Pious Bob

By Robert Halsey Pine What would we do without St. Paul to guide us in our life in Christ?          “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is

By Robert Halsey Pine St. Paul reminds us how our trials have a way of actually building us up: “Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?…..Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it

James reminds us where our true direction comes from: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist

Paul gets his orders from the top: “I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles–to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place

David sets us up to be concerned if God is delighted with us: “Our steps are made firm by the LORD, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the LORD holds us by the hand. Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever. For

St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Galatians how to live in our complicated world: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.’ Now

By Robert Halsey Pine Jude wants us to jump in over our heads: “But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on

By Robert Halsey Pine David had much to correct in his life and continually discussed his plans with the Lord:        “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. I have more understanding than

By Robert Halsey Pine Come on Peter, really? He says: “Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation–if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:1-10 NRSV).

In 2 Peter we hear about the Lord’s treatment of a day in our lives: “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness,

Marching for the Heavenly John dreams the impossible dream: “These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” (Revelation

St. Paul communicates a warning in having things in life in two ways: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians

“Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes? Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” (Mark 5:21 – 43 NRSV). Healing is an interesting phenomenon. In our Christian communities there are a variety of understandings about healing. Some say that we should

We hear St. Paul’s take on life in an uplifting way, even as we age: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,

St. Paul reminds us that following Christ is a journey: “Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). Paul says that because we do not know

Paul understood his calling very quickly and very humbly: “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). We

St. Paul makes life so simple, but yet so hard: “…For I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty…I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:4-13). Can we believe this? “I can

Nehemiah said: “And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, by the observance of which a person shall live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. Many years you

Jesus instructs us about being prepared: “Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:1-13). The parable of the bridesmaids and their lamps as told by

St. Paul commissions the spiritual battle gear for the faithful in saying: “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord

Many times Jesus communicates a truth to us through a parable. In the Gospel of Matthew we hear: “And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these

Resurrection is a hard thing to grasp for most of us. St. Paul had a tough time convincing people in his time. Resurrection is the cornerstone of our Christian Faith. Paul told the Corinthians: “Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn

While the Book of The Revelation to John can be awkward for many readers of the Bible, it can help us connect with the mystery of our Lord and God through metaphorical teachings. Just like in the words of the song, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” the description “fortress” is a metaphor communicating God’s

 St. Paul did a lot of convincing in the communities he ministered to. It’s hard for some to merge the old with the new without hanging on to the old. Here Paul says to the Galatians: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed

St. Paul gave us some good advice in his letter to the Corinthians. He helps us today in removing the stumbling blocks in our seeking the Lord: “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.” (1 Corinthians 7:10-24 NRSV).

God calls

  St. Paul fires out at us over the law of his time versus the relief Christ gives us in His suffering for us in saying: 

“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book

The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the anchor of our Christianity. Jesus wanted to be sure that His resurrection was real and not a hoax, so he planted some seeds. He did this after His human death: “But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my

  David moved from doing things his way to doing things God’s way. He says in Psalm 5: “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover them with

 St. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians about crediting God for His Words: “We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s Word, which is also at work in you believers.” (1 Thessalonians

The world is full of leaders in all aspects of life. In reading the Gospel according to Matthew, we hear just what our Lord’s explanation of leadership is:  “...but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came