Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
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I try to write these "Thoughts" some weeks ahead of the time they are printed. Today, I read The Herald for May 23, 2019. It contained the headline, "All Cove Area Alcohol Referendums Get Enough Votes to Pass." I lamented to my wife how different things were 30-plus years ago when the ballot question concerned both North Woodbury Township and Taylor Township. North Woodbury responded to the ballot question with seven "no" votes for each 'yes' vote. Taylor Township's response was something like 5...
In Acts Chapter 2, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached to a crowd of people. Many of them came under conviction, repented of their sinful lives and turned to God, through Jesus Christ for forgiveness. On that day some 3,000 people were saved and added to or actually began the Church. We have been looking at Acts Chapter 17 this week and last and we find Paul preaching. One named man, one named woman, and a few others came under conviction, repented of their sinful lives and turned to God,...
We have been looking at Acts 17. Warren Wiersbe says thee are three reactions to the Gospel in this chapter: "Resisting" (Thessalonica), "Receiving" (Berea) and Ridiculing" (Athens). Paul has come to Athens, conducted there by folks from Berea who really wanted to take care of him. The Persecution against him had barely begun when they got him safely away. He left so quickly he left behind his dear companions, Silas, Timothy and Luke. He asked his benefactors to send his companions to meet him....
Persecution again came against Paul and his companions. It was organized and it was severe. Persecution does not prevent Paul from sharing the Gospel, it propels him. He simply moves on to the next stop. In this case it is a trip of some 60 miles to the city of Berea. A couple of things about persecution: It seems where persecution is strongest, the church is strongest. When persecution comes against Paul, he leaves the area. He seems to do it when persecution is still mainly against him. Those...
A church is established in Philippi. It is most certainly a viable church. It has membership across the whole strata of society. Paul thinks it is time to move on. So, he does. First he returns to Lydia's house. It has become the base of the church in Philippi. He offers words of encouragement to all. They will need it. He begins moving along what is known as the Egnatian Way. Towns seem to be located about 30 miles apart. This is a strong day's walk. The first two towns are Amphipolis and...
Paul is in Philippi. As I said two weeks ago, it was likely a fairly anti-Semitic town. So, when the masters of the formerly demon-possessed, slave girl Paul had healed came to the magistrates their first words were, "These men are Jews." Already there was a prejudice toward Paul and Silas. They then said they were teaching customs that are unlawful for Romans to practice. So there was not much need to bring any other accusations. Of course having the crowd of onlookers and bystanders join in...
Paul is in Philippi. Three people tell stories about how they came to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. We have heard just a tad about Lydia. She would have been of the upper echelon of society. No doubt she was wealthy, had a large enough home to entertain multiple visitors and had a staff likely as well as her family. We do not know much about her, but we do know she was a worshipper of the true God. When she understood Who Jesus Christ was, she became a part of the Church. She had a generous...
Paul and his company have had a modicum of success in spreading the Gospel. But we have just seen there are some closed doors. That can be discouraging. Likely we have all felt such a thing. Things were going along fairly well and suddenly a roadblock. Perhaps a salesman has a dry time or a mom has to deal with sick children. Almost no matter what your job or calling, there are frustrating times. The doors to Asia, Mysia and Bythinia had been closed by God. They have arrived at Troas and are up...
Barnabas and Paul have now parted company. Barnabas goes to the sea and journeys to Cyprus, his home country. We hear no more of him in the Book of Acts, but that is not necessarily negative. We only catch small glimpses of a few disciples. The great majority of them are unheard of. Perhaps that will be some of what we do in Heaven, hear the stories of the saints we hear nothing about here. Paul goes overland, reversing the journey that brought him back to Antioch. His first recorded stops are...
