Devotionary

Latest Episodes:

Ep 292 – 1 Corinthians 16:1-9 Oct 08, 2017

Show notes

The church, the body of Christ, is bigger than you think. It goes far beyond the walls of your local church building. It reaches into distant lands and encompasses people groups who speak languages you've never heard of and would not understand. In this final chapter of his letter, Paul begins to wrap things up by reminding the church in Corinth of his expectations that they participate in the collection of funds for the needy believers in Judah. He wants them to give and to do it gladly and generously. For a congregation that was struggling with issues of pride, self-centeredness and comparison, it was a great way to remind them that the church of Jesus Christ was far bigger than their local congregation. While they were bickering over who had the most important spiritual gift or who was baptized by the more important leader, the churches in Judah were suffering from persecution and a famine. They were struggling to survive. But the Corinthians were arguing over food at their love feasts and wasting money taking one another to court over matter that were of no eternal significance. Always spiritual, but also practical, Paul brings his letter to a close by providing his audience with a much-needed wake-up call to consider the more important matters of life: The well-being of the body of Christ and the continued spread of the gospel around the world.

Ep 291 – 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 Oct 07, 2017

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In this episode, based on 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, Paul is nearing the end of his letter and begins to focus this reader's attention on the end of life and the return of Christ. It is as if he is trying to refocus their attention on what really matters. Not only should they believe in and look forward to the resurrection of their bodies, they should understand that the bodies they will receive will be sin-free and death-resistant. This Greek idea that had permeated the church in Corinth that the human body was somehow evil and the soul good was unbiblical. And while our earthly bodies are dying and decaying, subject to acting out our sinful inclinations, and prone to resisting God's will and the Spirit's leading, they will be renewed one day. We will receive resurrected bodies. Spanking new, God-created bodies that will be free from sin, pain, suffering, disease, and death. And as Paul states earlier in this same chapter, that hope is based on the reality of Christ's bodily resurrection. He too received a new body. He had been brutally beaten, crucified, pierced in His hands, feet and side, but had walked out of the tomb alive and well. Yes, He was still carrying the marks of the wounds on His body, but He was alive and would never die again. And we have the same remarkable fate in store for us. Our bodies, like His, will be new and improved.

Ep 290 – 1 Corinthians 15:12-34 Oct 06, 2017

Show notes

Paul could be a patient pastor, but there were a couple of things he wasn't going to put up with. One was anybody attempting to alter the message of the gospel in any way. He felt so strongly about that one that he issued a curse on anybody who tried. "…even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! (Galatians 1:8 NIV). The second thing Paul was unwilling to tolerate was the questioning of the validity or veracity of the resurrection of Jesus. And then, as now, there were many who had a difficult time getting their heads around the idea of someone bodily raising from the dead. And in Corinth, it was especially difficult because their Greek culture taught that the body of man was evil, while his soul was good. So, the idea of there being a resurrection of what was essentially evil, made no sense to them. They believed that when you died, your soul went to be with God, but your body was left behind. But Paul begged to differ – because that kind of thinking, as logical as it may have sounded – was in direct conflict with the promises of Scripture and the reality of Christ's resurrection. So, as we unpack 1 Corinthians 15, verses 12-34, we will see Paul take on this false belief head-on.

Ep 289 – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

In today's episode, we'll be in verses 1-11 of 1 Corinthians 15. I've entitled this episode "Back to the Basics", because Paul is moving from his discussion about division within the body of Christ at Corinth, to a much more pressing and important issue: The resurrection. There was some unhealthy debate going on at Corinth regarding the issue of the resurrection. Some within the church were questioning the validity and veracity of Christ's resurrection. Others were simply saying that there would be no bodily resurrection of the dead. We don't know the source of these controversies, but it's obvious that Paul is not happy about what is going on. For Paul, the resurrection was not up for debate. It was not a fable, the result of wishful thinking, or some pastoral ploy to get people to buy into becoming a Christian. It was the heart and soul of the gospel. Without the resurrection of Christ, every man, woman or child who has placed their faith in Christ remains in their sinful, condemned state. They are separated from God. A dead Jesus is not a saving Jesus. A martyred Messiah may inspire devotion and even emulation, but it is not His death alone that saves us. It is His death, resurrection and ascension. He sits at the right hand of the Father. He ministers on our behalf. And one day He is coming back for us. It is the resurrection that guarantees us eternal life and the possibility of abundant life right here, right now.

Ep 288 – 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 Oct 04, 2017

Show notes

Order versus chaos. Peace rather than confusion. Paul wasn't asking for much. After all, he was addressing the members of the local congregation in Corinth. So, why was he having to spend so much time dealing with all the disunity and unnecessary disputes going on with the fellowship? Because they were becoming a real problem. And in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, Paul calls for order in the house – the house of God. Now, this is another one of those passages over which there has been more than a little debate and disagreement. And, as usual, we need to make sure we stick with the context. If not, we can get off into the high weeds and find ourselves reaching conclusions that Paul never intended or establishing precedents for the global church that he never meant to go beyond the particular circumstances taking place in Corinth. Yes, there will be principles we can apply, but we must be careful not to infer things that were not part of Paul's original agenda. His intent, as always, was to build up the local body of Christ. He was calling the Corinthians to use their better judgment and not let their actions and attitudes be driven by pride, selfishness or behavior that he would deem foolish and harmful to the body of Christ.

