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HEALING FOR A PURPOSE The headline read, “Runaway Mom Agrees to Son’s Chemo Treatment”. A Minnesota boy and his mother had vanished for more than a week following a court order for the boy to undergo treatment for his cancer disease. It was reported that “The family is Roman Catholic and believes in the do no harm philosophy of a Missouri-based religious group called the Nemenhah Band, which believes in natural healing.” I don’t know much about this native Indian religious group but it is obvious that this family’s belief is unique and not universal to all Roman Catholics. Our theology on healing will affect our behavior and response to any sickness whether major or minor. In Acts 3, Dr. Luke (a physician who still believes in healing) presents the healing of the lame in the overall strategy of documenting the spread of the gospel. We have already learned (Acts 2:43) that “many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles”. So, the healing of the lame was one of those. Why t

The Early Church with Character – A Model Most of us have had various Church experiences. Some are positive and others are not so positive. Church as we know it today is quite different from that of the early Church. What is it that made the early Church unique being the first fruits of the Holy Spirit outpouring? Was the life of the early Church a prescription or model of what Church should be today? To really answer and investigate these questions, it is worth noting that the whole Book of Acts is a historical narrative and in a class by itself among the books of the New Testament. As such, we must first understand what the history Dr. Luke (the writer) wanted to convey before we start making applications. The intent of Dr. Luke, I believe was to account for us the history of what the Holy Spirit began to do through the lives of the apostles through the establishment and spread of the Church within and outside Jerusalem. It is necessary that we see any chapter in the big picture of

The Church Is Born Last week we looked at the events of the Day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. The “promise of the Father” to “pour out His Spirit on all people” was fulfilled. We established last week that the in-filling of the Holy Spirit signified “complete control” of the lives and spirits of the disciples. The third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, is now “with and living in” the lives of the disciples. This filling of the Holy Spirit brought dramatic changes in the lives of the disciples accompanied by the sign of speaking in “other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. However, like any other move of God, questions are bound to be asked by those who are yet to understand what is going on. Sometimes, we mock what we do not understand and that is exactly what happened on the Day of Pentecost. The people who had witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had questioned saying, “What does this mean?” Others mocked, “They have had too much

The Holy Spirit on Pentecost The Day of Pentecost – This was a specific event to mark the receipt and the beginning of what God had promised to do, “pour out his Spirit on all people”. Pentecost (in Greek fiftieth) is the 50th day after the Sabbath of Passover week (Lev. 23:15-16); it is also called the feast of Weeks, the Feast of harvest and the day of first-fruits (Numbers 28: 26). God rightly chose this day to be the first fruits of what Jesus had died for. This event inaugurates the beginning of a reconciled relationship of all peoples with the Father God. Let’s keep in mind that the Holy Spirit of God is not new in all of creation. The Old Testament is covered of instances where the Holy Spirit was in operation and dwelt on many such as Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah and host of the prophets of God in order to accomplish various tasks. Even in the New Testament we also see the Holy Spirit in operation in the lives of many such as Mary the mother of Jesus, Zachariah and Elizabeth,