Bulan Community Baptist Church

06/24/2026

June 24

One of my favorite heroes in the Bible is David. I love this from Pastor Exley.

When the Psalmist speaks of the valley of the shadow of death, he’s alluding to every difficult experience we face in life. One that comes readily to mind is suffering; that place where our faith is tried. Suffering comes in many forms. Whatever form it takes it will likely tempt us to blame God or at least to doubt Him. So, what can we do when suffering cuts us off at the knees. We can do what David. 1 Samuel 30:6 says,

“David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

-- 1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV)

Lord Jesus, when we are tempted to give help us to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. Enable us to live victoriously even in the midst of great suffering. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.

From the Daily Bread --
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

The rich man was trusting in himself, his good works, and his wealth for eternal life rather than in God (Matthew 19:16-22). To highlight the impossibility that he could enter heaven based on his own merits, Jesus said it would be easier for a large camel to go through the small eye of a needle than for a rich man to save himself (v. 23). The Jewish belief at that time was that God bestowed wealth on the deserving. If a moral and rich person who had God’s favor couldn’t make it into heaven, then seemingly no one could (v. 25). Christ says it’s impossible for humans to save themselves but “with God all things are possible” (v. 26). God did the impossible and the unthinkable when “he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him” would “have eternal life” (John 3:16). As believers in Jesus, we can trust God—who can do the impossible—to help us.

K.T. Sim

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Acts 26 - in The Message

“I Couldn’t Just Walk Away”
1-3 Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: “Go ahead—tell us about yourself.”

Paul took the stand and told his story. “I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

4-8 “From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up—and if they were willing to stick their necks out they’d tell you in person—knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors—the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries—it’s because I have held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the ones standing trial here, not me! For the life of me, I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.

9-11 “I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers—I had no idea they were God’s people!—into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their ex*****on. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.

12-14 “One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

15-16 “I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

“The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I’ve handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

06/23/2026

June 23
Love this from From Our Daily Bread - we've talked about it a bunch of times... do we have the JOY in our hearts and do we SHOW IT?

Shining Faces

Exodus 34:29-35ODBM.Web.Infrastructure.Content.ContentTypes.Links.AriaLabelledLinkItem

READ Exodus 34:29-35

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“He has a sugar face!” our vet exclaimed as she gave our young dog his annual checkup. “A sugar face?” I asked. “It’s a term used for retrievers whose faces turn prematurely white,” she replied, smiling. “It’s just a sign of the sweetness inside.”

Reflecting on that moment later, I thought about what shows up on my face when others meet me. Do they catch a glimpse of “the sweetness inside,” the transforming power of Jesus’ love in my heart and life? The Bible tells of the breathtaking moments when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after spending days in God’s presence. Moses “was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord,” so radiant that the people “were afraid to come near him” (Exodus 34:29-30). To avoid frightening them further, Moses “put a veil over his face” and removed it when “he went in to speak with the Lord” (vv. 33, 35).

Moses was of course literally speaking with God “face to face” (33:11), a unique moment in the Bible. But Scripture also reminds us that we who know God through Christ “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). His presence within us can be winsome to others—a work of God’s love. Our faces may not shine like Moses’ did, but as we spend time in God’s presence, He’ll become increasingly evident in us.

By James Banks

REFLECT & PRAY

How is God’s love evident in your life? How might you share it with others today?

Please let my face shine with Your love, dear Father, that others may love You too!

https://pre.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/shining-faces?ts=1782172800000

:READ:
Acts 25 - in The Message

13-17 A few days later King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice, visited Caesarea to welcome Festus to his new post. After several days, Festus brought up Paul’s case to the king. “I have a man on my hands here, a prisoner left by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the high priests and Jewish leaders brought a bunch of accusations against him and wanted me to sentence him to death. I told them that wasn’t the way we Romans did things. Just because a man is accused, we don’t throw him out to the dogs. We make sure the accused has a chance to face his accusers and defend himself of the charges. So when they came down here I got right on the case. I took my place in the courtroom and put the man on the stand.

