Seeking the Gospel Truth

When last we left our hero, Stephen, who was on fire for Jesus and full of the Holy Spirit ,  he was falsely accused of blaspheming (saying lies about) Moses and the  Temple. Stephen was only telling the truth that Jesus was the Messiah.  Here in Acts 7, Stephen defends himself, presenting the council with a  Jewish history lesson. Let’s dig in…  Keep reading in my blog......

As any organization grows, its members and  leaders experience change. They have to trust the leadership to make the  right decisions. Some agree, some disagree — it happens now, it  happened back then. Also, we meet Stephen and we learn what it means to  be “on fire” for Jesus. Let’s dig in… Acts 6... Keep reading in my blog where there are links for you to dig deeper..... If...

All actions have consequences. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes,  they’re bad. In Acts chapter 5 we see the consequences of lying to the  Holy Spirit — disobeying the “thou shall not lie” commandment. We also  see the benefits of obeying God, and how bad opposition and persecution  can get. Let’s dig in… Click on over to my blog to keep reading and check out the links to dig d...

When last we left the Apostles Peter and John, they had just healed a crippled beggar at the temple. Peter took advantage of the situation and started preaching the Good  News of Jesus’ salvation. In Acts 4, both he and John keep preaching  with boldness and they get in trouble with the exact same people who  crucified Jesus. What they say when confronted is a lesson for us in &nbsp...

There are no such things as coincidences. It’s  all God’s doing. I don’t believe in luck. If something that seems  “lucky” happens to me, I call it a blessing. And there may be many  blessings in disguise. That’s when something not-so-good happens, but  everything turns out even better than it was before. That’s what we see going on in the 3rd chapter of the Book of Acts. Let’s...

This is one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament. It's the birth  of the church. Notice that they're not called "Christians" yet. That  comes later in the Book of Acts. Here they are just believers. We left  them in Acts 1 waiting, being patient. Jesus promised them the gift of  the Holy Spirit from God. They just didn't know when. However,  interestingly enough, G...

Luke, the historian, is not finished telling the  story. In his gospel, Luke told the story of Jesus from conception to  the cross. As a skilled journalist, Luke describes what happens next —  after the resurrection — which is the spreading of the Good News. This  growth of believers becomes the church .  As we go through the Acts of the Apostles — notice it’s “acts” not &...

Over Christmas, I drove up to visit the Grand  Canyon. After living in Arizona for 16 years, it was about time. I’d  seen pictures and videos of it, but like they say, nothing can capture  its majesty — or, should I say, God’s majesty — like seeing it up close.  Now, the “experts” up there will tell you that it was formed by the  measly Colorado River over billions of year...

Many people are happy to see 2020 end. But, honestly, do you really  think that 2021 is going to be any better? There’s been a lot of damage  done to small businesses all over the world with the lock downs and  mandates. Some may recover, most won’t. We still aren’t sure as to who  will be sitting in the Oval Office as President of the U.S. on January  20th. However, we ne...

In this Gospel, Luke walked us from the lowly manger , to Jesus’ baptism , to the transfiguration , to the betrayals , to the trial and finally the cross . Gratefully, that is not the end of the story! That’s the beauty and wonder of the Good News! Jesus’ death on the cross was so that He could take our sins away forever — all our sins — past,  present and future. Then, what happened 3 days l...

Today we’re walking the final steps with Jesus  to the cross. It’s the cross that was meant for you and me. We are  sinners. He was not. We are set to perish forever in hell far apart from God. Because of what Jesus did once, we are saved from hell — if we believe in HIM. All we have to is accept the gift of His sacrifice. One line that Jesus says before He dies is extremely important to...

We are nearing the end of Jesus’ life on earth and come to the darkest  hour. In this chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we find 3 stories of submission.  Two people submit to the devil and one submits to God. Let’s go through  the chapter first, then we’ll review each person’s situation… Click on over to my blog to keep reading and to dig deeper. I also embedded a special worship music vide...

TEOTWAWKI — or The End of The World As We Know  It — is here! And the amazing thing is that Jesus foretold it almost  2000 years ago! The problem is, not enough people are taking this  seriously. We could say that the COVID-19 pandemic was an end of the  world as we knew it, but that’s not over yet. As of this writing, there  are several strains of COVID mutating into viru...

