Truth Encounter: Acts - Impacting Our World

Turn on the news tonight and there is a good chance that you will see a violent mob kicking and beating an innocent victim. Where is God when this kind of violence breaks out in chaos? The first century account of the Apostle Pauls arrest in the Temple begins to give us some answers.

If everything is relative, as we often hear, then why do we still get teary eyed when an army captain is given the medal of honor for risking his life for his comrades and for his mission? If everything is relative, then the soldier who runs away is just as honorable as the one who stays to fight and protect. Deep inside we all know there is a difference; therefore, there are causes worth dying for and the Apostle Paul had a cause even greater than keeping our military oath. What was his mission worth dying for?

Whether its the last words a mom tells her kids before sending them away to camp or the last words a grandfather shares with his family on his death bed, all of us know that when its one's final address, it's time to pay attention. We must pay attention this week to the Apostle Paul's final words to the Ephesian elders because the life of our churches depends upon our obedience to what he says.

Ever hear someone say, "Those traveling evangelists are in it just for the money?" 0r "How about a church that has a teen fall from an unbarred three story window because the preacher spoke for hours and hours?" Shouldn't the long winded preacher get sued?

Religious power plays, mob violence, and crowd control -sounds like the headlines from the streets of Cairo, yet this is what the Apostle Paul encountered when he strongly explained on the streets of Ephesus how the Jewish Scriptures predicted that the Messiah would die and then rise again. Just how did Paul calm an angry mob and advance the Gospel?

"Angels and demons"—put these two words together in a title, tell a riveting story about religious conspiracies, murder, and the power of a good chase, and you've got a best seller. Many of you know how Dan Brown weaves a good story, but have you listened to a more powerful story that God tells about true and false exorcists? Acts 19 tells the truth about apostles and demons.

Ever get discouraged when people don't buy into what you are trying to get across about Jesus? Ever wonder why you don't get the same results as the high profile, media preachers who seem to be always smiling and successful? Maybe it’s time to take a look at real history in the book of Acts. When Paul came to Corinth, he wasn't exactly smiling or motivated.

Ever been asked if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit? How do you respond? How should you respond? Acts 19 tells the strange case of the twelve disciples who had been baptized but didn't know Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Listen to this week's Truth Encounter for some answers about belief, baptism, and the Holy Spirit.

You're sitting in church listening to one of the most powerful, eloquent messages you have ever heard -— captivating, passionate, and rooted in the Bible. Everything is great but one thing -— the message is incomplete. You're only a business person. What should you do about a gifted preacher with an incomplete message?

Heard some messages about Ramadan on the news? There's a good chance that some of your neighbors are keeping this important fast. If we believe in Jesus, how should we respond to the fact that America has an increasing number of Moslems? Anger, fear, or an opportunity to get into conversations where we can help others hear and understand the truth about Jesus? Learn how to know when we must stand against religious tradition because it contradicts the Gospel, and when we can enter into a tradition and use it to promote the Gospel.

Does a business man have the right to publicly share what he believes about biblical marriage and the present push for gay marriage? Should a mayor in Chicago block a restaurant from the city because the business man went public with his belief? This week's Truth Encounter helps us discover how the Apostle Paul handled some delicate issues of free speech, freedom of religion, and sharing the Gospel.

When my kids went to the University of Texas, there was an evangelist who yelled daily on the Quad to the students passing by, "You're sinners --immoral, drunken idolaters. You will burn in hell." There might be a more effective way to connect on a secular campus. In the first century Athens was the University town, and the Apostle Paul's witness in that city can teach us how to reach even a tough university crowd.

Have you ever agonized through a boring sermon? Well, here is one way to inject some excitement when things get dull. Raise your hand and ask a penetrating question about what is being taught and see if you can get the preacher to argue with you. Now I know what you are thinking- “I'd get thrown out of most churches for this kind of impertinence.” Before you shelf the idea, turn to Acts 17 and take a look at how preachers in the first century got across the Message.

Belief in the reality of demons and their ability to possess a human being is viewed by many of the intelligentsia of the West as a relic of the Middle Ages. But try peddling this rejection of the world of the spirits in Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Could it be that the cultural elites in the West have it wrong? What happens when the Gospel invades Serpent territory. This week's Truth Encounter discussing Acts 16 will force you to consider what Dr. Luke had to say about demon possession, fortune-telling, and the money trail.

We hear mostly bad news on the news every night. You would think that those of us who have received the ultimate Good News would be dying to share it, but the truth is that we are often hindered in our attempts. Have you ever considered that some of the blocks to sharing the Gospel could be the Holy Spirit moving you to get connected with those who will respond? Turn to Acts 16 and let’s look at an invasion of Europe that was even more liberating than D-Day.

If there were two people that you could count on to be able to work through conflict, it would be two powerful men of God used to bring thousands to trust in Jesus Christ. That's what made the unresolved disagreement between Jack Wyrtzen and Billy Graham such a challenge to the faith of a young boy and teenager growing up in the Wyrtzen home. Did this evangelist's kid abandon his faith because of conflict? Our Truth Encounter teacher is Jack's son. Listen as Dave shares how the unresolved disagreement between Paul and Barnabas helped him to keep trusting in spite of human weakness.

Rabbis and pastors--one is supposed to take care of Jews and the other is to take care of Christians. One seeks salvation in the Law of Moses and the other seeks salvation in Jesus, but what two thousand years of history has caused many to forget is that the founder of Christianity was a Jew first and that his first century followers had no problem standing up in synagogues to talk to their fellow Jews about Jesus. It's hardly acceptable in our "you have your truth and I have my truth" culture, but maybe to find the truth we should go back and study a first century talk about Jesus in a synagogue. This is what this week's Truth Encounter will help you to do.

The gowns and tuxedos are incredible, but it's the recognition by a group of elite judges and the applause of your peers that generates all the heat in the annual Academy Awards Ceremony. We might not ever get to hold an Oscar, but how does the applause of "our" crowd influence what we say and do? In Acts 14 we get to witness a crowd moving from cheers to boos. Turn to Acts 14 and let's find out the deeper core value that kept Paul and Barnabas proclaiming even when the crowd started throwing something harder than tomatoes.