18-21 “The accusers came at him from all sides, but their accusations turned out to be nothing more than arguments about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who the prisoner claimed was alive. Since I’m a newcomer here and don’t understand everything involved in cases like this, I asked if he’d be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there. Paul refused and demanded a hearing before His Majesty in our highest court. So I ordered him returned to custody until I could send him to Caesar in Rome.”

22 Agrippa said, “I’d like to see this man and hear his story.”

“Good,” said Festus. “We’ll bring him in first thing in the morning and you’ll hear it for yourself.”

23 The next day everybody who was anybody in Caesarea found his way to the Great Hall, along with the top military brass. Agrippa and Bernice made a flourishing grand entrance and took their places. Festus then ordered Paul brought in.

24-26 Festus said, “King Agrippa and distinguished guests, take a good look at this man. A bunch of Jews petitioned me first in Jerusalem, and later here, to do away with him. They have been most vehement in demanding his ex*****on. I looked into it and decided that he had committed no crime. He requested a trial before Caesar and I agreed to send him to Rome. But what am I going to write to my master, Caesar? All the charges made by the Jews were fabrications, and I’ve uncovered nothing else.

26-27 “That’s why I’ve brought him before this company, and especially you, King Agrippa: so we can come up with something in the nature of a charge that will hold water. For it seems to me silly to send a prisoner all that way for a trial and not be able to document what he did wrong.”

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

“He has a sugar face!” our vet exclaimed as she gave our young dog his...

06/22/2026

June 22

We had a good service yesterday -- part 2 of being a "COOL DAD" will come next Sunday. Please say a prayer today for Jimmy (has a procedure today) and Lisa his wife.

From Our Daily Bread -

My great-uncle’s memorial service featured a meal of roast beef, corn, and beans to honor the hospitality that he and his wife had lived out for many years. Each Sunday morning, they would put a large roast and veggies in the Crock-Pot before going to church. After the service, they would look for someone to invite for lunch. Sometimes it was a good friend, sometimes a stranger. Either way, they made sure there was plenty of food at home and those afternoons were especially set aside for hospitality.

Their Sunday habit required an intentional readiness for generosity. The Israelites followed a similar pattern. Through Moses, God commanded them to leave a portion of their food “for the poor and the foreigner” (Leviticus 19:10). During harvest time, they were instructed not to reap to the edges of their field, leave what had fallen, and not re-harvest their vineyards (vv. 9-10). With these redeeming methods, those who didn’t own land could still work to gather food. For the people of God, this wasn’t a one-time, spontaneous act—although that can be a beautiful blessing too. It was how they lived year after year.

There are opportunities all around us to show Jesus’ hospitable love. Some we can’t prepare for; some we can. As God helps us, let’s consider how we can treat others kindly today (v. 33).

By Karen Pimpo

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Acts 25 - in The Message

An Appeal to Caesar
1-3 Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take up his duties as governor, he went up to Jerusalem. The high priests and top leaders renewed their vendetta against Paul. They asked Festus if he wouldn’t please do them a favor by sending Paul to Jerusalem to respond to their charges. A lie, of course—they had revived their old plot to set an ambush and kill him along the way.

4-5 Festus answered that Caesarea was the proper jurisdiction for Paul, and that he himself was going back there in a few days. “You’re perfectly welcome,” he said, “to go back with me then and accuse him of whatever you think he’s done wrong.”

6-7 About eight or ten days later, Festus returned to Caesarea. The next morning he took his place in the courtroom and had Paul brought in. The minute he walked in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem were all over him, hurling the most extreme accusations, none of which they could prove.

8 Then Paul took the stand and said simply, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the Jewish religion, or the Temple, or Caesar. Period.”

9 Festus, though, wanted to get on the good side of the Jews and so said, “How would you like to go up to Jerusalem, and let me conduct your trial there?”

