God's Gift of Scripture with Belton Joyner

These familiar verses in John 15:1-17 are filled with surprises and difficulties. There are lots of places where the meaning is not easy to find. Join me on a journey to figure out some of it! Jesus says He is the true vine (v. 1). Usually, when I think of a vine I think of a weed that grows where I don’t want it. Jesus is talking abut a plant that provides fruit. God is the vinegrower (v. 1). Oth...

When I read this week’s focal text and saw the title (“I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”), I got curious. So, I pulled my exhaustive concordance from the shelf. Using the King James Version, it is supposed to list every time a word appears in the Bible. So, if Jesus is the Way, how many other times has that word appeared in the biblical text? How many times does the word “way” appear? I guess...

Merry Christmas! I just looked over our notes on last week’s focal text and I see that I did not even mention that those reflection were for study just before Christmas Day. My excuse is that I was writing this in August 2024 and it’s 90 degrees today. Nevertheless, these verses about Jesus are indeed the fulfillment of the Christmas story. Of course, the nativity scene often shows the shepherds w...

I was on my way to go see some friends from church. I followed my GPS directions and soon was on Latta Road. I stopped at a red light and then drove across into the neighborhood where they lived. That is when I saw the gate. It blocked my access. I could not get in, blocked by a closed gate. At the stadium, the gate is closed unless I have the right ticket.  And then there was the other day when I...

So, there I was, at Bennett Pointe Grill, having lunch with my grand nephew Francis. As I munched on my favorite (Mandarin Walnut Salad with Grilled Chicken and Honey Mustard Dressing), he asked me what else I had to do today. I said, “I’m writing one of those Bible study commentaries; this one is about Jesus as the Light of the world.” The waitress refilled my glass of unsweetened iced tea as Fra...

This week’s study begins a series of lessons that reflect on various ways in which Jesus described Himself: Bread, Light, Open Gate, Shepherd, Way—Truth—Life. True Vine. Our Lord reaches out to us in so many ways! These studies begin with the image and truth of bread. I remember my sixth grade Sunday School class from decades ago. We were discussing this text from John 6:35: “Jesus said to them, ‘...

Can you believe that it is Advent already? We are on the countdown days ‘til Christmas. Usually when we recall the Christmas story, we think of the scene at the manger in Bethlehem: a baby, shepherds, wise men, angels, and, of course, Mary and Joseph. But that is not the Christmas account we get in the Gospel according to St. John. There is no star shining over a borrowed stable. There is no gold,...

Okay. Have you heard this one? I used to have a beautiful lamp on my desk, but someone stole it. You’d think I’d be upset, but I am de-lighted. Okay. Have you heard this one? A priest, a pastor, and a rabbit go into a blood donation center. The nurse asks the rabbit, “What’s your type?” The rabbit replied, “I think I am a Type-O.” Unfortunately for my friends, I love that kind of humor. I enjoy th...

Now I don’t know for sure, but I would not be surprised if research showed that Jude was the least read book in the Bible. (Did you have trouble finding it?)  Some students of the Bible think Jude was a brother of Jesus. Is he the “Judas” referred to in Matthew 13:55?  In any case, the author was one who wrote with considerable authority. Jude is greatly upset because there are those who have snea...

Let me begin with a personal memory. This day would have been my son’s 64th birthday, but he died unexpectedly in 2019. So many memories! But one thing that came to mind as I read this week’s text was something my son said when he chaired the Staff-Parish Relations Committee of a United Methodist congregation in Michigan. He said, “Some folks in the congregation seem to be surprised that we hold t...

Where to begin? I am uncertain because I do not know what you have read or learned elsewhere. For example, did you know that the early church attached the name “John” as the author of this letter because it reflected so much of the spirit of that apostle? The feminine language [“elect lady” (v. 1), “elect sister” (v. 13)] was a common practice of describing the whole church that way. These three l...

Sometimes it is hard to have hope. Last night I was watching a baseball game on television. It was the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs with nobody on base. The team at bat was behind 4-0. Time to pack up and go home, right? The batter was walked. The next batter got a single. The next batter got on base when the shortstop fumbled the easy out. The next batter hit a home run. The score was...

