"To Him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."Acts 10:43 The Apostle Peter is preaching at Cornelius's house, telling of Jesus, telling of eye witness accounts that magnify the Judge of the living and the dead. Amazingly, there is tremendous significance in a man, like Peter, from a people like the...
Keep Reading"And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:7, ESV) Religion begets more religion. Religious deeds, ideas, and actions that accomplish the purposes of fulfillment and completion in the life of a person. Notably there is a desire for mo...
Keep Reading"And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:7, ESV) It wasn't long ago that this very passage was the subject of a Pastor's Corner. Yet here we are looking at Acts 6:7 again. It is a wonderful passage regarding God's Word and its increa...
Keep Reading"And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7 (ESV) I was once told by a pastor how he avoids the controversy of the book of Acts. His solution to the problem presented by Acts was to keep from preaching Acts if at all possible. His posi...
Keep Reading"My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh." (Proverbs 4:2022, ESV) Pay attention! Be attentive. A simple command given by parents, teachers, coaches, and managers alike. Most of questions can be answered this...
Keep Reading""Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. "You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode." (Exodus 15:1113, ESV) Who is like the Lord? There are no...
Keep Reading"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." (Acts 2:42, ESV) We must be devoted! Fully devoted. Or as some have labeledRadical! In Christ we must give everything! Is that not the calling of every Christian? Being zealous for God's ways is a good thing, right? The answer for both is yes and no. Yes...
Keep Reading"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." (Psalm 20:7, ESV) Assurance, reassurance, comfort, solace, relief, plus numerous other words convey the potential sway of biblical texts like this. Why do I say potential sway? Simply, these words are not magic. The potential impact is contingent upon how the reader allows them ...
Keep ReadingJohn Piper's mother wrote this in his Bible when he was fifteen years old, "This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book." John Owen had a similar axiom, based on Romans 8:13, "Be killing sin or [sin] will be killing you." Piper's own words on these two statements are instructive, "We see that these two mottos are very closely connected, because Ro...
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