Philippians.

I think it is safe to say that we have all read the book of Philippians multiple times in our lives. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians were probably the books that I had read the most before I started having a daily quiet time...because I thought that they were the easiest to read and the most applicable to my life. Then I began exploring the truths of Scripture in other books of the Bible and almost began to shun GEPC, thinking that I was "too far advanced for that stuff" or "above the truths of those baby Christians." How arrogant. That is most certainly NOT the case. Paul talks to the churches in those cities as his equals and speaks to them some of the deepest truths in the Bible.

Think about it: these people were first and second generation Christians...like THE first and second generations of Christians...EVER. They were standing for a faith that had just come on the scene, believing in a man who had just gone off the (earthly) scene...they were mocked and persecuted and laughed at and ridiculed unlike most of us have ever experienced...but they knew that what they were believing in was (is) the truth. These people needed more encouragement to stay true to the faith than churches today do...or so the American church has been led to think. The Christians of GEPC helped spread the Gospel all across their towns, regions, countries, and continent...they were involved in the initial push of evangelism, much truer than the "hellfire and brimstone evangelism" or "social gospel evangelism" that has been reeking havoc in our country.

All that to say: I repent of my prideful attitude in approaching the book of Philippians in the past. I have since turned from that ignorance and learned countless truths from the words of Paul...they are still ringing true today...the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.

A few interesting notes that I find helpful in making Philippi seem like a real place that actually existed (it used to seem to me like a place resembling Narnia or another mythical land):

--Philippi was named after Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.
--Philippi became a Roman colony in 42 BC.
--Philippi had a famous school of medicine, and may have been the place where the disciple Luke had studied.
--Paul established the church in Philippi on his second missionary journey in AD 50.

The second you start thinking that something in the Bible doesn't apply to you is the very second that God will start pointing out exactly why you need to hear it.