by Jim Kerwin
on March 1, 2021
28 February 2021
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 4:8-10 nkjv
Dear Friend,

Prepping for a new teaching season!
My next-door neighbor, despite being Virginia born and bred, is a lifelong New York Yankees baseball fan. This morning he and his family left for Florida so that he can fulfill a long-held dream of watching the Yankees during their Spring-training camp. (Of course, there’s also the small matter of visiting a Florida-based great-grandchild — their first!)
My neighbor’s neighbors (that would be Denise and me) are in “spring training,” too, but it’s not nearly so glamorous as swinging bats, snagging line drives, and signing autographs for fans. Yes, assuming we can [continue reading…]
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by Jim Kerwin
on February 24, 2021
Copyright © 2021
by
Jim Kerwin
A Trip Down Memory Lane

When you found that Old Testament quotation
in the New Testament this morning,
did you pull the “mnemonic trigger”?
If not, you probably missed a blessing!
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that mnemonic isn’t an adjective that rolls off the tongue or that comes up in casual conversation. Neither is its related noun, mnemonics, which means a technique of improving memory. But I think I can promise that if we can understand these unfamiliar words, the concept of a “mnemonic trigger” will become a useful and powerful tool in our Scripture reading and Bible study.
It might help us fix these two unusual words in memory if we take a quick trip down Memory Lane to visit the name which gave birth to both words. The ancient [continue reading…]
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2 Timothy 3:15,
Acts 14:11-13,
Acts 19:21-41,
Acts 28:4,
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Deuteronomy 6:6-7,
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John 14:26,
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John 19:19-25,
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Joshua 23:7,
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Matthew 27:46,
memorization of Scripture,
mnemonic trigger,
Mnemosyne,
Nine Muses,
Pilgrim Psalms,
Psalm 119:11,
Psalm 119:97,
Psalm 19:14,
Psalm 19:14-15,
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Psalm 19:17,
Psalm 19:18,
Psalm 1:2,
Psalm 22,
Psalm 22:1,
Psalm 31:19-24,
Psalm 31:5,
Psalms of Ascent,
Songs of Ascent
by Jim Kerwin
on January 31, 2021
30 January 2021

If “speed kills,” then VW bug owners should live a long time!
Denise and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary yesterday, and I am reminded that when we got married we owned a high-mileage black 1965 VW “bug” as our first car. Though loved by economy-minded VW owners, that model more than deserved its nickname of “gutless wonder.” Did you ever get stuck on an uphill freeway on-ramp behind a “bug” that was reciting “I think I can, I think I can” as it strained up the incline? If you did, you probably got close enough to read the bumper sticker that only a VW bug owner could fully appreciate:
DON’T HONK!
I’M [continue reading…]
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by Jim Kerwin
on January 1, 2021
Copyright © 2020, 2021
by
Jim Kerwin
Several times a year I drive down a long stretch of highway in my home state of Virginia. While traveling westward on this road, I pass a church which hardly ever changes the message on its marquee. It nearly always proclaims that congregation’s motto:
Training for Reigning
Even though that probably doesn’t leave much to the imagination as to the typical content of their preaching and teaching (I’m guessing topics like prosperity, positive confession, and “living like a king’s kid”), it always makes me wonder if they teach anything about God’s minimum [continue reading…]
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Acts 8:31,
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Matthew 23:10-12,
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Psalm 119:97,
Romans 5:3,
Romans 8:17,
spiritual discipline,
Weymouth New Testament
by Jim Kerwin
on December 19, 2020
19 December 2020
Dear Friend,
On December 25th we celebrate missions. Missions!? You probably thought I’d say, “Christmas” or “Jesus’ birth” or even “the Incarnation.” All of those are valid answers, of course. But have you ever thought about all of those as very important sub-topics under the topic of missions, specifically the Great Commission?

