PHall | February 3, 2012
Satan asking Jesus to jump is the temptation; but subtle is the unstated temptation found in choosing not to jump. If Jesus jumps to make God jump to save Him, then that is wrong. If Jesus doesn’t jump because He loves His life more than God, that too is wrong. Giving in to sin, this [...]
Category: Luke, Matthew |
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PHall | February 2, 2012
Perryism – If we seek first the kingdom of God, we won’t seek flesh in the kingdom of Satan.
Category: Matthew |
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Tags: Perryisms
PHall | January 20, 2012
How did they go from the wilderness to the top of the temple, and then later to a very high mountain? My answer is that Satan actually takes Jesus to Jerusalem which is what the text says, minus the word “actually.” Matthew 4.5 (HCSB) Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him [...]
Category: Luke, Matthew |
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Tags: Commentary
PHall | January 18, 2012
Each both Luke and Matthew, the temptation involving bread and stones is listed first. However, the second temptation in Matthew is the third in Luke. In Luke’s record, Satan’s temptation to throw Himself down to prove trust in God is listed third. Matthew is better known for grouping biographical points topically, while Luke’s record is [...]
Category: Luke, Matthew |
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Tags: Commentary
PHall | January 13, 2012
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” (Chinese Proverb) – Christianity is not just hearing sermons and seeing the good examples of others. It is practicing it ourselves. Only then does the humanly insane, counter-culture, Sermon on the Mount enlighten us with true, divine understanding.
Category: Matthew |
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PHall | December 15, 2011
The third temptation here is not worshiping Satan, which is repulsive. The temptation is as subtle as it is blatant – What is Jesus willing to put up with to get what He wants? He did come for a kingdom, right? Applied personally, what are we willing to put up with to get what we [...]
Category: Matthew |
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Tags: Temptation
PHall | December 10, 2011
There is a silence within the details that sounds an alarm. One temptation ends, and another begins, but what about in between? The silence is the amount of time between each encounter in the battle between Jesus and Satan in the wilderness. Unlike the revealing text declaring that afterwards the angels “immediately” came and began [...]
Category: Matthew |
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Tags: Article
PHall | December 8, 2011
Jesus sank below the water as man and walked on the water as God. In baptism He was overcome; and in the storm He overcame. In the Jordan He submitted; and on Galilee He commanded. The force was never the water; the power was the God-Man’s will. The water always served its Maker, its Master, [...]
Category: Matthew |
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PHall | November 11, 2011
Jesus makes people uncomfortable. Ironically, this is especially true for the religious because Jesus challenges the normal, the expected, and the religious traditions of both the sanctimonious and soft-hearted. Jesus confronts the conscience of others and we must be brave enough to question our own. Learning from Him, who always knew right and wrong regardless [...]
Category: I Corinthians, Matthew |
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Tags: Article, Fellowship
PHall | June 25, 2011
Think about the following observation: A barrier to true biblical interpretation is blindness to influences by our social, political, spiritual and personal environment. Before seeing God’s truth, we have to see ourselves truly. To shed biases is a lifelong process. Yet to deny truth is obtainable is to deny reality. True reality is that truth [...]
Category: I Corinthians, John, Matthew |
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Tags: Article