Read Reflect So we pick up the second installment of this letter to Thessalonica and it’s as if Paul is asking, “Now, where were we?” Ah, yes, I was thanking God for you and boasting about you – that faith and love are growing bigger and better, and that steadfast suffering is proof of your […]
Read More judgment, kingdom, Sanctification, processRead Reflect There’s no question about it – the details in today’s reading are difficult to understand. Paul is referring back to what he had taught the people in Thessalonica when he was there, and to something that had happened since he had left. Paul himself is not sure exactly what it was that the […]
Read More second coming, speculation, carelessnessRead Reflect Does it come as a surprise that the great apostle Paul should ask the believers in Thessalonica to pray for him? I think we sometimes forget how down-to-earth Paul was in his friendships and everyday life, and how he modelled the kind of inter-dependence that there should be among all Christians everywhere. We […]
Read More endurance, inter-dependence, confidence, prayerRead Reflect This section would be easier to understand if we knew more of what was going on. Paul refers back to what he told the Thessalonians when he was with them, and then to what he had heard since then. But what exactly was it that they were doing? (The word translated “loafing” in […]
Read More disruptive behaviour, idleness, work