Author Archives: julieannseeksharpe

Since the church was being persecuted, the members scattered, so the message and miracles went further. Simon the sorcerer also believed, but he misunderstood that it wasn’t magic he was seeing and he couldn’t buy the power of the Holy … Continue reading →

Stephen offends the people by telling them they are stiff necked and missing the Holy Spirit and disobedient. He sees a vision of Jesus, and— That’s It. Gnashing teeth and pulling ears, they drag Stephen out of town and stone … Continue reading →

People judge Christianity by Christians, unreasonable as that is. (I’ve heard Christians are the#1 reason people reject Jesus). I think Methodists like to think we model love and don’t get too explicit with the Gospel words. I’ve often thought if … Continue reading →

Peter and John are released from jail and they go home. The response is to pray. They praise God for his power and foreknowledge of the rebelliousness of the leaders. They also ask for God to continue reassuring the faithful … Continue reading →

My 4:17 (The New American Bible) reads, to stop this from spreading further…we must give them a stern warning never to mention [Jesus’] name to anyone again. I think it’s so interesting how threatened the religious leaders were. I guess … Continue reading →

I’m listening to a lot of podcasts lately about the historicity of Christianity. That Luke writes a letter to a person about his experiences in real life feels powerful to me. God cares about this temporary reality and gives meaning … Continue reading →