Peter’s Message to the Gentiles The fourth sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 10:23-48 (specifically Acts 10:34-43) Setting: Caesarea Speaker: Peter Audience: Cornelius, his family, and close friends—all Gentiles (that is, non-Jews) Preceding Events: Through a dream, God tells Peter to go to Cornelius’s house. Overall Theme: God makes no distinction between people; traditional […]
When God Wants to Give You a Second Chance Make Sure You’re Ready to Receive It You’re probably not familiar with Ahithophel in the Bible. His life serves as a lesson in how not to respond to disappointment. Though his name does show up a few times during the reign of King David, Ahithophel is […]
There are a number of sermons (teachings, messages, and proclamations) found in the book of Acts. While the definition of what constitutes a sermon and the precise number of them may be open for debate, I put the number at eleven. There are three from Peter, one from Stephen, and seven from Paul: In other […]
Simon Peter and More In the last post, we talked about the disciple Simon, who Jesus named Peter. I only know of one person called Peter in the Bible, but there are several guys named Simon in the Bible. I would have never guessed there were this many guys named Simon in the Bible (in […]
Everyone Deserves a Second Chance A person who keeps resurfacing in the Bible is a man with two names. Sometimes he is Mark, and sometimes he is John. For clarity, Luke often refers to him as John, also called Mark, John Mark for short. Let’s explore the failure and the comeback of John Mark. John […]
Forgiveness Is a Serious Thing, and We’re Well Advised to Never Withhold It You’re probably familiar with the Lord’s prayer, sometimes informally called by its opening line as the Our Father. It’s a well-known passage in the Bible and many Christian traditions recite it as part of their Sunday worship service. Growing up in a […]
Learn about Jesus through the Testimony of Others in the Bible Who is Jesus? C. S. Lewis attempted to answer this question when he popularized a trilemma (a dilemma with 50 percent more content) about Jesus. He argued that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. If you’ve read many of my […]
What Can We Learn from the Ending Sentence or Thought in Each Book of the Bible? As a writer I know the two most important things of anything I write are the beginning and the ending. A strong opening draws readers and keeps them interested, while a powerful close gives readers something to take with […]
John’s Epic Vision The book of Revelation is a curious one; there is none other like it in the Bible. It is perhaps the most scrutinized and misunderstood section. While I will not make any attempt to explain it, I will offer some context as a guide: We can consider Revelation in three sections: Introduction: […]
Consider How We Use Technology For a long time I resisted getting a smartphone. It’s not that I’m technologically adverse; I love technology. And it’s not that I didn’t see how beneficial it would be to have internet access anytime, anywhere. It’s that I worried about how having a smartphone might affect my interactions with […]