Life Goes On

In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells the disciples (and us through them) that "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you WILL (emphasis mine) receive power and WILL tell people about Me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." NLT. The rest of the book of Acts and the epistles are records of that happening during the first century and following. However, as I observe what is happening, especially here in American churches today, I wonder, "where has all the power for witnessing gone?" A bit of deductive reasoning leads me to wonder if in fact the Holy Spirit is as active in local churches as we would like to believe. I understand the argument that believers are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion. However, the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individual believers, as given in Acts 1:8, is that powerful witnessing WILL take place through these believers that will reach their church field and far,...

The older I get the harder it is for me to abandon the known (comfortable, stable, friendly) for something that is new to me, even though it is perceived by most to be the better option. Case in point, I'm now on my third Blackberry phone. I have the BB Bold 9700. I've downloaded several aps so that now I can do my daily Bible reading and prayer time, listen to sermons, music and even novels, and read books w/the Kindle reader ap on my phone. I keep hearing and reading people talk about how the Apple I Phone has changed their lives and opened up so many opportunities. I go through periods of thinking, "Yes! That's what I want!", but then I start to think about having to part with the things I've become so used to and learn how to do it all the "Apple-way", and my enthusiasm wanes. The same goes for which brand of tablet I will eventually opt for. It seems the BB Playbook still has a ways to go to catch up with the I Pad 2 (with 3 on the horizo...