Coming Up For Air

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some have strayed and turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law… A classical wag commented acidly on a dictator who found himself unemployed when deposed by the town he used to rule. The only employment he could find for his skill set and experience was as an elementary school teacher. Just so, Paul looks skeptically on the desire to become a teacher. These in th...

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some have strayed and turned aside to idle talk, Baseball writer Robert Creamer in the Ken Burns documentary series took a philosophical view of some of the stranger things baseball manager Casey Stangl said. Creamer figures that Stangl hated dead air, that silence made him uncomfortable, and that he felt compelled to fill the space with something. Often that something didn't make much sens...

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some have strayed… Philip Yancey wrote of a strange experience in a café looking out on the geyser Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. The natural wonder drew thousands, but he watched the crew working in the restaurant as the time for the geyser's eruption came and went. They no longer paid attention. It was too common, and they went about their business. So it is in the Christian c...

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith… Cultural commentator and New York Times columnist David Brooks cautioned, "People in what feels like a hostile environment often reduce their many affiliations down to just one simple one, which they weaponize and defend to the hilt." The Ephesus in which Paul is bolstering Timothy to minister in the opening of 1 Timothy 1 certainly qualifies as an hostile environment. Someone as intrep...

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience,… On the show Friday Night Lights , Brian "Smash" Williams is Dillon High School's overachieving, irrepressible running back, until he suffers a serious knee injury. The knee is repaired, but Brian's "Smash" persona is not. He says point-blank after the injury, "I'm slow." He can't find it within himself to trust the full extent of the new life the surgery has given him on the f...

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart… On Star Trek: The Next Generation , Captain Jean-Luc Picard, even to a futuristic culture that prizes evolved self-discipline, is a model for it. He is able to keep perspective on the conflict and immaturity he sees and offer the cool, considered voice of reason before those he influences charge in. The viewer is actually somewhat surprised to find out that this wasn't always so. As an impetuous cadet at Starfleet Academy, it turns out that young Pic...

From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith. 5 now the purpose of the commandment is love… Donald Whitney frames in Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life, "God has offered you this time to discipline yourself for the purposes of godliness." We are a little taken aback at first at the pairing of discipline and godliness. Isn't it, after all, a work of faith and the Spirit to change us? Aren't we, we excuse, passive passengers as God changes our affections and then our actions? Perhaps not. As Timothy swims in the distorted n...