We’re going to Israel. February 21 – March 3, 2018.
I would LOVE to have you go with us.
Here’s a link to the itinerary and brochure, with all of the facts, figures, and registration form: Israel 2018.
PLEASE get your $300/person deposit into the tour company quick, as spaces are VERY limited.I am so excited.
Believe it or not, I LOVE this stuff!!!
And I would LOVE it if YOU came with us!
It is time for us to celebrate.
That’s the tone with which I want to share this PODCAST with you tonight. A tone of celebration.
A celebration of a day unlike any other.
A day that began so ordinarily; but one that ended so spectacularly, in the Holy City, on the southern steps of the Holy Temple Mount.
So many miles from this place (McMinnville); so many years from this year (2017).
Yet this was a day—the effects of which are so clearly manifested in the fact that you would not be listening to this podcast right now if this glorious day had not occurred.
We’re talking, of course, about the Day of Pentecost, in or around AD 33. Which would make this the 1,984th Pentecost weekend since the Dispensation of God’s Glorious Grace began so wondrously nearly two millennia ago.
Jesus, in Matthew 16, made this awe-inspiring declaration to jaw-dropping effect as far as His disciples were concerned (Verse 18),
“I will build my ekklesia” (Jesus’ brand new, yet-to-be-born, worldwide family of faith), “and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
Jesus began to build His ekklesia here in Acts 2, on this dazzling Day of Pentecost. Yes! On this Day of Pentecost, Jesus’ ekklesia was born! 1,984 years later, the powers of hell have yet to conquer it. In fact, as you are about to hear, despite every effort of the Evil One to silence it, the witness of Christ around the world is more powerful today than it has ever been!
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, to our Western sensibilities, Acts 2:23 plunges us into a theological quagmire of staggering proportions.
But trust me. When Peter introduced this indictment of that Day of Pentecost crowd, he didn’t even flinch.
And therein lies the story.
Consider this: It’s verses like Acts 2:23 that have given rise to literally centuries of endless (and may I humbly suggest, pointless) theological debate. All the while, Peter’s words in this landmark verse are so wonderfully elegant in their economy—a rather modest 15 words in the Greek; though something of a more elaborate 31 words in our English (NIV) translations.
So here it comes. Acts 2:23. With its attendant theological quagmire. Hear it as it does…
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
It was proof undeniable.
A reality on the ground about which every person in that vast crowd on this most significant Day of Pentecost knew.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, Peter triumphantly trumpeted to that crowd, and to us,
“As you yourselves know.”
Boy, did they know.
How could they not have known?
Fact is, reports of this wonder-working man from Galilee had circulated far and wide throughout the whole of the Roman Empire. Eyewitness accounts of His “miracles, wonders, and signs” had spread to every corner of the Mediterranean world.
Fact is, if the people who had gathered in the Holy City on this Holy Day were honest with themselves and honest with the facts, they knew that what Peter’s voice boomed in Acts 2:36 was undeniably true:
“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah.”
Yes, they knew. “For certain,” they knew!!!
Of course, the obvious questions are: Why did they know for certain? How could they have known for certain?
The answer to those questions is equally obvious, for them, and for you.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
Welcome to Peter’s first-ever sermon.
As you will hear in this PODCAST, this fisherman-turned-preacher’s initial foray into the world of sermonizing is memorable in extreme.
And whether you realize it or not, Peter’s first sermon out of the gate is all about… Grasshoppers. As in locusts. Lots and lots of locusts.
A plague of locusts. A past-plague of locusts. A coming plague of locusts. And a future (even future for us) plague of locusts. See it there in Acts 2:14-16?
Listen as I read it to you, and see if you can hear ominous chomps of locusts:
Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel.”
See any locusts in that? No? Well, then, keep listening. Because as you are about to hear, it is vital that we do.
His name is Joel. He is one of so-called 12 “Minor Prophets.” But make no mistake about this: Joel may have been a “Minor Prophet.” But there was absolutely nothing minor about his message.
Let me ever-so-briefly remind you of structure of the Old Testament…
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
It is one of the great ironies of Christian life.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, the Holy Spirit came to this earth in Jesus’ absence in part to bring a supernatural unity to committed Christ-followers throughout the world.
For example, we read in Ephesians 4:3, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
That phrase “the unity of the Spirit” notwithstanding, Christians throughout the world have arguably divided more over the gifts of Holy Spirit than any other single issue. Divisions that, quite frankly, have turned spiritually toxic.
There are those who will tell you and me with some measure of intensity that if you do not speak in tongues, you are at the least not filled with the Spirit; and at the worst, not a Christian at all.
There are those who will tell you and me with some measure of intensity that if you do speak in tongues, you are believing a false Gospel and consequently going to Hell.
So as we enter this discussion, I will give to you my promise, and make to you my plea.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
Ready to hit the ground running? This is so exciting. And just remember, I Love this stuff!
As you will hear in this PODCAST, in the culture of Jesus’ day, the agricultural cycle of sowing and reaping, planting and harvesting, was absolutely central to the existence of the Jewish people. So much so that the agricultural calendar was an essential part of the day-in and day-out rhythm of their lives, including Jesus’.
You can understand why. They could not simply go to Roths, Winco, Alberstons, Safeway or some other grocery store to buy their food. Their lives literally depended upon, revolved around their agricultural calendar. Hold onto that thought for a second.
Allow me now to shift gears ever so slightly, to this thought:
God wants you to know with absolute certainty, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that death is not the end, but is a gloriously grand beginning. Think about that for a second.
We live (in theory) with an awesome, palpable sense of anticipation for the day when we will get brand new bodies, just like Jesus’ resurrected body. That day coming in the Future.
Here in the Present, we are now watching the fulfillment of God’s promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit as He moves throughout earth in real time, every single day, saving the souls of precious people from Hell, and guaranteeing them, and you, an eternal place in Heaven. We are talking about the redemption of our bodies in the future, and the redemption of our souls in the present.
In order to paint that picture, God inserted Himself into the very soil of the culture of the New Testament. And He did so on two separate specific, picturesque days — separated from each other by exactly 50 days. Two Holy Days, Jewish holidays each, that were exactly 50 days apart. Both of which were agricultural. Both of which the people felt keenly.
And after hearing this podcast, you will feel it too.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
His name was Matthias.
I wouldn’t blame you a bit if you had no recollection of this selfless servant of Christ.
As you will hear in this PODCAST, Matthias is mentioned only twice in the NT, both times here in Acts 1 (verses 23 and 26).
At first blush, Matthias may appear to be just a footnote in the ever-developing drama of redemption. But I can assure you that he is anything but.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
Today is Easter Sunday.
BUT, as you are about to hear in this PODCAST, today is infinitely, eternally so much more than that.
A day of incomparable significance.
“Christ IS risen. He is risen INDEED.”
But that is only half the story.
Ready to hear the other half?
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it might take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
Such incredibly dramatic moment, on multiple levels. That is what you are about to hear in this PODCAST.
Finally, the time had come for Jesus to go home.
He had been away from home, more specifically, away from His beloved Father, for some thirty-three years.
Jesus, who from eternity past was according to John 1:1 face-to-face with His Father, enjoying from eternity past an unbroken, undiminished intimacy with His Father that eclipses every possible human relationship.
Thirty-three years prior to this moment, Jesus left His Father to embark upon a rescue mission of immeasurable importance and eternal consequence. A rescue mission defined by Jesus Himself as His coming “to seek and to save those who are lost” Luke 19:10.
That mission was now completed. Now, it was time. Time for Jesus to go home.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.
The Latest News from Jerusalem
Dewey Bertolini 