5x5x5 Bible Reading – Gospel of John

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Dear 5x5x5 Readers,

Today we started reading in the Gospel of John.  John’s gospel is entirely different in vocabulary, style, and purpose than Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  Remember this, the gospels were not intended as biographies.  Each Gospel writer selected from a much larger pool of information the material which would serve his purpose.  John was not primarily interested in relating the events of Jesus’ life, and he leaves out a great many details that are covered in the other gospels.  He presumes his readers are already familiar with Jesus.

John introduces Jesus as the adult Son of God.  John is focused on explaining the profound meaning of Jesus’ teachings and actions.  John selected stories from approximately twenty days in Jesus’ life, and arranged them to reveal to us a Messiah with a mission.  As you read watch for:
– The “Seven Signs” or miracles John shares and consider what they reveal about the identity of Jesus.
– The “I am” statements of Jesus and consider what they reveal about His identity.
John is telling each story for a reason – he is explaining who Jesus is and what His mission was.

Enjoy!

5x5x5 Bible Reading – 1 Peter

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Dear 5x5x5 Bible readers,  Welcome to 1st Peter this week!  You know Peter – a fisherman, one of Jesus’ three closest disciples, the one who walked on water, also the one who denied knowing Jesus – Peter, the rock, who became the leader of the church in Jerusalem after Pentecost.  Peter writes this letter from Rome, late in his life, to Christians who are enduring hardships and persecution across the Roman empire.

1st Peter is a letter of encouragement, speaking into the lives of those who are suffering.  Important themes in 1 Peter are:
– the identity of a believer (reborn into a new family, exiles and sojourners, a royal priesthood, and a chosen people),
– a call to holiness and good character in keeping with the standards of their new family,
– persevering through suffering,
– a living and eternal hope,
– submission and humility, and
– the coming judgment.

I’m actually teaching 1st Peter this fall at The River, and it is such a rich text – full of encouragement in suffering, and reminders of our identity and our future.  As the world seems a bit crazy these days, and many are suffering, the words of Peter are timely.  Be encouraged.

5x5x5 Bible Reading – 1, 2 & 3 John

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Dear 5x5x5 Bible readers,

After our short stay in the pastoral letters of Paul to Timothy (in Ephesus) and Titus (in Crete), we turn now to the letters of 1, 2 & 3 John.  The John that is writing is an apostle, one of the “sons of thunder” who knew Jesus personally.  He wrote the gospel according to John earlier, to introduce Jesus to those who did not know Him.  Now, much later in life, he is writing to those who are already Christians.

These letters address the behavior of those who claim to be Christians.  You will see repeatedly the phrase, “If we claim…” which is followed by clear expectations of the behavior of a Christian.  John’s themes are simple and straightforward on topics of light/darkness, truth, love, sin, and obedience.  John was probably the last surviving apostle when he wrote these letters, and he fights vigorously against the corruption of a true faith.  It’s refreshing to see such clarity!

5x5x5 Reading Plan – 2 Timothy

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Dear 5x5x5 Readers,

I have just a few words as we started reading 2 Timothy today.  You already know the relationship between Paul and the young pastor Timothy who was laboring in Ephesus.  This letter is Paul’s farewell address, his last known correspondence.  Paul is “passing on the torch” to the next generation as he knows his death is near.  As a result, Paul writes on themes of staying strong, holding fast to the truth, preaching the Word in and out of season, training others who will carry on the kingdom work, and finishing the race well.  He gives warnings regarding quarreling and the dangers of self-seeking godlessness.  Paul finished well, but he certainly felt rather alone and abandoned – he had perhaps no idea that his labor would still be bearing fruit two thousand years later.  Praise God for a life lived in surrender to Christ!

5x5x5 Reading Plan – 1 Timothy

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Dear 5x5x5 readers,  Welcome to 1 Timothy, a letter from the apostle Paul to his long-time friend and fellow laborer Timothy.  Timothy was younger than Paul, converted on Paul’s first missionary journey, and had become Paul’s most trusted disciple and co-laborer.  When new churches in the region experienced challenges, Timothy was often the pastor dispatched to help resolve issues and prevent a major meltdown.  Timothy was serving as the pastor to the church in Ephesus when Paul wrote these instructions (approximately ten years after Paul’s letter to the Ephesians).