Ep 287 – 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 Oct 03, 2017

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What's your purpose? Why are you here? For the believer, the answer to these two questions should be quite simple: To love and build up the body of Christ. As we begin 1 Corinthians 14, looking at verses 1-25, we'll be looking on as Paul continues to admonish and encourage the believers at Corinth to get their spiritual act together. Pride was everywhere, but love was in short supply. Well, they had plenty of self-love, but that's not what Paul was looking for. He was wanting to see each and every believer in the church there take their focus off themselves and begin to think about how they might strengthen the local body of Christ. To do that, they were going to have to let go of their own self-centered agendas and over-the-top concern for their own personal well-being. They were members of the body of Christ. They had been gifted by the Spirit of God in order to minister to the body of Christ. But they were too busy trying to impress one another with their particular spiritual gifts to actually worry about loving one another. Spirituality had become a competition. Personal status in the local congregation was more important to them than the overall health of the church in the community. So, once again, Paul is forced to take them to task.

Ep 286 – 1 Corinthians 13 Oct 02, 2017

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The lasting legacy of love. That's the title for this episode as we dig into 1 Corinthians chapter 13, a very well-known and often-quoted portion of Scripture, especially in wedding ceremonies. But for us to get the full impact of what Paul has to say in this chapter, we must keep in mind the context of all that has been going on in the church there in Corinth. Pride, arrogance, self-centeredness and a demand for individual rights, within the local church body, had resulted in an unhealthy atmosphere of disunity and division. They had spiritual gifts, given to them by the Holy Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ, but they were using them with selfish motives in mind. They had become badges of honor and points of dispute. So, in the midst of all the problems Paul is attempting to address, he writes this incredible treatise on love. For Paul, love was the glue that held the body of Christ together. Without love, the church is nothing more than just another man-made organization with little or no power to truly change lives. Even the use of the gifts of the Spirit, if done so without love, is wasted energy, amounting to nothing in the end. Selfless love for others is not an option for the believer, it is essence of what it means to be a believer. We love because He first loved us.

Ep 285 – 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Oct 01, 2017

Show notes

The church, the body of Christ, is NOT an organization. At least, not in a biblical sense. Sure, the local church has leadership, by-laws, terms of membership, a staff, a budget, operating procedures and a myriad of organizational attributes, but it is, first-and-foremost, an organism. The body of Christ, of which each local congregation is a part, is not an organization that people choose to join, but an organism which God has created and into which He has placed those whom He has called. For Paul, this distinction was essential. Within the local church at Corinth, the believers were losing sight of the true nature and function of the body of Christ. For them, it was no different than being a member of the local synagogue or attending a pagan temple. But for Paul, it was the mysterious and divinely ordained creation of an interdependent group of diverse individuals who shared a common belief in Jesus Christ as Savior, who each enjoyed the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and who, together, formed a totally and radically unique entity called the body of Christ. In this episode, called "Unity and Diversity", we will be looking at what Paul has to say on this important topic as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12-31.

Ep 284 – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Sep 30, 2017

Show notes

Pride is a powerful and potentially destructive force. It rarely builds up or edifies anyone but the one who harbors pride. And pride within the body of Christ is especially dangerous, as it is antithetical to God's expectation of unity and unanimity among His children. So, when Paul discovered yet another manifestation of pride among the Corinthians believers, he addressed it with his usual loving, but nevertheless in-your-face style. Today, we'll be looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1-11. I've entitled this episode "All for One and One for All." You probably recognize that as the slogan or mantra of the Three Musketeers. But it nicely applies to what Paul has to say to the Corinthian church. The issue he is having to deal with is that of the spiritual gifts and the Corinthian's misunderstanding and misuse of them. They saw them as symbols of importance and tended to compare their gifts with one another in order to determine who had the more important of the spiritual gifts. It became a competition, which led to feelings of superiority or inferiority. Rather than using the gifts as they were intended, to build up the body of Christ, the Corinthians were busy building up themselves, and causing unnecessary division within the church.

Ep 283 – 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Sep 29, 2017

Show notes

You didn't want to get on Paul's bad side. He was a loving, patient man, but he also had a strong intolerance for anything or anyone who would dare disturb the unity of the local church. He was willing to go to the mat with anyone who felt they had the right to reach inside the body of Christ and wreak havoc on the love and unity that was supposed to be there. In this episode, we'll be in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 17-34. I've called it, "Family Dysfunction" because Paul is going to deal with a situation within the local family of God that was resulting in some serious problems. And it all revolved around one of the most important ordinances of the church, given to us by Christ and designed to commemorate His sacrificial death on behalf of sinful men and women. The divisions and disunity that marked the church in Corinth had made their way into the celebration of the Lord's Table or communion. Intended to be a unifying and community building experience, the taking of the bread and wine, symbols of Christ's broken body and shed blood, had been turned by the Corinthians into into a time marked by divisiveness and disunity. And he was not going to put up with it. Christ died so that we might be made right with God and one with all those who share our faith in Christ. Disunity in any form is dysfunctional at best and destructive at worst.

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