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The disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" ."Men of Galilee," [the angels] said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky?" (Acts 1:6, 11). I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with gazing into the sky, especially if you've just been watching Jesus ascend to heaven! But the time comes when continuing to gaze at...
Keep Reading"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;and you will be my witnesses." (Acts 1:8) Do you try to influence others by raising your voice? Texting in ALL CAPS? Emailing with an abundance of exclamation points? Flooding your Instagram feed with motivational (always scripturally-based, of course) sayings? What's behind that desire? In other words, who or what...
Keep Reading"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). I am not a naturally take-charge person. If someone else wants to lead, I'm more than fine with that. Which is perhaps why the Holy Spirit has, at times, had to sneak up on me with His opportuniti...
Keep Reading"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? Acts 1:11a One of our children allows things to become messier than the others do, and when the mess reaches an overwhelming level doesn't know where or how to begin cleaning it up...so just does something else instead. The mess gets messier, mom's blood pressure rises, chaos takes over, and the ent...
Keep ReadingIn my first book, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1) As we begin this final week of our Influence series, we'll move from influences to being influencers. So far, we've looked at being shaped and formed ("influenced") by paying close attention to who God really is, by learning how to come under the influence of the wisdom of God rather than the...
Keep ReadingThe eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture (Acts 8:32). A eunuch is a man whose future has been cut off. In the ancient world, a man would "live on" after death through his offspring. The man we meet in this passage in Acts 8 was "an important official," a man trusted with "all the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians" (8:27). So he was important, powerful, a m...
Keep Reading"Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. "How can I,"he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" (Acts 8:30b-31a). After reading about Philip and the Ethiopian this morning, I went for a walk and racked my brain to see if stashed in there were any memories of me coming upon someone who asked what a particular scripture meant. Blank. (Btw, Blank is how Con...
Keep ReadingPhilip and the Ethiopian Acts 8:26-40 I will never forget the first time I visited Minnesota. It was March, and there was still some snow on the ground and ice on the lakes, and yet I had to ask why there were kids in swimsuits playing in sprinklers on a random 60-degree day. The soil in the fields we passed was so black I asked if there had been fires that burned everyt...
Keep Reading"How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?" (Acts 8:31). My love of all things medieval intensified in college. I collected (benign) dragons, devoured medieval literature, and joined the fencing club. I had read about fencing and watched movie duels, but it was far different applying that knowledge. Despite my eagerness, my instructor didn't hand me a foil an...
Keep ReadingAn Ethiopian eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way homehe was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet (Acts 8:28). God doesn't want you reading your Bible alone. For good reasons! Week 3 of our Influence series has begun, and this week we'll be looking into how the Holy Spirit speaks and shapes us as we listen to Scripture togethe...
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