Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | October 12, 2009
We began the process of selecting elders with constant congregational prayer. Then, we proceeded with an intense study of scriptures. Thirdly we examined ourselves and the men of the congregation. Hopefully we spent more time examining ourselves than others. Finally the last couple of weeks, we have begun finishing what we started last year by […]
PHall | October 12, 2009
“Sorry, We’re Closed;” “Sale;” “New Store Hours” – these are commonly placed signs in windows of businesses. Some signs express hope, “Under New Management.” Others, the demise of hope – “Going Out of Business.” As an aside, I heard of one store whose going out of business sale was so successful he decided to have […]
PHall | October 12, 2009
Let’s go back to an uncomfortable time to an uncomfortable setting. For some, this might have happened this past week; for others, years or decades ago. The scene is a familiar one. Everyone one of us has probably experienced it from one side or the other. The game might have been kickball or dodge ball, […]
PHall | October 12, 2009
After discussing this topic with another preacher, he wrote to me—“You have stated some things that I have never heard before from a preacher for the Lord’s church.” Wow! That’s sad! Why? Hopefully my conclusions are Biblically derived, and are not erroneously inferred from modern-day settings. What I considered scriptural, he had never […]
PHall | October 12, 2009
Let’s approach the topic positively. Did God provide the work? Did God provide the way? How did God provide the way? Who did God provide for the work? Did God Provide the Work? There are only four works God provided for His local congregations to do: Reaching UP – Worshipping God (1 Corinthians 11); […]
PHall | October 9, 2009
We need to stop growing as a congregation. Growing is too dangerous. Too many problems brought on by too many people, too many different people. Growth destroys the status quo, forces us to confront our comfort zones, brings in new and different people with new and different problems, enlarges the gaps between the mature and […]
PHall | October 9, 2009
Even those not historians are usually familiar with the advice, “Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them.” Clarence Darrow observed, “History repeats itself, that’s one of the things that’s wrong with history.” What mistake am I talking about? Christians separating themselves into separate churches along racial lines.
PHall | October 9, 2009
Questions: 1. What denominational church did Jesus establish when He said, “I will build My church?” (Matthew 16:18) 2. What denominational church does the Bible say Christ gave some to be “apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers…?” (Ephesians 4:11) 3. What denominational church were the letters of Romans, 1st. & 2nd […]
PHall | October 9, 2009
Could it be that I have misunderstood Romans 5:7 all my adult life and that my previous misunderstanding unknowingly, but totally contradicts the plain teaching of Romans and even the entire Bible? Without wishing to sound hyperbolic, I believe it is borderline blasphemous how I used to interpret Romans 5:7. Is your interest now piqued? […]
PHall | October 7, 2009
Paul’s Writing Style (James MacKnight, MacKnight on the Epistles, pp.26-27) 1. “In the first place, a concise unadorned style in preaching and writing, though accompanied with some obscurity, was, in the apostle’s situation, preferable to the clear and elegant manner of writing practiced by the Grecian orators… (1 Corinthians 1:17; 2:4).” 2. “In the […]