Picturepocket's Blog

Tag: Bible

  • 2 Corinthians 8: The Joy of Giving

    Paul continues by addressing his audience as brothers and sisters. When I was a kid, the old pentecostal churches used to refer to each other in this manner. “And now Sister Sarah is going to play us a special on the piano.” It’s a warm way to greet our church friends.  Paul reminds the Corinthians…

  • 2 Corinthians 7: Coach Paul

    Paul starts this chapter continuing the theme of separation from lawlessness the last chapter. Believers are not to be unequally yoked, partnered, with unbelievers. Paul encouraged them to maintain purity of the body and spirit by the fear of God. Here we aren’t speaking of fear of someone irrational or vindictive, but accountability to the…

  • 2 Corinthians 5: Happy Campers

    In Chapter 5, Paul, a tentmaker by trade, starts referring to his body as a tent, a fragile structure, where his soul resides until it can go to its eternal dwelling in the heavens. He says that we groan, longing to shed the suffering in our current situation for a more complete, perfect one that…

  • 2 Corinthians 4: Jars of Clay

    Paul begins his fourth chapter reassuring the believers of his dedication to the truth and renouncing deceitful or underhanded ways. I wonder with whom he is comparing himself. Were there other leaders at the time spewing half-truths and lies? We certainly have those now, so what follows should be relatable. He says he refuses to…

  • 2 Corinthians 3: Proof of Life

    In the third chapter of Second Corinthians, Paul asks what letters of recommendation he needs to prove himself. His recommendation is written by their relationship, inscribed on his heart, “not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.”  Before Paul’s conversion, he was carrying papers that condemned the early believers to jail or…

  • 2 Corinthians 2: Love letters

    When reading other people’s mail, you have to figure out what is in the unsaid parts. Here, Paul is continuing to be sad about not coming to Corinth in person, and being forced into corresponding by letter. At the time of writing, he is feeling awful about not keeping his word to visit. As readers,…

  • The Real Real

    The hard thing about our seasonal Bible studies is that people come in with years of pain and sorrow and suffering just to have an hour and a half of being around people who will listen to them. What do you think of church, and Bible and religion? Is it not fancy churches or massive…

  • Personal-Pan Prayer

    There are several versions of a meme going around saying how great it is to find God alone in the woods or fishing, and even how preferable it is to hanging out in a stuffy, religious church.  People also are fond of saying “Only God can judge me” as if they aren’t accountable to their…

  • 1 Corinthians 16: Living Saints 

    In the last chapter of his letter, Paul encourages the church in Corinthian to put aside money to support the saints in Jerusalem and a talks about his missionary travel plans. Here, he uses the term “saints” not as a wall of dead icons, but living companions and ministers of the faith.  He asks the…

  • 1 Corinthians 15: Seeds of Life

    In this chapter, Paul first affirms the bodily resurrection of Christ. He lists all the witnesses in order beginning with Cephas (Peter), then the disciples, the larger group of 500 followers, James, the apostles and then himself, counting his vision of Christ. He acknowledges himself the least of the fellowship because of his participation in…