May 12 / Acts 11:19-30

Acts 11:19-30 Dear RTB’ers,  Barnabas’ qualifications: …for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith… (v. 24a) What more could be said of a believer? And how does this “good man” serve the community of believers? …he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true …

May 11 / Acts 11:1-18

Acts 11:1-18 Dear RTB’ers,  Today I saw two items that struck me: unity within the church and apostolic leadership. First, unity: Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying… …

May 10 / Acts 10:34-48

Acts 10:34-48 Dear RTB’ers,  My apologies for not posting yesterday. We had driven through the night, through hours of drenching rain and arrived at my sister’s, safe but tired. Posting was just not in me! So, yesterday’s reading (Acts 9:43-10:33) – Peter and Cornelius. The story is relatively straightforward, an angel appearing to Cornelius and …

May 8 / Acts 9:32-42

Acts 9:32-42 Dear RTB’ers, Peter healing one man and raising one woman. My Study Bible pointed out that Jesus had brought three people back from death – Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5), the only son of a widow (Luke 7), and Lazarus (John 11). Peter was with Jesus on each of those occasions; he had witnessed …

May 7 / Acts 9:19b-31

Acts 9:19b-31 Dear RTB’ers, More Saul activity today. When many days had passed… (v. 23a). Luke writes “many days”, but to learn more we go to Paul’s own writings. He tells his story in Galatians 1:13 ff, and his “many days” turns out to be three years. So he was in Damascus and the neighboring …

May 6 / Acts 9:1-19a

Acts 9:1-19a Dear RTB’ers, Damascus is about 150 miles from Jerusalem, a five- or six-day journey by foot. [NOTE: In paintings Saul is often depicted as falling from a horse.] Why would Saul request permission to travel so far to round up Christians? Galilee was less than half the distance. Were there no believers in …

May 5 / Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40 Dear RTB’ers, Yesterday we read about Philip, one of the seven deacons mentioned in Acts 6 going north from Jerusalem to preach to Samaritans. Today the Spirit takes Philip south of Jerusalem toward Gaza where he meets the Ethiopian eunuch. Then after the eunuch is baptized, the Spirit snatches Philip away and he …

May 3 / Acts 7:44-8:4

Acts 7:44-8:4 Dear RTB’ers, Our third day of Stephen’s testimony – the climax. I’ve always loved Stephen’s change of tone at Acts 7:51 (and following): You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit… Before that he had been basically a story-teller, recounting Jewish history, although he was clearly leading …