Saved from What?

Acts 16:30
He [the jailer] then brought them [Paul & Silas] out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul, Silas, and the other prisoners could have escaped when the “earthquake” came, their prison doors opened, and their chains came loose. The jailer was about to commit suicide when Paul called out to [...]

Read Full Post »

Go to the River and Pray

Acts 16:13a
On the Sabbath we [Paul and Silas] went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.
Philippi was a Roman colony and apparently had no synagogue. So, knowing this, Paul and Silas headed outside the city to seek out another possible prayer place where people would [...]

Read Full Post »

Keeping My Heart Open

Acts 16:14b
… The Lord opened her [Lydia] heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Revelation… truth… understanding… none of these can happen without an open heart and it is God who makes this happen. It’s not that we can’t open our own hearts, we can. Unfortunately, we usually don’t realize how closed off we really are. We [...]

Read Full Post »

For Appearances’ Sake

Acts 16:3a
Paul wanted to take him [Timothy] along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area…
Well, this certainly took me off guard. First, all those promises of freedom for the gentiles who were coming into the faith (including release from having to get circumcised), then, that [...]

Read Full Post »

Grace vs Pragmatism

Acts 15:39a
They [Paul and Barnabas] had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company…
I think about all that Paul and Barnabas had been through and wonder how this disagreement finally tipped the scale. Maybe they were always kvetching with each other and this was one kvetch too many. Who knows? But clearly, these wunderkind [...]

Read Full Post »

Freedom with Strings

Acts 15:19-20
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
Well, this threw a little wrench in my [...]

Read Full Post »

Power of Grace

Acts 15:11
“No! We [Peter speaking of Jewish disciples] believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they [the gentiles] are.”
Grace, grace and more grace. It is grace that does all the work. Grace = Jesus.
No human being can operate faithfully and fully within the laws [...]

Read Full Post »