Acts 10-12 “And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter” (Acts 11:13). by Micah Hess The faithful witnessing and evangelical work of the early church added thousands to the church (Acts 2:41, 4:4, 5:14). But this early success of preaching the gospel also brought intense persecution from Jewish religious leaders, which in turn sent Christians fleeing from Jerusalem. As […]
Religious When the coronavirus forced churches to close their doors and give up Sunday collections, the RomanCatholic Diocese of Charlotte turned to the federal government’s signature small business relief program for more than $8 million. The diocese’s headquarters, churches and schools landed the help even though they had roughly $100 million of their own cash and short-term investments available. Overall, the nation’s nearly 200 dioceses, where bishops and cardinals govern, and other Catholic institutions received at least $3 billion. That makes the […]
Cancel Culture “His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him [Jesus] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue” (John 9:22, Scriptures from the Revised Version Improved and Corrected). “Cancel Culture: a way of behaving in a society or group, especially on social media, in which it is common to completely reject and stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that […]
Acts 13-15 “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the fosterbrother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul” (Acts 13:1 RVIC). by Leonard Griehs Saul had been at Antioch for almost a year (Acts 11:26). He was ready. His new faith, received through divine revelation, combined with the holy Spirit, gave him an urgency to proclaim Jesus to the Gentile world. His fellowship […]
Acts 16-18 “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek” (Acts 16:1). by David Rice The beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey is summarized in Acts 15:41, the last verse of that chapter, “He went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.” Paul’s companion on this occasion was Silas. After the council at Jerusalem convened to […]