Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | June 4, 2018
Despised by the English, and suffering from The Great Potato Famine, the Irish received a surprise charitable gift – $170. The year was 1847. And who were the benefactors? The Choctow Indians. They likewise had been displaced from their ancestral home, and relocated to Oklahoma by the Indian hater, Andrew Jackson. This was the infamous […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
A friend asked how seriously we should take “The Church Fathers”. I answered that we usually take them seriously when they agree with us! Sometimes they were right on target; others times far from the original practice. In reading a book on the art and iconography of baptism, the author shows the post-1st century church […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
Consider this: If baptism is considered a “work” and therefore can’t be part of our salvation (according to how some interpret Ephesians 2:8); then after salvation how can Christians be “His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10)? If we […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
Consider this our warning: 1. Around 52 AD, on Paul’s second evangelistic tour, he, along with Priscilla and Aquila, visited Ephesus after leaving Corinth, and seeded the church there (Acts 18:19). 2. Around 54-56 AD, on the third preaching journey, Paul spent between two and three years teaching in the Ephesus (Acts 19:8-10). 3. Around […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
Baby steps. When Peter said, (CSB’17) Acts 2:39: “For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call”, it was evident he didn’t quite understand the ramifications as seen later (Acts 10). It is curious God allowed the first […]
PHall | May 31, 2018
Almost every prophet in the OT pointed out the errors of God’s people. If you don’t believe me, believe Jesus, Stephen (Acts 7), and even the Pharisees who claimed, “If we have lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood” (Matthew 23:30). A week […]
PHall | May 31, 2018
I have a challenge for us regarding our singing. But first some questions: Have you ever just turned on the radio, heard your favorite song, and belted it out like you were a rock or country star? Have you ever sang so loudly you embarrassed your children? Do you barely sing above a whisper in […]
PHall | May 31, 2018
Allow me to mash together two passages from two different writers to make hopefully a poignant point. The first: HCSB 1 Peter 5:8: “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” The second: HCSB James 4:7: “Therefore, submit to God. But resist […]
PHall | May 31, 2018
Jesus was narrow-minded. If that doesn’t sound like the Jesus you have heard about, keep reading. Jesus was narrow-minded about the Law. He believed it could be understood (and misunderstood – Matthew 22:29), that truth was accessible, and should be applied (Luke 10:26-27). Post-modernists don’t only exist in secular circles. Jesus was narrow-minded against raising […]
PHall | May 23, 2018
Biblical Unity in Diversity – I was listening to Ephesians and it struck me how chapter 4 starts off with seven “ones” (hope, baptism, faith, etc.) and then goes to four “somes” (apostles, evangelists, etc.) We are united but diversified which leads to more unity as the gifts help the body minister to itself from […]