I found two big “E” words while reading the latest issue of The Christian Chronicle. The ministry postings said that candidates must be Enthusiastic and Energetic. Of the 8 postings 3 were looking for enthusiastic persons and 2 for energetic ones. To be energetic and enthusiastic are admirable. A 5-minute glance at TV commercials highlights those E words. I thought of proposing at our recent evangelistic committee that a group of us attend the 3rd Thursdays on Main Street. We would jump up and down shouting “Storrs Road Church of Christ” and display our phone number at least 5 times.

“Finished” and “Finally;” closing words of Jesus in John’s Gospel and of Paul in 2 Corinthians. I tend to read the ending of a book before reading the entire document. Not just a lazy shortcut, it stimulates me to multiple readings of Scripture.

These were the last words of Jesus as he died. In John’s Gospel there is only one word, tetelestai – finished, accomplished, goal achieved. What will be my final word? Yours? Before answering we should note three things in the testimony of the beloved disciple (John 21:28-30). 1) Jesus’ final word fulfilled Scripture. 2) His hour had now come. 3) They were not his final words. A full understanding requires reading and re-reading John’s Gospel.

What is this “Fellowship of the Holy Spirit”? The Greek term, koinonia, refers to things shared together. In Acts 2:42 it is one of four formative things shared by the new community: apostolic teaching, prayers, meals, and possessions. More than “good feeling all around” fellowship was very practical; specific deeds of a shared life in a community where all have been given the Holy Spirit.

The Preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes lamented as he closed his investigation of all the things done under the sun, Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh (Eccl. 12:12). His investigation of life by wisdom began and ended with, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Eccl. 1:2; 12:8).

The evidence in Acts indicates that a praying church is primary.

In Luke’s narrative there are two worded prayers. When you pray say… (Luke 11:2-4) and Peter, John and friends lift their voices together to God and said… (Acts 4:24-30). There are remarkable parallels in the words of these two prayers and some differences also. Between these two worded prayers Jesus has been crucified, resurrected, and ascended to God and the Holy Spirit has been poured out. The first is prayed in anticipation of what the Father will do and the second prayer in fulfillment of what He has done with confidence of what He will do. Compare them.

A few years ago, our sign was taken down for a couple of months to be repainted. When I attended the meeting of local pastors during that interval some were surprised to see me. They assumed that the congregation had disbanded. The change at that repainting was from “Church of Christ, Undenominational” to “Storrs Road Church of Christ.” Suppose we had taken it down again and repainted it “Church of God in Storrs” only shortly later to repaint it as “Church of God in Christ in Mansfield Center.” Finally, we just put up the sign, “Assembly of Firstborn Ones.” What, do you suppose would be the reaction at that meeting of area preachers?

As I log into my computer, I delete several “pop-ups.” Dare I suggest an analogy to baptism which keeps popping up in some unexpected places in the NT? I see it in four texts: Acts 2, Gal. 3, Rom. 6 and Col. 2. Dare we delete them?

As Patrick Barber explained on “Easter” Sunday the early church was not into annual celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, etc. That which is traditionally observed on Easter was observed by them each first day of the week and so should we. I have put the word in quotes because Easter does not occur in our English Bibles except in the KJV [mis]translation of Acts 12:4 where king Herod, having killed James resolves to kill imprisoned Peter after pascha. The correct translation is Passover. Nevertheless, we still have annual Easters.

Is life this & that & then & other? According to Forest Gump’s mother, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get.” Is life merely a series of random events which we humans are left to try to make some sense of?

Someone reads aloud Acts 8:26-40. A “Phillip” runs up asking, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Would you like that Ethiopian ask, “How can I unless someone guide me?” What questions would you ask? After thus entering the world of that text, and returning to our world today, we may have several questions.

You may recall the story of the above exclamation in Acts 8:26-40. Two men are traveling south on the road to Gaza. One is an unnamed Ethiopian official and the other is a preacher named Phillip. Who are they? The Ethiopian is a foreigner. He is a worshipper of God and a reader of Scripture. Somewhere he had acquired a scroll of Isaiah, perhaps in Ethiopia. As any student, he had some unanswered questions. Then comes the wonderful exchange: “Do you understand?” and “How can I unless someone guides me?” He asks the perennial question, “Who is the prophet talking about” in this passage on a Suffering Servant (Isa. 53)? But this eunuch had a very personal question. He had read ahead to Isa. 56 where foreigners and eunuchs were included as servants of the LORD (56:3-7). Can I be included among the servants of God? I suspect that was the hindrance in his mind when he asked for baptism. We are not told about their ensuing conversation. The original text simply says that both went down into the pool of water and Phillip dipped the Ethiopian, no hindrance!

Recall the episode that sealed King Saul’s fate as Israel’s true king described in 1 Samuel 15 and that classic statement on obedience and sin (1 Sam 15:22-23). The Amalekites were under a ban and Saul was commanded to destroy king, people, and cattle (Ex. 17:14). It is repulsive to us as Christians for God’s king to hack Agag to pieces and that failing for Samuel, a prophet and priest to do so. Perhaps it was because of God’s just decree to destroy those who had assaulted his people during their escape from Egypt – Amalekites who followed the escaping slaves to cut off stragglers in the rear (Dt. 25:17-18). God will enact justice.

As many of you know I have a Day-Timer. Recently I asked, “Have you seen my lost Day-Timer?” I found it and put my February calendar in it. The heading on the first page is To Be Done in February 2024 –Number Each Item. On Feb. 1 the heading is To Be Done Today. Apparently, that business-man depicted in James 4:13-17 had a “Day-Timer.” His had a page for the coming year: “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.” But James says to that arrogant boaster your Day-Timer is defective. It needs a page with the heading, If the Lord Wills, We Will Do: Number Each Item.

I have been going back and forth from James to Revelation, from a book written circa A.D. 56 to one written A.D. 96. Perhaps the reason is that both are dangerous books that make me/us uncomfortable in our A.D. 2024 world when we take their messages seriously. Also, both have been interpreted is a variety of ways.

The Revelation is dangerously misinterpreted so please indulge me this “tongue-in-cheek” interpretation of those “three foul spirits like frogs” who assemble kings of earth for battle at Armageddon (Rev. 16:13-14). First the story of the frogs that grace the bridge into Willimantic. Settlers living near a swamp SE of Willimantic heard rumors of an impending night attack. Armed to fight the enemy, they hear alarming sounds coming out of the swamp and fire at the sounds. Next morning all they found were some dead frogs. So atop those thread spools that recall Willimantic as the thread capitol of the world sit four benign frogs.

James pronounces a blessing on those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere by being doers who act on what they see (James 1:25). He goes on to say that we must act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty (2:12). Before we can look into that liberating law, we must look for that elusive law. We may be thinking of law as a legal pronouncement or code of laws, but in this practical and ethical book, James follows the Jewish understanding of law as Torah or teaching. What is this liberating teaching? Many candidates come forward in Scripture: 1) The New Testament rather than the Old Testament, 2) The wisdom of the Proverbs, 3) Isaiah’s promised liberation of captives (Isa. 61:1-3) fulfilled by Jesus (Lk. 4:18-22), 4) Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, and 5) Paul’s teachings of freedom for Gentiles who confess crucified Jesus as Lord (Gal. 5:1; Rom. 8:1-2).