PHall | November 23, 2018
TODAY’S PRAYER – “Dear God….” (#1) Personally I get in a rut in how I address God. Genesis 16 helps. Hagar calls God – El-roi, “The God Who Sees” (16:3); saying, “Have I really seen here the One who sees me?” This is during a time Hagar needs comforting from God. This experience has Hagar […]
Category: Genesis |
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Tags: Prayer
PHall | November 21, 2018
You never know where a conversation will go. Sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, I saw an old man shivering. I asked, “Are you cold?” He responded, “Yes, I’ve been a Colts fan all my life.” I didn’t correct him. But somehow that led to, “Can I ask you a question? How does a grown […]
Category: Ephesians, Exodus |
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Tags: Parenting
PHall | November 21, 2018
In Genesis 20, God reveals to Abimelech Sarah’s true relationship to Abraham, discovering both lied. God concurs with Abimelech concerning his innocence. Then God tells this king to go to Abraham because he is a prophet, …so this deceiver can pray for the king? WHAT? Here’s my prayer: “Oh my Father, help me to realize […]
Category: Genesis |
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PHall | November 20, 2018
What do you have when you mix fear, ignorance, and rationalization? A mess that can mess with and mess up others. Abraham is fearful for his life because he thinks the people of Gerar will kill him and take Sarah. So he lies (again) saying she is his sister. Abraham is ignorant that God can […]
Category: Genesis |
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PHall | November 19, 2018
More meaningful than carrying a Bible, or a Bible app; more powerful than memorizing scripture; and more permanent than a scripture tattoo – is God’s word written on your heart.
Category: Bible |
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PHall | November 19, 2018
A young lady approached me wanting help with the “contradictions” between the two creation accounts in Genesis 1-2. Firstly, these two chapters don’t contradict; they are complementary to each other just as coins have both heads and tails. The first coin Genesis 1 is geocentric focusing on the earth. Genesis 2 is androcentric focusing on […]
Category: Genesis |
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PHall | November 19, 2018
An impertinent college student had the nerve to suggest to his professor that, despite communism and fascism being considered opposite ends of economic systems, they share similarities. That student was subsequently ridiculed in front of all. Why? Many focus myopically on contrasts, and are blind to broader commonalities. For example, many stress the differences between […]
Category: Genesis |
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PHall | November 17, 2018
The Jewish Bible is filled with foreshadowing of God’s true nature, that of a plural singularity. Most of familiar with the “let us” passages. One lesser known allusion is very strikingly connected to the NT: JPS Tanakh 1917 – Genesis 19:24 – “Then the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and […]
Category: Genesis |
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Tags: Trinity
PHall | November 17, 2018
I listened to a famous and respected preacher on Acts 2:38; and he deserves respect. I wanted to learn from him about receiving “the gift of the Holy Spirit” (a requested sermon I will preach Sunday). But today’s thought got interrupted by other things he said. 1. He said we receive the Holy Spirit by […]
Category: Bible |
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Tags: Baptism
PHall | November 17, 2018
The debate about “faith only” is often set in theological tones. But should it? Instead, should it be culturally linguistic connected? Let’s play around with a couple of words. Are we to have faith? Yes. Are we to be full of faith? Yes again. Are we to be faithful? Absolutely? Is Jesus faithful? Thankfully. Does […]
Category: Bible |
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Tags: Baptism, Denominationalism