Tag: Acts
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Cornelius
Part of me wonders if Cornelius is the same centurion who has Jesus hall his servant without even coming to his house. Obviously we don’t know anything like that but it is certain that a man who would have that much faith would also have the capacity to break the barrier that Cornelius broke by…
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Paul
The lesson from Paul isn’t his conversion, miraculous as that was, but rather his earnest devotion to what he thought was right both before and after his conversion. Paul threw himself 100% into whatever he felt was right. When he thought the Christians were perverting the law of Moses he persecuted then with gusto. When…
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Ananias
What kind of faith was required for Ananias to voluntarily go to Saul who he knew to be very antagonistic to the saints? I’m sure he worried about whether he would be caught and persecuted by going to Saul. He choose to exercise faith and follow the instructions he had been given. The result was…
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Philip
Philip was another of the seven and while we know less of him than we do of Stephen we do know that he was still around to give Paul a place to stay during one of his journeys and Paul testifies to the way he raised his children by the fact that his daughters had…
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Stephen
I believe that Stephen was the first martyr for Christianity. He was apparently very well versed in the gospel as he was the first to proclaim to the Jews that the law of Moses was fulfilled in Christ. This must have incensed Saul at that time although later it was a central message in the…
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The seven assistants
There was apparently some breakdown in the distribution of goods among the Christians such that some of their widows were being neglected. The apostles told the people to select seven righteous men to oversee the distribution of God so that the apostles could stay focused on their task of witnessing to the world of Christ.…
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Gamaliel
It is interesting that Gamaliel, who convinced the Sanhedrin to be slightly lenient with the apostles after the death of Christ, was the teacher of Saul who was anything but lenient with the followers of Christ. We don’t have any indication that Gamaliel accepted Christ but he demonstrated the wisdom and perspective of a good…
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20 September 2013
Acts 28 Paul spent his time on the “barbarous” island healing those who were sick after he demonstrated the power to heal on a man who had been hospitable to them. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that the people had already concluded that he was a god after a poisonous serpent failed to harm him…
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19 September 2013
Acts 27 Paul prophetically warned the people on the ship that if they continued sailing it would be disastrous and life-threatening. They continued anyway. Eventually they cast all their cargo and even the ship’s tackle overboard to lighten the ship in the storm. Paul then received a promise that no lives would be lost. He…
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18 September 2013
Acts 26 Paul’s response to “almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” are awesome. He says, “I wish that you and everyone else we not just almost persuaded but altogether just like me – except that I wouldn’t wish any of you to be in bonds as I am.” The verdict was that Paul…