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Friday, March 02, 2012

Bible Study: The Acts of the Holy Spirit - A Study of the book of Acts - Chapter 21

Please forgive this rough draft format, as these are my raw study notes on the book of Acts. I felt a great sense of urgency to publish them rather than waiting until I had the time to pretty them up. Thank you and I pray that God blesses and encourages you through this material. Stay strong. Live in the Spirit. Encourage each other. Pray. Jesus is coming…

Stacey

Take a few minutes to pray and savor chapter 21 of the book of Acts. Read it with the thought in mind that this is the first display of the power of the Holy Spirit working through man – aside from Christ, that is. Imagine what the Spirit can do through you if you let Him! Then return here and ponder the thoughts, answer the questions, and be sure to leave comments about your own revelations…

21:4 – The Spirit warned the disciples what would happen to Paul. Their humanity warned Paul away from traveling to Jerusalem. Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go. See 20:22. This shows that we can be sensitive to the Spirit, but do wrong with what He gives us.

21:10-11 – Agabus the prophet predicts Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem. Remember when he predicted the famine in Acts 11:28?

21:18 – All the elders being present indicates the importance of this meeting.

21:21 – all the Jews who live among the Gentiles – the people Paul was accused of misleading.

see chapter 15 for what Paul was really doing.

21:22-26 – by engaging in a practice observed by Jewish law, Paul would show his critics that he did embrace the law, himself.

21:22 – this is a proactive response by the Jerusalem church.

21:23 – this would indicate a Nazirite vow. See Numbers 6:13-21.

21:24 – the leaders hoped Paul’s generosity would help to quell the rumors.

21:25 – this attempt to stop the rumors did not change the position established in the Jerusalem church’s letter to the Gentiles in 15:23-29.

21:28 – all men everywhere – notice how the accusation has expanded from 21:21.

Paul is charged with teaching against the Jews and the law and bringing a Greek into the temple. First charge is similar to what Stephen was charged with in 6:13. Paul knew what happened to Stephen. But remember, according to 21:13, he was ready to die in Jerusalem for Christ’s sake.

21:29 – Paul’s accusers wrongly assumed that Paul brought Trophimus into the part of the temple reserved for Jews just because they saw the two men together.

21:39 – Would you want to talk to these people after they beat you almost to death? This shows Christ’s great character and love in Paul.

• The book of Acts teaches us much about what the Holy Spirit is capable of doing through a mortal life. What have you learned about how He wants to work through you today? What will you do to give up a bit of control to Him?
• What attributes of God do you see in this book?
• What verse of scripture seemed to be God speaking directly to you? What is He teaching you in these verses? How does He want you to respond?

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

LESSON EIGHT: “1 Peter: Finding Encouragement in Troubling Times – A Sue Edwards Inductive Bible Study”

Lesson 8 of “1 Peter: Finding Encouragement in Troubling Times – A Sue Edwards Inductive Bible Study” led me to consider my own mortality and how I am serving Christ in light of the fact that my life is a fleeting vapor that appears for a short time then disappears.

In Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, Solomon says that death comes to every man and is better than birth. I believe that very few of us acknowledge that we are going to die. We fear death. But we shouldn’t fear it if we’re Christian because death means being in Christ’s presence.

Still, the point should be that we’re not dead, yet, so what does God want us to do with our time on earth? Peter places great priority on prayer. An authentic, consistent prayer life is greatly enhanced by clear-mindedness and self-control. Both of these qualities afford a discipline to my own prayer life that makes that part of my life engaging and satisfying.

Discerning and serving the Lord and others in the realm of our spiritual gifts is another way we should be spending our time on earth as we await our reunion with Christ. I’ve used each of my spiritual gifts at one time or another. Currently, I speak God’s truth (prophecy and teaching) as I share in my Bible study groups and Sunday School. I encourage my Christian siblings with notes and cards. I also contribute financially (contributing to the needs of others) to my church and other Christian organizations.

In light of the blessings ahead for faithful believers, we should commit ourselves to God and continue to do good, even in hard times. James says that we should consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because we know the testing of our faith develops perseverance which must complete its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

When Christ returns, I don’t want Him to find me lacking.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

"Heart's Safe Passage" by Laurie Alice Eakes

First of all, I would like to extend a heartfelt “Thank you” to Laurie Alice Eakes and her publisher for sending me a copy of "Heart's Safe Passage" to review for them. I am truly grateful for this generosity. I really appreciate the time, effort and expense it takes to make a reviewer copy available to me.

