A New Witness
Acts 8:5-25 … To this point the witness was exclusively to the Jews at Jerusalem. Change was brought about by the persecution. First, expansion of the witness, vv. 5-6, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and More →
Category: Persecution
The Scattering
Angry, Blog, Church, Control, Courage, Death, Determined, Erik Garthe, Faithful, Gates of Hell, Good, Great Commission, Jerusalem, Martyrdom, No Longer Conformed, Opposition, Peace, Persecution, Preaching, Prison, Saul, Scattered Seeds, Scattering, Seeds, Stephen’s Stoning, Stephen’s Witness, The Scattering, Unstoppable
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Stephen’s witness ended with his death, but the story was just beginning. Acts 8:1-4 let us know martyrdom didn’t have the desired effect. First, martyrdom didn’t end the persecution, v. 1 … 1 “Now Saul was consenting More →
The Debate
Blasphemous, Blasphemy, Blog, Change, Conspiracy, Council, Cowards, Deacon, Debate, Destroy, Elders, Erik Garthe, False Accusations, False Charges, God’s Call, Heavenly, History, Israel, Judaism, Law, Leader, Moses, No Longer Conformed, Persecution, Religious Leaders, Scribes, Secretly, Seized, Sinful Methods, Stephen, Stir Up, Tactics, The Debate, Trial, Wisdom
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Acts 6:8-15 … Stephen is the most famous deacon in the church, and with his story we see persecution explode. Verse 10: “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.” More →
Persecution
Accusers, Apostles, Blog, Boldness, Courage, Deliverance, Empowered, Erik Garthe, Freedom, Frustration, Glorified, God’s Call, John, Minister, Miracle, No Longer Conformed, Opposition, People, Persecution, Peter, Popular, Punishing, Religious Court, Religious Leaders, Silence, Threaten, Threatened, Uneducated, Untrained
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Acts 4 … First, the silence of the accusers, v. 13 … “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” More →
Reaction
Adversities, Apostles’ Witness, Believed, Believers, Blog, Captain of the Temple, Carnal Man, Changing Lives, Christians, Comfort, Compromised Leaders, Discerns, Disturbed, Environment, Erik Garthe, Failed, Favor, Fire, God’s Plan, Gospel Message, Gospel Ministry, Helpless, Ignorance, Immature, Inside, Jews, Leaders, Natural Man, No Longer Conformed, Opposition, People, Persecution, Peter’s Sermon, Preached, Priests, Question, Reaction, Realities, Religious Experience, Religious Leaders, Resistance, Resurrection, Rituals, Romans, Ruling, Sacrificially, Sadducees, Spiritual Man, Spiritually, Status, Stopped, Success, Surrender, Taught, Taxes, Threatens, Unbeliever, Uncategorized, Undesirable
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There had been no resistance to the Christians by the Jews. Acts 2:47 reads, “having favor with all the people.” It changed in the 4th chapter. The resistance was not with the people or the ruling Romans—Who came against them? More →
The Reward
Army, Ashamed, Attacks, Authority, Believers, Blog, Captive, Christians, Commitment, Cross, Defame, Encouragement, Endurance, Enemy, Engaged, Erik Garthe, Evildoers, Good Conduct, Good Conscience, Hope, Intimidators, Invading, Jurisdiction, King, Kingdom, Kingdom of Heaven, Laws, Lions, Lord’s Strength, Maturity, No Longer Conformed, Persecuted, Persecution, Perseverance, Predators, Prepared, Preparing, Prophets, Rejoicing, Rescue, Resist, Revile, Reward, Righteousness, Satan, Satan’s Dominion, Saved, Sin, Subjects, The Reward, Verbal Attacks, Warriors
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“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10) Encouragement to believers persecuted for their commitment to Jesus Christ. First, be prepared More →
Hard to Swallow
Attitude, Bitterness, Blog, Enemy, Erik Garthe, Gift, Give, Hard to Swallow, Injury, Kindness, love, No Longer Conformed, Obedience, Persecution, Prayer, Retaliation, Retribution, Revenge
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The law of revenge “lex talionis” dates to the Code of Hammurabi (1800’s BC); it sought the destruction of the wrongdoer. The Mosaic Law brought the principle of limiting retribution to what was just. Retaliation was limited to More →
Happy Christianity!
Blog, Brokenness, Christianity, Erik Garthe, Happy Christianity, Meekness, Mercy, mourn, No Longer Conformed, Peacemaker, Persecution, purity, Righteousness, Self-control, Spiritual Poverty
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What makes a Christian happy in life? When you enter the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God enters you—spiritual growth. Matthew 5:1-12 presents eight steps that lead to a More →
Overcoming Attacks
Accusations, Attacks, Blog, Erik Garthe, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Gossip, Hatred, Illegal, Immoral, No Longer Conformed, Overcoming Attacks, Persecution, Rivalry, Sex, Temptation, Workplace, world
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We live in a society and culture where Christian persecution takes place, but we can overcome undeserved attacks. Joseph was persecuted by his brothers, by a slave master, and as Genesis 39:6b-20 records, by his master’s wife. More →
Rejoice in the Lord
Blog, Erik Garthe, No Longer Conformed, Obedience, Peace, Persecution, Perseverance, Praise, Prayer, Rejoice, Rejoice in the Lord, Suffering, Trust
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Do you rejoice in the Lord always? God’s Word commands us to in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians at Philippi. He wrote in verse 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” What do you suppose those believers thought when they read those bold words? More →
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