Thoughts Across The Bow

Tychicus: A Biblical Church Leader You Probably Have Never Heard Of Most people would assume an effective ministry could not be carried out from prison or under house arrest.   However, God consistently uses unconventional means to share the Gospel and bring Himself glory.   Paul the Apostles was beaten with rods (Acts 16:22), imprisoned (Eph. 3:1, 4:1, 6:20), lost at sea in a storm (Acts 27:20), shipwrecked (Acts 27:41), and bitten by a viper (Acts 28:3). Paul experienced true suffering, but refused to be a victim.   Paul worked to glorify God and build up the church in several ways while in prison or under house arrest: he prayed, he sent letters, and he sent people out to minister. Paul’s first step in building up a church was consistent, prayer (Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:3-4; Col. 1:3). From prison, he acted to further the Gospel by sending off letters to churches, offering encouragement, instruction, and loving correction (Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, ...

Did Jesus Descend to Hell? The topic becomes apparent in Ephesians 4:9 (ESV), when Paul states, “In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?”  A full treatment of this theological controversy would be beyond the scope of the post.  However, here is a brief overview of the topic.   Possible Biblical References: Ephesians 4:8-9; Acts 2:27; Romans 10:6-7; 1 Peter 3:18-20; 1 Peter 4:4-6, Luke 16:19-31, and Psalm 16:10, 107:16; Zech. 9:11, Mat. 12:40, Luke 23:53 Apostles Creed: The title for this creed can be a bit misleading since the Apostles did not write it.   Various scholars argue that the formation of this creed is a bit “murky” since it did not go through a church council process.   Nevertheless, it captures historical church positions on the topic.   It contains two different wordings concerning the topic. “He descended to the dead” and “He descended into hel...