1 Corinthians 14:1-40 In the congregation of Corinth things were sometimes really in disorder. Especially the gift of speaking in strange tongues was sometimes misused and lead to unhappiness. Paul, who often spoke in tongues himself, teaches them gently and removes all uncertainties regarding this topic. This whole chapter may be summarised by the last […]
Read more1 Corinthians 13:6-10 An sms on my cell: “X’s divorce final today.” Just like that. My energy drops into my shoes. The poor children. The poor woman. The poor man. I remember their wedding. Small, intimate. So joyful with everybody laughing and feeling the love. Did the love dry up? Run out? Did the love […]
Read more1 Corinthians 13:6-7 6Puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, 7never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies. Like Paul at the beginning of this chapter, I want to talk about love and show where verses 6 and 7 had not taken root: “I was married […]
Read more1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Our family went to get three number 5s at McDonalds in Stellenbosch. First they got the order wrong and brought us McFeasts. We waited patiently in the number 1 parking place. Fortunately, our order came quickly and we were on our way, turning right and stopping at the four-way stop. As I […]
Read more1 Corinthians 13:4 4…Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. To love means not to be jealous. It is unacceptable to have blown up cheeks because you don’t have the same or as much as someone else. When you love, you don’t talk unkindly about what the other one has got. I can’t be nasty […]
Read more1 Corinthians 13:3-4 When the concept of true love has to be explained even the well-spoken Paul needs quite a number of words to put it clearly. Therefore, he starts 1 Corinthians 13 by saying what it’s not. Then he starts explaining what love truly is. 4 So, no matter what I say, what I […]
Read more1 Corinthians 13:1-3 When my wife’s grandfather turned 88, we decided on the spur of the moment to drive to Vredendal. At three o’clock on a Friday afternoon we left by car. I was in a hurry, because I didn’t want to be on this road in the dark. However, just before we got to […]
Read more1 Corinthians 12:27-31 Paul clearly explained to the people of Corinth how the gifts worked. He explained that it was just like the way in which the different parts of a body worked. For the body of Christ to work well, each part must do its bit. If one part doesn’t do what it should, […]
Read more1 Corinthians12:21-26 I ask myself the question: Why does Paul stress the body parts so much? Didn’t he already make his point? Ok, I do get it that in those days people had many quarrels among each other and that it was necessary for Paul to reprimand them more than once. But does this make […]
Read more1 Corinthians 12:12-20 James, the builder, added a study to our house. James and I talked a lot. We talked about the church and outreaches and so on. He told me that he kept a small notebook in his Bible to write down every message and every verse used in sermons, because, he says, it […]
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