If you think these focal verses are strange, take a look at the opening verses of Jeremiah 13. Let me give you a warning: those verses are about dirty underwear. (Uh, dirty underwear clings to the body like sinful Israel clings to the Lord.)  Jeremiah records God’s challenge to Israel, a people in exile because of their choices of evil. Jeremiah 13:27 poses the hard-core question: “How long will y...

Read today’s focal text and then ask yourself this question: Do I have the nerve to complain to God about God? Lord, why did You let that happen? Lord, why don’t You do something to make things better? Lord, why do evil people so often win?  The context for these verses in Jeremiah is a time of great military loss for Jeremiah’s people. (Some think that 2 Kings 23:31-37 tells what happened.) Whate...

This week, we begin several sessions drawing on the prophet Jeremiah. I was curious, so I dug around a bit to see what the name “Jeremiah” means. I am no Hebrew scholar, but it is obvious that Old Testament scholars do not agree on the meaning of the name.  Does it mean “appointed by God”? Does it mean “God will establish”? How about “God will raise up”? One writer says, “Jeremiah” means “Loosen t...

These are strange verses about how God provided children for barren women, how God used non-marital relationships to conceive babies, and how two sisters kept pace with one another in producing family heirs. As complex as all this is, the story is pulled together in how the infant boys were given names that became the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (There was also a daughter who was named D...

Abraham sends one of his servants to find someone to marry Isaac (Genesis 24:4). The servant knows he is on the right track when Rebekah offers refreshing water to him and his camels (Genesis 24:45-46). The servant gives valuable jewelry to Rebekah and her family (Genesis 24:53-54). He thinks this seals the deal, but Rebekah’s brother and mother ask that Rebekah stay for ten days, no doubt to thin...

The biblical accounts of God’s people do not hide the reality of the multiple shortcomings of those who seek to follow God. Here is the story of Hagar. She is a slave for the wife of one of the leaders of the faith community (Genesis 16:1). A slave! She was not a hired helper; she was a slave.  When the wife of this spiritual leader realized that it looked as if she and her husband would not have...

This week’s study begins a series of reflections on some of the women mentioned in the Old Testament. What gifts did they bring? How were they treated? What can we learn from them? The first study is focused on Sarah, particularly the story in Genesis 18:1-15.  The name “Sarah” in Hebrew is a feminine form of the word for prince or chief. Some have called her the matriarch of the Jewish heritage....

In these verses, the apostle contrasts a physical body with a spiritual body. One is subject to the forces of nature; the other is subject only to the Spirit, no longer subject to the power of sin and death (v. 44).  We know all too well what it is like to live in a physical body. The unfolding mystery is what it is like to live in a spiritual body. Paul compares this uncertainty to what happens w...

The apostle Paul traveled a lot, spoke a lot, and wrote a lot. What did he say was the most important thing he handed to others? In 1 Corinthians 15:3, he proclaims “of first importance” the death, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances of Christ.  We talk a lot about the resurrection during the Easter season, but although it is the shaping influence on our lives, we don’t name it often d...

Want to play a game? Get your class or group to find 1 Corinthians 13. Now, get them to pretend they have never seen these familiar words. What new discussion emerges?  Verse 1: What do the voices of angels sound like? When have I heard an angel speak? Isn’t a noisy gong or clanging cymbal sometimes helpful? What is Paul trying to teach us?  Verse 2: If I met someone who could explain all mysterie...

Let’s start with the obvious: A gift is something that is given to you. If you deserve it, it is not a gift. If you have earned it, it is not a gift. If you have worked hard to get it, it is not a gift. And the apostle Paul says that God has given many gifts, and not everyone has the same gift (1 Corinthians 12:3-6). Even the faith to claim Jesus as Lord is a gift (1 Corinthians 12:3). No, I didn’...

 When I was growing up in eastern North Carolina, most of the churches I knew anything about had Communion about four times a year. In fact, I remember a Sunday School teacher telling me we had Communion only once a quarter because we thought so highly of the service. She said, “Those places that have it all the time (she meant the Roman Catholics and Episcopalians) have made it lose its meaning b...

To tell you the truth, I sat in front of my computer twice without typing a single word. I could not think of a good parallel in today’s culture that matched the issue Paul raised about eating food sacrificed to idols. For a vegetarian, it might be any meat. For a non-drinker, it might be any alcoholic drink. For some Christian believers, it might be eating hummus in a popular Muslim restaurant.