Dr. Mark Ellis

“Whatever you do, [God] will make good of it. But not the good He had prepared for you if you had obeyed Him.”
C. S. Lewis
"Perelandra"

More blessed than the blessed Mary.

Luke 9:27 And it came about while He said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice, and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it.”

Mark 3.20 And He came home, and the multitude gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. 21 And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 31 And His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, and called Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” 33 And answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 And looking about on those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold, My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

I finished translating 2 Corinthians into Portuguese today. I have never struggled with translating any other book of the New Testament as I have with 2 Corinthians, nor do I believe there is any book book in the New Testament more relevant for Christians today, unless it be 1 Corinthians.

Being a Christian in a post-Christian society.

Interesting...
"Pontiff: a former title of the pagan high priest at Rome, later used of popes and occasionally of other bishops, and now confined exclusively to the pope."

The word originally meant a maker of bridges, applied to priests pagan and Christian as one who makes a bridge between the gods and men.

Reposted from Denny Karschner.

Once again, religious persecution by facebook censors.

We are not the only ones to have to deal with these so-called "apostles" running around today. Paul ran up against the same.

2 Corinthians 11.12 And what I do I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about. 13 For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds.

The verb "exapatáô" (ἐξαπατάω), "to deceive," appears only six times in the Greek New Testament, all of which only occur in Paul's letters. One of those occurrences is in 1 Timothy 2:14, another evidence that this letter was written by Paul. Now, the response of those who deny Paul's authorship of this letter would be "but a good counterfeiter would have used the language of the author he was counterfeiting!" Do not let such flippant, pie-crust responses (easily made, easily broken) rob you of this precious book which Paul wrote to his young protégé.

God's eternal faithfulness to his covenants with the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:
Jeremiah 32:36 “Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.