THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. A gracEmail subscriber asks why the New Testament speaks of the Christian as Gods child in two senses-- by birth and also by adoption. *** Any answer we give to the question why scripture-writers do something must be speculative unless the text involved states the motivation. Furthermore, New Testament language is often richly nuanced and involves several layers of meaning. This is in contrast to much popular evangelical teaching, which tends to be overly-simplistic and overly-literalistic. The … [Read more...]
HOUSEHOLD CODES
THE ELEVENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Paul's perspective. We are familiar with the lists of instructions to various members of the household in Paul's epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. Paul is not writing in a vacuum but in a context. Preachers of various philosophies had been teaching their ideas of the ideal household for centuries before Paul. Following are excerpts from a recent posting titled 'Household Codes,' by David B. Capes, gracEmail subscriber and Academic Dean of Houston Graduate School of Theology. Dr. Capes looks at the … [Read more...]
THE TABLE SPREAD
THE FOURTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. The table is spread and the meal is served. Guests are united in the human race to which they all belong, resplendent as the rainbow of complexions that make their faces shine. Hues of black intermingle with tones of yellow, juxtaposed by shades of white and red and brown. Guests exchange pleasantries and self-introductions a sentence long, in the process discover diversity of a deeper quality. Their time on earth was marked by a range of social, economic, and professional positions: farmers, teachers, … [Read more...]
PERSONAL UPDATE
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. This update is coming to you from Sara Faye, scribe, and me, "dictator." Following successful back surgery on Monday August 15, and three nights at Methodist Hospital West in Katy, I moved to Memorial Hermann Rehab Hospital Katy with expected return home on September 3. I am grateful to God for his presence with my surgeon whose skill has taken away my leg pain. I am grateful to you, my gracEmail family, for your prayers and emails expressing good wishes. Many thanks also, for prayers, cards, visits, and … [Read more...]
Family Notes 24/08/2016
THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. When the Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1949, the nation had 500,000 Christians. Add 70 years of official governmental oppression, and today Christians number more than 60,000,000. At that rate, by 2030 we can expect to see 200,000,000 Christians in Communist China, says Purdue University sociologist Fenggang Yang, making it home to the largest Christian population in the world. What is going on? CHINA'S CHRISTIAN FUTURE By Yu Jie The beginnings of this immense growth can be traced back to two … [Read more...]
PARABLE PRESENTS TWO PUZZLES
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. A preacher spoke about Jesus's parable of the sower (Matt. 13). Jay had two questions, which he asked his mother Marti. Marti was emailing my mother and casually mentioned Jay's questions to her. Mom was writing to my wife Sara Faye and, by the way, asked her to ask me how I would answer if asked. I felt asked, since Sara Faye said that Mother said that Marti said that Jay said that the preacher said that Matthew said that Jesus said in Matthew 13, that everyone who did not sow good seed would be … [Read more...]
Family Notes 17/08/2016
THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. A TOUR OF MY WEBSITE It occurs to me that many gracEmail subscribers might never have explored my website, http://www.edwardfudge.com . Hoping to entice you to do so, I give you the following list of the helpful resources it contains. The materials listed below include thousands of pages and represent decades of work. START at the HOME PAGE. That is located at https://edwardfudge.com/ THERE YOU WILL FIND -- Our testimony to God's faithfulness Info about "Hell and Mr Fudge" … [Read more...]
Family Notes 15/08/2016
THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER'S HEALING God's will is on the side of health, wholeness, and salvation. The English words "hale," "health," and "whole" share common roots. When the Gospels tell stories of Jesus forgiving sins and healing the sick, the words translated "heal" and "save" often translate the same Greek word. The authoritative name of Jesus is given to us for both health and salvation (Acts 3). Jesus' atonement procured both those blessings, and Isaiah 53 is fulfilled in them both (Matt. 8:17; Acts … [Read more...]
JESUS, JUSTICE, AND JUDGMENT
THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. It is undisputed that when God judges all humankind, he will judge them individually and based on the heart. No one will finally be redeemed or condemned on a "group plan," and what interests God most about each individual is not visible on the surface. God is supremely fair, and he will judge or measure each person by the light of divine revelation that the person possessed--whether creation, conscience, prophetic oracles, the Jewish scriptures, or the Gospel. But regardless of the light possessed, no … [Read more...]
Family Notes 10/08/2016
THE TENTH DAY OF AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. MAKING WORLD PEACE--ONE MIND AT A TIME Sometime tomorrow, August 11, God willing, sixty young leaders from 15 countries stressed by ethnic, racial, national, religious and political conflict will assemble for two-and-one-half weeks in the picturesque town of Fuzine, Croatia. The occasion is the 2016 Renewing Our Minds (ROM) Gathering, an international leadership movement created and run by gracEmail subscriber and veteran peacemaker Tihomir Kukolja. Mr. Kukolja's own experiences during and after years of bloody … [Read more...]