William Bathurst
(1796-1877)

George Atkins
(19th Century)

Watery Discombobulation!

Despite what it says on the bucket —
Let's Not! (Oops — too late!)¹“What did you say? I can't hear you over the fan noise!”²

If “April showers bring May flowers,” what do April leaks bring? Squishy carpets and domestic discombobulation, that’s what!

This is the “April” newsletter, but the deadline, um, leaked into May. This late edition got a bit waterlogged, so to speak! Apparently, just a few hours after we left for a granddaughter’s birthday and some ministry in Florida on April 10th, we had an upstairs pipe start leaking. Water has this God-given nature of wanting to flow downhill. In our case, “downhill” meant through the wall, and through our downstairs ceiling, into our entryway, living room, and dining room. The situation would have been worse, but our Christian neighbor, Donna C., caught the problem before it gave Noah’s Flood a run for its money.

Such fun to come home to! After our carpet was cut out and trashed, and the bathroom floorings and cabinets were removed, 11 noisy fans and 2 large de-humifiers ran for four days to dry the place out. Much of our living space consists now of bare concrete floors, and [continue reading…]

Fanny Crosby
(1820-1915)

John of Damascus
(8th Century A.D.)
translated by
John Neale
(1818-1866)

Oh, the Irony!

Does your “fuse” get blown, too? Not a little modern teaching on faith seeks to “electrify,” but winds up being simply “shocking.” Let us point you to something that's far more “grounded”! ¹

Irony is something I’ve learned to savor, even if it is somewhat bittersweet at times. Consider this unexpected reaction from a reader…

Twice a week on our ministry’s Facebook page, we share a link to “things old and new” on our website. Usually on Thursdays we share a hymn or devotional poem; on Mondays we share a link to a Bible-teaching article (or, once a month, our current newsletter). The response has been encouraging and the “Likes” for the page have grown. (By the way, have you “liked” our page on Facebook yet?) So far, so good, but…

For the last five weeks or so, we’ve been sharing chapters from Percy Gutteridge’s classic, foundation-laying book Faith Is Substance. Most folks who’ve taken the time to read it have found it liberating and enlightening. But one commenter really “gave us an earful,” lumping us together with “freaks” who are pushing semi- [continue reading…]

(also known as
Blessèd Be the Name)

William Clark
(1854-1925)
chorus by
Ralph Hudson
(1843-1901)

Patrick
(Fifth Century a.d.)
English rendered by
Cecil Frances Alexander
(1818-1895)

Fruit, More Fruit, Much Fruit in Guatemala

Fruit, more fruit, much fruit¹

Have you noticed what happens when God answers prayer? Answered prayers generate the need for more prayer! This is part of God’s design for us to grow in our fruitfulness, responsibility, and Christlikeness. It moves us along the “fruitfulness spectrum” that Jesus laid out for us: First “fruit” (John 15:2b), then “more fruit” (John 15:2c), and finally “much fruit” (John 15:5,8). And notice how this “fruit” passage intersects with prayer — “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:7-8).

When what we pray in Jesus’ name receives an answer from the Father, we aren’t allowed to pause too long and [continue reading…]

Charles Wesley
(1707-1788)

Frederick Lehman
(1868-1953)
adapted from the work of
Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai
(11th Century a.d.)

George D. Watson
(1845-1923)

Copyright © 1994, 2019

by
Jim Kerwin

A Look at Roman Law in Acts

“Moving in a Roman World”

Nikolai Bodarevsky's painting of St. Paul on trial before Festus, King Agrippa II and Berenice¹

“The student of the New Testament is con­stant­ly made aware that he is moving in a Roman world,”² and awareness of the Roman en­vi­ron­ment is the first step toward un­der­stand­ing its significance and influence on the second volume of Luke’s magnum opus and on the life of Paul. By providing the serious Bible student a primer of [continue reading…]