The One who said, “Go” was sent.
The Great Commission? Isn’t that the mandate Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20? That’s when they became full-fledged apostles, right? “Apostle” — apóstolos in Greek — is just the noun form of the Greek verb apostéllō, to send someone out, to send a message. So the word apostle means nothing more — and nothing less! — than [continue reading…]
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by Jim Kerwin
on September 3, 2020
3 September 2020
Was Gravity “Extra Heavy”?
Dear Friend,

I know for certain, because I performed a “random gravity check!”
I appeal to your imagination: Tell yourself, “This is the August newsletter, and it’s late because of gravity.” Yes, really! I had a bad fall four weeks ago, and the incident reminded me of a story Denise tells about her childhood friend, who, after a bad day of repeatedly dropping things, exclaimed, “Gravity is extra heavy today!” That’s my alibi.
Was anything broken in my fall? Well, yes — my pride, and over three weeks’ worth of meaningful productivity. Besides about eight hours in the emergency room, it has taken me considerable time to get back to normal in terms of daily routine, early-morning writing, our publishing schedule, and so forth. So my quick personal report is: “I fell down, got up, got patched up, and now I’m finally better.” (Oh, and the doctor tells me that there’s no miracle cure for [continue reading…]
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The Great Influenza
by Jim Kerwin
on December 5, 2019
Copyright © 2019
by
Jim Kerwin

Here's a fresh view of Luke 2…
Ah, Christmas! What for others is a time of joy is for me a time to remember and mourn my felonious and heretical past life. The felony? Kidnapping. The heresy? Thinking that I could save God’s Son, Jesus. But like Saul of Tarsus, “I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in…” well, not “unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:13), but because I was an innocent five-year old. I guess I need to explain.
Coinciding with my short career in crime, [continue reading…]
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1 Corinthians 13:11,
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Christmas,
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John 16:13,
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Revelation 20:1,
Revelation 21:2,
Revelation 2:1,
Revelation 2:18,
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by Jim Kerwin
on October 6, 2019
Copyright © 2019
by
Jim Kerwin
An excerpt from the forthcoming book
The John the Baptist Experience

In prophecy, when do deer
walk
and when do they
leap?
When the imprisoned John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Jesus, he had one question in mind: “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3 nasb)
Jesus didn’t answer them directly at first. He believed in “show and tell,” and Luke tells us what John’s two disciples saw with their own eyes:
At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.
Luke 7:21
With the long day’s ministry over, the Lord approached John’s two representatives.
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, [continue reading…]
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The John the Baptist Experience
by Jim Kerwin
on January 26, 2019
Copyright © 1994, 2019
by
Jim Kerwin
A Look at Roman Law in Acts
“Moving in a Roman World”
“The student of the New Testament is constantly made aware that he is moving in a Roman world,” and awareness of the Roman environment is the first step toward understanding its significance and influence on the second volume of Luke’s magnum opus and on the life of Paul. By providing the serious Bible student a primer of [continue reading…]
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Acts 26,
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by Jim Kerwin
on December 12, 2018
Copyright © 2018
by
Jim Kerwin
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King!
Your dieting resolve may be challenged as I enumerate the following list: pumpkin pie, gingerbread, Christmas cookies, roasted turkey and stuffing, eggnog, hot apple cider with cinnamon. Those are all holiday edibles, but I mention them not so much for their waistline-destroying properties as for their aromas. I can quickly add to the list of Christmas aromas from non-edible sources: the fragrance of a fresh pine tree, wreaths of pine branches, and seasoned oak burning in the fireplace. I would even add the tantalizing scent of “chestnuts roasting on a open fire,” but then we’d probably be back to derailing ongoing diets.
Those of you outside North America no doubt have your own aromatic reminiscences of Christmas. In any case, if you’re like me, you have a sort of mental database of aromas, of scents, of fragrances that you associate with Christmas. In fact, if one of those aromas registers on your nostrils, it may trigger events from your childhood, or certain Christmases that were special, or maybe certain Christmases that were difficult. I can’t think of another holiday that has such fragrant associations.
Decades ago, over the Christmas holiday I was on a short-term missions trip to India. On Christmas morning I arose before dawn to [continue reading…]
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Acts 2:27,
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Conviction of Sin,
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Joseph of Arimathea,
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Leviticus 12:3-8,
Leviticus 24:7,
Leviticus 2:1-2,
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Luke 1:10,
Luke 1:8-11,
Luke 2:1-20,
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Luke 6:46,
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Mark 12:30,
Mark 15:23,
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Matthew 27:34,
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Matthew 2:1-12,
Matthew 2:16,
Matthew 7:21-23,
missions,
missions trips,
Myrrh,
New Covenant,
new heart,
Nicodemus,
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Proverbs 31:6,
Psalm 141:2,
Psalm 16:10,
Psalm 22:1,
Psalm 45:6-8,
Pure Heart,
Revelation 5:8,
Revelation 8:3-4,
Romans 10;9-13,
Romans 6:6,
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shepherds,
sin nature,
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Song of Solomon 1:13,
Song of Solomon 3:6,
Song of Solomon 4:6,
Song of Solomon 5:1,
Song of Solomon 5:13,
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worship
by Jim Kerwin
on February 25, 2018
Copyright © 2018
by
Jim Kerwin
The Importance of Context

