Miracles Didn’t Stop in the First Century – Primary Sources
I heard many times that the miracles stopped in the first century. They said the Holy Spirit didn’t give the gifts for two main reasons: 1 – It took the apostles laying on hands to impart the gifts per Acts 19 2 – The miracles were only to confirm the Word/New Testament so once it […]
Jesus Didn’t Wait Until Sunday
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own traditions that we miss the bigger point entirely. The Jewish religious authorities in Jesus’ day had done this. In their effort to be holy…to cross the t’s and dot the i’s they had wrapped various commands in so many traditions that it was hard to tell […]
Is This The Most Faith-Full Moment in Jesus’ Ministry?
When you say John 4 your first thought probably goes the woman at the well. There is another story in that chapter that I find one of the most moving and faith-full moments in the Gospels. I don’t know that I need to get into the business of comparing people’s faith. That just doesn’t seem […]
Why Did Jesus Heal the Guy Twice? The Importance of Context
In Mark 8 we get the story of a man Jesus healed twice. The first healing only enabled the man to see partially. The second healing allowed him to see clearly. What is going on in this story? Either Jesus’ power was a bit off that day or he was up to something. I vote […]
In Jesus’ Name – More Than Words
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would […]
Peter Took Him By the Right Hand and He Helped Him Up
3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he […]
Gospel of John 20 – The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the […]
John 9 – Mud in the Eyes Christians
After reading and re-reading the story of the man born blind in John 9 today I am struck by the power and authority of Jesus combined with the blind man’s willing obedience. Our faith is a partnership of unequals. We can’t even take credit for listening and doing because without his command we wouldn’t have […]
Gospel of John 4:43-54 A Big Request
43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. 46Once more […]
God Parts the Red Sea
God parting the Red Sea is always a VBS favorite. But it is still one of my favorites as an adult. As I was reading this a couple of weeks a ago a few things struck me that I had never thought about before. Here is the text (Exo 14:10-31): “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites […]