Is it not amazing that over a third of the book of Acts passes before the early church wakes up to God’s intention of spreading the Gospel even to the Gentiles? In chapter 10, here is Peter, one of Jesus’ inner circle. He has walked with Christ. Witnessed the death, resurrection, and ascension. Experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit. Practiced miraculous signs and wonders and healings. And suffered persecutions. And yet it takes three repetitions of a supernatural vision – a sheet dropped down from heaven with all kinds of animals – to impress upon him God’s openness to…

Craig Groeschel, the pastor of Life.Church, introduces his book Winning the War in Your Mind with this thesis: “Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. What we think shapes who we are.” He seems to think he might get some pushback on these statements. Perhaps from people who argue that our thinking doesn’t really matter? Our thought patterns don’t affect our lives? Regardless, he is prepared for opposition. He continues, “But don’t take my word for it. Both the Bible and modern science provide evidence that this is true.” He promises that in his book…

Here are two seminary terms that every believer ought to get familiar with: exegesis and eisegesis. Maybe it will explain what has been bugging you about the sermons you’ve been hearing.  EXEGESIS Exegesis is interpreting a passage of Scripture based on careful discernment of what the author set out to communicate.  Exegesis is the foundation for solid biblical preaching. It is what your pastor should do on a daily basis whenever his or her Bible is opened for study.  Put simply, exegesis is drawing meaning out of the text. Listening to what it wants to teach. The sermon is simply…

Dan Ariely is Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University – and seems to know what he’s talking about.  In his book, Predictably Irrational, Ariely devotes a chapter to an idea that is worth chewing on.  That chapter has the provocative title “The Cost of Social Norms: Why We Are Happy to Do Things, but Not When We Are Paid to Do Them”.  Ariely explains that we all intuitively understand two very different sets of rules guiding our lives: social norms and market norms.  Rules governing the role of money play very differently in the two circles of our…

I love irony. Don’t you? I think God loves irony too. There’s a lot of it in the Bible. One instance of irony I had never noticed before this morning: Saul’s conversion story in Acts 9. The disciples had been scattered outward from Jerusalem because of widespread persecution following the stoning of Stephen. Saul, after thoroughly terrorizing the believers around Jerusalem, was now traveling to Damascus. Why go there?  Damascus was the next big city outside of Jerusalem, about 150 miles away. Quite a few Jews lived there. It seems reasonable to assume that, knowing quite a few believers had…

Some nights I get started writing on a topic and it proves too complex to complete at 10:30 pm, when my mind is not at peak performance. And all I can think about is climbing into bed. Tonight is one of those nights. For that reason – and others – I am trying to shift my daily writing to mornings.  So far, rather spotty success. In fact, my whole morning routine has been jumbled now that my schedule has changed and I am working from home and don’t have to leave for school at 7:05.  I still have certain duties…

Now an angel of the Lord said  To Philip,  “Go south to the road –  The desert road –  That goes down  From Jerusalem to Gaza.” And that,  Apparently,  Was all the angel told him:  Which road, Which direction.  And Philip  Started  Out. (ACTS 8: 26-7)

I grew up attending worship, Sunday school, and youth group at the local United Methodist Church, within walking distance of our house on East Hendricks Street. I spent many hours at First UMC, week after week and year after year, until I went off to college. In all that time, I never really heard anything about the Holy Spirit.  Sure, the Spirit got a weekly mention in the Doxology: Praise God from whom all blessings flow,Praise Him all creatures here below,Praise Him above ye heavenly host,Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Otherwise, the Third Person of the Trinity didn’t get…

At the moment I find myself on a steep learning curve. I am reading books and listening to podcasts every spare moment. All for the sake of my new role with Mission Resource International. And I am loving it. I am studying how to write copy for advertisements in print or email. Exploring ways to optimize websites and utilize social media. And even reading up on the history of fertilizer.* I used to tell my 8th graders that it was a fact that they enjoyed learning. They loudly protested such an idea, of course.  Then I would say, “I said…

One of my professors raised a question about an incident recorded in the book of Acts. Chapter 6 records the early church’s first ongoing service project to the community: the daily feeding of widows.  This resulted in another first: the first known church squabble.  The Hebraic Jews were feeding their own widows but neglecting to feed those among the Grecian Jews. The Grecian Jews complained.  So the Apostles pulled everyone together and made arrangements for seven men to be chosen to take charge of the ministry.   The Apostles instituted this because, they said, “It would not be right for us…