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 […]
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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
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Tags: Trinity
PHall | November 17, 2018
An interesting asymmetry in the curses: [ ] Adam is warned by God eating of the forbidden fruit would lead to death. [ ] Eve believes the serpent that she would not die but become like God. [ ] Eve is promised by God a type of immortality or continual life through the bearing of […]
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PHall | November 17, 2018
This is going to sound like a fable, but I checked it out. Why did God choose to build (meaning of Hebrew) Eve from Adam’s rib? Skeptics who deny the Bible, ridicule its stories such as Eve’s origin: “If that were true then why don’t males have one less rib than females?” Let’s do something […]
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PHall | November 17, 2018
TODAY’S PRAYER – There is no other way to say this than, “righteous people do unrighteous things.” Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7) who did the unthinkable by offering his virgin daughters up for rape to protect strangers “because they have come under the protection of my roof” (Genesis 19:8-9). Either he expected […]
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PHall | November 14, 2018
TODAY’S PRAYER – Are you ever just “Wowed!” by a scripture? Here’s today’s – “Yahweh appeared to Abraham, saying, ‘I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be devout. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly. Then Abraham fell to the ground….” (Genesis 17:1-3 – Perryphrase). […]
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PHall | November 14, 2018
“Why did that visitor not come back?” Every church asks that question. Visitors are “gold” because they make the contact. Sometimes we never know. Was it they didn’t like non-instrumental music? Can’t help that. Was it they couldn’t find a place to sit with their family? Look for opportunities to move and personally offer seats. […]
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Tags: Church Growth, Hospitality