Before His ascension Jesus promised that apostles that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1.8). They received the Spirit in Acts 2.1-4 and immediately received the power to “speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Furthermore, we read in Acts 2.43 that “many wonders and... Continue Reading →

Perhaps some 600 years before Jesus lived on the earth, the prophet Joel was commissioned by God to relay His word to the people of Judah. The people had suffered because of their sins and they would be punished further for their iniquities. Yet, there was hope! If the people would return to the Lord... Continue Reading →

Chapter 1 centered around the ascension of Jesus, the Son of God returning to the Father and being given dominion over all things as He sat at the Father’s right hand (see Daniel 7.13-14; Mark 16.19; Ephesians 1.20-23). But even though Jesus had left this earth, He only did so after preparing the apostles to... Continue Reading →

Acts 1 brims with anticipation. The chapter begins with Jesus working with his closest followers, but He would not remain with them for long. Furthermore, He instructed His followers to not “depart from Jerusalem” but to wait for the promised Spirit (vss. 4-5,8). Jesus’ ascension occurs in the middle of the chapter (vss. 9-11), but... Continue Reading →

Proclaiming The Kingdom If we had individual copies of the 27 books which comprise the New Testament, we likely would arrange them a little differently. Perhaps we would arrange Paul’s letters chronologically, rather than by length. We likely would group all of John’s writings (1 gospel, 3 letters and 1 apocalyptic vision) together. Definitely, we... Continue Reading →