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1 Samuel 15:23-24
[Bible Verses]In this passage the prophet Samuel tells King Saul, who had disobeyed God's command, that rebellion is comparable to divination and idolatry and that Saul has been rejected from the kingship. Saul then confesses his sin, saying that he feared the people. The passage is frequently cited in discussions of obedience and repentance.
Store City
[Bible]A store city was a city built to store a nation's grain, supplies, weapons, and similar provisions. Pithom and Raamses, which the Israelites built for Pharaoh according to Exodus 1:11, are the best-known examples.
Total Mobilization Sunday
[Worship & Rites]Total Mobilization Sunday is a Sunday on which the entire congregation joins in inviting unchurched neighbors to worship. Also called Evangelism Sunday or the New Life Festival, it is one of the best-known evangelistic events in Korean Protestant churches.
Ephesians 6:12
[Bible Verses]Ephesians 6:12 declares, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (KJV). It is a key verse on spiritual warfare, and denominations differ considerably over how it should be put into practice.
Caphtor
[Bible]Caphtor is an Old Testament place name identified as the land from which the Philistines came. It is generally thought to be an island or coastal region of the Mediterranean, and the best-known view identifies it with Crete.
1 Samuel 15:22
[Bible Verses]1 Samuel 15:22 records Samuel's rebuke of Saul: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." It is a key verse for the principle that obedience to God's word takes precedence over ritual worship. It also raises questions about application, particularly about whom one is to obey.
Juridical Parable
[Bible]A juridical parable is a biblical narrative form in which a seemingly unrelated case is presented so that the hearer pronounces judgment, only for that judgment to turn back upon the hearer. Nathan's parable to David is the best-known example.
Contemporary Persecution of Christians
[History]The contemporary persecution of Christians refers collectively to the violence, discrimination, and legal and social disadvantages that Christians in various countries have suffered because of their faith from the late twentieth century to the present. A leading indicator is the World Watch List published by Open Doors.
Acts 3:17
[Bible Verses]Acts 3:17 is a verse from Peter's sermon in Solomon's Porch. In it, Peter says that the people of Jerusalem and their rulers, who delivered Jesus to death, did so "through ignorance." The verse is often cited in discussions of the relationship between ignorance and guilt, its connection to the call to repentance, and the question of Jewish collective responsibility.
Acts 4:12
[Bible Verses]Acts 4:12 records Peter's declaration before the Jewish supreme council: "Neither is there salvation in any other." It is a leading text for the confession that Jesus Christ alone is the way of salvation, and it is frequently cited in discussions of the salvation of adherents of other religions and of those who have never heard the gospel.
Rameses
[Bible]Rameses was the name of a region and a city in the eastern Nile Delta of ancient Egypt. The children of Israel built it as a store city while in bondage, and it was the starting point of their march at the Exodus.
Commandment
[Bible]A commandment is a biblical term for the commands God gave to his people. It encompasses the Ten Commandments and the provisions of the law in the Old Testament, as well as the commandments of love that Jesus summarized in the New Testament.
Song of Songs 4
[Bible]Song of Songs 4 is a love song in which the bridegroom praises the bride's eyes, hair, lips, neck, and other features by comparing them to scenes from nature and to spices, and likens her to a garden enclosed and a fountain sealed. In the final verse the bride invites her beloved into her garden.
Mercy
[Bible]Mercy is compassionate care for those in need. In the Bible it refers to God's compassionate heart and action toward those who suffer, and to the mercy people show one another in imitation of him.
Adultery
[Bible]Adultery is sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse. The Bible forbids it in the Ten Commandments, and the prophets also used the term as a metaphor for forsaking God to serve idols.
Christianity and Culture
[Doctrine & Theology]A theological topic concerning the relationship between the Christian faith and human culture, including language, the arts, customs, and institutions. Traditions differ on whether Christians should keep their distance from culture, accept it, or seek to transform it.
Acts 4
[Bible]Acts 4 describes Peter and John bearing witness to the name of Jesus before the council and being released, after which the Jerusalem church prays together and shares its possessions.
Acts 3:19
[Bible Verses]In this verse Peter, speaking in the temple, urges the people of Israel to repent and be converted so that their sins may be blotted out, promising that "times of refreshing" will then come from the presence of the Lord. Because it joins a call to repentance with an eschatological promise, it is frequently cited in sermons on repentance and in discussions of eschatology.
Hesychasm
[Doctrine & Theology]Hesychasm, from the Greek hesychia, meaning "stillness," is a spirituality of prayer in the monastic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church that seeks union with God by stilling the heart and ceaselessly repeating the Jesus Prayer.
2 Corinthians 12
[Bible]Second Corinthians 12 recounts Paul's experience of being caught up to the third heaven and his "thorn in the flesh," records his confession that when he is weak he is strong, and announces his planned third visit to the church at Corinth.