We’ve all heard the saying from Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary use words.” He never said it.
I’m in Acts at the moment. It’s full of the witness of words. Peter at Pentecost; Stephen on trial; Phillip with the Ethiopian eunuch; Peter before Cornelius and his household; Paul wherever he [...]
Category Archives: Early church
Second generation faith
Movements move
Jesus always on the move. You read the gospels and Jesus is always going somewhere. He’s always meeting new people. He’s visiting new towns. He covers the nation in just a few years.
In his three year public ministry, Jesus could have easily visited the 175 towns and villages throughout Galilee. It would have been difficult [...]
Simon Magus vs Simon Peter
A professional class does not easily encourage the spontaneous zeal of men who are not members of their profession. Spontaneous zeal is alarming to them. When the faith is spread spontaneously both the charlatan and the saint find an opportunity for acquiring influence over others. Side by side with Peter is Simon Magus.
In the working [...]
Paul the missionary
I’m a big fan of Eckhart Schnabel’s work on early Christian mission.
He’s just released a new volume entitled “Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods”
Schnabel recognizes his debt to Roland Allen’s classic written a century ago, “Missionary Methods: St Paul’s or Ours”
There are some well written reviews of Schnabel’s work on Amazon. I’m off to [...]
