A Disciple Named Ananias
Read: Acts 9:10-18 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul . . . ” (v. 17) One commentator calls Ananias “one of the forgotten heroes of the Christian church” (William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostles). Indeed he is! The fact that he referred to […]
The Damascus Road
Read: Acts 9:1-9 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (v. 5) Saul was not content to imprison the Jewish followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. He “went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he […]
Persecutor of Christians
Read: Acts 8:1-4 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. (v. 3) I am a lifelong Christian, and I have lived a quiet, peaceful life. I haven’t experienced persecution, and I have experienced freedom and justice in my country, but […]
May Prayer Guide 2021
BHUTAN –– Give thanks with us that through virtual Bible studies and outreach on Facebook, 11 Bhutanese individuals have given their lives to Christ, and 8 more have requested the next step of baptism. Please continue to pray for more opportunities to return to in-person sharing of the gospel, since the Internet is quite expensive […]
A Young Man Named Saul
Read: Acts 7:54–8:1 And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. (v. 58) We usually refer to him as Paul, but that was not his name originally. His given Hebrew name was Saul. He was Saul of Tarsus, a well-educated Judaic Pharisee. He was steeped in the […]
Pressing on Toward the Goal
Read: Philippians 3:12-16 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (v. 14) My lungs burned. My temples were pounding. My muscles ached. Everything within me wanted to quit. I had only two miles to go before I would finish my first 25K race. This […]
The Whole Armor of God
Read: Ephesians 6:10-24 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (v. 11) Paul concludes Ephesians by helping us see that our struggle, as we run this race, is not ultimately against flesh and blood. There is an enemy, the devil, who wants […]
Love Begins at Home
Read: Ephesians 5:21–6:9 “. . . submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (5:21) In her Nobel Peace Prize lecture, Mother Teresa answered the question of how we achieve world peace by explaining that “love begins at home . . . in our own family first, in our country and in the world.” […]
The Time We’ve Been Given
Read: Ephesians 5:15-20 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (vv. 15-16) In a powerful scene in the film version of the Lord of the Rings fantasy trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, Gandalf the wizard and Frodo […]