Bible Commentary – Gregory Scott Blog

The Backstory To Paul’s Athens Visit

When the Apostle Paul preached in Athens, he probably had no idea who was in his audience, but when he finished preaching, “…some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite…” (Acts 17:34).

Dionysius was an important man in Athens. He was a member of the Areopagus, which was essentially the Athens Supreme Court.

There is a legend concerning this Dionysius, a backstory, that may or may not be true, but as my friend George Grant says, most legend is rooted in some fact. So, here’s how this legend goes.

Victoria Osteen’s Happy Heresy

Perhaps you’ve heard the latest from Victoria Osteen.

Recently, she reportedly told the Lakewood congregation that when we obey God we should not do it for Him but for ourselves.

Same thing for worship–we are not to worship God for who He is but for us.

You see, the most important thing to God is that we are happy.

This new teaching is apparently a variation of the Bobby McFerrin Gospel.

Here is transcript from what Mrs. Osteen said, or you can watch the video: Continue reading “Victoria Osteen’s Happy Heresy”

What Sergio Garcia Can Learn From Jesus

Watching the recent feud between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods is like watching a car wreck: I don’t want to see it but neither can I look away.

Perhaps it was best I not look away because now I’ve seen Garcia do something I didn’t think anyone could do—make Tiger Woods a victim.

This last week, when asked about their continuing war of words following The Players Championship and whether he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open, Garcia reportedly said, “We’ll have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

Garcia, finally realized he’d gone too far and held a press conference to apologize for his remark.

In the weeks preceding his racist blast, Garcia had said a number of negative things about Woods, and when questioned about those remarks and his reaction to the incident that started it all at The Players Championship Garcia justified his remarks by saying he is a “truthful” person and says what he feels. Continue reading “What Sergio Garcia Can Learn From Jesus”

What The Bible Demands of Rich Christians

Before you decide this post doesn’t apply to you consider what follows.

If your annual take-home pay is $30,000, you are in the top 1% in terms of income in the world.

In other words, you are rich.

If this news doesn’t thrill you, it’s probably because you live in one of the wealthier countries in the world, which doesn’t mean you are not rich; it only means you may not feel rich because you are surrounded by people who are richer.

If you live in the United States of America and you earn $200,000/year you are in the top 5% in terms of income in the country. Even by American standards, you are rich. Continue reading “What The Bible Demands of Rich Christians”

A Reason to Work

Last year I blogged a series on the nature of work.

My goal in that series was to challenge people to adopt a new paradigm of work.

I wrote about how work is a holy endeavor and that God is and has always been a worker.

I wrote about how the Fall of Man changed work, how the Law of God commanded work and how that law was a reflection of its Author.

My goal was to deal with the subject of work on a fundamental theological level. What I didn’t address were the practical reasons why we should want to work.

If I were to ask most people, even most Christians, why they should work, they would say things like, “to make money,” “to provide for my family,” or “to pay my bills.” All those are valid reasons to work, but what struck me yesterday while reading The Book of Acts was how the reason the Apostle Paul gave for working contrasted so sharply with all these other reasons.

Continue reading “A Reason to Work”