Heralds Digest

“For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭19:24-25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.19.24-25.nkjv A genuine pursuit of God always comes with notable opportunity cost. For the converts in Ephesus, the gain of the grace that brings salvation was sufficient reason for the destruction of their curious arts until the provocation from Demetrius created a stir. The basis of this stir represents a predominant influence in the comparative assessment of the different types of gain in various circles of life. Even in the gospel or general trade of life, the pursuit of the will of God becomes complicated when human considerations of prosperity overrides the divine interest. Whereas, the scriptures recommend the priority of godliness over all greedy considerations, incl...

“And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭19:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.19.15.nkjv 'No Name' is a common brand in the North America commodity market. And generally, No Name is synonymous to low-quality products, commonly patronized for their low price advantage. However, no one goes for No Name when quality sincerely matters. Comparatively, the evil spirit in Ephesus make bold to declare the seven sons of Sceva as No Name, and never in the class of Paul or those who have earned the right to use the name of their Master Jesus Christ to exorcise evil spirits. While the context - to exorcise evil spirit - can be rightly intended by the two brands, the content of No Name brand is not the same as that of all genuine brands. Eventually, the No Name contest in Ephesus led to the purging of the content of vessels, who would later be the medium for the message of salvation and deliverance. Unfortunately, the life ...

“And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭18:27-28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.18.27-28.nkjv The ministerial challenge from Apollos' crossover from Ephesus to Achaia can easily be likened to a material change in curriculum, when promotion from a grade level to a higher grade is experienced. Although the idea of promotion easily comes with great excitement, there is a possibility of experiencing a panic attack with advances in the level of challenges in the school work requirements, especially when the only source of strength is based on human or natural abilities and intelligence. It is rightly said that "the will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you". However, a daily dose of God's grace ...

“Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭18:9-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.18.9-10.nkjv Specialization in professional and ministerial calling is often influenced by personal biases, rather than a clear passion for excellence. Notwithstanding, consistency in the pursuit of specialization receives encouragement from the good background of interpersonal relationships. For example, the passion for the evangelization of the Jews by Paul was borne out of his cultural bias and the deep background of interpersonal relationships with the Jewish religious beliefs. But when he was called out to focus on ministering to the gentile, there was no intent for discrimination in the call for specialization. Discrimination in the pursuit of specialization is observed to be influenced by negative mindsets, like fear, reve...

“...so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:27-28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.17.27-28.nkjv The knowledge of God is not meant to be limited to human gravitation to worship, but the daily manifestation of God's divine ability in the affairs of man. Like the Areopaghites, the acknowledgment of the existence of God leads many to a daily worship of the 'Unknown God' - without a notable evidence of His influence in our everyday life. Whereas, God speaks daily through life's activities and experiences, more than or without man's appreciation of His abiding residency. The creation of an artificial God out of human devotion, activities and interest in life represents a notable idol and a distraction from the needed appreciation of the exist...

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols...For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:16, 21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.17.16,21.nkjv Lessons from experiences and interactions with people and places in the past are not always resourceful to a progressive adventures, especially when they provoke malice, resentment, and discouragement. While old oppositions are always singular in their objective of closing new opportunities, forward facing men deactivate the memory of old oppositions in order to keep their eyes on new opportunities. For example, while waiting for the reunion with his dispersed colleagues at Athen, Paul was provoked to engage the Athenians in their worship places and marketplace with the gospel message. Resentment and discouragement by the consistent actions of the Jews in ...

“These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.17.11.nkjv Thomas A. Edison's famous quote that "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" appears to provide a quantitative analysis of the time resource to be invested on both inspiration and perspiration, without necessarily alluding to the qualitative edge of the former over the latter. However, being the human component of the expected inputs, perspiration have succeeded in producing close-minded professionals and the ordinary people in our social world. Opinions are formed or deformed merely based on pre-conceived ideologies. Whereas, openness to divine inspiration can always provide new and better ways of life; and probably an alternative direction for efficient project execution. The attitude of the ...