Luke 7:1-10 (AD 28) Doctrinal correctness can mean the difference between heaven and hell, life and death, being with God or being without God. And yet it is often, also, not the biggest problem. The same priorities that must often drive us to emphasise correct doctrine, will sometimes mean we must ignore (at least in … More Day 39: Doctrine isn’t always the thing
Matthew 7:7-29 (AD 28) “do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (v.12) The summation of the Law often gets turned into an anti-Law: ‘As long as I wouldn’t mind it happening to me I can do it to someone else, so go … More Day 38: Making God in our image
Matthew 7:1-6 (AD 28) There are a lot of Biblical verses that get badly mangled, and verse one is a classic example. “Do not judge” is commonly used to mean that we should never claim that someone else is wrong in any objective way; that we can have opinions but should never tell someone to … More Day 37: Of sawdust and planks
Matthew 6:1-18 (AD 28) Here are five things Jesus was NOT saying in these verses: Jesus was NOT saying, when he recommended praying in private, that praying together as a local church is unnecessary. Jesus was addressing his disciples – a selection of believers, not a local church. In fact pretty much the first thing … More Day 35: What Jesus did and didn’t say about prayer
Matthew 5:21-48 (AD 28) Those who give in to anger and hate are lost, Jesus said. He was not referring to that moment that anger comes into your mind – that’s the temptation part. It’s what happens after that which matters – do you allow those thoughts and feelings to sit there, or even feed … More Day 34: Don’t be a h8er
Matthew 5:17-20 (AD 28) Jesus, in condemning the persecution and murder of prophets from centuries past, condemning the Pharisees, talking about God blessing the Gentiles and causing a ruckus at the temple in Jerusalem, was accruing quite a reputation. It’s why three readings ago in Mark chapter three, we saw his mother and brothers trying … More Day 33: The Unchanging makes changes
Matthew 5:13-16 (AD 28) Salt is not limited to a single function, so there is no singular meaning. Rather, there are about ten uses, so if we are to be like salt, there should be many ways we make a positive impact Given the context, the are probably three uses of salt that are most … More Day 32: Be more like sodium chloride
Matthew 5:1-12 (AD 28) The Beatitudes are not a list of what you need to do to be saved. Jesus was teachings his disciples, not non-believers. They are commands, but they exist first as pronouncements of blessings upon Christians already exhibiting these traits, with an encouragement and challenge to exhibit those traits even more. They … More Day 31: Supremely blessed
Mark 3:7-35 (AD 28) Strange as it is to say, Jesus gets a bad rep with some people for what is perceived as a harsh treatment of his mother and brothers when they called for him in verse thirty-one. They just wanted to see him, people say, why does he have to dismiss them like … More Day 30: Jesus – mad, bad and dangerous to know?
Mark 3:1-6 (AD 28) You probably need to read these verses a couple of times to even begin to comprehend the level of wickedness of those who hated Jesus. Some Pharisees were watching him to see if he would heal someone on the Sabbath, which they thought would justify accusing him of being anti-God for … More Day 29: When good is called evil
Paul T Reynolds 