Category: Biblical Support

My year-long journey through my NIV Bible for Men now brings us to letters titled 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, which are the 23rd, 24th, and 25th books of the Christian New Testament. The MANual, the basis for all of my posts this year, calls these letters “love notes” since the writer is knowing Jesus is knowing the God of love.  Who is the Author? While the author never identifies himself by name, many believed these three epistles were written by John, the Apostle, son of Zebedee who became a disciple of Jesus.  The author clearly places himself as part of a group of eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus in 1 John, noting that “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also” (1 John 1:3). In the second and third letters, the author simply calls himself “presbyter” (elder). The three “Johannian” (meaning related to

Do your actions reflect a changed life?  The book of James tells us it should. Throughout my year-long journey through The MANual, an NIV Bible for Men, we have heard the stories and lessons of our biblical ancestors who faced persecution for following the ways of Jesus Christ. The book of James –the twentieth of the New Testament, is considered a “how-to” about the Christian life with the subtitle “Faith that Works.”  Which James is He? Many believe this book comes directly from Jesus’ half-brother James. However, there is some dispute about the author’s lineage. This James was not James the Great, the brother of John, who was one of the two sons of Zebedee among the first disciples of Jesus. Many believe that this was James the Just, who was a son of Mary and Joseph and therefore a brother to Joseph, Simon, Judas, and their sisters (according to Matthew