What follows is a reflection I wrote in 2018, that is fully applicable today.  As we sadly experienced, 2020 brought additional grief to all of us.  For me, it included the death of my Mother, and our dear brother, Mike Myers.  The years following have been little better. In this year, 2023, my Kelley family suffered the loss of several of my cousins and second cousins.  In the present moment, two wars rage, killing thousands.  Those wars, along with only increasing partisan animosity, have more deeply divided our nation. 

As World War II was breaking out, C. S. Lewis began writing his Space Trilogy.  Today’s readers of these works may have greater trouble than his original readers accepting the premise that Mars and Venus were populated by sentient beings and civilizations.  Trust me, it will be worth the effort!

A buffet restaurant commercial opens with a family sitting around a table and the oldest person says, “Back in my day…” I don’t know what he says next, because I hit the mute button.  However, I’m struck by this common phrase among senior folk, “Back in my day...”

We have looked at individuals mentioned in Acts, such as Paul, Barnabas, and Luke, the author of Acts.  In this blog, I want to highlight a couple, who are always mentioned together.  They are Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:2), or at most other times, Priscilla and Aquila, or Prisca and Aquila.  Priscilla is the affectionate diminutive of her proper name, Prisca (Romans 16:3).

As I mentioned in my last post, I intend to address an issue that the writers of the New Testament discuss at great length.  I will not, indeed cannot, discuss this at great length in this blog.  Yet, I will briefly discuss Luke’s tackling of this reality in Acts, with a glance back to his Gospel, and Paul’s letter to the Romans. 

…On [Philip’s] way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). Acts 8:27 (NIV)

In my last post, I spoke of one of the New Testament’s truly good guys, who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit.  However, not everyone in the New Testament is like Barnabas.  Meet a Samaritan named Simon, and don’t expect The Good Samaritan.

Acts 11: 22 News of [Greeks responding to the Gospel in Antioch] reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.