Poetry
Recently I spent a few days looking into a section of the first chapter of Luke called the Magnificat or the Song of Mary. I’ve always wondered exactly what features of a Greek New Testament passage cause it to be considered verse instead of prose. One thing I had already discovered was that it was not the […]
Fulfillment
In the second chapter of Luke the accounts of Simon and Anna at the dedication of Jesus are often seen with the heading “The Prophecy of…” attached to them. I think the real purpose of the author was not to record prophecy but to illustrate that Jesus, even as an infant, was the means by which […]
The Unknown Comic
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 One of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence was a comedian? His name was Matthew Thornton. Thornton came to America when he was four years old. His path to success wasn’t exactly one of ease. For […]
Was He In It For the Money?
“Always set a good example for others. Be sincere and serious….” Titus 2:7 Sam Adams was the “poster boy” of American independence. So writes Denise Keirnan in the book Signing Their Lives Away. Why? Because once he set the course for independence he saw it through. It could have been otherwise. Adams was so influential […]
The Real Handicap
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility…. Zephaniah 2:3 Some might see humility as a roadblock to success. The Bible teaches just the opposite stating in a number of places that pride, not humility, is the real handicap. Indeed, humility can enable success […]
Dogma
And it came to pass in those days a δόγμα (dog-ma) went out from Caesar Augustus. Luke 2:1 Dogma, according to Webster, is “something held as an established opinion especially : a definite authoritative tenet.” It wasn’t an opinion or a tenet that went out from Augustus, of course. It was a demand. Anyone who did not compile was in peril […]