Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | September 27, 2012
Jesus is beginning more than a religious movement; He is laying the foundation for a righteous movement. Reaching backwards to Judaism and forwards to Christianity His words still move more than any others, transforming the way people think and act. Religious movements trying to transform Christianity often focus as much on forms as do those […]
PHall | September 26, 2012
Religious people love impugning the Pharisees for three reasons. One, it is universally agreed that the Pharisees were wrong, which makes their denouncement both unanimous and safe. Two, the sins of the Pharisees are overtly obvious to us today, making them easy targets for denunciation. Three, never are we guilty of the same misguided attitudes, […]
PHall | September 25, 2012
Right in the middle of instructing concerning spiritual gifts (1 Cor.12,14), Paul speaks most eloquently of love (1 Cor.13). Right in the middle of speaking of love (13:1-8; 13:13), Paul speaks of spiritual gifts (13:8-12). Did Paul just get disorganized or go on a tangent? This might be an example of chiastic structure. A – […]
PHall | September 25, 2012
In the Sermon, Jesus specifically mentions the Pharisees once (Mt 5.20). Yet they are the unnamed religious “elephant in the room” lurking behind the most damning descriptions. “You have heard” (5.21,27,31,33,38,43) is about the Pharisees as teachers. Their opinionated applications became God’s law. “Hypocrites” (6.2,5,16; 7.5), people wearing “false faces,” is how Jesus describes their […]
PHall | September 24, 2012
Amos 6:10 NASB Then one’s uncle, or his undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will answer, “Keep quiet. […]
PHall | September 24, 2012
Marriage is a threefold covenantal contract: personal, spiritual, and social. It is never just about me, it is about others. If I take the other spouse or children out of the equation, marriage fails and they suffer. If I take God out, I fail and everyone suffers. If I forget it is a social contract, […]
PHall | September 23, 2012
Implied within each Beatitude is the unnamed benefactor of blessing – God. Such an obvious point must be made to us believers; it is so easy to forget what is obvious, and to take for granted what we know is true. That God is our blessed benefactor can be seen in the beatitudes themselves, in […]
PHall | September 23, 2012
I was sent on a mission to sinners I was sent to a foreign land I was a message of salvation for Gentiles I fell asleep in boat during the storm I was awakened by frightened men Lots were cast I sacrificed myself for others I was involved in the calming of a storm After […]
PHall | September 23, 2012
PHall | September 22, 2012
Being damaged by the actions of others can lead us to at least one more temptation – being defined by our pain, what others have done to us. Our total identity becomes what happened to us. We breathe our ache like we breathe air. We wear our past like we wear our favorite pair of […]