Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | June 23, 2017
There is a woman who interrupts another story. This “interruption” is real in the sense of historically accurate; but it is also symbolic (at least to me). Sometimes interruptions are annoying, and other times life-changing. Jesus is approached by a leader in the synagogue; an important man. She is not important, at least as viewed […]
PHall | May 27, 2017
Strumming my fingers incoherently while driving, and all of a sudden my brain makes an unconscious connection and I start to sing “Green acres is the place to be. Farm living is the life for me.” “For me” is the husband. Think about those last two words – “for me”. When you watch the opening […]
PHall | May 20, 2017
John 1:1-2 – Notice two things: 1) The order of the words in Greek is different than in English which lends itself to an interesting chiasm. 2) While we normally quote just 1:1 as a complete thought, the chiastic order suggests v.2 should be included. A – In (the) beginning was the Word B – […]
PHall | April 24, 2017
One of the arguments made against baptism being the “when” one receives God’s grace is that the “order” of Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, and Baptism is not set in scripture. For example, Mark 1:15 is cited where repent is listed before believe: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent […]
PHall | February 14, 2017
Everyone knows the Second Great Command as listed by Jesus and lifted from Leviticus; but do we know how to love others as ourselves? Pragmatically, a Jewish Rabbi focused on “as yourselves”: “Just as we love ourselves despite the faults we know we have, so should we love our neighbors despite the faults we see […]
PHall | February 13, 2017
Each church needs a eugenics program. Properly defined, eugenics is, “the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Developed largely by Francis Galton as a method of improving the human race, it fell into disfavor only after the perversion of its doctrines by the Nazis.” […]
PHall | February 3, 2017
In Mark 1, immediately after His Father confesses Jesus, we see Him at His most human. Jesus is in the wilderness, hungry, surrounded by wild animals. When Jesus leaves the wilderness, He casts out a demon. Later in Mark 8-9, immediately after Peter confesses Jesus, we see Him at His most divine. Jesus is on […]
PHall | February 3, 2017
Here’s a good exercise to keep you studying: 1) Get a piece of paper and pen; 2) Write down all the things that are wrong that you believe; 3) After you figure out it is impossible to know what you don’t know, you now have a reminder to keep learning. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (HCSB) (14) But […]
PHall | February 3, 2017
“What about the thief on the cross? He had no outward manifestation of his faith.” This statement was made to me when doing evangelism at our Coffeehouse Evangelism by someone who believed baptism was not necessary. So we revisited the thief on the cross. That believer said, “Don’t you even fear God, since we are […]
PHall | February 3, 2017
Jewish tradition states the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 took place on the same calendar day as God came down on Sinai to deliver the Law to Israel. Historically then in order: 1) the Israelites “plundered” the Egyptians; 2) The Israelites crossed the Red Sea; 3) The Israelites received the Law. When we come […]