About
Life Under The Fig Tree //
A blog to encourage each of us to think more deeply on God’s word producing a life that more carefully follows Jesus.
Since 2020
Life Under The Fig Tree //
Author – John Dugas
I was born dead in sin. I was made alive at the age of ten when I was saved by the Lord Jesus. That’s the most important fact about me. The second most important fact about me is still about the Lord. He blessed me with a wife who is the most wonderful friend, helper and fellow thinker. Connie is the love of my life. Now onto the rest which you may or may not be interested in…
I serve as pastor-teacher at Grace Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My brothers and sisters at GBC love to talk about God and His word. My desire for this blog is that it will be a place where we can take those discussions to a new level and sharpen one another’s understanding of Scripture and sound doctrine. Now a bit of info you may find helpful to explain my warped sense of humor, geekiness and at times “swimming upstream” theology…
I graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary majoring in New Testament Literature and Exegesis and Historical Theology. In normal human language, that means “Greek” and “Christian History”. Spending so much time studying John Owen and discussing his writings with profs and fellow students, I became a five-point Calvinist. (I had been a four-pointer before that, or “inconsistent Calvinist” as Dr. Johnson would say). So, yes, I’m premillennial AND Reformed! This should be fun!
Connie and I have two adult daughters (they weren’t adults when God brought them to us but they survived us long enough to become adults). We also have four grandchildren (who are not adults). So now you know that I’m more or less “old”. That means if you don’t agree with me, you can say I’m “over the hill” or “out of touch”. And you may be right. But I’ll keep on writing…
Why “Life Under The Fig Tree”?
Basically, I want each of us to think more deeply on God’s word producing a life that more carefully follows Jesus. How did I get that from “under the fig tree”?
In biblical times, the phrase “under the fig tree” was used figuratively for meditating on and studying God’s word. This is likely what Jesus meant when He said to Nathanael, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:48). It appears that Jesus was aware of what Nathanael was meditating on in God’s word and used that to impress upon him that Jesus was more than a mere man. Their conversation ended with Nathanael following Jesus.
Nathanael may have actually been sitting under a fig tree while meditating. Or Jesus may have been using this phrase figuratively for the act of meditating or studying God’s word. Either way, I love the image it conveys—sitting under the shade of a fruit tree while meditating on God’s word. Through this blog, I hope to encourage God’s people to spend more time meditating on His word so that it will bear fruit in their lives.
I also have fond memories of fig trees. We had several in our yard when I was a kid. They provided wonderful shade from the south Louisiana sun. And their fruit was a delight. Fresh figs were delicious and canned figs provided a sweet, winter treat. I hope that the fruit of our meditations in these articles will prove as sweet to God’s people.
What To Expect
I hope to stimulate deeper thinking on God’s word, sound doctrine and applying those to our lives. Topics will include God’s attributes, biblical counseling, discipleship, Christian living, reforming eschatology, difficult passages of Scripture, sin and temptation, and any rabbit trail that pops up from my own sermons, reading and meditations which I think may be of interest to other believers who want to know more about our great God and His glorious word.