God's Gift of Scripture with Belton Joyner

When I looked at this week’s focal text, I read it over and over. Nothing jumped out at me. My blank computer screen waited for me to type something. It happened that my young adult grandson was visiting. I asked him to review the passage (Acts 5:12-16). He said, “It grows out of the story told in Acts 3:1-10.” So, I had to ask what those verses might teach us. These reflections grow out of what h...

In preparation for this week’s commentary, I looked up Acts 5:29 in a variety of translations. There was one place I checked and found that throughout the telling of the story of the apostles, their teaching, their imprisonment, their mysterious freedom from prison, their re-arrest, the crowd’s response, and their final release, there were numerous footnotes, exploring Greek words, offering helpfu...

I think I agree with Bishop William R. Cannon. He wrote a study of the Book of Acts (The Book of Acts, Upper Room Books), and in his thorough analysis of the Book of Acts, he omits any comments on Acts 5:1-11. Maybe he thought it went without saying. Maybe he was not sure what to say. This is a difficult text. Ananias and Sapphira were in a Christian community that had agreed that all personal pro...

This lesson starts off with verses that celebrate how the early Christian believers were strong and bold in the way they testified to the Gospel (Acts 4:31). Hooray! We can all agree and be grateful for that witness. But, then, boom! Their boldness takes on another dimension, and we are probably just a little less excited. This boldness is not in public speaking, but in what those disciples did wi...

The preacher leaned forward in the pulpit. “I want you to hear this,” he said. Then, slowly and with purpose, he went on: “We are not saved by good works. We are saved for good works.” That seems to be what Peter and John are saying to the uppity-ups who question them (Acts 4:1-22). Salvation is not in what we do, but in what Jesus Christ does (v. 12). Of course, Peter and John had not been expect...

In Peter’s sermon, he is addressing “Israelites” (v. 29). He is speaking to many who have Jewish roots and traditions. He calls on them to “repent.” In the Greek language, the word that is translated as “repent” (metanoein) basically means “to change one’s mind.” These Israelites might well have recalled the Hebrew word for “repent” (teshuvah). In that language, the word means “to go in a new dire...

Do you remember what happened 288 years ago today? That was the day that John Wesley went to a Bible study and then wrote in his journal: “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ,...

Now, for the rest of Spring, and on through the Summer, our study is going to take us through the Book of Acts. These chapters are Luke’s way of showing the continuing presence of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Some folks even call this book “The Acts of the Spirit.” Many years ago (as old as I am, lots of things happened “many years ago”), I went to a local church celebration of the annive...

Let me be honest with you. I have started this week’s lesson commentary several times, and none of it seems to flow helpfully. Should we reflect on God’s promise to David (Psalm 89:3)? If so, what do we do with the other side of the coin, God’s giving David the short end of the stick (Psalm 89:43)? Then, we know the story of David and Bathsheba, but God says the covenant with David is still good (...

Which had you rather have: peace or justice? How about living in a time of peace, but it is a time in which racism, sexism, and economic injustice thrive? How about living in a time of justice, but which justice was achieved by angry division, violent protest, or even war? The psalmist celebrates a God who wants peace and justice to come alive at the same time and place. “…righteousness and peace...

Psalm 78 is one of the longest of the one-hundred fifty psalms. It is seventy-two verses long and much of it traces key events in the story of the people of Israel. Over and over again, it tells of God’s faithfulness and human brokenness. The chapter begins with an injunction to remember these accounts and to share them with others (Psalm 78:1-4). How do I share the message of God’s steady love? L...

Are you looking for a biblical vocabulary that will help you relate to others in a biblical way? Look at Psalm 35, and try these on for size: v. 1 – God, fight against my enemies v. 3—Lord, draw the spear and javelin against those who disagree with me v. 4—O Lord, dishonor those who oppose me v. 4—Let those who are against me be confounded v. 6—Lord, let Your angel push my opponents into slippery...

This week’s lesson is the first of five that roam around in the Psalter. The poets who wrote the Psalms travel through a wide range of emotions and observations. Our look today at Psalm 34 is a look at the goodness of God. Have you ever been to Platte City, Missouri? No, I haven’t either. However, I do have a friend who lives there. We were phone chatting the other day and she mentioned a restaura...

