Today we wind up our month long study in Acts. I hope you have grown in your faith and are increasingly engaged with the people around you. Both the study and the dialogue have been helpful for me. Continue to pray for our All Church Strategy Session. Also, I encourage you to surf here to this blog next week as we chat about the theme "Acts 29."

Acts 27-28 is the story of Paul's journey to Rome. God uses Paul to save the lives of 276 people (27:37) on board the ship; and once aground on the island of Malta, God heals many people through Paul. Finally, when Paul reaches Rome, he calls Jewish leaders to tell them about the Messiah, explains and describes the Kingdom of God (28:23), and some are convinced while others would not believe (28:24). Eventually, Paul tells the hard-hearted Jews that he was going to the Gentiles with the good news and the book of Acts closes -- not with Paul's trial before Caesar which I personally would love to have read about -- but with Paul as a prisoner in his rented home "boldly and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ" (28:31).

So why do you think that the story ends here?

Acts 26 lets us see how the apostle Paul shared his story of coming to know Jesus Christ. King Festus thought said Paul was insane. Some people might think the same thing about you when you share your story. But Paul pushed back and challenged Festus' charge of insanity. In verse 25, Paul says, "I am not insane . . . what I am saying is true and reasonable."

On my flight here, I was able to share the story of the Bible with a young man. He knew absolutely nothing about God or the Bible or Jesus -- nothing. I could tell that he thought I was a little crazy. But that's okay. How else will he begin to think about what he believes and where he will spend eternity?

Remember -- what you believe is "true and reasonable."

Your thoughts?

You've heard of the Purpose-Driven Life. But what drives the purpose?

My reflections on Acts 22-25 focus on how Jesus actually speaks to Paul, after Paul is arrested and faces his enemies with a faithful testimony of Jesus, and says in Acts 23:11: ". . . the Lord stood by (Paul) and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome." Paul's purpose was to witness to others for Jesus. That is what God calls us to, also (Acts 1:8). But the Lord Jesus knew the Paul needed a boost. So he appears to Paul and encourages him to "take courage." Do you ever feel as though you need encouragement from the Lord to accomplish your purpose?

I'm at a pastors' conference this week. Together we're talking, thinking, praying about how to lead our churches. One thing is obvious about all these leaders -- they are looking for encouragement and direction from the Lord. So am I. Will you pray with me this week that God will give me courage and direction?

How about you? How does the idea of engaging our communities and world affect you? Do you need some encouragement? Let's pray for one another.

Remember the Lord said, "I am with you always."

Twice in Acts 21 Paul's friends plead with him not to go to Jerusalem (vv 4, 11-12). They urgently pleaded with Paul based on prophetic statements. And this brings us to an interesting lesson. Prophetic statements can be true (v 11) and yet the conclusions made from them be wrong (v 12). In fact, Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem (19:21; 20:22-24). After this is all sorted out, the believers agree and say, "The Lord's will be done." One reason for the great numbers of new believers is that Paul and others were willing to give up personal safety and comfort and be persecuted and even die for the name of the Lord Jesus (v 13).

So if we are to engage our communities and world, how much of a cost will we pay? Undoubtedly we will hear our friends and family plead with us at times, "Please don't go!" At what point are you unwilling to follow Jesus any longer?

One way we can engage the needs in our communities is to build marriages. Check out the video. Sign up if you want to go! Bring friends!

Continue to pray for Haiti -- another earthquake hit this morning. Check out this link for more. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/20/haiti.earthquake/index.html?hpt=C1

Engagement with spiritual reality happens in many ways in Acts 19. Disciples of John who have never heard of Jesus or of the Holy Spirit are baptized into the name of Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Seven sons of Sceva were amazed by Paul's spiritual power and tried to cast out an evil spirit in the name of Jesus. The evil spirit said, "Jesus I know, Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the evil spirit overpowered these seven men. The riot at Ephesus results from Paul's ministry in Ephesus.

Spiritual transformation happens through speaking the Word, the Holy Spirit's power demonstrated in various ways, and the spoken testimony of the evil spirit before it jumped the seven sons of Sceva.

What might God be teaching us? "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms . . . be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" (Eph 6:12, 10). The Holy Spirit empowers and guides us along.

The video below details the upcoming mission trip out of our church to Roatan, Honduras. Let's pray for the power of the Spirit to work through our team to bless the people there with good deeds and good news.

Eight guys from different towns where Paul ministered travelled with Paul. These guys were totally engaged with planting churches and building them up. When enemies of Paul sought to ambush his ship, these guys provided the decoy and got on the ship while Paul took another route and later met with them in Troas. The lesson is that church is not only for our circle of friendship but it is for helping others come to know Jesus Christ. That's true fellowship.

