Coffee, the Bible, and Paige

No recriminations for Smyrna - but there is trouble coming.

Jesus addresses the first and primary church in the first century i.e. Ephesus.

The beginning of the Vision given to John. Jesus identifies Himself.

I look at the first nine verses of Chapter 1, answering the questions of who wrote the Revelation, what is the message of Revelation, and Where it was sent, initially.

How you interpret John's Revelation will be determined by when you think John wrote this letter.

This is my Preamble to the upcoming study on John's Revelation.

The Magi weren't just 3 smart guys riding camels... there is MUCH more to this part of the story.

As Paul Harvey used to say... this is the "REST of the story..." These particular shepherds were not an afterthought on God's part. They were EXACTLY the right witnesses to the Incarnation.

Looking at the humanity of Mary's story...

There are two parts to a chess match - the "Long Game" and the "End Game". The Long Game is the majority of the match, and its purpose is to set up the player's End Game. God's Long Game is the entirety of the Old Testament. His End Game is found in the Gospels. The incarnation is His opening gambit to His End Game.

Mark ends his Gospel in a rather curious fashion. I discuss the possibilities that arise with it.

From the Sanhedrin and the charge of blasphemy to Pilate and the charge of treason, still Jesus did not retaliate. Convicted of treason with Pilate demanding that the religious leaders accept their participitation in this event, Pilate consented to their demand to crucify Jesus, and sentence was passed.

The trial, sentencing, and execution of Jesus reveals the absolute criminality of what happened to Jesus.

What does the woman's gift tell us about her? What do Jesus' words at the last supper tell us about Him? What does Judas' actions tell us about him?

this prophetic word from Jesus to His disciples applied to them THEN... but also to us NOW.

In His last week in Jerusalem, Jesus begins by facing off with each faction of the religious leadership of Israel... Chief Priests, Teachers of the Law, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. He does not hold back in revealing their hypocrisy. .

Lessons from the fig tree cursed by Jesus and from His words concerning prayer.

The importance of being a servant. Plus some insight into Jesus interaction with Bartimaeus

What is TRULY important to you? Is there anything in your life you would NOT give up in order to be a Christ-Follower?

Jesus rebukes His disciples for turning away the children who were coming to Him.

Oh - they were discussing divorce with Jesus... but it wasn't REALLY about divorce.

Jesus goes deeper on the topics of humility and being "salt"

Why were the disciples unable to cast out a demon? Why were they arguing with the religious leaders? Who was Jesus upset with?

The disciples were wrestling with the fact that all they THOUGHT they knew about Messiah and His ministry was pretty insignificant.

Jesus has to correct the disciples (primarily Peter) idea of what and Who the Messiah is to be like. He delivers a harsh rebuke to Peter. What is YOUR view of Jesus?