10-11 Paul answered, “I’m standing at this moment before Caesar’s bar of justice, where I have a perfect right to stand. And I’m going to keep standing here. I’ve done nothing wrong to the Jews, and you know it as well as I do. If I’ve committed a crime and deserve death, name the day. I can face it. But if there’s nothing to their accusations—and you know there isn’t—nobody can force me to go along with their nonsense. We’ve fooled around here long enough. I appeal to Caesar.”

12 Festus huddled with his advisors briefly and then gave his verdict: “You’ve appealed to Caesar; you’ll go to Caesar!”

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

06/21/2026

June 21

Happy Father's Day!!

Today we're going to preach about how to be a COOL DAD -- please say a pray for us. I got a message yesterday morning from a dear friend Kenny Klinglesmith, our family has been friends with their family for as long as I can remember. He wrote something about DAD I want to share with you -

https://open.substack.com/pub/theremarkableordinary/p/killing-cynicism-through-9am-saturday?r=4soroe&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Please put Kenny on your prayer list for me. Pray that God will continue to use him.

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Acts 24 - in The Message

14-15 “But I do freely admit this: In regard to the Way, which they malign as a dead-end street, I serve and worship the very same God served and worshiped by all our ancestors and embrace everything written in all our Scriptures. And I admit to living in hopeful anticipation that God will raise the dead, both the good and the bad. If that’s my crime, my accusers are just as guilty as I am.

16-19 “Believe me, I do my level best to keep a clear conscience before God and my neighbors in everything I do. I’ve been out of the country for a number of years and now I’m back. While I was away, I took up a collection for the poor and brought that with me, along with offerings for the Temple. It was while making those offerings that they found me quietly at my prayers in the Temple. There was no crowd, there was no disturbance. It was some Jews from around Ephesus who started all this trouble. And you’ll notice they’re not here today. They’re cowards, too cowardly to accuse me in front of you.

20-21 “So ask these others what crime they’ve caught me in. Don’t let them hide behind this smooth-talking Tertullus. The only thing they have on me is that one sentence I shouted out in the council: ‘It’s because I believe in the resurrection that I’ve been hauled into this court!’ Does that sound to you like grounds for a criminal case?”

22-23 Felix waffled. He knew far more about the Way than he let on, and could have settled the case then and there. But uncertain of his best move politically, he played for time. “When Captain Lysias comes down, I’ll decide your case.” He gave orders to the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to more or less give him the run of the place and not prevent his friends from helping him.

24-26 A few days later Felix and his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, sent for Paul and listened to him talk about a life of believing in Jesus Christ. As Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and his people, about a life of moral discipline and the coming Judgment, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort and dismissed him. “That’s enough for today. I’ll call you back when it’s convenient.” At the same time he was secretly hoping that Paul would offer him a substantial bribe. These conversations were repeated frequently.

27 After two years of this, Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. Still playing up to the Jews and ignoring justice, Felix left Paul in prison.

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

The Remarkable Ordinary #54: Kenny Klingesmith on How an Ordinary Appalachian Coal Town Pastor's Life and Death Rescued Me From Cynicism

06/20/2026

June 20

Dr. J talks about
Spiritual Gifts

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:4

The apostle Paul talked about spiritual gifts in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. In studying these passages we can determine that a spiritual gift is a capacity the Holy Spirit places within us for serving God in the unique way He has designed for us. When the Holy Spirit came to live within your heart, He gave you spiritual gifts. Every Christian has at least one.

Recommended Reading:
Romans 12:3-8

Dr. A. T. Pierson said, “Everyone has some gift, therefore all should be encouraged. No one has all the gifts, therefore all should be humble. All the gifts are for one Body, therefore all should be harmonious. All the gifts are needful, therefore all should be faithful.”

One of the best ways of discovering your spiritual gifts is seeing how God uses you. What do you enjoy doing for Him? What does He seem to bless? What areas of Christian service ignite your passion?

