December 14 / Micah 4:8-5:15

Micah 4:8-5:15 Dear RTB’ers, Yesterday’s readings had mixed messages from Micah – judgment and condemnation in chapter 3, then deliverance in chapter 4. Today he starts out sensitive, then drops a bomb on Judah’s leaders, that they are going into exile in Babylon. Their actual exile would be hundreds of years down the road (586 …

December 13 / Micah 3:1-4:7

Micah 3:1-4:7 Dear RTB’ers, Another travel day, so another delayed post, this time packing and leaving our 3-month time in Nitra, now two nights in Bratislava, with a missionary pastor and his family whom we met twenty years ago. Good memories! Yesterday Micah seemed to take the entire people to task, saying that Judah was …

December 11 / II Corinthians 13

II Corinthians 13 Dear RTB’ers, Yesterday’s comment – that is, John’s post on “Rearranging II Corinthians” – was enough comment for today’s first ten verses. Let’s look at Paul’s closing: Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one …

December 10 / II Corinthians 12:11-21

II Corinthians 12:11-21 Dear RTB’ers, Today’s reading is so confusing, so seemingly out-of-place that I had to go back to John’s comment on “Rearranging II Corinthians” from 2021. As you read through that post, please pay particular attention to any mention of chapter 12 or of chapters 10-13. I agree with John. What we are …

December 9 / II Corinthians 11:21b-12:10

II Corinthians 11:21b-12:10 Dear RTB’ers, Today’s reading has three major parts – Paul’s “suffering” for his testimony to the Lord; the vision/revelation that he saw; and his “thorn in the flesh”. First, his suffering… When I read about all that he went through, I cringe. I do not handle physical pain well and he lists …

December 8 / II Corinthians 11:1-21a

II Corinthians 11:1-21a Dear RTB’ers, Paul and the Corinthians…! This second letter is Paul’s most confusing epistle, mostly because we don’t know anything about his “third visit” (if there was one) or his other letter(s). So we’re having to read between the lines and draw our own inferences. Today’s reading clearly suggests that there are …

December 7 / II Corinthians 10

II Corinthians 10 Dear RTB’ers, No doubt Paul faced opposition in Corinth – from Synagogue leaders, from false teachers, from “parishioners” who feel that they had been maligned by him in his letters, so I feel like his “boasting” was more self-defense than “bragging”: For even if I boast a little too much of our …

December 6 / II Corinthians 8:16-9:15

II Corinthians 8:16-9:15 Dear RTB’ers, …for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. (v. 8:21) It’s a simple concept – yes, we always want to be right and correct and honorable before the Lord, but we are also “in the world” and “the …

December 5 / II Corinthians 8:1-15

II Corinthians 8:1-15 Dear RTB’ers, Did he/she get to Heaven? Will I get to Heaven? Will all of us get to Heaven, or will some be left behind? “Get to Heaven…”, a phrase from my childhood and continuing today. A dear Christian friend wrote to me that he just lost a sibling. He wrote, “…I …