Tag Archives: Random thoughts

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”.

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 are some of my random thoughts on Acts.  (Part 1 can be found here…)

11.  Is Cornelius a Greek version of Mary?  10:30 ff. reminds me of the angel appearing to Mary to announce the conception of Jesus – except here the angel announces the impending birth of the Holy Spirit inside the lives of you and I who are, like Cornelius, Gentiles.

12.  Acts 11:12 – the Holy Spirit tells Peter to totally ignore the Old Testament Law.  How bizarre this must have been for Peter.  What if the Holy Spirit prompted one of us to totally ignore the New Testament covenant?  I’m just asking……….

13.  Why did God allow James to be killed, but allow Peter to live — all within the space of chapter 12?

14.  Acts 12:15 – The Jewish believers in Jerusalem are the mirror opposite of the Gentile Cornelius.   Cornelius prayed for guidance, lived out God’s promise, and acted in faith by calling his family together ahead of time to meet Peter.  The Jewish believers were all gathered together to pray for Peter’s release from prison, and then when he was released (miraculously), they were surprised and thought it was his angel at the door!  Good grief…..

15.  Acts 13:38-39 would be an awesome sermon.

16.  Somehow Paul could “see” that a person had the faith to be healed. (14:9)  What the HECK?

17.  Acts 15:40 says that after Paul and Barnabas split up over John Mark, Paul and Silas were “commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord” – but thereby seems to imply that Barnabas, who takes John Mark with him to Cyprus, was NOT commended.  Hmmmmmmmmmm……

18.  Maybe the answer to this is WAAAAAAY simpler than I always suspected – but I always wondered why immediately after agreeing on four simple requirements for new Gentile believers in chapter 15, Paul is recorded as insisting that Timothy, a believing Gentile with a Greek father and a Jewish mother, be circumcised?  And this isn’t even taking into account the fact that Paul insisted that another Gentile, Titus, should NOT be circumcised!

Here’s what John Piper says, FWIW….

19.  Here’s a question for you.  Why did Paul wait “many days” to cast the fortune-telling spirit out of the girl who was following them? (16:18)  Why not do it immediately?  Why not do it after a couple days?  What made him wait “many days”?

20.  Here’s one I’ve never noticed before in this story (16:25ff).  Paul and Silas in jail, the earthquake hits, the doors fly open, the jailer is ready to commit suicide, Paul says “Don’t do it!”, the jailer washes their wounds, God washes his spiritual wounds (how do you like that ), they have a meal at the jailer’s house – but HERE’S the thing.  They’re still prisoners!  He’s feeding a meal to PRISONERS at his house.  And not only that, but this is even weirder – (Is that a word?) – the jail officials KNOW that the prisoners have gone to the jailer’s house, and orders him to release them quietly.  OK, this is just odd.

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 are some of my random thoughts on Acts.  Parts 2 and 3 to follow later this week…

1.  The downward progression (digression? regression?) of miraculous, visible, supernatural action on the part of God and His Holy Spirit in the book of Acts is stunning.  The beginning of Acts is “blow your socks off” amazing in its wealth of miracles, signs, and wonders.  By my count, there are at least 12 references to God’s supernatural work just in the first 6 chapters of Acts!  But just as stunning is the last 12 chapters, which include only 6 references to the supernatural – Paul’s work in Corinth referenced in ch. 19, Eutychus’ restoration to life in ch. 20, the prophecy of Agabus in ch. 21, Paul’s vision in ch. 27, the viper episode and healing of Publius’ father in ch. 28.

I ask myself, “why?”

Is it nothing more than a simple observation that the beginning of a life, an organism, an organization, a church, is quite often the most vibrant and growing period of that life/organism/organization/church?  I wonder….

2.  What is the meaning of the second half of 5:20 – “Tell the people the full message of this new life”.

3.  Why is it ok for Peter to commit civil disobedience (5:29), yet Paul commands civil obedience to the authorities (Romans 13)?

4.  The supernatural goings-on in the first 5 chapters of Acts are fantastic – but it’s not until 5:41, when the apostles were all flogged and released, that they are recorded as “rejoicing.”  It’s not the miracles, the healings, the giving of the Spirit that causes them to rejoice – it’s getting beat up!

5.  Stephen was one of those chosen to minister food to the widows – but the only thing he’s recorded as doing is wonders, signs, debating, gospel preaching, and getting killed.

6.  One of my absolute favorite Bible phrases of all time – “YOU STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE, WITH UNCIRCUMCISED HEARTS AND EARS!  YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHERS: YOU ALWAYS RESIST THE HOLY SPIRIT!” (Acts 7:51)  That’ll preach….

7.  Stephen, Peter, and John all accuse the Sanhedrin of killing Jesus – but only Stephen is put to death.  What the heck?  Or to put it another way – Why did God allow Stephen to be martyred, but allow Peter and John to live – in spite of the fact that they both did basically the same thing?

8.  What is it that kept the apostles from scattering in 8:1, when every other Christian was scattered to the four winds?

9.  Simon “believed and was baptized” (8:13) – and yet his heart was still “full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (8:21)  What the heck?  And don’t give me the line that “he didn’t truly believe” at first.  That’s hogwash.  It’s difficult to come to any other conclusion to 8:13 than that Simon believed and was baptized.

10.  “Cornelius was expecting them.” (10:24)  He not only prayed for guidance from God, but then lived out God’s promise to him in the vision.  And acted on it by calling his family together even before Peter arrived at his house!