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And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

How much of the Bible is for Christians? About 3/4 of the Bible is what we call the Old Testament, but is that still useful for Christians? YES! The whole Bible is about Jesus. It is popular among some circles to be swayed by Jewish rabbinical interpretation of the OT, and I will admit it is helpful to sometimes listen to differing viewpoints, but at the end of the day, Jesus is the center of the whole Bible. Why would we expect people who don’t believe in Jesus to interpret the Bible correctly? Jesus was constantly amazed that Israel missed the fact that all the Scriptures are about Him. Look for Jesus in the OT, you’ll find Him.

And he said to them, “ Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

What is “Discipleship?” As long as I can remember, that’s been a buzzword in the Christian world. “Discipleship” is usually what people say when they are describing a class or a way to help Christians “go deeper” than the basics. Now, I am for helping Christians go deeper in their faith, to know more about God’s word and how to live it out every day, but I don’t think “Discipleship” is the best word for that. In fact, the word “Discipleship” isn’t even a biblical word. The closest we get is when Jesus says we should go and “make disciples” in Matthew 28. But how do you make disciples? Well, you do it by proclaiming the Gospel. Mark 16 has the parallel to this passage. Discipleship (if it is anything) is first telling people the good news that Jesus died for their sins, was raised as the proof that he conquered death, and if they would follow him, they can be saved. When people believe that, are baptized and become part of His church, that’s how disciples are made. Obviously, we are commanded to then teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded… yet, prominent among those commands is to proclaim the Gospel. So let’s boil it down to this: anything we call “discipleship” that doesn’t place the proclamation of the Gospel as a prominent component, isn’t really making disciples. Let’s do that in stead.

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “ Tell people, ‘ His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. ’ And if this comes to the governor ‘s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Sometimes we have the false belief that if we could just articulate the Gospel in the right way, make it relevant, be catchy enough for people to pay attention, grab the right folks and say just the right words, then they will believe. The Bible never depicts the Gospel that way. People don’t reject the gospel because they don’t understand it enough, they reject the Gospel because they don’t believe it. The chief priests were presented with the absolute unshakable eye witness testimony that Jesus is Divine and His message really was true… their response was to keep power, not to repent. Let that sink in. Don’t be like them. Don’t try harder and harder to hold on to your own authority over your life. Think about what it means that Jesus IS Lord. Trust in Him today.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

What has God called you to do? Are you doing it? Ananias and Sapphira didn’t just lie to the church, they didn’t just lie to Peter, they lied to themselves, and worst of all, they lied to God. They had schemed in their hearts to pretend they were more generous than they were. Be careful to give to the Lord that which you’ve been led. You’re not just lying to yourself, you lying to God!

Jesus answered him, “ You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

Who is responsible for the one who makes it into office? Well, we all are. Look, in America (at least in theory) we elect our leaders. Joseph de Maistre (or Alexis de Tocqueville if you simply repost memes) rightly points out that “every country has the government it deserves.” this is especially true in a democratic style government. God does allow our leaders to have the power they have, you can’t get around that, but it also doesn’t lessen our responsibility to work hard to elect good leaders. We the people are responsible, yet, God is in control. Work hard for the truth, but then rest in the Lord.