Philippians 1:1-2

The Bible is 66 books. 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.

How long will it take to blog through the entire Bible?

I suspect this will be a life-time project!

The intent will be to provide a personal look at the Scriptures. It will be more devotional than technical. However, I will occasionally delve into more technical issues but only at a lay-level. This blogger is not theologically trained nor familiar with the original languages (New Testament Greek and Old Testament Hebrew).

I suppose I could start from Genesis 1:1 but I think I'll jump back and forth between the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.

One of my favorite portions of the Bible is St. Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Philippians 1:1-2
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Paul is clearly one of the major figures of Christianity after Jesus. 13 of the New Testament books are believed to have been written by Paul.

Timothy is Paul's protege. Paul met Timothy in Acts 16 and from that point on, Paul trained him up.


Image source: http://www.bibleplaces.com/images/Philippi_acropolis_from_east_tb_n011201.jpg

Philippi is a city in Eastern Macedonia. Go here for some history.
Excerpt:

The Apostle Paul's travels to Philippi can be found in Acts chapter 16. Paul's visit to this city takes place shortly after the outset of his second missionary journey around A.D. 49. Some believe that Paul was in this city sometime in the summer to early fall of A.D. 50.
.........
Paul no doubt had much correspondence with the church at Philippi. The letter that we have today known as Paul's Epistle to the Philippians is likely written from Rome while Paul was under house arrest. Written circa A.D. 61, this letter corresponds to a church that has been in existence for over a decade from Paul's first visit there.

To see some additional photos and read some additional history check this page out.

"Overseers and deacons ... "

Sounds very Presbyterian! 8-)

For the non-presbyterians who have stumbled onto this page, one point of emphasis in presbyterian churches is that they are led by overseers (or elders) and deacons.

"grace to you and peace ... "

I heard a definition of grace that uses the letters in grace: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. There is probably no better hymn about grace than Amazing Grace:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see ...

As for peace, it is not just the absence of conflict but I think of peace as a sense of well-being.

We need grace and only God can give it. We need peace and again, only God can provide it. Lord, help me be an instrument by which Your Grace and Peace reach people. Amen!