Acts & John
So, during Lent, I figured I’d start reading my Bible (or at least something from BibleGateway) each morning when I get to work. This has become a regular part of my morning devotion time.
I just finished the book of Acts. Wow. Paul was a pretty busy guy. Being so involved in the Church, I found this book to be both inspirational and instructional. Paul ran into a lot of different situations in the cities and towns he visited. That certainly happens in the Church too. It was interesting to see how Paul handled each group of Jews differently. I guess he had a certain “policy” or some guidelines that he used, but he didn’t seem to always stick to the book. He handled each individual group with grace and love, but efach time that grace and love was expressed in a different way. I think the institutional Church could learn a lot from Paul.
Since finishing Acts, I just started reading John today. Unlike the other Gospels, John is a bit more poetic. Though I love the way it’s written, I find that I have to keep re-reading lines to make sure I’m taking in as much as I can. Mark’s a lot easier to read -- pretty straight forward and easy to understand. Maybe God wants me to dig a little deeper in John.
I think I’m going to alternate between some of Paul’s letters and the Gospels for a while. That should give me a reminder of what the Church was doing as well as what Jesus did. I think it will be interested to compare/contrast the two.
Blessings,
Ben
I just finished the book of Acts. Wow. Paul was a pretty busy guy. Being so involved in the Church, I found this book to be both inspirational and instructional. Paul ran into a lot of different situations in the cities and towns he visited. That certainly happens in the Church too. It was interesting to see how Paul handled each group of Jews differently. I guess he had a certain “policy” or some guidelines that he used, but he didn’t seem to always stick to the book. He handled each individual group with grace and love, but efach time that grace and love was expressed in a different way. I think the institutional Church could learn a lot from Paul.
Since finishing Acts, I just started reading John today. Unlike the other Gospels, John is a bit more poetic. Though I love the way it’s written, I find that I have to keep re-reading lines to make sure I’m taking in as much as I can. Mark’s a lot easier to read -- pretty straight forward and easy to understand. Maybe God wants me to dig a little deeper in John.
I think I’m going to alternate between some of Paul’s letters and the Gospels for a while. That should give me a reminder of what the Church was doing as well as what Jesus did. I think it will be interested to compare/contrast the two.
Blessings,
Ben