This week we cross-examined the “traditional” interpretation of this passage while we dug into the details of the text. For example, were the 12 apostles really neglecting the Hellenistic widows in the daily distribution of food? Does that make any sense at all? And were the Hellenists actually chosen to be the first deacons? What…
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This week we started a new section of Acts where Luke turns our attention away what was going on in the Temple courts to the inevitable challenges of exponential growth and diversity. We evaluated internal evidence that Luke was possibly using a new source(s) for this section including the introduction of previously unused terms which…
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Has a trial (or a truckload of trials) ever left you feeling isolated? Hopeless? Defeated? I mean, you didn’t start out that way. At the beginning of the trial, you were active in community, full of hope and vigor, up for the challenge of whatever came your way. Setbacks? No problem! Delays? I can wait!…
“Worthy of the Calling” is the first Online Bible Study (OBS) that I’ve gotten a glimpse of from behind the scenes. When Sarah Koontz posted in our Christian Women Bloggers group that she was prayerfully pulling together a launch team for her new OBS, I was intrigued and threw my name into the hat. I…
This week we compared and contrasted the arrest narratives from Acts 4 and Acts 5. Though some scholars have contended the arrest in Acts 5 is a doublet of Acts 4, when examined closely for similarities and differences, it’s clear that the arrests have completely different catalysts, circumstances surrounding the arrest, and final outcomes (see…
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This week, we finished up the study of Ananias and Sapphira by comparing and contrasting their experience in Acts 5 to the story of Achan in Joshua 7. It seems as though each of these events took place at the beginning of the founding of a faith community. If the stories are indeed parallel, then,…
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