Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | December 15, 2014
Have you prayed the Bible? Have you taken entire books or significant sections as an outline for your prayer? This is amazingly what we see the Levites doing in Nehemiah 9. They had just “read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day and spent another […]
PHall | December 2, 2014
Opening our Bibles to Nehemiah 8 shows us that the Jews were opening their “Bibles” (8.1). The result is a revival. “Revival” is used today to describe an event instead of a result. Churches have “revivals” with no revivals. One curmudgeon suggested we shouldn’t call these special meetings “revivals” because a church can’t be revived […]
PHall | November 19, 2014
My friend, an ex-Satanist to whom I had taught Jesus, returned to his former master and threatened to cut off my head. For some of God’s servants, such threats are carried out. For Nehemiah, such terrorization comes through a death threat delivered by a “friend.” This threat comes under the veil of holiness and pomposity […]
PHall | November 13, 2014
Great leaders attract great enemies and are attacked by great means. One of America’s great leaders was Martin Luther King, leading a great cause of equality among the races. Studying history we learn he attracted great enemies such as J. Edgar Hoover, who stooped to blackmail to discredit and stop him. That was not the […]
PHall | November 6, 2014
Pardon me for this political rant, but this tirade crosses political parties. No doubt this diatribe is not only cross-cultural, but cross-national. There is a story that when Leonid Brezhnev became Premier of the Soviet Union, he showed his mother the lavish palace which now served as his home. She asked, “Do the Communists know […]
PHall | November 5, 2014
To whom should God’s people show more care? Should believers show equal care to believers and unbelievers? What about more to those outside the faith, evangelistically? Nehemiah 5.1-13 describes the disloyal treatment of Jews to Jews during the reconstruction of the city’s wall. Looking outward at the enemies, the remnant protected one another (4.6-23). Looking […]
PHall | October 29, 2014
That they prayed is recorded. What they prayed is not. Watching them work with tools and weapons in hand, leads us to an obvious conclusion. Unrelentingly, the enemy is furiously plotting against God’s people. Their goal is to fight against, and throw Jerusalem into confusion (Nehemiah 4.8). Under Nehemiah’s leadership “we prayed and stationed a […]
PHall | October 28, 2014
Not everyone wants others to succeed. Some wish and work for the failure of others for no good reason, maybe even for no reason at all. They are unreasonable in their reasoning. Sadly, they look at the achievement of others as indicative of their own personal failures. Evilly, they are envious of accomplishment. What should […]
PHall | October 25, 2014
“Help!” Ever pray that concisely and clearly? A good friend said many of his prayers are just that – a one word exclamation begging for divine intervention. Most likely Nehemiah has been praying for 4 months before being questioned by the king (1.1; 2.1). Most likely part of his praying is pleading for an opportune […]
PHall | October 23, 2014
Inundated by emails and cell phones, it is nigh impossible to experience the isolation distance brings. Nehemiah is in Persia, the remnant in Jerusalem. When his brother returns he eagerly asks concerning their welfare. Unwanted news (Nehemiah 1.1-3). Being distraught should lead to prayer; prayer is often more than mere words. Nehemiah weeps and mourns […]