When Paul was rejected, he didn’t quit. As my good friend and wise mentor, Howie Hendricks, often says, “Where there’s light, there are bugs!” The brighter Paul’s light, the more the bugs.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Bible Characters
A Thorn in the Flesh
Sailors on the high seas understand the importance of securing themselves to something sturdy in a fierce gale. You learn to cling to what’s secure in a storm. Paul learned to cling to what he knew to be true . . .
Read MoreGod’s Waiting Room
If you go back fourteen years from the time Paul wrote the second letter to the believers at Corinth, that places him at the time he was waiting in Tarsus. Quite possibly, during one of his numerous floggings he received . . . , he lapsed into a semi-conscious state.
Read MoreSon of Encouragement
The disciples feared Saul. They couldn’t bring themselves to believe he was a disciple. “But Barnabas . . . ” Isn’t that a great opening? Out of nowhere comes Barnabas to encourage Saul and be his personal advocate.
Read MoreDesert Retreat
I’m convinced it was there, in that barren place of obscurity, that Paul developed his theology. He met God, intimately and deeply. Silently and alone, he plumbed the unfathomable mysteries of sovereignty, election, depravity, the deity of Christ.
Read MoreA Forgotten Hero
The transformation is stunning. Saul, no doubt with blood stains still on his garment from Christians he had tortured, now stood with arms outstretched announcing, “I’m here to testify to you that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son.”
Read MoreA Brutal Beginning
We must not forget that as we study the life of the man they called Paul. We must also brace ourselves for some rather gruesome surprises. The first pen portrait of Paul (whom we first meet as Saul of Tarsus) is both brutal and bloody.
Read MoreHumble Submission
Perhaps Job lay under the stars until he was wet from the dew. Finally, he spoke. And when he did, what a remarkable response! Verse 20 comprises nine words in the Hebrew text.
Read MoreLife Is Difficult
Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this earth. When the writer of the biblical book named Job picked up his stylus to write his story, he could have begun with a similar-sounding and equally blunt sentence, “Life is unfair.”
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