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Praying for the Impossible
I was recently convicted about the power of prayer. Reading through the book of Acts, I came to the story of Peter’s imprisonment. If you’re just skimming your reading or you have read the story many times over, it’s tempting to take this moment for granted. With a fresh glance, I was struck by this encounter in the early church and all that it implies for my life and yours. The infamous King Herod was at it yet again. Actually, this time it wasn’t Herod the Great, the famous King who slaughtered many children, hoping to find baby Jesus among the carnage; this was one of King Herod’s legacies, his…
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Journey With Me to Ephesus
This month I take you on a photographic tour of Ephesus. The city of Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia (Asia Minor, modern Turkey). It was an important political, educational, and commercial center as it was the gateway to Asia. It was a strategic military location and the hub for caravan travel. Ephesus was also known for the temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Acts 19:35). (To learn more about Artemis, please see the blogs linked below.) As it was such an important commercial center and located on the coast of the Aegean Sea, it was an affluent city. Its markets would…
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Holy Spirit Hot Spots
I just finished teaching a study of the book of Acts to a group of women at my church. I am so grateful to God for inspiring Luke to write that book, using his giftedness to write it so carefully and full of wonderful details. We approached our study of Acts not as a book of history but as the work of Jesus Christ by His Spirit through His Church. That is still continuing through today. And, we likened the work of the Holy Spirit to the firepower of a volcano. His work in the lives of individual believers is like “hot spots,” those places on earth where lava erupts…
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Can I Get A Witness?
I am a romantic and an idealist at heart, and so it will come as no surprise that I love the TV show, This is Us. During this first season there has been unspoken tension between Kevin, a selfish 36-year-old actor, and his stepdad, Miguel. Every time that Miguel tries to help, affirm or encourage Kevin, Kevin rejects him and pushes him away. But one day, Kevin is anxious about the opening of his show and so Miguel says, Kevin, you remind me of your dad, you know that? The way that you move your hands when you talk, the way that you walk across a room. Sometimes you remind…
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“Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee” Zone
Wow, today was a big news day for free speech. College campuses are up in arms as students demand they be guaranteed “safe zones” where they can be protected from hearing ideas that they don’t like but openly criticize anyone with ideas that don’t match their own. Let’s see, last time I looked, if you are only fed one set of ideas day and night, isn’t that brainwashing? Isn’t that what cults do to capture the minds of their initiates? When did we stop teaching our children to embrace the process of evaluating and thinking through ideas to their logical conclusion? I don’t necessarily like listening to someone with ideas…
