All posts tagged: First Epistle to Timothy

Extra Extra Read All About It

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It always starts with one word First, somebody told it, Then the room couldn’t hold it, So the busy tongues rolled it Till they got it outside. Then the crowd came across it, And never once lost it, But tossed it and tossed it, Till it grew long and wide. This lie brought forth others, Dark sisters and brothers, And fathers and mothers– A terrible crew. And while headlong they hurried, The people they flurried, And troubled and worried, As lies always do. And so evil-bodied, This monster lay goaded, Till at last it exploded In smoke and in shame. Then from mud and from mire The pieces flew higher, And hit the sad victim And killed a good name. I am looking forward to the day when people would realize that they should never say anything about anybody behind their back. I hope people will realize that if they can not say something about somebody in their presence, they cannot say it at all to anybody else. By overlooking this simple principle, some people …

Spiritual Gymnastics

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Gumnos: throwing off every encumbrance Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness. 1 Tim. 4:7 The word “train” comes from the Greek word Gumnos which means “naked” a word from which we also get our English word gymnasium. It is said that traditional greek athletes trained and competed without clothes. So to “train” literally meant to exercise naked or compete without clothes. The reason behind this practice was to allow the competitor to be free of every encumbrance that would burden and keep him/her from maximum performance. For Paul, connecting this word “train” to godliness will mean that his audience will begin to exercise their faith by training themselves to begin learning how to discard bad habits, evil tendencies, and anything or any lifestyle that impedes godliness. The scripture says it this way… “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before …