A pastor’s job is not an easy one!  In any given week, a pastor may serve as a psychologist, priest, social worker, hospital chaplain, administrator, personnel supervisor, philosopher, teacher, and communicator.  Paul was very aware of the vital nature of such a job – churches sprouted up wherever Paul visited, but whether they survived or failed depended largely on what kind of local leadership developed.  1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are considered the “pastoral letters”, written by Paul to encourage and direct young leaders.  I often write the major themes of each Biblical book across the top of the introductory page in my Bible – on 1 Timothy I have written “church leadership and administration”.

Although this letter addresses a historical situation, many problems of the early church persist today – controversies, disorder, a generation gap, an integrity shortage, abuse of social aid, and a love of money.  As you read, look for problems Paul alludes to and ask yourself if they have any modern equivalents. What role does he expect different groups to play in local church leadership?  What example are they expected to provide?

Keep reading!  It’s September and we are going to finish the New Testament this year!

 

 

Text Book List – Introduction to the New Testament

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My first class at Asbury Theological Seminary this fall is an Introduction to the New Testament.  For those who have asked, this is my required reading list:

The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
The Shadow of the Galilean by Gerd Theissen
Who Chose the Gospels: Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy by CE Hill
Recovering the Full Mission of God: A Biblical Perspective on Being, Doing, and Telling by Dean Fleming
What Saint Paul Really Said by NT Wright
Honor, Patronage, Kinship, & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture by David deSilva

There must be one hundred different ways to design a syllabus for a class like this, I’ve compared a few and they can be very different!  My professor is a retired missionary from Kenya, and I’m excited for the cultural aspects he appears to be bringing to the class.

There are also many different ways to be a distance-learner.  This class is a full semester (Sept-Dec) with weekly reading assignments, discussions, and video lectures.  We meet in person mid-semester at Asbury’s extension campus in Orlando for 3 days in late October… that makes it a “hybrid” class.  As an extrovert I actually hate having to study by myself and interact online… but that’s just the best I can do for this phase of life!

If you’re a Facebook user, follow this blog here and I promise to at least offer up random bits for discussion as I go along!

5x5x5 Reading Plan – Corinth

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This weekend our 5x5x5 reading plan is finishing Luke… I hope you’re still reading with us! (If not, you can always start with us today – just one chapter of the New Testament a day!)

Welcome to 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul’s first letter to the church in the city of Corinth, in ancient Greece.  Ah, crazy Corinth!  Every large city has one area where prostitutes, gamblers, hustlers, and drug dealers hang out.  In New York, it’s Times Square; in New Orleans it’s Bourbon Street; in Las Vegas it could be anywhere.  In the ancient world the entire city of Corinth was known for shameless immorality and drunken brawling.  For their religious ideal, the wild-living Corinthians adopted Venus, the goddess of love, and a temple built in her honor employed more than a thousand prostitutes.

Yet Corinth was not just a blue-collar town.  It was at one point the second largest city in the ancient world (after Rome) and with a population of 700,000 it hosted a large group of dignitaries and cosmopolitan leaders.  Geographically Corinth sat on small peninsula Corinththat a crucial trade route passed through.  I visited ancient Corinth this spring and it was immediately obvious to me why it was such a wealthy city.  Shipping traffic passing from the Aegean Sea (from Greece or Turkey) to the Adriatic Sea (headed to Italy) would unload at the port on one side, transit goods over a two mile-long land bridge, and reload ships on the far side.  (There is a canal there today.) The city grew rich on trade and taxes, and was a sprawling open-air market filled with slaves, sailors, athletes, gamblers, charioteers and people from all over the world!  What craziness!

Paul worked in Corinth for 18 months (Acts 18), in part because he understood the strategic importance of the city.  To everyone’s surprise, the church he founded became one of the largest in the first century.  Yet, several years later, the church at Corinth was wrestling with a multitude of challenges.  1 & 2 Corinthians are Paul’s longest letters, and cover a wide variety of topics, in part because Corinth added bizarre new twists to ethical issues and church problems in the first century.

As you read, ask “What is the actual issue Paul addresses here?  What are the underlying issues that transcend that era?  Are there similar issues in our Christian communities today?  What are the core values that Paul upholds?”