Ask God to show you the gift He has given you for service and then go to work!

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
Leo Buscaglia

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Acts 24 - in the The Message

Paul States His Defense
24 1-4 Within five days, the Chief Priest Ananias arrived with a contingent of leaders, along with Tertullus, a trial lawyer. They presented the governor with their case against Paul. When Paul was called before the court, Tertullus spoke for the prosecution: “Most Honorable Felix, we are most grateful in all times and places for your wise and gentle rule. We are much aware that it is because of you and you alone that we enjoy all this peace and gain daily profit from your reforms. I’m not going to tire you out with a long speech. I beg your kind indulgence in listening to me. I’ll be quite brief.

5-8 “We’ve found this man time and again disturbing the peace, stirring up riots against Jews all over the world, the ringleader of a seditious sect called Nazarenes. He’s a real bad apple, I must say. We caught him trying to defile our holy Temple and arrested him. You’ll be able to verify all these accusations when you examine him yourself.”

9 The Jews joined in: “Hear, hear! That’s right!”

10-13 The governor motioned to Paul that it was now his turn. Paul said, “I count myself fortunate to be defending myself before you, Governor, knowing how fair-minded you’ve been in judging us all these years. I’ve been back in the country only twelve days—you can check out these dates easily enough. I came with the express purpose of worshiping in Jerusalem on Pentecost, and I’ve been minding my own business the whole time. Nobody can say they saw me arguing in the Temple or working up a crowd in the streets. Not one of their charges can be backed up with evidence or witnesses.

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

06/19/2026

June 19

A great reminder that we have the KING of KINGs on our side. From our Daily Bread.

The Path of Life

READ Proverbs 3:1-6

He was born a slave in the 1860s. A sickly baby, he was sold to a slave owner for the cost of a horse. As a teenager, he witnessed the killing of a black man by a group of white people. Remarkably, George excelled in school, but when he applied to Highland University in Kansas, he was denied admission because of his skin color. Yet through it all, the young man maintained a deep faith in God. George Washington Carver’s life verse was Proverbs 3:6: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

We sometimes feel overwhelmed by our circumstances. We experience setbacks. We find ourselves at a loss for where we should go. But Proverbs encourages us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (v. 5). This is the Bible’s way of saying, “Let go and let God” lead your life.

George Washington Carver followed God’s path, persevering against all odds, teaching himself botany and geology and eventually becoming a renowned scientist. He famously developed hundreds of uses for the peanut plant but also developed methods of crop rotation that revolutionized agriculture in the United States. God has a way of making the best out of bad situations. Whatever you’re facing today, the key is to “acknowledge Him” and listen for His voice. Watch Him open up the paths of your life.

By Kenneth Petersen

REFLECT & PRAY

What circumstances are troubling you? How can you seek God’s direction for your life?

Loving God, please help me focus on You always and listen for Your direction for my life.

https://pre.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/the-path-of-life?ts=1781827200000

:READ:
Acts 23 - in the The Message

A Plot Against Paul
11 That night the Master appeared to Paul: “It’s going to be all right. Everything is going to turn out for the best. You’ve been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now you’re going to be my witness in Rome!”

12-15 Next day the Jews worked up a plot against Paul. They took a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed him. Over forty of them ritually bound themselves to this murder pact and presented themselves to the high priests and religious leaders. “We’ve bound ourselves by a solemn oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. But we need your help. Send a request from the council to the captain to bring Paul back so that you can investigate the charges in more detail. We’ll do the rest. Before he gets anywhere near you, we’ll have killed him. You won’t be involved.”

16-17 Paul’s nephew, his sister’s son, overheard them plotting the ambush. He went immediately to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called over one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something important to tell him.”

18 The centurion brought him to the captain and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He said he has something urgent to tell you.”

