I approach a text for preaching with three basic questions on my mind. First, what does the text actually say? Second, what is God saying to this particular group of people through this particular text at this particular time? Third, what is the best way to say it? Since a text can say many things—and…

The question of slavery in the Bible has long been raised, especially in the form of why the Bible does not seem to condemn it outright. In Paul’s letter to Philemon he addresses the issue, but from a rather different approach. Philemon was a follower of Jesus who heard the gospel from Paul. He was…

Well-meaning inquirers and hostile skeptics alike wonder why the New Testament Scriptures do not forbid slavery outright. This question is particularly poignant considering the apostle Paul wrote a letter to a man named Philemon concerning Philemon’s runaway slave named Onesimus. Let’s take a look at what Paul says about the situation. Let’s remember that Paul…

The apostle Paul wrote a brief letter to his friend Philemon. The aim of the letter was freedom for Philemon’s slave Onesimus (I’ll address that in a later post). Onesimus had run away and heard the gospel of Jesus through Paul and became a follower of Jesus. In the beginning of the letter Paul spoke…

Scripture instructs us to pray for one another and for those who do not know the Lord and for those in positions of authority. We read this command in Paul’s first letter to Timothy who was serving the church in Ephesus. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made…