For June 10, 2026
Don’t Dance with the Devil by Greg Holmes, D.MIN – Director of Missions serving 17 churches
THERE IS A CERTAIN comfort to be found in ritual. Jude, brother of James and brother of Jesus (perhaps/probably—see Matt. 13:55), offers such reassurance in the beginning of his letter to the saints. Is a distinct pattern of movement in his greeting. “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” (Jude 1b, 2) The three-times-three movements — “called, loved, kept; mercy, peace, love” —of the opening doxology exhibit a waltz-like cadence. These are well-known Greek literary devices, including the doxology itself, that accompany most of the epistles of the New Testament. Here, Jude uses them intentionally, and the balanced liturgical form gives familiar shape and form that surrounds a difficult discussion of certain specific circumstances that this early church faced.