19 The captain took him by the arm and led him aside privately. “What is it? What do you have to tell me?”

20-21 Paul’s nephew said, “The Jews have worked up a plot against Paul. They’re going to ask you to bring Paul to the council first thing in the morning on the pretext that they want to investigate the charges against him in more detail. But it’s a trick to get him out of your safekeeping so they can murder him. Right now there are more than forty men lying in ambush for him. They’ve all taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until they’ve killed him. The ambush is set—all they’re waiting for is for you to send him over.”

22 The captain dismissed the nephew with a warning: “Don’t breathe a word of this to a soul.”

23-24 The captain called up two centurions. “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go immediately to Caesarea. Also seventy cavalry and two hundred light infantry. I want them ready to march by nine o’clock tonight. And you’ll need a couple of mules for Paul and his gear. We’re going to present this man safe and sound to Governor Felix.”

25-30 Then he wrote this letter:

From Claudius Lysias, to the Most Honorable Governor Felix:

Greetings!

I rescued this man from a Jewish mob. They had seized him and were about to kill him when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. So I sent in my soldiers. Wanting to know what he had done wrong, I had him brought before their council. It turned out to be a squabble turned vicious over some of their religious differences, but nothing remotely criminal.

The next thing I knew, they had cooked up a plot to murder him. I decided that for his own safety I’d better get him out of here in a hurry. So I’m sending him to you. I’m informing his accusers that he’s now under your jurisdiction.

31-33 The soldiers, following orders, took Paul that same night to safety in Antipatris. In the morning the soldiers returned to their barracks in Jerusalem, sending Paul on to Caesarea under guard of the cavalry. The cavalry entered Caesarea and handed Paul and the letter over to the governor.

34-35 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from and was told “Cilicia.” Then he said, “I’ll take up your case when your accusers show up.” He ordered him locked up for the meantime in King Herod’s official quarters.

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

He was born a slave in the 1860s. A sickly baby, he was sold to a slave owner for ...

06/18/2026

June 18

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." This is a beautifully comforting verse from Psalm 46:1

Our Daily Bread reminds of that today... Thank you Jesus for always being there for ME!!

Taking Refuge in God

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. Psalm 91:2

READ Psalm 91:9-16

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As the outdoor concert started, I felt a single raindrop on my cheek. Looking up, I saw ominous dark clouds. Having paid a steep price for tickets, however, I wasn’t inclined to leave because of a little bad weather. Then umbrellas began to pop open. One woman pulled a plastic grocery bag over her hair. It took just one deafening boom of thunder for the performer to grab her microphone and beg us to take refuge somewhere.

As the rain began to come in torrents, we splashed through muddy puddles and rushed into a nearby school gym. Thoroughly soaked, we huddled with strangers for the next half hour, still hoping the storm would end. When we ventured back out, we saw that the band was packed up and ready to leave.

When the storms of life come, where can we run? Sorrow, worry, illness, and confusion can make us fearful and in need of refuge. We need a strong shelter that’ll protect us. Psalm 91 reminds us that God has promised to rescue us and to be with us in trouble. “Because he loves me . . . I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name” (v. 14). When we need help, we can call on His name and He “will answer” us (v. 15).

When our courage fails us, we can lean into His strength. He’s our shelter in any storm.

By Cindy Hess Kasper

https://odb.org/2026/06/18/run-for-shelter

:READ:
Acts 23 - in the The Message

Before the High Council
23 1-3 Paul surveyed the members of the council with a steady gaze, and then said his piece: “Friends, I’ve lived with a clear conscience before God all my life, up to this very moment.” That set the Chief Priest Ananias off. He ordered his aides to slap Paul in the face. Paul shot back, “God will slap you down! What a fake you are! You sit there and judge me by the Law and then break the Law by ordering me slapped around!”

4 The aides were scandalized: “How dare you talk to God’s Chief Priest like that!”

5 Paul acted surprised. “How was I to know he was Chief Priest? He doesn’t act like a Chief Priest. You’re right, the Scripture does say, ‘Don’t speak abusively to a ruler of the people.’ Sorry.”

