It’s fun to study surnames, or last names, as distinguished from Christian names, or first names. Back in history, when things got crowded, they had to add second names to sort out all the people named John or James or Mary or Ruth. So they turned to four contextual features—location (as in Lois Hill); parentage …
The signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence took pains to say they were not rebelling against Britain on a whim or petulantly, but that their break came after a “long train of abuses and usurpations,” of which they list over two dozen. Furthermore, they had “petitioned for redress in the most humble terms,” but …
A popular book on grammar bears the intriguing title, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It demonstrates, among other things, that commas are very important. The title could refer to a gunfighter, who, having enjoyed his meal at the saloon, guns down a rival and then strides out the door. But if you take out the comma, …
A number of years ago, I got a Sunday night call from a pastor who was facing backlash from a prominent deacon in his church. The critic was taking exception to his statement that Proverbs 22:6 wasn’t a guarantee – “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old …
The word, ‘angel,’ comes from the Greek term, angelos (pronounced “ahn’geh lahs”), which means “messenger”. It’s the same word we find in euangelion (“good message” or “good news”), the base of our word ‘evangelize’. But that doesn’t mean that everyone who spreads the good news of salvation in Jesus is an angel; regular earthly Christians …
‘Fought’ is an awfully strong word, but these two did have a sharp encounter. We see it unfold in Galatians 2:11-19, where Paul rebukes his fellow apostle for caving in to the prejudice of a group who said that people from all ethnic backgrounds had to satisfy the Jewish ritual law before they could become …
Peter and Paul fought with each other. What’s up with that? Read More »