Most of the New Testament letters contain both affirmation and concern for the people receiving them, both praise and correction for their respective original audiences. The Corinthians were new creatures in Christ but tolerating carnality. The Colossians were strong in faith but wrestling with issues of unity within the body. Timothy was a gifted pastor but battled timidity. Good and bad, all mixed together. The same was true in Thessalonica.[Second Thessalonians] gives evidence that Paul had recently heard news about conditions in the church. Probably this information came to him from the messenger who delivered 1 Thessalonians and returned to Corinth. Perhaps other people who had news of the church informed the three missionaries (Paul, Silas, and Timothy) also. Some of the news was good: the Thessalonians were continuing to grow and to remain faithful to Christ in spite of persecution. But some was bad: false teaching concerning the day of the Lord had entered the church and was causing confusion and leading some of the Christians to quit their jobs in expectation of the Lord’s return (Thomas Constable, “2 Thessalonians,” in TBKC, 712–713).