When Paul met with the elders of the Ephesus church, he recalls his ministry with them that was so transformative. Key issues to their transformation was Paul's clear gospel call to repentance and faith (20:21), listening to the Holy Spirit (20:22-23), sacrifice for the gospel shows how much Paul treasured the opportunity to talk with people about Jesus (20:24), confidence in God and His Word that these Ephesian believers would be eternally safe even though Paul would never see them again (20:32), doing the generous, hard work taking care of the weak and needy (20:35).

The final goodbye is one more example of the kind of brotherhood that is shared only by those who are completely invested in growing Christ's kingdom: "there was much weeping . . . they embraced . . ." (20:36-38).

Are you invested in growing Christ's kingdom?

Here's the latest news on Converge Worldwide's (our conference) work in Haiti. Go to: http://www.scene3.org/content/view/8362/68/

The Haiti earthquake reminds us how fragile life is; that eternity is just around the corner. So how can we help people get ready?

Acts 15-19 (sorry I missed yesterday's entry) show a number of keys to spiritual transformation: not burdening people with religious requirements but calling them to follow Christ by faith (15); willingness to immediately follow God's lead (16); being hopeful in persecution, praying and praising God and speaking of the good news (16:25-31); clearly sharing the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus (16:30-31); devoted to sharing God's Word in a relevant way (17); investing in growing leaders (18:18-28).

Early believers were engaged in good works and sharing the good news. Their legacy calls us to be faithful in our communities and world to show God's love and share the good news.

Let's pray for the people in Haiti and those in our circles of influence.

Mission Central in Houston, TX is the hub of NASA's space missions. Antioch Church was the hub of the early church's mission. The church at Antioch gave away their two brightest and best: Barnabas was their Pastor and Saul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. This first missionary journey, which we read in Acts 13-14, has recurring themes in each city. People were spiritually transformed by the preaching of the Word, miraculous power on display, and persecution that pushed the missionaries to the next town. When Paul saw that a crippled mand had faith to be healed he called out "Stand up on your feet!" (14:9-10) The man was instantly healed. They backtracked and encouraged the believers (14:22), appointed elders for each church (14:23), and returned to mission central in Antioch.

What is God saying? I think the question we need to seek God about is, "What is our next step in mission for you?"

Thanks for all your responses this week. I hope to respond tomorrow. It's been an amazing week. Keep praying.

For information on Converge Worldwide's response to Haiti's earthquake check out this link: http://www.scene3.org/content/view/8358/68/

Acts 12 tells the story of kingdoms in conflict. King Herod put James to death -- a great loss for the church. He also arrested Peter and intended to put him to death just after Passover -- probably that meant Easter morning. But God wanted to advance His kingdom through Peter so He sent an angel to miraculously release Peter from jail where he was guarded by 16 soldiers! Later, when King Herod gave a speech and was lauded by the people as having "the voice of a god, not of a man", Herod did not give praise to God. He suffered and died.

The next verse is the real point of this whole chapter. Verse 24: "But the word of God continued to increase and to spread." Translation -- God's Kingdom was gaining ground!

Two lessons for us from Acts 12: First, prayer is crucial in kingdom conflict. Peter's release happened in answer to believer's prayers. What chains do we need to pray for? Second, the increase and spread of the Word of God is how God's Kingdom advances. We must stay focused.

Your thoughts?

So I think God may be posing a question: Is there anyone that we exclude from the gospel? Our first reaction would likely be "No." But the effect of our American style of Christianity is that churches become so much like a social club that people outside the "club" are afraid of ever coming to church. Isn't it interesting, though, that Jesus said, "Go, and make disciples . . ."? In other words, while some people certainly will "come" to church, others need us to go and be the church to them. In a way, that's the story of Acts 10-11.

God shows no favorites (10:34). That was Peter's lesson. God led Peter, a Jew, through a vision and by the Holy Spirit to step into Cornelius's, a Gentile, house and share the good news of Jesus. To confirm to the Jewish believers that God shows no favorites and wants to save Gentiles, too, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentile listeners. They spoke in tongues, believed, and were baptized (10:44-48). Jesus is for everyone. We must go to them even if it is uncomfortable.

Many examples of engagement happen in these chapters: Peter prays (10:9), responds to the vision and the Holy Spirit (10:9-20), enters into a Gentile's house against Jewish law (10:28), churches are planted and believers are encouraged (11:22-26), people tell both Jews and Gentiles about Jesus as they flee persectuion (11:19-21). Your thoughts?