Conversion in a Vacuum

Acts 13:21b-22a
Then they [Paul and Barnabas] returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.
There were no Bibles for the new Christ-followers in Asia Minor, particularly the gentile converts. There were no “new believers’ kit” and there were no pamphlets. There were no “4 Spiritual Laws” [...]

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Opposition Can Be Good

Acts 13:50b, 52
…They [the opposition] stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region…And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes we mistake opposition for failure. After all, in this case, the opposition managed to expel both Paul and Barnabas from their city. And later, they even [...]

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A Miracle Gone Wrong

Acts 14:10b-11
…”Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
Miracles are tricky things. In Lystra, the people who witnessed a crippled man healed at [...]

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Do you have an appointment?

Acts 13:48b
“…all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”
My husband is totally annoyed by telephone marketers. We have put ourselves on all the “don’t call” lists and yet, every once in awhile, it still seems as though a few get through. If they do call and it’s Mike that answers the phone, he yanks [...]

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Resurrection Starting Point

Acts 13:30
But God raised him from the dead…
God raising Jesus from the dead is pretty much the starting point.
This miracle part of the Jesus story is essential to the faith. None of it quite works if this part didn’t happen. Otherwise, it’s all smoke and mirrors.
I mean, if he didn’t die at [...]

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Really Full or Ready to Empty?

Acts 13:9-10a
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil…”
This incident happened on the initial leg of Paul’s first missionary journey in Cyprus. Apparently, it is on this journey that Saul changes his name to Paul, which historians [...]

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Running from God

Acts 12:23
Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
I think God was trying to reach Herod. First, God put it upon John the Baptist to declare against Herod and ultimately, to put himself in danger by discrediting Herod. [...]

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