Read Reflect The rising generation known as “millennials” is very attuned to and concerned about power – power as it is exercised in gender relations, in religion and perhaps most of all, the dynamic relationship of power and money. These who began adulthood somewhere around the turn of the century are aware that as they […]

Read Reflect Luke is telling us about how the early church was led to resolve a major crisis in God’s Story of salvation. A meeting takes place in Jerusalem. Peter, Paul and Barnabas share the exciting news about how God has been saving Gentiles, winning them to faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, giving […]

Read Reflect I wish I could have been there at the so-called Jerusalem Council! I would have liked to hear just how they all interacted with the issues and each other. What Luke does tell us about the meeting can help churches in our day work through conflict. They took time to gather the facts. […]

Read Reflect Luke is such an honest man. He wants us to see how the Holy Spirit worked to spread the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world. An exciting story! But it not an easy story. Luke is honest: the messengers of the good news face conflict and have to compromise, or do […]

Read Reflect We call the book “The Acts of the Apostles.” But as we read the book we realize we should call it “The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.” For as Luke shows us in this text, the real leader of God’s mission in the world is not an apostle, but the […]

Read Reflect In this moving story we find four miracles of grace. First, a slave girl is set free. In the name of Jesus she is freed from demonic possession and from human economic exploitation. Thank you, Lord! Second, human beings worship God in really crummy circumstances. Luke says that around midnight, while lying on […]

Read Reflect In a study on marriage, Paul Tripp compares a water bottle to our hearts. He holds up a water bottle with the lid off, and then furiously shakes it. Of course water begins to fly everywhere. Paul then begins to explain that the water spilling out wasn’t merely a result of shaking it; […]