The Book of Acts: Or how to start a riot

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My women's bible study group has been studying the book of Acts since last spring, I think. We take time off for school holidays and summer break so I don't remember any more when we actually. We're only up to chapter 20. So far I think the working title of the book could have been, "How to Start a Riot, Get Yourself Beaten Up, and Get Thrown Into Jail All In a Day's Work." Or it could have been called, "The Unstoppable Power of God." Acts details the exploits of Peter, Paul, and a host of others. What really strikes me about the book so far is the utter futility of trying to stop the spread of the gospel. (I wrote a bit about this here.) Everywhere the apostles went someone reacted violently to the spread of the gospel. When those threatened by the preaching of the gospel tried to stop it the end result was more people coming to Christ. It's a reminder to relatively comfortable and prosperous western Christians what real persecution looks likes. It is also a reminder that no matter what the world may throw at you the will of God prevails.

One really remarkable episode is when the powers that be try to stop Paul from preaching. They tried to stop him not because they thought what he was preaching was wrong. They knew he was right but they resented losing their influence over the people who became followers of Christ through his preaching. But the gospel prevailed.

The passage about Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch reminded me of the fallacy of the claim that Christianity is the "white man's" religion. Yeah I've hear people say it. I've always dismissed it because it is just plain stupid. It's just plain false as well. Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch resulted in the establishment of Christianity in Africa that remains to this day. Not even blind ignorance and racism can stop God.

I'm looking forward into delving into the insights in the rest of the book of Acts.

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