Now that he has met Jesus face to face, Saul's entire outlook on scripture and Jesus has changed. He now begins preaching Jesus as the Messiah to the very people he used to work with, and twice they try to kill him. He heads for the Jerusalem believers and they aren't so sure either. Only one guy, an encourager named Barnabas takes him in.
In Acts 8, two kingdoms collide as one kingdom’s representative (Philip) interacts with the other kingdom’s representative (Simon). In the verses that ensue, and Simon apparently switches teams, the question soon becomes, “Where does his allegiance really lie?” Does he actually want Jesus, or does he just want the power to do some cool things?
The church in Acts is taking off like a roller coaster, picking up speed as the number of disciples continues to grow. But not everything is going perfectly smoothly. As numbers rapidly increase, so does the opportunity for conflict. Sure enough, what started out as a good benevolence program has now become a place where certain people are getting overlooked. The apostles have a choice to make.
Ray Ortland is quoted as having said, “There is a hell before Hell; a heaven before Heaven.” Proverbs warns against death multiple times, but rarely does it point to the actual event. So this discussion of life and death is bigger than simply, “Do you have a pulse or not?”
It’s one thing to know “about” God, but you don’t truly know him until you risk it.
The pivotal moment in the story of Esther is not the moment(s) of heroism and courage. It's a little less sexy than that, and a lot more ordinary.
The God of heaven and earth not only invites us to pray, he almost begs us to. Why would he do that if our prayers didn’t matter?
Like a Cubs fan living in St Louis, those who follow a suffering Savior should not be surprised when they suffer.
Peter writes that we are to arm ourselves with the same attitude of Christ when it comes to suffering – that we would rather suffer than sin.