Judean Jews were responding to the gospel message but a bunch of Greek-speaking Jews strenuously opposed it.  Unable to win their argument in public debate, they brought entirely trumped-up charges against Stephen, and they raised a mob to pressure the Sanhedrin into putting him on trial.

Something we would find reprehensible in another, we find a way to excuse in ourselves. 

There are good reasons why we do not consider a single verse or phrase to be sufficient evidence for a first principle.

God, our heavenly Father, is doing with us as He did with Jesus! He claims us! Declares we are His. 

I have to ask, when was the last time you heard about a new church blossoming in another country, and immediately sat down to write them a letter?  Yeah, me either.

Leavened bread, unleavened bread, or matzo? Mogen David, Moscato, or grape juice? Who knew the Memorial Service could be so complicated? My earliest memories were of one cup of wine, and brothers or sisters worrying about the germs that would be shared.

The vast majority of the parables Jesus told arrive somewhere – that is, they have an ending, we know how they turn out. 

It matters that there were eyewitnesses, and that it was no secret who they were. 

Wait, just a little longer.  But we’re like children; “a little longer” feels like forever.

Yearning is defined as “longing” for something.  Some dictionaries add that it’s “persistent”, some describe it as “often melancholy”, some add “especially for something you cannot have”. 

God’s teachings are so often done via metaphor, and the harvest is a rich one.

“What could go wrong?” You would never say that, right?  Are you really sure?  Because we humans do it a lot, even if not in those exact words.  In fact if we voiced the words we might do better, because there is always something that can go wrong, and we know it.