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Showing posts from July, 2009

Counseling an Angry Brother

The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” --Genesis 4:6,7 (ESV) Breaking It Down Cain's sin is iconic in that it is the first sibling rivalry, the first murder, and caused the first exile. He not only hated his brother with jealousy, but his hate gave rise to the shedding of blood. What is an amazing component of the story is that God gave a warning to Cain regarding his temptation to sin. God asked him the question, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” The question is a use of parallelism. The first phrase “why are you angry” points to the emotional response in Cain that he feels an injustice has been committed against him. The second part of the question is basically a repetition of the idea with a little extra twist to draw attention to the fact that Cain is not only angry, b

Is 1 Corinthian 6:19 a good verse to address the morality of smoking?

Note: I had to clear up some typos so this is a re-post since some of my sentences said the opposite of my intention. A common use of the Scripture 1 Corinthians 6:19 is as a smoking cessation verse. In some ways I agree that this can be deduced from the verse as an application, but the primary meaning being who we give ourselves to during sex. The context will show this. Sexual Immorality 12"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13"Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that he who