Bible Commentary & Daily Devotional

  Acts 13:1-3 Downtown Lynchburg, Virginia. Time together. That’s what faithful Christians spend. We do life together. This passage shows that the Acts Church had prophets and teachers scattered and headquartered out of Antioch. This included Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul. They ate, fasted, prophesied, taught, prayed, and worshiped together. They did life together.              When was the last time you heard of a great ministry team? An effective ministry team? If you look back at your life, some of your fondest memories are when you served with friends or worked together in a team setting. This chapter shows us what happens when whole regions and nations are won for Jesus Christ. This occurs when Christian men, led by the Holy Spirit, do what God asks them to do.                Seek brothers in Christ (if you are a man) or sisters in Christ (if you are a woman). It takes effort to grow. But if you desire fellowship and mentoring, God will certainly pro

  Acts 12 It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that wicked men are emboldened by praise. They feed on it. Sadly, the public pours it on. Every evil act seems to be applauded, turning a pebble into a cascading boulder of malicious schemes. Not much seems to change. King Herod Agrippa is the evil schemer of this story. He’s an early example of nepotism at its worst—a multi-generational silver Spooner.  A grifter of grifters. Sadly, we have such schemers in our time, inside the Church and out. Herod Agrippa had an excellent scheme cooked up. He would “take care” of Peter as he did the apostle James, John’s beloved brother. What an evil, wicked man. He had the trap set. A show trial was planned after all the pretentious, pretend Passover rituals were completed. First, the religious show, then the wicked deeds. Sound familiar? Little did Agrippa know that he’d soon be on trial by the Judge of Judges, the King of Kings. He’d be caught in his trap of lies and crushed by

  Acts 11:19-30 When people believe and turn to God, there is evidence of God’s blessing; fruit, if you will. You will know it if you see it. As sure as you’ve seen the sun rise and set, you’ll know a person’s life’s been transformed into a new creation in Christ. We certainly can attest to this in what’s happened in our lives. As men and women full of the Holy Spirit, we feel a pang of remorse for sin. We are more patient and understanding. We care for children and the elderly and see the needs of those around us. And we are self-controlled, more and more so as we grow in God. We think of what God wants us to do rather than what we want to do. And we immediately see the benefit of acting God’s way. The fruit of the Holy Spirit, a God-led life, fills us with something the world can’t give. It’s satisfaction; more than that, joy. It’s an incredible privilege to partake in the growth of God’s Kingdom. It is a privilege to gain knowledge, understanding, and instruction (educ

  Acts 11:19-26 From the beginning, Jesus planned to rescue people from our evil world. God's Plan A has always been forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the Cross of Jesus Christ. God does things His way. We have free will, but God orchestrates situations for men and women to do his will. That's Providence. The exciting part of it all is that he chooses to use us, His children through faith, to act as His ambassadors. What a privilege.               God's qualification is that we are believers in Jesus Christ. So why does the modern Church make a cottage industry of M. Div. degrees and legalistic ordination processes? I think a lot of the rot is due to our desire for power and control. And our fears and insecurities about messing up. And a default tendency to legalism rather than freedom in Christ. Each of us ought to be able to share the hope that we have and to explain what Jesus has done for us. Our testimonies must not glory ourselves. We must poin

  Acts 11:1-18 Jesus leads, and we follow. That’s how it should be. But our sin, work, peer pressure, culture wars, politics, and doubt - all get in the way. Ah, the joys of the human condition! Peter had a habit of threes with Jesus. I guess we all have our number. I suspect Peter is quicker on the uptake than the rest of us! Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved him. And three times, Peter replied that the Lord Jesus knew he did. And He did. Jesus knows all of our hearts. God’s pattern with the Jews illustrates his pattern with each person. You can see God and his character on the one hand; on the other, you see man’s character. And we see the character now, today, of God’s holy people, the Church. God is consistent. He never changes. He doesn’t move from who He is. We don’t get to claim ignorance. We have God’s Word, nature, and personal experience to reveal God’s creative power, uniqueness, standards, and expectations.

  Acts 10:9-48 Moraine Lake, Near Banff, Alberta Cornelius and Peter were by culture and position, and occupation quite different. Yet they both had faith in God. Notice how the Holy Spirit only showed them part of what He was doing. God expects obedience. Almighty God only gives a complete picture in His timing, not ours. We will see through this section of Scripture and our life experience that while we rarely get the whole picture, what the Holy Spirit gives us is more than enough. The apostles relied on God, not themselves. There was no dictator. No super apostle. God doesn’t operate like that; he never has. There are leaders, yes, God-authorized servant leaders, but no dictators. You see the apostles' wisdom through this chapter and the following one: the apostles are perplexed by the circumstances, but they do not want to stand in God’s way. Let’s have that mindset. Let’s not let our traditions and hangups stand in God’s way. The apostles have to wrestle with

  Acts 10:1-8                     This chapter is incredible as it shows the life-changing power of people hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the message of Our Lord. And it speaks volumes about Christian leadership - and how such leadership, by comparison, is lacking in the modern church. Godliness, and your reputation as a godly person, are developed by a lifetime of behavior. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone, yet your character and reputation start from a young age and are an accumulation of your belief in action. We see in 1 Timothy and Titus the essential attribute of a Christian leader's good reputation. What is your reputation? What's mine?           Look at Cornelius’ primary characteristics that mattered to God: he feared God, his entire household feared God, he gave generously to the poor, and he prayed regularly to God (v. 2). Modern preachers will make up all sorts of legalistic rules about how you can’t drink, can’t smoke cigars, and you