Plainfield Ponderings - Scripture Meditations
Hello! I'm Allen Greeley and I love thinking and meditating on Scripture. Another word for it, which we don't use very often, is pondering. When the mother of Jesus heard the shepherds retell the vision of the angels celebratory singing; the Scripture says, "Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). That alone is my goal with this podcast. I want us to treasure in our hearts what we hear from God and ponder it. It would be an honor to have you listen in and ponder with me. To God be the glory!
Episodes
Ponder with me one more time about helping one another thrive in the church. That was the theme of the congregation where I worship (Plainfield church of Christ). We dedicated one episode to that theme every month in 2025. However, in this episode we'll sum up everything we talked about in regard to the theme and then tie it up with a few thoughts on the chain of love, binding us all together. To God be the...
Ponder with me some of the broad themes in 1 Timothy. This book is not given a lot of attention. It certainly isn't given the attention other books are, and I think it's because it is viewed as a "preacher book". Is that the best way to view it though? Also, as we have done several other times on the podcast - we'll read through the letter in its fullness at the end of this episode. I lo...
Ponder with me one of the most ancient and strange laws regarding freeing slaves. However, the strange twist is not in the freedom but in the lawful keeping of a slave, if the slave wanted to permanently remain in the house of their Master. We will first think through how awesome it is that these ancient texts are so relevant and then we'll see if we can find ourselves in this practice. To God be the glory!
...Ponder with me how sincere thanksgiving ought to be seen in us. This week is Thanksgiving, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I love this holiday so much. Please join me as we meditate on how superficial gratitude is a lot more common in our culture than the genuine. Where does all genuine gratitude end up, and with whom? To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questions at grrreeley@gmail...
Ponder with me one of the strangest, weirdest, cryptic references in Scripture! It is Jude's reference to Satan and the Archangel Michael arguing over the body of Moses. We'll talk briefly about what piece of literature this reference comes from (it's outside the Scriptures) ... but we don't want the main point to get lost on us. It's about leaving room for the judgments of God and putti...
Ponder with me about the agendas we have when we come to Scripture. Because of our culture, upbringing or popular religious thinking (that we have accepted without thinking through it), we all have expectations we are bringing to God's word. What happens when God comes in direct conflict with those? This scenario is played out in Jeremiah 41-43 - let's ponder it together. To God be the glory!
Please em...
Ponder with me about prayers of faith. Can we say that our prayers are of faith? Let's first look at what it means to have prayers of faith, and then we'll ponder the example of prayer that James gives - Elijah. There's a detail in Elijah's story that may shed light on what it means to have absolute confidence in prayer, like he had. To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questi...
Ponder with me about taking matters out of our hands and letting the Lord fix it. As Americans we love to think we can fix anything and everything. We love to think we can influence any situation. It's not true though. There are some things in life that are too big, which only God can fix...and even then, we might need to wait until the return of Christ for the ultimate resolution. This takes patience. To G...
Ponder with me about what to do with our extra manna. We don't often think about the contribution of money on the Lord's Day as being a facet of one-another Christianity, but it's at the very heart of taking care of one another. Please join me in thinking about some principles to guide our hearts in pondering the contribution on Sundays. To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questio...
Ponder with me the final two temptations from Satan in Matthew 4. They are all about shortcuts. The shortcut to show everyone Jesus is the true Messiah, and the shortcut of God's promise to Christ of all the nations (Psalm 2). Satan is all about quick fixes and short cutting the sacrifice of true love. Praise God that Jesus has had enough - be gone! To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or quest...
Ponder with me some applications to some very big topics - loving our neighbor as ourselves and the brevity of life. It may seem silly to ponder such big things in one lesson, but James gives them in back-to-back paragraphs. Hint - it all has to do with the context of our previous four lessons from James - peaceable relationships and worldliness. To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questions at ...
Ponder the spiritual warfare in the wilderness between Christ and Satan, from Matthew 4. Christ, as our High Priest, is showing the way to fight temptation. Let's get into the mind of the devil, while also getting into the mind of Jesus. These temptations have so many layers to them, and it is all things we face today. I hope you'll join me - to God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questio...
Ponder with me about how Christ helps us in our temptations. Although I don't know all the details, Hebrews is quite clear that Jesus is available and ready to help us in our temptations. The reason He is able to do so is because He was tempted in all things...which must be why the Holy Spirit was so adamant about sending Him into the wilderness to be tempted. To God be the glory!
Please email me any commen...
Let's ponder worldliness a bit more. This is a bit of a continuation of the last episode. If I did not quite convince you that worldliness is idolatry, wait till you see the passages that speak of God's jealousy. Our love of the world has incited His jealousy, but that always has a specific context in the Old Testament. This lesson won't end negatively though, I promise. To God be the glory!
Pleas...
Let's ponder the strong language James has about worldliness. He calls it spiritual adultery (4:4). That might not be as shocking on the surface, but when you compare it to how Scripture speaks of spiritual adultery in other places, you'll find it very compelling. I sure did. Ponder with me how worldliness might be more an affront to God than we might think. To God be the glory!
Please email me any com...
Ponder the deaths of Nadab and Abihu with me. They were Aaron's sons and died by the hand of God in Leviticus 10 because they offered unauthorized fire. First, what does this say about God's commands? Secondly - what does this say about how we view God? Moses' comment to Aarron following the death of his boys is quite interesting. To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questions at g...
Ponder another aspect of heavenly wisdom - being open to reason. This Greek term in James 3:17 is a super deep word! It's translated differently in almost every English translation. How does this wisdom show up in our everyday lives? We'll go to two examples in the O.T. to see it in action and then we'll apply it lastly in its original context - peace among believers. To God be the glory!
Please e...
Ponder what wisdom from above is all about. Heavenly wisdom shows itself in many ways, but one vital one that James brings to our attention is in peaceable relationships. What do our relationships in the church have to do with wisdom? Ponder it with me. To God be the glory!
Please email me any comments or questions at grrreeley@gmail.com
Let's ponder the raging debate within our society about free speech and hate speech. One of the results from Charlie Kirk's assassination has been this ongoing debate. Both sides of the political isle are saying that the rhetoric needs to calm down. We need to stop the hate-speech. But how? Is it just a matter of reigning in words or does the issue of speech involve something deeper? Please listen in a...
Ponder with me about how James can say that we are justified by works and not by faith alone (2:24). Ironically, that is the only time in the original language of the N.T. where the phrase "faith alone" is found. This sounds very contradictory to what many are teaching today. Also, it sounds like a contradiction to what Paul says in Romans 3:28. How do these all go together? And more importantly - what...
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