I have what feels like a terrible confession to make: I wish I loved the last 7 chapters of Acts. But this long section feels long-winded and repetitive. Mind you, there’s lots of action: riots, shipwreck, trials, threats, accusations, more trials, speeches, storms,... The anniversary of 9/11. Hard to believe it’s been 24 years. Unless you’re very young, you have some vivid recollection of where you were, what transpired in your circle, and how it all felt that day. It might be my job to ask What has changed for the church, for... I wonder if they’ll ever make a quality TV series about the journeys of Paul. Just in chapter 21, you have so many intriguing, picturesque details. The scenery would be stunning, as they are skipping along from one Greek island to another – the kinds of places people... The second, long section of Acts 20 describes for us Paul’s departure from Ephesus. When we visit Ephesus today, the shoreline is four miles from the city which in Paul’s day was next to the water – the cumulative effect of silting over the centuries! Paul has been... Paul’s movements are narrated in Acts, chapter 20. He stayed over the winter for three months in Corinth – during which time he wrote Romans! I try to imagine him shivering on a cold, blustery day, pacing the floor, talking out loud as a secretary tried to write it... Read the high drama in Acts 19:23-41. Ephesus was the zenith of ancient culture, featuring one of the seven Wonders of the World: the temple to the fertility goddess Artemis. Little remains of this Wonder that was once massive and magnificent – just the stump of one... Acts 19:8-22 continues the chronicle of Paul’s time in Ephesus – which stretched to nearly 3 years. That’s a long time. We think of Paul as peripatetic, bags packed, covering a lot of ground – which he did. And yet he knew how to stay, and to solidify the fruits of... Acts 19:1-7 lets us listen in on one of countless moments in the earliest days of Christianity when the very best of the believers were still trying to figure things out. Paul arrives in Ephesus, one of the grandest cities of the ancient world, and “finds” a few... Moving on from Athens, Paul comes to Corinth, which today features fabulous ruins from ancient times. Near the theater we notice a grey limestone pavement slab with an inscription: “Erastus in return for his aedileship laid this at his own expense.” We believe this to... Recently I was in Nashville on a little denominational business. I opened my hotel curtains and – Wow! – I saw at the end of a long green field the Parthenon! Well, a replica of the Parthenon, an impressive structure over 100 years old now, with a massive statue of... 