Cancel Culture: Not a new phenomenon

I am preparing to study the Word of God tonight with our middle school kids at AWANA. Our lesson is about transformation. These kids have been studying the book of Acts this school year and their passage tonight is Acts 9:19-31. Saul encountered the resurrected Jesus Christ and it transformed his life. He even demonstrated that transformation by changing his name from Saul to Paul. We know him today as the Apostle Paul. Before encountering the resurrected Jesus Christ, Saul was a murderer. He hated Christians and persecuted them in every way possible. From this moment on, Paul preaches the Jesus he once opposed. This proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ leads us to our examination of Cancel Culture. It is not a modern phenomenon. It has been around as long as sin has been around.

Culture changing Gospel message

I have studied Acts 19 on several different occasions but this time the words seemed to jump off of the page. I’m preparing our Connect Group lesson plan for next Sunday as we continue walking through the New Testament on our 3 year journey through the entire Bible. It has been a journey and I cannot believe that this quarter will wrap up the trip. Along the way, many have confided in me that this is the first time that they have read through the entire Bible, cover to cover. I continue to meet more and more people with this testimony. That is one reason that I enjoy this Gospel Project approach to reading through the Scriptures.

The Church in Action (Acts 11)

After the past year, I feel that many of us would love to see the church in action. Many churches shut down in March of 2020 and they still have not opened the doors one year later. I personally know people who have not been able to attend a church physically during the past year. Some churches shut the door and went “dark”. What do I mean by “dark”? The church leadership was not putting out any teaching. Is it okay for a church to go dark? What happened to the church in the First Century when persecution brought actual death to the disciples of Jesus Christ? In 2020, many churches shut down because of the fear of death without actually facing the threat of death. What happened during the First Century when disciples were actually dying simply for meeting as followers of Christ? Let’s see how that church compares to many churches of 2020 and 2021.

Patriotism and the Gospel

Did the title get your attention? I hope that it did. I have recently seen a lot of information coming from pastors, good God-fearing men, who claim that the idea of patriotism is not Biblical. Do you agree with that statement? I sure don’t because I see the exact opposite taught in the Scriptures.

Why should a Christian attend worship services regularly?

This is a translation of an article written by my mentor, Vasile Filat. There is a link to the original article here. It was originally written in Romanian.

Once, when I was traveling on a mission trip I sat next to a fellow passenger on an airplane and we started a discussion en route to our destination. I shared with the person that I am a pastor. My new friend proudly proclaimed that he was also a Christian. I asked him what denomination his church was and his response was, “I do not attend worship services at the church. My faith is personal and I have my own reason for not attending worship services.” Are you familiar with a response like this? Maybe you have used this line of reasoning. It is not a good idea for Christians to ignore the regular attendance of worship services and here is why:

Paul’s Journey to Rome

This lesson for our Connect Group classes will carry us to the end of the book of Acts. The book of Acts has a peculiar ending. Actually, it does not end. The book concludes with Paul in Rome preaching the Gospel and teaching the Word of God. The idea is that the ministry has continued uninterrupted until this very moment. In a way, even though Paul went to glory long ago, the ministry that he started still continues on to this day. Some mission movements have named themselves Acts 29 because the modern church is living out Acts 29. Every generation of Christians lives out Acts 29.

A faithful witness for Christ

Once again, I sit here studying to prepare for our Connect Group teachers’ meeting coming up this weekend. In our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are picking up our study of the book the Acts of the Apostles. Our focus now, is the faithful ministry of the Apostle Paul. In our previous lesson, we covered Acts 23, learning about the Apostle Paul, the pesky preacher. This lesson is a continuation of Paul’s witness of Christ before his captors. This lesson will cover Acts chapters 24-26. Our goal is to give an overview of these chapters, focusing on how the Apostle Paul stayed faithful to his calling of being a witness for Christ, even in the face of heavy ridicule and persecution. Could the same calling be true for YOU and for ME? The answer is a resounding YES!!! Let’s what insights we can glean from Paul’s faithful example.

Paul the pesky preacher

This coming Sunday, we are going to begin a new quarter in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. At the beginning of the year, we dove into the book of Acts. Then we moved into the epistles. Now we are going back to Acts and pick up where we left off. We left Acts after chapter 20 when Paul gave his final charge to the church leaders before heading to Jerusalem where he had already been forewarned of the persecution and imprisonment that awaited him. This is where we are going to pick back up this week, in Acts 23. In order to get caught up with what happened in chapters 21-22, I want to give a quick summary of those chapters.

Resolving serious conflict

In our Sunday School classes at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we have been walking through the book of Acts. It has been an awesome series as we have learned the secret to the success of the early church. They were led by the Holy Spirit. What does that look like in a practical manner? The answer is found in the book of Acts.

A Holy Spirit empowered Witness

In our Sunday School classes at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are walking through the New Testament book of Acts. We have covered some great topics so far such as:

• The Giving of the Holy Spirit
• Peter and John testifying about Christ
• Serving according to your Spiritual Gifts

The theme of the book of Acts is in chapter 1, verse 8. The Holy Spirit is going to empower followers of Jesus Christ to testify about what they have seen, heard, and experienced while walking with Jesus Christ. All 120 of the believers received the Holy Spirit and all 120 of the believers began to proclaim the mighty deeds of God. Peter stood up and preached the message of the Gospel and 3,000 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Immediately, 6 things began to happen on a daily basis.