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The Holy Spirit, Pre- Pentecost There is the saying that every road leads to Rome. In the case of the Book of Acts, every road leads to Chapter 2 (the birth of the Church through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit). Due to the critical importance of the events of Acts 2, we will devote more time to chapter 2. Our proper understanding of this chapter holds the key to the rest of the book of Acts. The primary event in Acts is the day of the Pentecost. Unfortunately, Acts 2 has for ages divided believers in Jesus into different camps. We must recognize that this is a ploy of Satan to deny us the very essence of the New Testament Church. I plead to you to suspend your pre-conceived notions and let’s give the text a chance to speak directly to us. Most of us have been going by what someone passed onto us without doing our own in-depth study and homework. Before we get to chapter 2, we must understand chapter one and the essence of what Jesus had said to his disciples. Jesus predict...

Acts the Thriller Many of us love to read thrillers. The kind of books you pick up and start and you do not want to stop because you want to know what happened next. Well we have a best seller and thriller in the book of Acts. It lives up to its name of Acts. It is full of acts inspired by the Holy Spirit; unbelievable miracles, plots, intrigues, persecutions and triumphs. Dr. Luke has done it again. This sequel to the first book of Luke (the Gospel of Luke) is very exciting and I can’t wait to study it in detail. First, I encourage you to read it non-stop as you would read any other thriller. You will have a new level of appreciation and love for Acts. Let’s get into the introduction of the book of Acts. Acts 1: 1-8 1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and ga...

Lost and Found - The Bottom Line of Dr. Luke’s Gospel As an accountant, I love bottom lines. Just give me the big picture. And if it is a business venture, is it making profit or loss? We all love the bottom line. That is why you are always looking at your bank statements and paychecks. For the past many months, we have together studied the gospel of Luke. Now that we have come to the end of the book, what was it all about? What was it that Dr. Luke at the beginning stated was the intent of the presentation of the book? Borrowing from one of my favorite radio programs (by Pastor Lon Solomon of Mclean Bible Church ), “So what?” What did we learn and did it change me and you? “The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost”. Get it? Luke 1: 1-4 1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[a] among us, 2just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3Therefore, since I myself have ...

Gravity Defied Hollywood has perfected the act of film making. There are many movies where you see people rising above ground and flying away. The Superman movies have given us the best of Hollywood photo tricks. I do not know how they do it but it seems real only in the movies. The ascension of Jesus is the only event of its kind that is recorded. After all, Jesus is the one that created gravity. It was not even the same as that of Elijah who was taken up to heaven by chariots. “As they (Elijah and Elisha) were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” 2 Kings 2:11). Let’s see the details as recorded by Dr. Luke who was the only one who gave the details among the four gospels. You know, as a scientist and a physician, Dr. Luke was very thorough and detailed in his gospel accounts. Why was the ascension recorded for us? Are you looking forward to defying gr...

Open My Eyes Lord From my time in primary school up to third year of high school, I did not realize I was technically blind. I had the practice of sitting at the first row in the classroom, very close to the blackboard so that I can see what was written. Well, you would think someone should have detected my eye problem for this long period. The reason that wasn’t the case is that I had grown up in a village where there where no doctors and early eye screening was not done for kids as it is in the Western world. After these while, I had complained to one of my big brothers who took me to a big city for eye examination. I still remember the first day I got my first eye glasses. It was like day and night. I could see for the first time and enjoy the various colors that had been blurred to me. I could see far enough and able to read signs and not bump into things. I was very excited and thankful to my brother. I realized that I had been suffering all these while in silence. My new sight...

BIG Disappointment and Great Hope If you were in Jerusalem during the Passion Week, what could be going through your mind if you were one of the disciples and/or the other followers of Jesus? There are few words to describe the feeling and experience of this week such as confused, disappointed, bewildered and then great hope at the end. There is evidence in the Biblical accounts to indicate that the disciples did not fully understand what was going on and that their expectations of the outcome of events of the life of Jesus were quite different than the way it turned out. Why did the Jewish authorities collaborate with the Romans to crucify Jesus? Did not Jesus say he was the savior and indeed we have not realized the salvation expected. Is there any hope for us after following this man called Jesus who has been crucified? Like the disciples, we often totally miss it. We forget that there is a resurrection. Death must precede resurrection in our lives of now and in the future. Jesus h...

Forgive Them and Forgive Us? For a period of 14 years, “After his son was murdered, Bernard Williams became consumed by anger and depression. There was, he came to realize, only one way to save himself.” On May 21, 1994, in Baltimore Maryland, Mr. Williams’ son was shot by a neighbor for playing with the neighbor’s parked SUV which set off an alarm. This is a cover page story of the Washington Post Magazine, March 20, 2009. In this article Karen Houppert chronicles Mr. Williams’ journey to finally forgive. It is a tragic and moving real life story. Now let’s go to the Cross and experience the ultimate forgiveness by the “Son of God” who did nothing to be crucified. The Cross means forgiveness and you cannot forgive others if you have not received forgiveness of Jesus from the Cross. Luke 23:32-34; 39-46 32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on h...