Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Five things strike me today:
1. The humanity of humans.  They get some critical theology wrong despite the indwelling Holy Spirit for well more than a decade.
2. Awe. God is taking a people for His nam…

Chapter 15 of Acts is one big fight. Even two big fights.  There is debate, dissension, bad theology, emissaries sent to disagree, opposition to people's faces, and then finally: UNITY.  We won't get…

When Paul and Barnabas return from the first missionary journey they find things back in Jerusalem in error and actual disobedience.  Peter was told, in no uncertain terms, by a vision repeated three…

Galatia isn't a city, it is a region. This is the region that "God opens a door of faith" to the gentiles. Essentially, the "first missionary journey" is to this region that includes the cities of
ant…

"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." No kidding.  How about stoning to death.  Paul is stoned just after they wanted to worship him in Lystra.  But, it was not a surprise to …

One verse, they think Paul is so wonderful, they want to WORSHIP him. In the VERY NEXT VERSE, they KILL PAUL by stoning. At least, they think they kill Paul.  They leave him for dead.

What would caus…

God has left a witness in the common grace that He has given to mankind.  In addition, 3 miracles happen in today's account.  One is inside a crippled guy. (He gets faith). One is inside Paul (He see…

The Lord Bore Witness to the word of His grace.  There are some other inputs, but this is the essential one.  Eloquence by men and women, faithfulness, etc are all good, but the one that is crucial i…

The doctrine of divine sovereignty is God's love letter to us.  Our response is our love letter to Him.  The Language of Election in the Bible is God's love language.  The language of faith, belief, …

The sharp sticks of opposition point to Paul's ARGUMENT and then point to Paul's PERSON.  That is called reviling.  It is where you attack the person rather than the argument.  It is speech that seek…

Paul is preaching #2 on the Christianity almost "Too-good-to-be-true" list.  There are three responses.  The ideal is to BELIEVE. The worst is to scoff. He tells them to BEWARE.  The middle ground is…

God has been talking about Jesus in the Old Testament for a long time.  It is not His first day, and God made PROMISES that are now FULFILLED in Jesus.  Just don't say that I never told you so.

Paul i…

Metaphorically, we are all running a course that has some unique and universal obstacles.  We  bring to it some particular strengths and weaknesses. For some of us, today will be the earthly course f…

Oh the humanity!  There is a lot of it in Paul's 450 year summary of the Jews.  God had to "put up with you."  The Jews had not exactly been faithful in response to the Lord being faithful with them.…

There is a battle for a guy's SOUL today.  In fact, it is the battle for TWO guys' souls.  One is a straightforward story about the gospel, some opposition, and then a miracle that leads him to BELIE…

"Paul's First Missionary Journey". 
Actually it was Saul
Actually it was Saul and BARNABAS
It was their 4th and 6th journeys in the service of the Lord, respectively
They were sent from ANTIOCH and not J…

It is easy to root against Herod. It is easy to cheer him getting eaten by worms.  It is easy to think that I would have done a much better job with the agency, authority and the attitudes if I was i…

The good Lord strikes (makes) and angel to strike (poke) Peter.  

This angel is given power to alter sound waves, light waves, physical stuff like locks, as well as the consciousness of people.  You'd…

At first blush, being "at the top of someone's prayer list" sounds like a great honor.  But think about it. Of all the people that person knows...Of all the problems in the lives of all those people.…

God wants to do something IN Saul so that God can do something WITH Saul.  As a surprise to me, it takes a while.  Reading chronologically with an eye to the years passing is an ENCOURAGEMENT to me. …