We know why Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem. The Roman Emperor had called for a census and everyone had to go to the city of their family heritage. For Joseph, it was Bethlehem, the City of David. Doing this, God fulfilled many prophecies — the main one being in Micah 5:2 .  OK, then why are the shepherds the first ones to hear the announcement  of Jesus’ birth? That’s where a big...

As we've been going through the Gospel of Luke , we've seen that Jesus chose to come down from heaven to live among us humans on earth as both fully God ( Immanuel - God with Us! ) and fully human. God shows us how to have Faith , Hope , Peace , Joy and Love in our lives through Jesus . Through Luke's historical writing we witnessed Jesus' life: His sacrifices, miracles, humility, and love. As Jes...

As you read the Gospels, take note at how many times Jesus answers a  question with a question. In Luke chapter 20, Jesus is asked 3 questions  by the Pharisees, Saducees and the teachers of religious law. I can’t  help but note the resemblance to Roman Catholic bishops, cardinals,  priests and even the Pope as he warns the disciples to beware of the  teachers of religious...

In the past few chapters of the Gospel of Luke ,  Jesus and His followers have been working their way from Galilee to  Jerusalem. He preached and taught the Good News to anyone who would  listen. Some heard and understood. Others opposed Him because they  didn’t get it. They didn’t understand that He was the Messiah — the  anointed one — that the prophets of old spoke abou...

There’s a commercial that came to mind when I  was reading this passage. I forget what the product is that they’re  advertising, but the tag line goes, “I want it all, I want it now.”  Isn’t that today’s attitude? Instant gratification. And we want  EVERYTHING! Part of the American Dream is “the Pursuit of Happiness”.  What is happiness? I’ll have the answer at the end. Su...

We all know how the Christmas story goes in Luke chapter 2 .  We’ve all heard it and/or read it dozens of times before. Why do we say  and sing about “peace on earth”, when life on earth is anything but  peaceful? Where is the promised peace on earth? Do we have to do  anything to help make it happen? Just as a refresher… Click on over to my blog to keep reading and to watch th...

Bible prophecy is God’s warning to mankind to repent — get right with  God — or face the consequences. The sad thing is that people in Jesus’  day didn’t get it and people today still don’t get it. Are you right with God? Here in Luke chapter 17, Jesus talks about forgiveness, faith and the  future. And the Pharisees still didn’t understand. Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog wh...

Here in Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells 2 parables — stories — both dealing  with money. Again, if you’re Catholic, compare the Pharisees with the  Vatican and Catholic bishops, priests and their whole hierarchy. The  resemblance is uncanny. It seems like the Roman Catholic Church leaders  did exactly the opposite of what Jesus preached and modeled the church  after what the...

Most people have either been lost at some point  or have lost something valuable. Usually, it’s as silly as losing car  keys. That sometimes puts you in a panic until you retrace your steps  and see that they’re in a coat pocket. I’ve lost my car — 3 times. Well,  I didn’t exactly lose it — I forgot where I parked it. In each  occasion, I was so wrapped up in the event of...

Truly following Jesus has a high cost: your old life. It doesn’t work if  you’re just saying you’re a Christian when you still live very attached  to the world with greed, pride and lust. Those are the 3 biggest  excuses people give for not wanting to truly follow Jesus. If that’s  you, then you’re a fake Christian. You can’t even be called a Christian.  Period. Luke expla...

Life, death, heaven and hell. You don’t have a  choice in being born, but you do have a choice in where you end up after  you die. And, you will die. Everything on earth dies. Tragedy happens.  Were people killed because they were sinners? No. Do people die because  they do something stupid? Yes. We make choices in life and entering the  Kingdom of God (or Heaven, same thi...

Hypocrisy is the opposite of integrity.  Integrity is when you mean what you say, do what you say you’ll do and  are trustworthy. Hypocrisy is being two-faced. Saying one thing and  doing the exact opposite. Greed is the craving for more — bigger,  better, faster, more money, happiness. Worry happens when what you  expect from greed doesn’t happen — or you’re unsure if it...