The glory & honor of the nations” Rev 21 & 22

“The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it…The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it…And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
The redeemed nations are mentioned several times in this last, glorious picture of the [...]

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“Battle Engaged” Revelation 19 & 20

There is an epic struggle going on that will only intensify as time draws to an end.  Satan, along with his hosts, is trying to deceive the nations into worshipping him instead of God.  God, in his grace, is calling out men and women from every nation, tribe and tongue to be Jesus adorers, who [...]

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“Battle Lines Drawn” Revelation 13 & 14

As the nations had gathered in heaven to worship the Lord in His throne room, we now see others being gathered to worship another.  Yes, just as the nations will all be seen in the worship of God so shall all be represented in worshipping the beast.   Those refusing to worship the Lord are enticed [...]

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“Cosmopolitan” Revelation 4,5,& 7

The throne room of God is a cosmopolitan place.  That might sound sacriligious to some people, but let’s remember the definition of the word.  Cosmopolitan means: “belonging to all the world.”  In other words: “global” in its representation.  We call places like New York, London, and Paris “cosmopolitan” because the whole world is represented in [...]

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“They will listen…” Acts 28:17-30

As he had done on all his missionary journeys, so in Rome, Paul speaks first to the Jews.  And, as everywhere else, the response was mixed.  Some believed.  Others didn’t. 
Paul ends the conversation with a definitive statement: “God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”  This summarizes the book of Acts, [...]

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“Almost There” Acts 28:11-16

After all of his life-threatening adventures on the sea, it must have been nice for Paul to have walked this straight and solid road, called the Appian Way (see picture below), to Rome.  But an even more welcome sight than the quality Roman road were the believers from Rome who walked many miles to meet [...]

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“From the Frying Pan…” Acts 28:1-10

Paul has just survived the perfect storm.  His clothes aren’t even dry yet, and he’s bitten by a poisonous snake!  This story just goes from bad to worse, from the frying pan into the fire.  Or so it seems. 
But Paul just shook it off, literally.  Paul had lived long enough for God that he knew [...]

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“Contagious Faith” Acts 27:13-44

I can’t imagine how frightening and draining it must have been to be tossed about on the sea in a raging storm for days on end.  It is no wonder that Luke writes, “We finally gave up all hope of being saved.” That was a very dark moment indeed.
Into that darkness, God shined the light [...]

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“We” Acts 27:1-12

Luke, the author of Acts, was a part of Paul’s missionary team.  In his account of Paul’s journeys, Luke starts using the first person ”we” in chapter 16.  He became a faithful teammate of Paul’s. 
You will note in our passage from today that this first person pronoun crops up again.  Luke must have been quite a guy to have joined [...]

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“Hope Fulfilled vs. Hope Deffered” Acts 26

Paul says that his hope is the same as that of the Jews: “It is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night…I am saying nothing [...]

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