"For it was the Holy Spirit's decision - and ours..." (Acts 15:28). This is the Church of Jesus Christ at work as it should be. The synergy is perfect. It is beautiful. First, the Holy Spirit makes plain His purpose. You noticed that He did so through the conversation of people surrendered to Jesus and filled with Him. They were reminded of the Holy Spirit's work throughout their brief history, an...  Read More

It is difficult to overestimate the conversation of Acts 15. At its core is this belief: the death of Jesus was not sufficient to forgive the sins of the world and His grace not enough to offer salvation full and free. If the Jerusalem Council would have affirmed the Judaizers (proponents of embracing the Covenant of Abraham and Law of Moses before you could become a follower of Jesus), that would...  Read More

The missionaries returned to the sending church and reported all that had taken place (Acts 14:27). They celebrated the work of God through His people and affirmed the courage and obedience of the sending church. We need to be reminded that God is faithful, that He uses us all, and that every gift used in His service is eternal in its application and consequences. We have benefitted in the last mo...  Read More

"And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52, CSB).At Family Camp, Rev. Byron Hannon defined joy as 'having overwhelming gladness of heart because Christ is at the center of our lives.' When Jesus is the center of our joy, our circumstances do not hinder that joy. When Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch (that means to be condemned and...  Read More

Before our eyes we see the Great Commission - making Christlike disciples in all nations (Matthew 28:19-20) - fulfilled as Jesus keeps the promise of Pentecost - power to witness with ever spreading effect (Acts 1:8). Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (Acts 8), to the ends of the earth (Starting in Acts 10). The courage of the disciples from Cyprus and Cyrene to witness to gentiles in Antioch is richly...  Read More

James dies. Peter lives. James is martyred. Peter is miraculously set free (Acts 12:1-19). Jesus said it would be so. Sometimes it is difficult to discern the mind and actions of God. Not for a moment do I believe asking God hard questions is a sin, or even wrong. One thing I have learned in all of the hard questions of life is that in the end, answers or not (really this, too is an answer), I can...  Read More