Ferrell Jenkins's Bible Lands Blog

My friend and former boss Ferrell Jenkins has a wonderful blog that focuses on the lands of the Bible. Today he just clicked over a million visits! Ferrell will be presenting a special series on Bible History and Archaeology here at Woodland Hills this fall (September 30-October 3).

Family Feuds

I am distantly related to the McCoy clan of the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud. The Scotts intermarried with the McCoys very early in the 1800s, so my shared connections with the McCoys go way back. In view of the History Channel's recent mini-series on the feud, I started thinking about the passages in the New Testament that address conflicts that occur between members of God's family. Maybe you can think of some more relevant passages, but here are three points that emerged for me as I looked at these verses. Feuds are caused by:

• Jealousy and selfish ambition – James 3:13-4:3; 1 John 3:11-15
• Loyalty to earthly ties taking precedence over loyalty to God - 1 Cor. 3:1-4; 1:11-13
• Taking vengeance into one's own hand – Matt. 26:51-53; Rom. 12:17-21; 1 Cor. 6:1-11

Incidentally, if you would like to listen to this sermon, click this link.