Well, things finally come to a head in today’s Bible reading*. The Judaizers have raised such a ruckus that the church has its first council, the Jerusalem Council, to codify how the church should handle its first major problem. The problem: Does a new convert to Christianity have to be a good Jew in order to…
In today’s Bible reading*, Paul brings out the fact that believers are not servants; they are sons. There is a tremendous difference between the responsibilities of a servant and the privileges of a son. Several years ago, some friends of ours adopted a baby girl from an unwed teen. It was a win-win-win and to…
Today’s Bible reading* includes Galatians 1. Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to counter a dangerous theology that added to Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. They began to believe a different gospel. A group of Judaizers (not just “Jews”) said that Jesus’ death was sufficient for our forgiveness, but in order to be a good Christian,…
In today’s Bible reading* from Acts 11, we read that several people call into question Peter’s wisdom of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. Peter did something that ran contrary to everything he has known about Jew and Gentile relations. And now, he has to give an account to the Circumcision Party (also called Judaizers) for why…
In today’s Bible reading*, the Apostles come to a point where they realize they can’t do it all. They couldn’t even serve tables on their own. People began accusing the Apostles of overlooking the Hellenistic (Gentile) widows and giving preference to Jewish widows. That may or may not have been the case, but the accusation…
Dr. Luke describes the events of the first Easter Sunday Morning in today’s Bible reading*. He begins with some of his disciples bringing spices to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for a proper burial. Because the Sabbath was only a few hours away when Jesus died, they only had time to place his body…
