. The dishonoring of the bodies in this context involves homosexuality. And Paul attaches homosexuality to self-worship and creation worship. He says that to be involved in this is to make an exchange (v.25). We exchange truth for a lie. We exchange true worship for idol worship. We exchange life for death since, because of such a lifestyle; God gives us over to the lusts we live for, to our impurities, and to the dishonoring of our bodies.

To whom are we yoked?

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. (2 Corinthians 6:14)

I cannot help but believe that this truth is a matter of common sense. I do not think that much has to be said. There are no tangled webs to unweave. God, through Paul, says something that, I believe, we all know to be a matter of simple truth. And so I do not feel an overwhelming urge to comment much on an issue that is more a matter of submission to the Scriptures than it is a profound and mysterious truth needing great exposition. So let’s look at what God says.

Do we smell like trash?

Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals. (1 Corinthians 15:33)

Have you ever been anywhere close to a trash dumping site? The smell of it is overwhelming. The stench of piled up, putrid, and decaying trash can almost be touched it is so thick. And if you’ve not spent any time near a trash site then you will cover your nose, turn your head, and wish to exit as quickly as possible. This is a normal and healthy reaction to something so vile. However, an odd phenomenon takes place if someone chooses to remain for any length of time. After a while, maybe a short while or maybe a long while, a person will become use to the smell. They no longer have to cover their nose and turn their head. Although they do not necessarily like or enjoy the smell, they have become use to it.

As if this were not strange enough, over a period of time the person will not only become use to the smell, but they will also become acclimated to the smell. What does this mean? This means that the smell and the location become tolerable or even likeable to them. It is no longer a foreign and vile place. It has become a part (whether small or large) of who they are.

Having Your Needs Met

Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. (Luke 19:5)

There is, what I call, felt needs. Felt needs are those needs that we feel are critical or necessary. For instance, I feel like I need a new phone because my current one seems to have a slight glitch. I don’t actually need a new phone; I want a new phone. This is an example of a felt need. But then there are real needs. Real needs are actual necessities. For instance, I really need food and water in order to survive. I really need to look both ways before crossing the street so that I do not get run over in traffic. Felt needs and real needs are vastly different. And, unfortunately, we often live our lives based upon felt needs rather than real needs.

The Scriptures tell us that Zacchaeus “…was a chief tax collector and was rich” (v.2). A person might think that Zacchaeus had all of his needs met. After all, a chief tax collector was extremely popular. This kind of a person would have been very well known and his position would have demanded respect. Not only was he popular, but he was rich. Zacchaeus could probably buy anything that he wanted to buy. Yet the Scriptures say that “He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through…And he (Zacchaeus) was seeking to see who Jesus was…” (v.1,3). There was a need in Zacchaeus that still needed meeting. Something inside of Zacchaeus was curious about this man he had heard about – this, Jesus. In fact, there was such a curiosity that Zacchaeus went to great measures to see Jesus.