We have about reached a plateau in our study of the Book of Acts. In the first half of the Book, we have seen human stars such as Peter, John, Stephen, Philip and Barnabas. From this point on, we see almost nothing of them. But something is happening here I want to examine a bit: Jesus said, "...I will build my Church..." (see St. Matthew 16:18). No one has seen a complete set of blueprints for it, but we have so far in the Book of Acts seen some unexpected construction. God told His People, "I...
The Council rendered a decision. The letter summing up that decision is written. It isn't mailed or simply sent. It is hand-carried by people who were party to the Council. We have four named: Paul and Barnabas, Judas and Silas. Barnabas and Paul were under assignment by the Church of Syrian Antioch. They had completed and reported on their first missionary journey and considered this church as their home church. Judas, also known as Barsabbas, and Silas were leaders in the Jerusalem Church. The...
We have no idea how long this Council lasted. I think we should not assume it lasted only a few minutes. Even a good Bible study can often last for a long time. This was serious business. The Council wanted to "get it right." Their ruling would affect lots of people for a long time. The letter written may not seem long. It wasn't. Sometimes, when we get a letter, we go to the bottom to see who sent it. We read a letter in a different way, depending on the author. This one is sent by apostles,...
Although there was much "argument" at the beginning of the Council, by the time these four witnesses (Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James) gave their testimony, the Council was quiet. Likely each side had expressed themselves as fully as they could and they were now waiting for something from God to give each side peace and agreement. The combination of the "Written Word," Scriptures they had had for 400 years, and the "Living Word," Jesus, had clearly helped them to see God indeed was calling...
Something even more important than wise men with broad understanding is required of a council. Certainly prayer is imperative. But there must be a focus on Jesus and the Scripture. I would call these the Written Word and the Living Word. The debate we are studying basically says Gentiles could not be included in the Church unless they first became Jews; hence the need for circumcision (family) and the keeping of The Law, (works). Paul sees the Church as open to any and all God chooses to call,...
Christians and the Church should expect trouble, opposition and even persecution from the world around them. But nobody ever hopes trouble will come from within the Church. Jesus, in His "high-priestly-prayer" prayed His followers would be one even as He and His Father were, are and always will be one. He said Church members would be identified by how they loved one another. Paul wrote to the Ephesian Church (4:3ff) "...to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And there is one...
Paul has been stoned to death in Lystra. Is that the "wind-up" of the story? No. He rises from the pile of stones that killed him and goes right back into the city. Now, it is easy to wonder why he was not attacked again. Remember, the people here had seen a miracle and were ready to worship this man until some opponents from out of town persuaded them to kill him. The fear of punishment from the Roman government might have fallen on them. The sight of this bruised and battered man walking with...
Paul and Barnabas did not travel far this time. The city of Lystra is less than 20 miles from Iconium. But it seems almost a whole different world. It is indeed a Roman city but more like an outpost. It is said to have been a wild city, untamed, nearly uncivilized. They had their own language or at least used their language a lot. They likely did not even have a synagogue of the Jews, or Paul would have begun his ministry there. It seems likely Paul was speaking with individuals or perhaps a sma...
Paul and Barnabas and later Paul and Silas are what we might call "Traveling Evangelists." As such their primary function was to give out the "Good News of the Gospel." Reactions to their wonderful message were varied. In Acts Chapter 14 we will take note of some of those reactions. There will be three cities to look at in this passage of Scripture. We start with the city of Iconium. They had left Antioch of Pisidia and traveled about 90 miles to Iconium. It was their custom to begin their...
Persecution came against Christians and Christian teaching at Pisidian Antioch. Persecution happens a lot. I wish it only happened against Christians, but unfortunately sometimes Christians do the persecuting. That should never be. We want others to hear the Good News of the Gospel. Once they have heard the responsibility for their reaction is with them. Paul and Barnabas, with their support group, fled to Iconium. I do not want to overlook the something special in 13:52: "The disciples were...
