Month: April 2013

Ephesians, The Daily Word1 Comment

Husbands, Love Your Wives! (Ephesians 5.25–33)

georgepwood

SCRIPTURE READING Ephesians 5.25–33 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT In the Roman Empire, men held tremendous power over their households. According to Charles Seltman, “A girl was completely under her father’s, a wife completely under her husband’s, power. She was his chattel … Her life was one of legal incapacity which amounted to enslavement, while her status was described as ‘imbecilitas,’ whence our word [imbecile].” With Seltman’s statement in mind, we can see that what Paul writes about a wife’s submission to her husband (Ephesians 5.22–24) expresses the classical world’s traditional wisdom. But do we also see that what Paul writes about a … Continue reading Husbands, Love Your Wives! (Ephesians 5.25–33)

Ephesians, The Daily Word1 Comment

Wives, Submit to Your Husbands? (Ephesians 5.22–24)

georgepwood

SCRIPTURE READING Ephesians 5.22–24 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Ephesians 5.22–24 reads: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” This is one of my least favorite passages in the Bible for several reasons: First, it seems to teach a hierarchical model of marriage that makes basically egalitarian husbands such as me very uncomfortable. Second, it is sometimes misinterpreted … Continue reading Wives, Submit to Your Husbands? (Ephesians 5.22–24)

Ephesians, The Daily Word1 Comment

Black and White Morality in a Gray Culture (Ephesians 5.15–21)

georgepwood

SCRIPTURE READING Ephesians 5.15–21 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT The Bible portrays morality in black and white, but our culture sees morality in shades of gray. Take sex, for example. In the Bible, sex outside of marriage is immoral (Hebrews 13.4). But in our culture, it is routine, even among Christians. We know what the Bible teaches, but we prefer to ignore its teaching and/or generate rationalizations for our disobedience. (Someone has said that to rationalize means to offer “rational lies.” How true!) Or take anger. Jesus clearly teaches that anger is a form of murder deserving judgment and that it should be … Continue reading Black and White Morality in a Gray Culture (Ephesians 5.15–21)

Assemblies of God, Enrichment JournalLeave a comment

‘Cultivating Faithfulness’ by George O. Wood (My Dad)

georgepwood

 The spring 2013 issue of the journal I edit, Enrichment, includes an article by my dad, George O. Wood, about the important thing in small-church ministry, namely, faithfulness. Here’s an excerpt: When I was a boy, Mom would often say two things to me, and she said them often. The first thing she said was, “It won’t matter 100 years from now.” Indeed that is true. One hundred years from now it won’t matter if we led a small ministry or a large one, whether we lived in a nice house or a rented one-room apartment, whether we drove a new … Continue reading ‘Cultivating Faithfulness’ by George O. Wood (My Dad)

Ephesians, The Daily Word, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Indicative and the Imperative (Ephesians 5.7–14)

georgepwood

SCRIPTURE READING Ephesians 5:7–14 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT In Ephesians 5.7–14, Paul makes two kinds of statements. The first is indicative; it states who we are. The second kind is imperative; it tells us how we should act. Indicative statements include the following: “You were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (verse 8). “The fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (verse 9). Imperative statements include the following: “Do not associate with them” (verse 7). “Walk as children of the light” (verse 8). “Discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (verse 10). … Continue reading The Indicative and the Imperative (Ephesians 5.7–14)

Ephesians, The Daily Word7 Comments

God, Sex, and Popular Culture (Ephesians 5.3–6)

georgepwood

SCRIPTURE READING Ephesians 5.3–6 DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT We live in a sex-obsessed culture. Turn on the television during prime viewing hours, and you’ll see advertisements, entertainment news shows, sitcoms, and hour-long dramas awash in sex. Unfortunately, very little of the sex takes place in the context of marriage, and almost none of it has real-world consequences. When was the last time you saw a realistic portrayal of sexually transmitted disease, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, or the financial disadvantage of single-parent homes? But sex, like every other human behavior, has consequences. Why don’t television and other popular media deal with those consequences realistically, instead … Continue reading God, Sex, and Popular Culture (Ephesians 5.3–6)