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Acts 10 offers some insight into the heart of God and how he works to break down barriers.

In this passage a Roman centurion named Cornelius, who is a "god-fearer" (Gentile who practices Judaism but hasn't been through ritual circumcision) is told by an angel to send for Simon Peter, who is staying nearby on the coast. He immediately dispatches three men to bring Peter to his house. You've gotta admire such obedience and faith.

Meanwhile, Peter is sunning (actually praying, but he may have multitasked) on the roof of his friend's house by the sea, and he has a vision. In this vision he sees all kinds of food that is verboten to a Jew - like pork, shellfish, and the like. A voice tells him to "pig out." (loosely translated)

Peter answers, "No way!"

Again, the voice says, "Eat."

Peter resists.

Finally, he hears, "Don't call anything unclean that the Lord calls clean."

As he scratches his head, wondering what all this means, the men arrive to invite Peter to Cornelius' house. Meanwhile, Peter is told, again in a vision, to expect company.

The men take Peter to Cornelius' house, where Peter shares the story of Jesus with the entire household. And, to his wonderment, the Holy Spirit shows up in power, and the entire gathering responds to the message by placing their faith in Christ.

Peter is blown away, and exclaims, "Wow! The gospel is for everyone. God has no favorites. Anyone can come to him in faith." (or words to that effect)

The same is true today. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

I saw the Lord!

In the 80's Larnelle Harris and Sandi Patti recorded a duet entitled "I Saw the Lord." It relates the testimony of persons who were witnesses to Jesus' appearances after his resurrection. The gospels and Acts tell of Jesus walking, talking, eating, and "hanging out" with his followers after the resurrection. In 1Corinthians 15, Paul writes that he, too, saw the Risen Lord, even though he had not been a follower of his during his earthly ministry.

The story of how the Lord appeared to Paul is recorded in Acts 9. It is a remarkable account of the dramatic conversion of one who had been vehemently opposed to this new movement. In fact, Paul was on his way to Damascus with orders to persecute Christ's followers when Jesus appeared to him in a vision. The Lord stopped him in his tracks and spoke to him about who he was and what he wanted Paul to do.

From that point Paul was forever changed. He devoted the rest of his life to telling the story of the Risen Lord to anyone who would listen. An encounter with Christ does that to a person.

If someone were to ask you, "What difference does Jesus make?" how would you answer?

Gossiping the gospel

My friend, Justin, reminded me today that I hadn't posted in awhile. Come to think of it, it's been weeks. New career, investment courses and exams, yadayadayada....... We're all busy, I know.

So let's pick back up where we left off. Last post we were looking at the stoning of Stephen and how Jesus appeared to him, standing at the right hand of God, as if to demonstrate love for Stephen in his martyrdom.

The next chapter, Acts 8, relates an interesting phenomenon. First, it tells about a great persecution that followed the stoning of Stephen. Zealous Jews were seeking to eradicate this young movement that had already turned Jerusalem upside down. It goes on to say that "those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the gospel."

Now it's normal to assume that the ones who preached were the leaders of the early church, when, in actuality, these first "missionaries" were rank and file church members whose lives had been dramatically changed through their encounter with the Risen Lord. They were so pumped up that they couldn't keep silent. As they traveled back to their homes in the outlying regions I can picture them seizing every opportunity to relate their experience of having their lives dramatically and eternally changed through their faith in Christ. I can imagine Joe and Sadie, as they headed back to Pamphylia, stopping at an interstate rest area or service station (donkey filling station - use your imagination), and striking up a conversation with anyone who would listen. Then, once they got back home, Joe couldn't help sharing his new faith with his coworkers. The same was true of Sadie, who went every day to the market and looked for opportunities to talk to someone about Jesus. And this happened in hundreds of lives, as these Greek-speaking Jewish converts returned to their homes and told of their encounter with Christ.

One writer, in commenting on this phenomenon, said that these early converts "gossiped the gospel." In a short time the entire region was abuzz with the Good News message.

The change that a relationship with Jesus Christ brings is something to buzz about. Who are the persons in your life with whom you're sharing your faith?

