Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | February 7, 2023
Don’t Be a Victim The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew5-7), in modern lingo, teaches these two counterculture concepts: 1. Suffering doesn’t make you a victim when you find your blessing from God and not circumstances. 2. Victimizing others doesn’t make you powerful when your victims refuse to get their dignity through your oppressive eyes. Check […]
PHall | February 7, 2023
Bummed About Bible Studies that Don’t End with Baptisms? That didn’t go as hoped. Entering the Bible study there was a possibility of 1-3 baptisms. Everything progressed well, and then fell apart (at least in my eyes). Instead of 1 or 2 or 3 burials with Christ, we left with none. However, there was a […]
PHall | February 7, 2023
“Able to Teach” (1 Timothy 3:2) “Able to teach” (1 Tim.3:2) gets too much of the wrong kind of attention. By that I mean we ask the wrong questions: 1. Is he able to preach sermons? 2. Is he skilled in organizing material? 3. Is he able to teach and preach both publicly and privately? […]
PHall | February 7, 2023
Can Women Be Elders? When discussing leadership within a church, an argument making the rounds is, “‘Elders’ is a Jewish concept, so when Paul uses that patriarchal term, he is not showing a pattern for churches today. That’s why women can be elders” (a paraphrase and not an exact quote). Considering there are cultural elements […]
PHall | February 7, 2023
The Golden Rule Doesn’t Mean What We Think “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (CSB’17 Matthew 7:12) I am horrible at buying gifts. Part of that inadequacy is me not paying enough attention to get to […]
PHall | February 1, 2023
Does Including the Spirit Exclude the Water? There are those who conclude water baptism can’t be for today based upon Jesus saying, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). Does Jesus including the Holy Spirit exclude the water? Since baptism in water […]
PHall | February 1, 2023
The Gift Giver Makes the Rules The parents gave strict and specific instructions when gifting their sons BB guns for Christmas: Do not shoot animals, do not shoot at each other, and do not shoot at the house”. As the old saying goes, “Two out of three ain’t bad”. Small holes in the siding provided […]
PHall | February 1, 2023
Getting Drunk in Church? Getting drunk in church? Well, maybe not drunk, but close to that yet completely different. Before Paul encourages singing (Ephesians 5:19), he has a lead-in statement: “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Instead of filling up with alcohol, […]
PHall | February 1, 2023
How to Know You Are Saved – Or, How Not to Wash Pork Chops “When frying pork chops, you first wash them in the washing machine. Then you dry them in the dryer. After that, you fry them, right.” So…are you interested in what this is all about? I had the privilege to study with […]
PHall | February 1, 2023
Purple + Zebra = 26. That is the problem I gave to my high school/college class to solve. The first response was, “That’s impossible! They are incompatible”. I retorted, “Are you sure?” Doubt about its impossibility solidified, so they guessed numerical values for the color and animal. That failed. Annoyance and irritation increased as every […]