In this PODCAST, you are about to hear a story.
Clear. Concise. And compelling.
A story, just like your own.
Thank you for listening, and for sharing this message!!!
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 for a good old fashioned heart-stirring, soul-elevating, and spirit-encouraging Bible study?
You’re about to hear one, right here in this PODCAST.
Thank you for listening, and for sharing this message!!!
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.
How does God turn a destroyer of all-things-Jesus into arguably the world’s leading ambassador for Jesus?
In this PODCAST, you will discover the answer to that—and so many more—questions.
An answer guaranteed to amaze.
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.
(Fun Fact: Of all of the thousands of messages I have given over the years, THIS one is my devoted daughter’s all-time-favorite!)
“It’s the holiday season.”
A statement, as you will hear on this PODCAST, that cuts two ways.
For far too many of us, this is not “the most wonderful time of the year.” For you, or someone you know, it’s the loneliest time of the year.
But it does not have to be.
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.
More than a PODCAST; this is a wee bit of a glimpse into the depths of my sizable soul.
And perhaps into yours as well.
All courtesy of Peter, of course.
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.
Acts 12 begins with this poignant—or pregnant with meaning—phrase, Κατ᾽ἐκ-εῖ-νον δὲ τὸν και-ρὸν,
“About that time…”
Words that, as you will hear in this PODCAST, could just as well have been translated,
“At the same time…”
“In the meantime…”
Or,
“Meanwhile…”
Κατ᾽ἐκ-εῖ-νον δὲ τὸν και-ρὸν, “In the meantime,” much was going on in Holy City of Jerusalem itself—gut-wrenching, faith-challenging, life-altering events that rocked the world of these early believers. Profound challenges that had nothing to do with Agabus’ future famine about which they didn’t yet know.
Our passage tonight—a modest four verses in total—goes to the very heart of the #1 longing of every human heart—including our own.
As well as the #1 question that has plagued the human race since time immemorial, including us.
Four short verses that describe what was going in lives of early believers particularly, and the residents of Jerusalem generally.
“About that time…”
All of this, ALL of this, so insightful for us, today, in our time.
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.
On its surface, storyline in these final verses of Acts 11 is really pretty simple.
And as you will hear in this PODCAST, this story is as heartwarming as it is simple.
This story is also—and so importantly—equally trend-setting. So much will be set in motion that affects how we do things (or ought to do things) even today!
So.Much.Here, my friends, to give you and me pause to ponder, to think, to process.
Trust me. You are in for a rich and rewarding excursion into the depths of God’s Holy Word.
So get ready for your personal edification to take an exciting and exponential leap forward.
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 had to be a rather rude awakening to be sure—Paul’s initial introduction to the unenviable life of an apostle.
As we will learn in this PODCAST, there is much—much more than we could possibly imagine—behind Paul’s otherwise enigmatic statement in 1 Corinthians 4:9, a rare moment of personal reflection (and dare-I-say exasperation and frustration) in the writings of this most-prolific apostle:
“I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.”
Well, here in Acts 9, the Apostle to us Gentiles endured quite the humiliating spectacle indeed.
It was hardly the homecoming our new friend, the Apostle Paul, had anticipated as he entered archway in the main gate leading to Straight Street in Damascus.
Was his heart all a-flutter? Mine would have been.
After a three-year absence from its legendary landscape, his formal training as an apostle now complete. I have to believe that Saul-now-Paul had much upon which he would have liked to reflect.
Paul’s heart had to be pitter-pattering with excited anticipation as he once-again approached the storied city.
But alas. A happy homecoming wasn’t in cards that fate dealt this soon-to-be-suffering servant of Jesus.
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.
Do you know what I love about Bible?
Well, truth be told, there are a lot of things that I love about the Bible. Far too many to tell in this PODCAST.
But certainly residing at or near the top of my rather lengthy list is this: The window the biblical writers open to the growth and maturity of its principle players.
Case in point: The Apostle Paul.
Paul did not emerge from his road to Damascus encounter with Jesus a wholly-mature believer. Nor did Paul burst on the scene armed with a fully-formed theology that would become the capstone of his prolific writings. Paul had to grow in his faith as a committed Christ-follower just like the rest of us.
I love that!
Paul moved from a measurably primitive understanding of Jesus to a remarkably profound comprehension of who Jesus was and is and all that Jesus did and accomplished. This growth, this development, this maturity takes place right before our wondering eyes ever to behold in all of its spiritual splendor.
In short, Paul was a person in process, just like us! A process well-documented in the New Testament that as we are about to learn slowly-but-surely took place over many, many years.
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.
Hate is a horrible thing.
Hate unbridled and unchecked is a murderous thing.
Hate in name of God is terrifying and terrorizing thing.
And as you are about to hear in this PODCAST, hate in the name of God is indeed a terrorizing thing because such religious hatred is actually viewed by the hater as a righteous thing.
Just ask a certain Pharisee—emphasis upon that lofty religious title, Pharisee, since it goes to the very heart of this story—named Saul. Yes! Saul was a Pharisee.
On the night before He was executed, as Jesus and His now-eleven disciples were slinking through the dark alleys of Jerusalem, literally one step ahead of His betraying-disciple Judas, the Temple guards, and the Roman cohort that Judas was leading to arrest and ultimately to crucify Jesus, Jesus made this chilling statement which should have given His disciples pause, assuming that in that desperate hour they had presence of mind to pause.
It’s found in John 16:2, where Jesus said this:
“The time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”
A prediction, a prophecy that has historically come to pass in our day—the bitter result of religious extremism—far too many times to count. Bloodshed in the name of God. Be that blood shed at the hands of the Christian Crusaders, Muslim suicide bombers, or a now-ranking member of Sanhedrin—keep that label in mind; it too goes to heart of this story—Saul.
From where did Saul’s unbridled fury, his murderous hatred for Jesus and all things Jesus-related come?
Tonight, we will consider together much of what is often overlooked in any discussion about Saul-to-become-Paul’s background.
All of which will expose the degree to which God went when preparing His “Apostle to the Gentiles.”
Indeed, Paul will write in wonder in Galatians 2:8,
“For by God’s power I was made an apostle to the Gentiles.”
That power was clearly at work in Paul’s/Saul’s past. And as you are about to hear, that power was equally at work in Saul’s present here in Acts 9.
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.
Dewey Bertolini’s Podcast
The Latest News from Jerusalem
Please note: Your gift through Ash Tree Meadows Media (my PayPal account), while much needed and GREATLY APPRECIATED, is not tax-deductible.
Dewey Bertolini 