July 29, 2012 | John Bayles | Entering Into The Storm (1 Timothy 6:11-21)

Though we are coming to the end of this letter, the task of implementation is just about to take place in Timothy's life and in ours. The illusive part of studying the Bible is that we some times believe that once I have read and/or studied the text my task is ended. In reality the reading and studying are the preliminary parts of the overall process. As the Psalmist states, "Thy work have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God" (Psalms 199:11). And again the letter from James states, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

July 22, 2012 | John Bayles | Slavery to Men and Money (1 Timothy 6:1-10)

Two classifications of slaves are outlined in today’s text: those who have unbelieving and likely difficult masters, and those who have masters who are believers. Rome was absolutely dependant upon the institution of slavery by means of national dominance or personal indentureship. As a result, these characteristics are not only irrelevant to our historical experience, but strangely not in view in Paul’s message.

July 15, 2012 | John Bayles | Time-Tested Testimony (1 Timothy 5:21-25)

In this text the Apostle Paul takes a moment to give Timothy a personal instruction in leadership development. It’s simple, really: don’t place a person in leadership too quickly.

July 8, 2012 | John Bayles | The Hard Task of Church Discipline (1 Timothy 5:17-21)

Some people have a very strong bias against the Apostle Paul. He is described as a chauvinist, someone who is rigid about sin and soft about social ills such as slavery. In the following section that we will look at over the next few weeks, the historical record will not only disagree with these impressions, but will in fact break out against each of them.