What is “the acceptable year of the
Lord”?
Every time there is a “first” in the Scriptures, it is good to take note of it, because often the Holy Spirit is laying down a special foundation, or principle, or doctrine. I believe this is true in the case of Jesus’ first recorded sermon, which is found in Luke chapter 4.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me
because He anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Part of what I teach leaders when I come to Latin America is the importance of context when they are reading and studying and teaching and preaching God’s word. The two most important points are these:
- Every time we come to the Scriptures, as we are reading we must ask ourselves, “What is the context of this verse, this passage, this chapter, this book? What is the context within the text, and what are the historical, cultural, and original language contexts? What do I need to know to fully understand the passage like the first readers did?
- The greatest context is that of the entire Bible, which is why I encourage all Christian leaders – indeed, all Christians – to read through the Bible cover to cover at least once every year.
Let’s think about the context of Jesus’ message in Luke 4. In the previous chapter, Luke 3, Jesus was water-baptized by John; immediately the Spirit of the Lord [continue reading…]
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Acts 15:8-9,
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Exodus 21:2,
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Hebrews 10:17,
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Hebrews 4:7,
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Isaac Watts,
Isaiah 49:8,
Isaiah 61:1-3,
Jeremiah 17:9-10,
Jim Kerwin,
Leviticus 25,
Luke 4:16-21,
Mark 1:14-15,
Mark 7:37,
Matthew 24:30-31,
Matthew 4:6,
Micah 7:19,
Percy Gutteridge,
Psalm 103:12,
Psalm 22,
Psalm 95:7-8,
redemption,
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Revelation 1:10,
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slavery,
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The Year of Jubilee,
trial
by Jim Kerwin
on October 13, 2015
In-Depth Bible Study
in the Gospel of Matthew
Chapter 10:
The Cost of Doing Kingdom Business
an Audio Bible-Teaching Message
by
Jim Kerwin
In our in-depth Bible study in the Gospel of Matthew, Pastor Jim Kerwin
of Finest of the Wheat Teaching Fellowship looks at Jesus’ commissioning
of the Twelve Apostles in
Matthew 10
and what the Lord warned them about
The Cost
of Doing Kingdom Business.
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by Jim Kerwin
on October 13, 2015
The “John the Baptist Experience,” Part 6
In-Depth Bible Study
in the Gospel of Matthew, Week 11
an Audio Bible-Teaching Message
by
Jim Kerwin
Pastor Jim Kerwin finishes up his series called The John the Baptist Experience
by exploring the fear of God and how the Holy Spirit uses it to prepare our hearts for the coming
of Jesus.
(Notes used during the live Bible study can be downloaded
here.)
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by Jim Kerwin
on October 13, 2015
The “John the Baptist Experience,” Part 5
In-Depth Bible Study
in the Gospel of Matthew, Week 10
an Audio Bible-Teaching Message
by
Jim Kerwin
The Scriptures say that God created Man in His own image. That truth plays a key role
in understanding the importance of repentance, as you’ll hear in this fifth message
of the series, The John the Baptist Experience, taught by Pastor Jim Kerwin.
(Notes used during the live Bible study can be downloaded
here.)
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