Acts 7-8 A sorcerer in Samaria heard Philip proclaiming the news about Jesus, and he became saved…but he had not yet received the Holy Spirit… Then when he saw others receiving the Holy Spirit, he offered the apostles money for the right to have it. His heart just wasn’t fully ALL IN for Jesus, was it? Before we shake our fingers at him, though, we would do good to take a hard look at our own motivations.  Did we become believers because it was something expected of us from our believing parents?  Or did we become believers for ourselves?  Did … Continue reading Not for sale

Acts 1-6 Peter had no sense of the phrase “political correctness.”  He was bold and in-your-face.  He did not candy coat any hard truth.  For this honesty, he was flogged, thrown in prison, and forbidden to speak in the Name of Jesus.  Yet he chose to obey the Lord rather than those in authority who told him to stop talking about Jesus. There will likely be a time two thousand years later when we are called upon to do the same as Peter…to throw political correctness out the window, to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us words to … Continue reading Politically Incorrect

Luke 24; John 20-21 Competition is on my mind tonight.  A close reading of John 20 and 21 uncovers a competitive streak running between John and Peter, at least in John’s eyes. …John is careful to say not once, but twice, that when he and Peter raced to the tomb to see if the women were correct about it being empty, he (John), got there first.  Apparently winning the footrace was important to him! …John records Peter’s conversation with Jesus after he appeared to them while they were fishing.  In his account, Peter looked back at John and asked Jesus … Continue reading Feeding the sheep