3 John

This is one of those rare personal letters that made it into the canon of Scripture. If I’m not mistaken, I think there are only 4 others, all written by Paul (1&2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon).

As for this letter, the short hand moral lesson would read: Be like Gaius and Demetrius, not Diotrephes.

The last tidbit I would add is that John ends his 2nd and 3rd epistles with remarks about not wanting to write much more. Rather, he wants to see the people face to face. I think that’s important. Don’t let the medium of text get in the way of face-to-face relationships.

1 John

1John chartBack to the basics. That’s what 1 John is all about. Simple sentences, always building on the previous thought.

Here’s my summary of John’s letter:

The diagram above, keep it simple, abide in Him, love others, He is true, don’t be deceived, the world is passing away, if you know God don’t practice sin, God hears our prayers, we have life, we will overcome the world.

Good letter. Great reminders. K.I.S.S.

Jude

I have a Warren Wiersbe type of outline here. All begin with “P”:

  • Purpose: He appeals to us believers to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
  • Problem: A group of unnoticed, ungodly people had crept in the Christian circles and perverted grace into sensuality. That is, they began accepting gross immorality, presumptuously thinking that God would forgive them even as they continued practicing their sin.
  • Profile of an Apostate:
    1. destined to condemnation
    2. ungodly
    3. perverts grace
    4. licenses immorality
    5. denies Christ as the only sovereign Lord
    6. is a dreamer
    7. pollutes their body
    8. rejects authority
    9. blasphemes angels
    10. blasphemes what they don’t understand
    11. is without reason
    12. is destroyed by their own instincts
    13. is a grumbler
    14. is malcontent
    15. follows sinful desires
    16. is a loud-mouthed boaster
    17. plays favorites for their gain
    18. scoffs
    19. causes division
    20. is worldly minded
    21. devoid of the Spirit

This list is pretty ugly. Yet, it’s describing people who were / are creeping into the church! God help us!

  • Persevere: The way for us to continue in, contending for the faith is by building ourselves up, praying, endeavoring together in love, waiting for the mercy of Christ. By having mercy on people and saving them from the fire, we will persevere.
  • Praise: verse 24-25

Philemon

Last night I was feeling ambitious, so I read a whole book of the Bible–Philemon. It’s a whopping twenty-five verses. Here’s what I think you should know about it:

Verses 1-7 are a typical opening to Paul’s letters. It is worth noting that this is a personal letter. Only 3 other personal letters can be found in the New Testament Canon. (1&2 Timothy, Titus)

  • The central part of the letter is about how to handle Onesimus. To steal a line from a friend of mine, it’s about forgiven sinners learning to forgive sin. That is, for forgiveness to be genuine, it has to pass through us, not just come to us. See, forgiveness comes with a divine redundancy. That’s what my friend says. And that’s what Paul is saying in this letter to Philemon. Treat Onesimus right, forgive him, accept him, build a newfound Christ-centered relationship with him.

In verse 21-22 Paul tells Philemon to prepare to receive him. The last three verses include some closing greetings.

And that’s all folks.

Follow the Signs; Exits Have Been Changed

The title of this post comes from a traffic sign I saw this weekend. In many ways, it sums up my thoughts this past week.

What I mean is that everyone has to exit this world. It’s not optional.

Most of us think we know when we’ll exit, say at the age of 85 or 90, after a good long life. We think we will have our health until we breathe our last, then we’ll go in peace. But friends, this is rarely the case. We usually aren’t so fortunate.

This past week, one of my coworkers was not so fortunate. He had just celebrated his 30th birthday last weekend, and on Tuesday, he was dead. Killed in a car accident, after colliding with a deer on the way into work.

His sudden death hit me hard because I worked with him on a daily basis. He wasn’t just another employee somewhere in the plant; he was someone I interacted with…daily. Now, I don’t.

How do you deal with that? How do you move on? What do you say?

About seven years ago, I had three close calls in the matter of a couple months. Two years ago, I had another close call. These events made painfully aware of how precious life is. Split seconds…the difference between life and death.

It’s times like these you get your life in order. Live fully for today. That doesn’t mean you have to wear a smile plastered to your face everyday, pretending everything is okay. It means you live in reality. You live in the present. Embrace the moment.

Follow the signs; exits have been changed.

Genesis 49-50

After finishing chapter 49, it seems evident that Jacob knows his sons pretty well. You’d think, after having 12 boys (and however many girls), that he might lose touch with some of the kids. Not so, based on this chapter. In fact, Jacob knows his sons well, perhaps better than they know themselves. He announces some blessings, some curses, and some general comments no their character, then he passes.

Joseph and all the family promise to bury him in his homeland, and that they do. Then in chapter 50, Joseph dies and is embalmed, but not before the famous phrase,

“You meant evil against me, but God intended it for good.”