Category Archives: James R. Coggins

Delight by James R. Coggins

Posted on May 14, 2025 by jrcoggins

The English word “delight” is used to translate three Hebrew words: chaphets (pleased with, desire), chashaq (cling to, love), and anag (soft, pliable). It is interesting how these words are used. Perhaps most astounding is that God finds delight in … Continue reading →

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Doctoring in the Old Days by James R. Coggins

Posted on May 7, 2025 by jrcoggins

There were three doctors in the town where I grew up, and the practice of medicine would be almost unrecognizable today. The doctor our family went to had a big house on the main street, and he had office hours … Continue reading →

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Does God Have Fun? by James R. Coggins

Posted on April 30, 2025 by jrcoggins

When I was in high school, a Christian parachurch ministry began renting school gyms in the evening and inviting church youth groups to come and play basketball and volleyball against each other. This encouraged inter-church interaction, these were events that … Continue reading →

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The Golden Age of Poetry by James R. Coggins

Posted on April 23, 2025 by jrcoggins

A long time ago in a land full of mystery, I earned a BA in English and History. Actually, it was the 1970s at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. I received a wonderful education there, for which I am very … Continue reading →

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God and King by James R. Coggins

Posted on April 16, 2025 by jrcoggins

In His trials before His crucifixion, Jesus was asked two key questions. The high priest asked Jesus, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark 14:61 NIV). The Greek word for “Blessed One” is eulogetos (from which … Continue reading →

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The Name of God by James R. Coggins

Posted on April 9, 2025 by jrcoggins

Most English translations of the Old Testament use two versions of the word “Lord.” “LORD,” in all capitals, translates the word YHWH, which is the name God revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:13-15). It means “I am,” referring to the God … Continue reading →

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Part Two: The Modern World and Christian Churches by James R. Coggins

Posted on April 2, 2025 by jrcoggins

In an earlier blog, I wrote about the great movements that shaped Western civilization and thus the modern world—the Renaissance and Enlightenment with their emphasis on reason, science, and the pre-eminence of humanity, on the one hand, and the Romantic … Continue reading →

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The Making of the Modern World (Part One) by James R. Coggins

Posted on March 26, 2025 by jrcoggins

It is indisputable that the modern world has been dominated by Western civilization, based in Europe and North America. English, itself an amalgam of European languages, is the established norm for international communication, used by air traffic controllers all over … Continue reading →

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“A Poem” by James R. Coggins

Posted on March 19, 2025 by jrcoggins

We do not normally think of the apostle Paul as a poet. However, in Philippians 2:6-11, he presented a poem. Whether he wrote it himself or was quoting someone else’s poem is unclear. That it is a poem is clear … Continue reading →

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Improve Your Writing with AI (Artificial Intelligence!) By James R. Coggins

Posted on March 12, 2025 by jrcoggins

Every time I start to share one of my blogs on social media, I receive a message such as: • “Start a post, try writing with AI.” That “sentence” contains a grammatical error called a “comma splice,” joining what should … Continue reading →

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Freedom by James R. Coggins

Posted on March 5, 2025 by jrcoggins

Freedom is not commonly thought of as a Christian value, but it is. In Galatians 5, Paul declared that “Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 NIV). But Paul then warned the Galatians: “Do not let yourselves be burdened again … Continue reading →

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A Day in the Life of a Semi-retired Writer by James R. Coggins

Posted on February 26, 2025 by jrcoggins

Younger people often wonder what seniors do with all that spare time they have in their retirement years. I’ll be glad to elucidate that for all of you enquiring minds. Here is what I did on a recent typical day. … Continue reading →

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Misplaced Confidence by James R. Coggins

Posted on February 19, 2025 by jrcoggins

In Philippians 3:1-11, the apostle Paul was warning the early Christians about relying on circumcision and following other Jewish rituals and obeying other laws and rules. He described his own life, saying, “If someone else thinks they have reasons to … Continue reading →

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Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas? By James R. Coggins

Posted on February 12, 2025 by jrcoggins

Writers are often asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” People who ask such questions are not writers. For real writers, ideas are not the problem. Writers are like a seething cauldron bubbling over with ideas, more ideas than they … Continue reading →

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Covenants by James R. Coggins

Posted on February 5, 2025 by jrcoggins

At Mount Sinai, God made a covenant, a formal agreement, with the Israelites, the essence of which was the document we know as the “Ten Commandments” (even though the Bible never calls it that). The Hebrew word for covenant is … Continue reading →

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