A wonderful message of forgiveness and justification had been preached. Paul and Barnabas have done well. Their message has been gladly received. Remember that it was not only Jews by birth but also those who had become Jews as proselytes to the faith present for the message. I don't know how, perhaps there were Gentiles, not proselytes, standing within ear shot that heard the message. It seems there were those who were not part of the original group of listeners who heard and wanted to hear...
Verse 38a – "...through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin." Verse 39b – "and by Him all that believe are justified..." I believe all men want to be forgiven. Most certainly all men must be forgiven. Some seek forgiveness by doing good things, to compensate for wrongs done. Others make sacrifices, attempting to atone for their wrongs. We have all sinned and done what is wrong. Of course some resist the call to seek forgiveness so long their consciences are seared. They no lon...
I am not satisfied with my last two “Thoughts.” It is not that I said something wrong but I feel I did not say enough. So, I want to go over the same basic passage of Scripture Acts 13. Paul and his companions have had a 100-plus-mile sea journey. They have arrived at the sea port and are ready to begin an overland journey. We do not have anything in this passage to say much about it, but in the Book of Galatians we find Paul became extremely sick. The illness is not named, but it is part of the challenge Paul was facing. A second factor was...
Paul begins phase two of his sermon set in that present day. Of course these Jews are hundreds of miles removed from the scene of the first church, but they are also 20 or more years past the time. I have no doubt they were aware of the things Paul will talk about. He repeats the phrase about "Ye men of Israel," but this time talks about the stock of Abraham and includes "whoever of you fears God." This could well be some who have been brought into Israel as proselytes. Nonetheless, they were...
Paul and Barnabas leave the island of Cyprus and sail northward. When they land, John Mark leaves them. Remember he was their apprentice-servant. His leaving may not seem important. Unfortunately some time later it becomes a pretty painful thing. More about that later. They now move inland a bit and high into mountainous territory. They arrive at another Antioch. This one is known as Antioch of Pisidia. On a Sabbath day, these two men sit down. Worship is a part of their make up and they wanted...
The Christians in Antioch have consecrated Barnabas and Saul to go spread the Good News of the Gospel to the Gentile world. They leave from the port city, Selucia, of Antioch and sail westward toward the island of Cyprus. Cyprus is the home of Barnabas and a fitting place to start. The journey is something over 100 miles. They arrive at Salmis, port city and commercial hub of the island. Immediately they begin to preach in the Jewish synagogue. At this point I need to touch on the two names of t...
Back on Nov. 29, we suspended our study of the Book of Acts. We saw the Church had consecrated Barnabas and Saul for a new work God had ordained. It was a work to reach out to Gentiles (non-Jews) and bring them to Himself. We spent the following weeks looking at God's Plan of Salvation. I hope those weeks were helpful to you and you responded as God invited you to respond. Today, I plan to resume our study in the Book of Acts. Of course there will be digressions, because they are needed from...
The Day of Atonement is a special holy day. During the 10 days between New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), Jews were called to remember the past year: what they had done right and what they had done wrong. They gave thanks for what they had done right and tried to make right what they had done wrong during the year. They no longer offer sacrifices. But originally, there were sacrifices and prayers for forgiveness offered to God. The High Priest was responsible. He...
I wrote last week of God’s complex “Plan of Salvation” and His advanced revelation of it. His Plan is extremely complex. I most certainly cannot explain it. I do believe it. Two men, living in the present, cross my mind as I write today: Lee Strobel and Josh McDowell. Both were what I would call atheists. Each had a desire to disprove the existence of God. Each in his own way came to believe in God and put their faith and trust in Him. Today, each has become a Christian and an apologist for C...
God's complex "Plan of Salvation" often has human cooperation. Sometimes those humans do not understand it. I expect Isaiah did not understand what it meant as he wrote, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son." Micah probably did not understand, "... Bethlehem...out of thee shall come One to rule my people..." either. Zachariah and Elizabeth likely did not understand why God had not answered their prayers for years and now would provide them with child during old age. Mary likely did not unders...
