"Beloved, let us love one another," writes the Apostle John (1 John 4:7). Jesus and John both said that to love one another is a command. What were they thinking when they commanded us to love? Did they mean that we should love people from the...
In our meditation on the love of God and the command to love one another, we cannot overlook a central point: those who love have been born of God (I John 4:7). Jesus said we must be born again to enter the kingdom of God (John...
The love of God is often called into question. When natural disasters occur, we ask how God allows this to happen. When an evil person harms innocent people we wonder where God is. Our depression can easily be interpreted to mean that God has abandoned...
Twice, the apostle John wrote the concise theological statement that "God is love." (I John 4:8, 16) He never meant to say that love is God. God is a personal being; love is an attribute of a person. God exists as an independent being; love...
We've come to the end of Acts, and what an ending it is. The trajectory of this book has been toward Rome from the beginning. Jesus said the news of his name would spread to the "ends of the earth." Not one apostle could have...
As Christians, we often set our hearts on things that God has not promised while failing to take heart in what he has promised. It is important for us to know what God has, and has not, promised. Once we see the great and enduring...
"Arise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose...
When I was learning how to read the Bible someone told me to look for words in a passage that are repeated. Repeated words are a clue to the message being communicated. I have found this hint to be helpful. As I've read through Acts 22...
If you read much about the conversion of people to Jesus Christ you start to see a simple, yet profound, pattern. A person is headed in one direction, he encounters Christ, and the impact is so great that his life is fundamentally redirected. We know...
We often view the city as a place of political, cultural, and economic power struggles. We know this is the case. But the book of Acts shows us that there is a more fundamental struggle going on. This is the struggle between light and darkness,...
