Our church is doing 40 Days of Purpose, based on the book of Acts. Our first homework assignment was to read Acts in one sitting. Here is Part 3 of my random thoughts on Acts. Part 1 can be found here…. Part 2 can be found here…
21. Another comical passage in the Scripture – Paul preaches Eutychus to death at midnight; raises him from the dead; and THEN KEEPS PREACHING UNTIL MORNING. Strange way to practice church growth….
22. I love this translation from the NIV – 21:5 – “…there on the beach we knelt to pray.” It rolls off the tongue, it feels poetic. I just plain like it.
23. I love the parts of the Bible that throw wrenches into the thinking of all the systematic theologians. I like to categorize things just as much as the next guy, but so many times it seems to me that when I read the Bible, I’m always attracted to the parts that don’t fit someone’s pre-supposed agenda – ie. the four unmarried/virgin daughters who prophesied (21:9). I like the parts that don’t fit, that don’t make sense, that don’t work in the theological charts that we create to make sense of it all. Sometimes it’s ok to leave the mystery in something, ya know what I mean?
24. And while we’re at it, here’s another story that I’ve never understood – Acts 21:17-26. Paul joins in the purification rites of four other men (presumably Jews) and goes to the temple to give notice of when his days of purification would end, and as part of this an “offering” would be made for them. What sort of offering, that is the question… Here we have the (arguably) most prominent Jewish Christian who continues to participate in some sort of sacrificial offering system, EVEN AFTER THE SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF CHRIST. Chew on that one…
25. Don’t you wonder what King Agrippa decided when presented with the gospel (26:28-30)? I do. Also, I wonder if Paul “studied his agrippa.” LOL. I love that film.
26. Acts 27:21 – Is there a better “I told you so” in the Bible than this? LOL. I think not…
27. I seem to remember various commentaries and Bible dictionaries referring to the question of whether or not Paul actually appeared before the Roman Emperor as being unanswerable. I guess I can’t argue with that, as Acts ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome; other books of the Bible don’t give us a whole lot of chronological help on this part of Paul’s life; and extra-biblical sources aren’t much more helpful on this subject either. What I DO know is that in 27:24, an angel told Paul, “You must stand trial before Caesar.” Period.
28. There’s very few things in the world like arriving at your destination and meeting old friends there who have traveled a long way to get there, and even more – who you had not expected to see. It’s just pure joy. (Acts 28:15) I remember my dad and mom driving several hours to watch me play a basketball game in college – I didn’t know they were coming. It was AWESOME.
29. OK, here’s one of the oddest ways to end a book that I could ever have imagined. Acts 28:26-27, where Paul quotes Isaiah 6. A book that started with an incredible bang, with miracles, signs, wonders, Holy Spirit sightings, power, conversions, and great numbers – and it ends with a nasty quote aimed at the original people of God, the Israelites – “be ever hearing but never understanding; ever seeing but never perceiving”.
6:27am
#21 I think Paul kept on preaching b/c he believed it would be the last time he saw them—check a little later the account of his meeting with the Ephesian elders shortly afterward.
9:41pm
Nater, don’t you know that four unmarried/virgin daughters who prophesy belong to the charismatic movement? come on! get with the times! lol actually, that is probably nearer to the truth than anything. I’m not sure what to do with it. I’m probably one of the few ministers in the Christian Churches who has ever had a woman elder and liked it. And she probably was the most faith-full person in our church, the one who struggled and wrestled with God the most.