6 Paul, knowing some of the council was made up of Sadducees and others of Pharisees and how they hated each other, decided to exploit their antagonism: “Friends, I am a stalwart Pharisee from a long line of Pharisees. It’s because of my Pharisee convictions—the hope and resurrection of the dead—that I’ve been hauled into this court.”

7-9 The moment he said this, the council split right down the middle, Pharisees and Sadducees going at each other in heated argument. Sadducees have nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all. And so a huge and noisy quarrel broke out. Then some of the religion scholars on the Pharisee side shouted down the others: “We don’t find anything wrong with this man! And what if a spirit has spoken to him? Or maybe an angel? What if it turns out we’re fighting against God?”

10 That was fuel on the fire. The quarrel flamed up and became so violent the captain was afraid they would tear Paul apart, limb from limb. He ordered the soldiers to get him out of there and es**rt him back to the safety of the barracks.

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

As the outdoor concert started, I felt a single raindrop on my cheek. Looking up, I saw ominous dark clouds. Having paid a steep price for tickets, however, I wasn’t inclined to leave because of a little bad weather. Then umbrellas began to pop open. One woman pulled a plastic grocery bag over her...

06/17/2026

June 17

A great reminder from Our Daily Bread to keep lifting up our friends (that is you :)) in prayer... every day. Don't forget the prayer list.

https://odb.org/2026/06/17/with-friends-like-these
With Friends Like These . . .

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13

READ Job 11:7-20

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“I know you better than you know yourself!” As a young man, I heard that confident declaration from a friend. Her intentions were good, but my complicated life as an adopted missionary kid had been shaped across four continents and cultures. She didn’t really know me.

Zophar, a friend of Job’s, sounded wise in his assessment of Job’s difficulties. “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?” Zophar asked him (Job 11:7). “They are higher than the heavens above” (v. 8). Who can argue with that? But then Zophar dared speak of something he couldn’t know: Job’s heart. Without evidence, he proclaimed, “If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then . . . you will stand firm and without fear” (vv. 14-15).

Job responded sarcastically, “Wisdom will die with you! But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?” (12:2-3). Job’s reality was so complex that even he didn’t know what was taking place (see Job 1-2). He correctly said, “To God belong wisdom and power” (12:13). It didn’t come from Zophar, who presumed to have authority and insight that weren’t his.

Our friends may need our loving counsel from time to time. But usually friends in crisis need us to bring their names in prayer to the one who truly does know them.

By Tim Gustafson

:READ:
Acts 22 - in the The Message

A Roman Citizen
22-25 The people in the crowd had listened attentively up to this point, but now they broke loose, shouting out, “Kill him! He’s an insect! Stomp on him!” They shook their fists. They filled the air with curses. That’s when the captain intervened and ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence. As they spread-eagled him with strips of leather, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?”

26 When the centurion heard that, he went directly to the captain. “Do you realize what you’ve done? This man is a Roman citizen!”

27 The captain came back and took charge. “Is what I hear right? You’re a Roman citizen?”

Paul said, “I certainly am.”

28 The captain was impressed. “I paid a huge sum for my citizenship. How much did it cost you?”

“Nothing,” said Paul. “It cost me nothing. I was free from the day of my birth.”

29 That put a stop to the interrogation. And it put the fear of God into the captain. He had put a Roman citizen in chains and come within a whisker of putting him under torture!

30 The next day, determined to get to the root of the trouble and know for sure what was behind the Jewish accusation, the captain released Paul and ordered a meeting of the high priests and the High Council to see what they could make of it. Paul was led in and took his place before them.

We love you ALL -- KEEP LOOKING UP!

“I know you better than you know yourself!” As a young man, I heard that confident declaration from a friend. Her intentions were good, but my complicated life as an adopted missionary kid had been shaped across four continents and cultures. She didn’t really know me. Zophar, a friend of Job.....