Laurie Alice Eakes’ “Heart’s Safe Passage” is a beautiful second novel in her Midwives Series. When Phoebe’s sister-in-law begs her to join her on an ocean voyage that she hope will lead to the rescue of her incarcerated husband, Phoebe is less than thrilled. Even after she learns that the reason Belinda wants Phoebe to come is because she is pregnant and wants someone she trusts to deliver the child if necessary. Captain Rafe Docherty is even less thrilled than Phoebe that she is aboard his ship. He is bent on avenging the murders of his wife and parents and doesn’t want to be distracted by a new love or the Lord.

This is a well-written romantic adventure that will keep the reader up late into the evening. Although the second novel in a series, this book reads well as a stand-alone work. Some of the archaic language was unfamiliar to me, so I would have appreciated some form of dictionary. But overall, I enjoyed and will recommend “Heart’s Safe Passage”.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Creative Slow-Cooker Meals by Cheryl Moeller

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Cheryl Moeller

and the book:

Creative Slow-Cooker Meals:
Use Two Slow Cookers for
Tasty and Easy Dinners [Spiral-Bound]

Harvest House Publishers; Spi edition (February 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to Karri James, Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cheryl Moeller is a seasoned mother and a standup comic. She is also a syndicated columnist with her own blog (www.momlaughs.blogspot.com) and contributes monthly to several online parent websites. Cheryl has coauthored two books on marriage with her husband and has written for www.mops.org and Marriage Partnership. Cheryl does comedy for parenting classes, MOPS groups, wedding or baby showers, church retreats, women’s conferences, and those in line at the grocery store.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From the celebrated coauthor of The Marriage Miracle comes a new kind of cookbook and a new attitude toward planning meals. With an eye toward the whole menu, not just part of it, columnist Cheryl Moeller teaches cooks to use two crockpots to easily create healthy, homemade dinners.

Don’t worry about your dinner being reduced to a mushy stew. Each of the more than 200 recipes has been taste-tested at Cheryl’s table. Join the Moeller family as you dig into:

Harvest-time Halibut Chowder

Salmon and Gingered Carrots

Mediterranean Rice Pilaf

Indian Chicken Curry

Apricot-Pistachio Bread

Shrimp Creole

Rhubarb Crisp

... and many more! Perfect for the frazzled mom who never has enough time in the day, Creative Slow-Cooker Meals gives readers more time around the table with delicious, healthy, frugal, and easy meals!

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99

Spiral-bound: 272 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; Spi edition (February 1, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0736944915

ISBN-13: 978-0736944915

AND NOW...THE FIFTH CHAPTER (click on pages to enlarge):

Here is my review of this fascinating cookbook:

First of all, I would like to extend a heartfelt “Thank you” to Cheryl Moeller and her publisher for sending me a copy of "Creative Slow-Cooker Meals" to review for them. I am truly grateful for this generosity. I really appreciate the time, effort and expense it takes to make a reviewer copy available to me.

Cheryl Moeller’s cookbook “Creative Slow-Cooker Meals” is a welcome addition to my kitchen library. She suggests using two slow cookers to prepare your meals. I love this technique! Each pot can taste a bit different. Unlike when you cook everything in the same pot! Our first adventure was Buttermilk Chicken and Wisconsin Cranberry Stuffing. Both dishes were very tasty, although I didn’t like the consistency of the stuffing. I will have to play around with the recipe to perfect it.

The swedish meatballs with gravy and savory mashed potatoes were amazing, too!

This book is filled with good cooking tips and scripture verses that cleverly resembled the sections of the cookbook in which they appear. It has a convenient spiral binding so it can lay flat on the counter or on a book holder. The slick pages wipe clean from food spills. There is a wide variety of recipes including breakfast, ethnic recipes, party recipes, vegan foods, dairy-free meals and gluten-free dishes. My family and I have perused the book and can’t wait to try the grapefruit chicken, mile-high chicken stacks and baked brie with candied walnuts and cherries. Yum!