Lord, Deliver Me from Christians
When Jesus appeared to Paul on the Road to Damascus, the Lord began to outline to the future apostle what his ministry would look like. Jesus said: I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them.(Acts 26:17, NIV) This is such an interesting statement to me. […]
Persecuting Whom?
“But I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ “And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. (Acts 26:15, HCSB) If he wanted to fight the Lord on this, Paul had a pretty good argument. You see, he had never even met Jesus – he makes that clear elsewhere in his writings – so […]
The Gospel According to Euripides?
Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense… When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to […]
Some Dead Guy?
The Apostle Paul, who made an appeal to Caesar, was being passed from Festus to Agrippa. Apparently passing the buck has been around in politics since the first century. When Festus attempts to bring Agrippa up-to-speed on the Paul case, he gives an interesting description of the facts: Therefore, when they had assembled here, I […]
Appealing to Caesar
10 But Paul said [to Porcius Festus]: “I am standing at Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as even you can see very well. 11 If then I am doing wrong, or have done anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die, but […]
Be Alert!
Once Claudius learned about the plot against Paul, he sent the Apostle to Caesarea – to the Governor Felix. Paul told his story again… 25 Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I find time I’ll call for you.” 26 […]
Pretext
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”18 So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell […]
Conspiracy Theory
12 When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under a curse: neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul.13 There were more than 40 who had formed this plot. (Acts 23:12-13, HCSB) The internet has really changed things. Before the web, hearing a conspiracy theory was somewhat […]
Resident Aliens
Acts 22:22-26 (HCSB) 22 They listened to him up to this word. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this person off the earth—it’s a disgrace for him to live!” 23 As they were yelling and flinging aside their robes and throwing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into […]
I Am Third
Acts 21:21-26 (NLT) 21 But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs.22 What should we do? […]
Confident
Acts 21:17-21 (HCSB) 17 When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly.18 The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.19 After greeting them, he related one by one what God did among the Gentiles through his ministry.20 When they heard it, they glorified God and said, […]
Friendliness is next to Godliness
Acts 21:17 (HCSB) 17 When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly. I remember years ago, before we were in our church building, Christine and I were sitting with a college girl at the Rangers game on a church outing. In the course of our conversation she told us that our church wasn’t a […]
