It is fascinating to read about the apostles laying hands on early Christians, in order that they might receive a miraculous endowment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-18). It is exciting to know that a variety of these gifts were thus imparted, including the working of miracles, healings, prophecy, tongues, direct knowledge of divine will, etc. (1 Cor. 12:7-11). It is significant…
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Posts by David Sproule (Page 196)
As He prepared to feed five thousand men, Jesus “looked up to heaven” (Mark 6:41). Think about that action, that posture, and its purpose. Looking up. When Jesus came to Bethsaida in Mark 8, He put His hands on a blind man, and the man “looked up” (8:24-25). It may seem simple, but again, think about that action of looking up. How…
Did you see the Super Bowl commercial of a soon-to-be dad eating a bag of Doritos, while an ultrasound was being performed on his unborn child? The commercial showed the unborn child reaching for the Doritos in whatever direction the dad moved his hand. Well, wouldn’t you know it, somebody didn’t like the ad. Specifically, a pro-choice group called NARAL tweeted that the…
Has anyone ever taken you out of context? Have you ever said something and then that statement was later used in a way that you never intended? That has probably happened to most people at some point in their life. Isn’t that frustrating! Is there anything more exasperating than someone making it sound like you said something that you didn’t say? When…
A friend of mine was going through a series of very difficult trials, and the troubles seemed to keep piling higher and higher. Like many of us who have been challenged by the adversities of life, this fellow Christian dispiritedly texted, “I’m not strong enough for this,” but probably did not anticipate the response that began, “You’re right! YOU are not!” How many…
When properly applied, the action of “rebuke” involves one, who is in a position of authority, severely censuring another. The Greek word for “rebuke” (epitimao) is found in 29 verses of the New Testament, and interestingly, 27 of the 29 verses are in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Bible tells us that Jesus “rebuked the wind” (Luke 8:24). Isn’t that a cool…
In order to emphasize the exceeding greatness of Jesus Christ and his own abject unworthiness in comparison, John the Baptist announced, “One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (Luke 3:16). Think about that for a moment. John did not consider himself deserving of even loosening the strap on Jesus’ sandal. How low do you…
Antidisestablishmentarianism is a big word. 28 letters. That’s pretty big! Have you heard of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis? It is supposedly a lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust. 45 letters. That’s really big! But the 3-letter word “and” is even bigger! “And” is a coordinating conjunction, which is a part of speech that grammatically joins parts of a sentence that are equal (in importance…