Some time ago, I began to read the Bible carefully to study Bible characters. I read through the four Gospels, and my heart was moved. When I look over an audience and think of the wretchedness and misery that you and I do not see, that He does see, I think I can understand what […]
It was a pristine autumn day recently as our plane winged its way up the California coast. The woman beside me, in her early fifties I judged, was friendly, and told me about the sights far below. But as we crossed the Oregon border, cloud cover blocked our view and the conversation turned to other […]
Paul’s public service for the Lord Jesus is given in two parts. From chapters 9 through 15 we have his association with Barnabas, “a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24). He befriended Saul of Tarsus at the beginning and worked with him for some years, gladly allowing him the […]
The general extent and purpose of Paul’s missionary journeys appears in Romans 15:18-24: “From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ,” with the ambition that as many as possible of those who had not yet seen or heard of Him might see and understand. In these journeys we […]
While Luke is very sparing of personal details, he gives us some few hints about Paul’s physical characteristics as bearing on his moral influence. As an orator, he evidently used a good deal of gesture with his hands; for example, he enforced a point to the Ephesian elders by showing them “these hands” (20:34). When […]
Saul of Tarsus was head in whatever circle he moved, whether as Saul the persecuting Pharisee, or Paul the laboring missionary. If he was chief of sinners, he became chief of saints. If he was the man of action whirling over the Roman Empire, he was doing it with constructive statesmanship with no less a […]
Money, like fire and water, is a cruel master but a very productive servant. Some of the earliest incidents in the church were associated with money. After the great blessing at Pentecost (Acts 2) an enormous need was created among the new believers. The practical supply came from the believers who had resources. A second […]
To readers who have been impressed with the exquisite courtesy and consummate skill of Paul’s address at Athens, it comes as a shock to learn that some Bible students have seriously suggested that it was in fact a great mistake. For once, they say, Paul trusted his excellency of speech and wisdom and omitted the […]
The cheer that brightened the simple English cottage where he was born fled early for Leonard Sheldrake (1885-1952). He was six, his sister eight, and his brothers four and two when tuberculosis claimed their mother. Never a strong child, he once overheard a neighboring housewife remark, “Poor laddie, he’s not long for this world.” When […]