Creative Space for Wanderers
Read: Luke provides a dramatic story of their journey from Miletus to Jerusalem. He begins by enunciating the emotional departure from the Elders as they began their journey through several cities. They stayed in Tyre for a week and ministered to the church in this challenging city. As the story unfolds, I’m swept away by …
Read: As we read many details of Paul’s travels in this chapter, we are given some significant insight into his way of encouraging leaders of the first century Church. He encourages them through teaching well into the night and even through a miraculous healing without missing a beat. We need to read his letters to …
Continue reading “Acts: Sunday Gatherings Begin and the Eutychus Miracle”
As I was reading Acts 20, I couldn’t help but stop and wonder about Luke, the author, and the Bible itself. I don’t want to forget the human element that is part of the divine inspiration which we believe is the result of this thing we call the Bible. Luke is the author who is …
Read: In this passage we are provided with two extreme examples: one is tragic and the other is triumphal. James is executed while Peter is saved. The miraculous events surrounding Peter’s release from prison give us hope. And while the death of Herod might be cause for celebration, we are not invited to gloat. There …
Read: In this marvelous passage, Luke provides two examples of miraculous healing as Peter does what he was told to do: ministering to the sheep of Christ’s flock. The first few words of verse 32 show us that Peter is actively moving about, going from place to place is nothing new, it’s just what he …
Read: Incomprehensible. Or perhaps unbelievable. The man named Saul was methodically and completely eliminating Christ-following disciples, gaining trust from synagogue to synagogue as he went along from town to town seeking and ridding the population of the cancer they defined as Christians. Suddenly, everything changed. These few verses attempt to capture what is perhaps the …
Read: Stephen’s death at the hands of the Sanhedrin caused many to flee from Jerusalem. This scattering of disciples served to spread the gospel to distant places, as well as some that were not so distant. Before Saul’s conversion, we are invited to read an account of Philip’s successful ministry in the evil place called …
Read: The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira resulted in great fear among the people, but these events did not slow the growth of the church in the least. The remainder of chapter 5 climaxes with Gamaliel’s assertion that the disciples should be allowed to follow their hearts and let God be the judge. His compelling …
Continue reading “Acts: Healing, Preaching, Prison, and Flogging — The Church Grows”
Read: For years I have encouraged others to write down their response to 1 Peter 3:15, to work through the words and develop a cohesive statement of personal faith. Here is my work in progress, some thoughts that help me respond to Peter’s exhortation: 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be …
Continue reading “Reason for the Hope I have in Jesus Christ”
Read: We spent this past weekend at Koinonia Farms just outside of Americus, Georgia and down the road from Plains, GA where President Carter lives. The farm is one of the places that stood out during the Civil Rights Movement, where people had to make a choice to stand with the status quo or open …
Continue reading “Acts: Thrown in Jail, Peter Preaches Again”