On Easter Sunday, we are not surprised to be reminded of the resurrection of Jesus. What is surprising is that He makes the same offer to us. The story of Lazarus reminds us that death is not the final word for us and our loved ones.   A friend gave me a calendar that for each day has an unusual word. I seldom have ever heard of the word.  Yesterday, the word-of-the-day was nychthemeron. (When was...

Palm Sunday. My memory goes back to my childhood Sunday School experience. The children’s department of Sunday School always provided a drama to open the Palm Sunday worship service. Boys and girls would line up and down the main aisle of the sanctuary. They would wave fans that were supposed to be like palms. One child then came down the aisle, riding a stick horse. Young voices would call out, “...

In Lamentations 5:1, the poet begs the Lord to “remember…what has befallen us.” The Hebrew word that gets translated as “remember” (zâkar) literally means “to mark.” I get this image of a long list of all the things that have happened to Israel with a big check mark next to the ones that were painful, harmful, and lingering. (Look over this fifth chapter of Lamentations and see how many marks woul...

This morning, I had breakfast with a long-time friend. I told her that I was writing these commentaries on the Book of Lamentations. I asked her, “What do you think is the greatest value of Lamentations?” (Before you read her answer, why don’t you pause and answer that question yourself?) “What do you think is the greatest value of Lamentations?”  She looked out the window and then said, “For me,...

Before you read these verses from Lamentations, let me give you a filter to use. If the anguish in the text is physical, raise your left hand. If the anguish in the text is emotional, raise your right hand. (I assure you; this will be good exercise!) Okay. Close this down for a moment and try that. ……………………. How did it go? How many times did you lift your right hand? How often did you lift your le...

Have you ever blamed God when things did not go as you thought they should? That tone of accusation against God leaps out from this week’s reading in Lamentations. Even though Israel’s disobedience in dealing with Egypt planted the seeds of this destruction, the poet sees God as the villain.  Look at Lamentations 2:5: God is like an enemy. Look at Lamentations 2:6: God has destroyed the temple. Lo...

For the first weeks of Lent, we shall be walking in the Book of Lamentations. As a whole, it must be one of the saddest books in the Bible.  Jerusalem has fallen and the steady question of “Why? Why?” goes unanswered. It is a lament about hunger, rape, dying children, rejection, destroyed property. As the title of this week’s lesson says, comfort seemed far away. Most of Lamentations is written as...

 This week’s lesson closes out these reflections on Paul first letter to the Thessalonians.   The apostle speaks again of the coming again of Christ. As we wait for that Good Day, we are to be patient and helpful with all (vv. 14-15). We are to live a life of thanksgiving (v. 18).  We are to refrain from evil (v. 22). We are to share this word with all (v. 27).   Earlier today, a friend of mine sa...

The emphases in 1 Thessalonians 4 might have “Twenty-first Century” stamped on them. (1) There is the issue of sexual holiness (vv. 3-7). Does that sound like today? (2) There is the issue of how to relate to those outside our usual culture (vv. 11-12). Can you name those who come to engage our culture?  (3) There is the issue of the torment of missing loved ones who have died (vv. 13-18). Whose n...

Just days before I write this, a major hurricane (Helene) tore across western North Carolina, destroying buildings, damaging property, and even killing people. Friends who had family or colleagues in that area were often tormented in not knowing how their kin and acquaintances were doing. Were they hurt? Had they survived? Did they have food to eat? The usual systems of communication were out. Acc...

In this letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul refers to himself and the rest of his team as “apostles” (1 Thessalonians 2:7). The New Testament word is apŏstŏlŏs, a word that means “delegate” or “representative.”  They came on behalf of Jesus Christ.   I got curious about how languages other than English had translated apŏstŏlŏs. In Spanish, it is apóstol. That word is usually translated “chi...

Many students of the Bible think that 1 Thessalonians is the first book written for the New Testament. Some even pin it down as early as 51 AD. That would be about two decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus. And, already these believers are looking forward to the return of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 1:10). It is interesting that this early New Testament book is already teaching about the do...