Jesus stands up

Acts 7 gives the account of Stephen, who was martyred for his stand for Christ. Stephen was a leader among the hellenistic jewish Christians in the early church, a servant who also had a unique prophetic gift.

In this narrative Luke tells how Stephen, who was called before the religious council because he had been preaching about Christ and working miracles in his name, ended up accusing the religious leaders of being "stiff-necked" and of murdering God's One and Only Son.

For this they took him out of the city, pushed him off a precipice, and stoned him to death.

As he lay dying, Stephen exclaimed that he saw the Risen Christ standing in heaven. Every other reference to Christ in heaven has him seated. Why did Christ stand in this moment? Was it to honor Stephen?

Servant leadership

I've gotten behind on the Acts Bible study notes, so I hope to post two new messages today.

Let's start with Acts 6. The scenario is this: In the early church in Jerusalem there were two distinct groups. One group was comprised of "Hebrew Christians," persons who had grown up in traditional Jewish fashion. These were persons from places such as Nazareth, Galilee, etc., who had come to know Christ through the testimony of the apostles during the weeks following Pentecost.

Also among the membership of the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem (just kidding about the Baptist part) were what have come to be known as "Hellenistic Christians," Jews from other regions beyond Judea (e.g. Antioch). Their primary language and culture was Greek.

As the church grew, it became increasingly difficult to minister to the needs of the entire body. And these Hellenistic believers felt they were getting the short end of the stick. They brought their case to the church leaders, who wisely directed them to find within their own ranks men "full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" to make sure their needs were met. Many scholars see these servants as the forerunners of what came to be know as deacons. (The word deacon, from the Greek, diakonos, means servant.)

Apparently this took care of this issue. Later on we'll see how God intervened with another solution to this dilemma.

Most noteworthy in my mind is that these servants were not apostles, nor were they among those who had been eyewitnesses of Christ, and yet here they are being selected for major responsibilities within the body. Two in particular we learn about in the succeeding chapters. The first is Stephen, who, according to Luke's narrative, was "a man full of God's grace and power." (Acts 6:8, NIV) It says of him that he "did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people."

Here's the point, in my mind. God can do awesome things through any of his children, no matter our spiritual pedigree. Stephen was not an apostle or among those who were the charter members of First Church. Yet God used him mightily, as we'll see in the next chapter.

Do you think that God can/will do the same in our lives if we allow him to fill us with his grace and power?

Jay Dubyas

While I was doing some writing at home earlier today, I answered a knock at the door. Upon opening the door, I saw a very attractive young couple with a beautiful little girl who couldn't have been older than three. They were all dressed nicely (Sunday best), and I noticed that the young man was holding a Bible with some pamphlets inside.

He introduced himself, and, taking note of his name, I asked if he was related to some neighbors of ours by the same name. "That's my brother," he stated.

As he continued he mentioned that he would like to share the pamphlet with me, and, when I asked him who he represented, he said he was a Jehovah's Witness, or, as I flippantly call them, "Jay Dubyas."

"Well," I began, "let me tell you where I'm coming from. I believe that Jesus Christ is God, and that he became a man. I believe that Jesus died in my place for my sins, that he was buried, that he rose again on the third day, that he ascended to heaven, and that he's coming back for me some day. I plan to spend eternity in heaven with him. And I'd like to see you in heaven, too."

That pretty much ended the conversation.

I thought, "Why can't God's people have that same zeal to knock on doors? We know the truth and we have a story to tell of how Jesus has changed our life."

Great fear

In Acts 5 is the account of Ananias and Sapphira, who conspired to shortchange God when they sold a piece of property and held back part of the money. Their deceit led to their death. And, following their deaths, the account reads that "great fear seized the church." (Acts 5:11)

Well, I guess! Can you imagine something like that happening today? How would you react if a member of your congregation was struck dead because of something he/she had done to try and "cheat" God?

Why do you think this couple died? What was so great about their sin that it led God to strike them dead?

I'd like to hear your opinions. Click on the comment link below and weigh in with your thoughts. Also comment on what questions this raises in your mind?