Luke 20:19-24:53, 2 Timothy 1:9-4:22

Does Paul know of his future martyrdom? He writes about "being poured out as a drink offering." Even Jesus questions his future martyrdom, asking if it was necessary. It is tough to know and go willingly.

Luke 1:1-5:24, Colossians 3:16-4:18, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-4:1

Jesus' three temptations: Jesus was tempted because He knew this to be one incident where he would gain the world. He would also be saved from his future Cross, which hung over him his whole life.

As it is Valentine's Day, women are taught to respect their husbands and husbands to love their wives. This goes back to the Curse of Genesis 3. There is much wisdom between this passage and Genesis 3's curse.

Philippians 2:13-4:23

Do your work on earth without grumbling. The worst Cross has been taken from you.

Mark 13:30-16:20, Ephesians 6:1-24, Philippians 1:1-2:12

Sorry about the absence of posts over the last few. I went to DC with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and had some issues with hotels charging for internet.

The Apostles had every reason to believe Jesus would return during their lifetimes. I believe a generation here has meanings we on earth do not recognize. Maybe something similar to Dispensation.

Mark 1:1-4:23, 2 Corinthians 13:2-13, Galatians 1:1-2:19

It is better to be in our situation than it is to be the Apostles, who believe by seeing. We believe and cannot see.

Matthew 19:1-24:26, 1 Corinthians 15:55-16:24, 2 Corinthians 1:1-2:11

Marriage is good, divorce is worse, and staying single for Christ is better.

As with children, it is always better to be innocent. If you can't then marry.

Jesus never fell into a trap. Learn body language and to read faces.

Sorry about the late posts. I have been on vacation to Disneyland with my family.

Matthew 12:38-18:35, 1 Corinthians 14:24-15:54

I know not whether we will be judged for our merits or our pitfalls.

Matthew 18:10-11 speaks of a pre-existence or Guardian angels like Catholicism.

Matthew 7:19-12:38, 1 Corinthians 11:21-14:24

More of Jesus' command of the supernatural is covered here.

On tongues: Every gift is seen as the same. There is no prevalence to those who speak in tongues.

John 17:1-21:25, Romans 15:16-16:24, 1 Corinthians 1:1-26

Jesus' overarching goal was the glorify the Father. He did so by dying on the Cross. These goals are joined together.

Pilate asked "What is Truth?" when he had Truth, Himself in front of him. I feel Pilate is a tragic character in this parts of the Gospel.

"It is finished!" is the last words of Jesus in the life of Jesus in John's Gospel. It is also something written on a prisoner's debt form when his sentence was paid in full. We are the prisoners.

John 12:18-16:33, Romans 11:32-15:15

Jesus is in the likeness of the Father. We'll all have our guess what that means. There are several choices. Trinitarian, binitarian, and oneness people.

Jesus is teaching passive-aggressiveness or teaching us how to harm our enemies in the afterlife, when he says by doing good to our enemies we heap coals upon their head. Hmmm?

John 8:29-12:17, Romans 9:4-11:31

Those who are "born in sins" can still become a believer. The inclusiveness of the Gospel frightens me sometimes, yet I see other religions as inclusive with a different message.

Jesus seemed to never be where His persecutors wanted Him to be until the Cross. I do not know if this was natural (running) or supernatural.

Paul, as  a Jew, makes a convincing argument late in our Romans passage about the Jews and their not being rejected. That is true, even if they are immediately blinded until later.

John 5:23-8:28, Romans 6:21-9:3

I wrote a sermon about Bread from Heaven and John 6:41. I should get to posting that online.

Romans is a book I've tried to stay away from. Maybe I should fix that.

2 John 1-13, 3 John 1-15, Jude 1-25

Children are sometimes the best followers. Not overly zealous, except in the figurative meaning of the word.

Jude is full of references to 1 Enoch. One is the reference to the Angels who did not keep their own domain in Jude 6. The second is a reference to curses in Jude 12-13, such as the wandering stars and hidden reefs. I made a point that most of these have to do with navigation being taken from man in my first Bible class. I still think that is spot on.

Luke 20:19-24:52, 1 John 3:9-5:21

I personally wonder if the man who prepared the upper room for the Last Supper did it under prearrangement from another disciple as a surprise or whether he is a manifestation of the supernatural.

Luke says that Jesus tells us He is the Son of God. The historical Jesus workers tell us he did not say that. I don't know what to do with that.

There will be five scars in Heaven. Those born or who become disfigured will not be that way. Jesus will bear His scars, however. This is as a testimony to His sacrifice.

Love is not only God, but godly. Love.

Luke 14:16-20:18, 2 Peter 3:2-18, 1 John 1:1-3:8

You cannot serve God and the world or money. One will become the first leader while the other falls by the wayside.

Jesus was rejected, but he becomes the "chief corner stone" of heaven and the Kingdom of God.

Our passage in 2 Peter speaks to those who do not believe in God and mock Him. Especially, 2 Peter 3:4.

I wrote a sermon on John 1;1-1:3 once. Heady stuff. I confused my preaching class and was warned to stay away from the heady by my Prof.

Luke 9:43-14:14, 1 Peter 5:8-14, 2 Peter 1:1-3:1

Be grateful that the Lord has created homes. Be grateful to be able to work for it. The Son of Man had no home, so be grateful for it while it lasts.

The Adversary seeks to devour. Be careful and only be boastful where appropriate.

2 Peter's passage here speaks about appropriate virtue and the fall of the false prophets. These are together for a reason.

Luke 5:25-9:42, 1 Peter 2:12-5:7

Be careful to point out the SJW or White Knight if you struggle in the same manner. This is a way of avoiding embarrassment and keeping oneself in the appearance of right.

Faith can move mountains and allow one to walk on water. Fake it until you make it.

Peter keeps speaking about humility. It has it's place.

Acts 27:3-28:31

Paul's arrival through the storm, to Malta shows his faith. He believed what had been told to him. Namely, that he would arrive to see Caesar. While I would be personally frightened to offend any important person to his face, he was to see the ruler of the known world and teach to him about Christ crucified. Ballsy.

Mark 10:17-13:29, Acts 21:39-24:21

Jesus was sometimes very harsh and frank with people asking Him to heal them. I guess we'll have to be in the other side to understand why. Sometimes it was due to their being non-Jews or just asking him.

The Fig Tree continues to baffle me, unless it was simply to show Jesus' power over the supernatural.

No one, except Jesus, ever had enough faith to cast mountains into the sea. It makes it difficult that we all know that we come short in God's eyes.

The "render to Caesar" passage is difficult. Maybe money was never for God. We are to render Caesar what has his likeness on it, yet we were commanded not to make graven images of God. Makes one think?

Jesus and Paul bow down to earthly leaders, and so should we.

Mark 7:24b-10:16, Acts 20:28-31:38

Once again, we see that man doesn't drive out demons in Mark 9:29 and the preceding verses. God can drive out demons, and prayer can. Man does nothing without allowance from Providence.

The warnings of Mark 9:38-50 are incomprehensible and make little sense in my mind.

On it being more blessed to give than to receive, we do not see this verse in the Gospels, but only in this one verse from the writings of Luke.