Heralds Digest

  “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭ 20:24 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/act.20.24.nkjv The race for relevance in the family, fellowship and the fields of life’s endeavour is built for real man, especially those who are prepared for its accompanying sacrifices. But when someone said in reference to the battles of life ‘ you win some, you lose some’ , it becomes obvious the challenges of prioritizing the diversity of interests in the race of life. However, among the divers of considerations and criteria in the race of life, real men are expected to respect the axiom that if ‘ you win some, you lose some ’, you must live to fight again. Unfortunately, by the consideration ‘nor do I count my life dear to myself’, Paul’s criterion here appeared and will always appear stupid until the understan...

  “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 https://www.bible.com/114/act.17.27-28.nkjv The concept of creativity can be viewed from the perspective of both the Creator and the creatures. Albeit, it is understandable why we are limited to easily grope for the creatures’ perspective. Unfortunately, as knowledge and technology advances, innovation and creativity have further strengthen the relevance of the creatures’ perspective. However, to the philosophers in Athens, Paul presented the Creator’s perspective as the most reliable view on the subject of creativity. While no one can by knowledge search find out God, all of man’s creativity are within His creation. And when we became messed up by sin and cannot deliver ourselves by our creativity, ...

  “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭13:38-39‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/act.13.38-39.nkjv Although the race for relevance has compelled man to master divers tricks, the redemption road has defiled all forms of mastery that are powered by race. While religion represents a typical type of race towards securing the favour of God, none of it can provide the forgiveness of sins and justification from sinful practices. Being a perfect recipient of a dramatic transformation after a wasteful pursuit of freedom by race, Paul presented the true Saviour - Jesus Christ - the Lamb of God and the Justifier of all men, who brought grace down to replace the needless and fruitless race in life. Yes, salvation from sin is a gift of grace and not a game of race. Unfortunately, many do sti...

  “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭6:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/act.6.7.nkjv Someone once said the devil can be anything but a fool. Against the widespread of the gospel message and the incredible growth in the early church quickly came a weighted accusation of discrimination. Likewise, there are always genuine concerns in every family, assembly and organization where human management is represented. Unknowingly to many often, these distractions are targeted at suspending devotion to the words of the Lord and the pursuit of godliness. While the famous approach to addressing confrontation, concerns or weighted words in believer’s life or affairs is the suspension of the wholesome words, the apostles chose the approach of delegation without losing focus. Prompt attention to words from people in our lives is good; but when this attention is aime...

  “And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭5:40-42‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/act.5.40-42.nkjv Ordinarily, shame wears a bitter taste. Therefore, the prospects of shame bringing joy and refreshments are rear, especially when the motives behind most of human actions are not often pure. Meanwhile, characters like Ananias and Shapphira understand the deadly and damnable cost for their name-seeking and self-gratification services. Whereas, the apostles here provided a distinguishing exception for an experience of joy in moments of shame. Their services were entirely rendered for the name of Jesus, without personal or se...

  “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭ 4:32 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/act.4.32.n Almost everyone in life is open to the service rendering at home, from societal fellowship, and in the larger society, especially when self-interests does not come in the way. Self-interests often restrict free volunteering, stringless services, and humble communication because the volunteered parties involved becomes more visible than the rendered services. Whereas at the early church, the multitude of those who believed were reported to be of one heart and one soul...on the quality of the rendered services. Even at home and in matter relating to the meeting of the challenges of life, whenever ‘ who does what ’ becomes more important than ‘what’s done by whoever’ , arriving at a common agreement must always be a tough call. Unfortunately, s...

  “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2:46-47‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/act.2.46-47.nkjv Those who are genuinely concerned about the real life challenges in the business of soul-winning will always the query the cause of the difference in results between now and the early church. Even starting from the home of today’s evangelists, the concern for the missing link in the expected testimony of salvation ‘ And the Lord added to the church daily...’ is obvious. Couldn’t it be that we have always introduced the complications ‘... the evangelists added to the church daily? ’. And little wonder the absent-mindedness and the insecurity in the hearts of those who are being added to the fellowship of God’s people today. Whereas at the early ch...