Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | September 2, 2014
The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy for reportedly saying He would destroy God’s temple; blasphemy since only God had the right to destroy His own temple (Mt.26:61; Mk.14:58). They didn’t understand they were guilty of blasphemy in destroying the body of Jesus, the real temple of God. Both destructions were carried out by Gentiles because […]
PHall | August 21, 2014
If loving God is the greater commandment over loving our neighbor (Mt.22:37-39); and if we cannot love God whom we have not seen if we hate our brothers who we have seen (1 John 4:20), then loving one another is one way that we learn and practice loving God.
PHall | August 5, 2014
Lately I have been fascinated by how many times Paul’s teaching reflects that of Jesus’. Sometimes it is just a peculiar word repeated, a phrase reworked, or an essential doctrinal issue reiterated. For example, in 1 Cor.5:4 in the discipline of a brother, Paul writes, “in the name of our Lord Jesus with my spirit […]
PHall | August 1, 2014
The parable of the laborers in Matthew 20:1-16 is lengthy but simple: Those who worked for only a little while were given the same pay as those who worked all day. From this we learn valuable lessons: 1) It is better to come to Christ late in life, that way you won’t have to work […]
PHall | July 25, 2014
When Jesus cleansed the temple, what was He doing? Obviously, He was removing the inward spiritual filth that contradicted the outward appearance of God’s glory (Jer.7). Hypocrisy is such a sin. But notice Jesus does this after riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. That act fulfilled the prophecy of Israel’s coming king (Zech.9:9); an event […]
PHall | July 1, 2014
Parenting has taught me that the ability to necessarily infer improves as a child matures. They “get it” without having to be “told it.” So you would think that as we mature spiritually, our ability to necessarily infer would grow too. But I wonder if the ability to make excuses, find loopholes also grows, overshadowing […]
PHall | May 6, 2014
Man loves religious titles. Just saw last week a new one for me, “Boss Lady.” Jesus warned about religious titles (Matt.23:7-10), and man keeps inventing new ones. I don’t call anyone Reverend, and I challenge all to obey Jesus in not giving religious titles to anyone. We are all brothers, Jesus said. Today calling a […]
PHall | April 26, 2014
In the desert, the Son of God fasts for 40 days. “God fasting;” if there is ever a more thought provoking and shocking statement, it would only be “God dying” (Acts 20.28). Those two thoughts are not totally unrelated. Fasting is death to self, want, and even death to need. Fasting is a type of […]
PHall | April 17, 2014
Do people give excuses when doing what is right, or when feeling guilty and try to justify themselves to themselves and others? In the parable of the Talents (Mt.25:14-30), in the Greek, the righteous servants use 10 words to describe their obedience. The unrighteous servant uses 30. As translated in English (NASB; HCSB), both of […]