When you hear news of distant family or friends embroiled in disagreements how do you respond? Join me again with the apostle Paul in the great city of Ephesus in 55ad. As we saw yesterday Paul was experiencing both a wonderful response to his proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus in Ephesus, as well as great opposition from many people who rejected […]
What motivates you to take action? A need you want to meet? A personal agenda or dream you want to accomplish? Responding to a call for help from someone you care about? Or maybe the financial or accolades benefit you anticipate? I left you yesterday with the apostle Paul, in the great city of Ephesus, in about 55ad. […]
Have you given much thought to the many ways Jesus makes Himself known to such a wide diversity of people all around our world? Join me again in the great city of Ephesus in about 55ad with the apostle Paul, on his third missionary journey. This is his second visit to Ephesus and Acts 19:10 tells us Paul […]
There are some words in our Christian vocabulary which stir up people and fairly quickly evidence their differences, would you agree? “Baptism” is one of those words, isn’t it? Yesterday I left you in a conversation the apostle Paul was having with some people in the great city of Ephesus who thought they were Christians, but they admitted they had never heard […]
Today, as we travel with the apostle Paul on his third missionary journey, we’ll see some examples of why. I left you yesterday in Ephesus as Paul had arrived and was both challenging spiritual confusion and clarifying important truths about Jesus. We saw yesterday there were some in Ephesus who believed in Jesus but had never heard […]
Yesterday we met a man named Apollos. He was an intelligent scholar, well-grounded in Old Testament Scriptures and a remarkably gifted communicator. He had come to Ephesus from Alexandria, Egypt. (Acts 18:24) It appears it didn’t take long for him to earn both a hearing and a following. The problem was Apollos was only PARTIALLY right […]
Do you have some journeys you like to take which bring you back to special places in the story of your lifetime? Maybe a return to your childhood home or schools you attended, or maybe special vacation spots filled with past memories you cherish. Would you believe that’s how it was for the apostle […]
Paul lived with open ears, open hands and heart, always ready to hear the Holy Spirit tell him it was time to move on, to another place, but always with a similar life purpose. That challenges me, how about you, my friends? We call this daily encounter “Walking with Jesus”. but to actually live that phrase requires being […]
When was the last time you felt ENCOURAGED by God? What words did you hear / what sight did you see / what music or meditation drew your mind and heart to a place of celebration and great joy… that could only have come into your soul from God? You and I live at a time in […]
As you look around your world, what are some evidences you see of great power? How about a nuclear power plant producing huge amounts of electricity? Or maybe a rocket launch? Or maybe military power or political power, or even the power of AI? Now here’s an important question: can you distinguish the difference between when power is being […]
