Book Review: The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler (2012)

   If I had the money, I would put a copy of The Explicit Gospel into the hands of every church-goer and self-proclaimed Christian in America. Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, Texas, with the help of Jared Wilson, does a great job of confronting the, as Christian Smith describes it, "Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" worldview that is plaguing our churches. The reason I would give a copy to everyone is because I believe that they would read it. Between the fact that it is backed by pastors ranging from Rick Warren to Mark Dever, and its simplicity and readability, Chandler does a great job in presenting the glory of the gospel in such a way that even the most passive reader can stay interested. And if anyone were to read a book other than the Bible itself, a book on the importance of the gospel, knowing it clearly, and letting it affect every corner of your life is where I would point them.
  
   In the book, Matt Chandler directs his readers through the story of the Bible explaining the reason for atonement, the atonement itself, and the changes our lives should have as a result to it. At every moment, he keeps God as the highest focal point and His glory as the goal.

   If my initial statement didn't express this well enough, I highly recommend this book to everyone. You may just find out that the gospel you've always known isn't the gospel at all.

   "If you read only one book this year, make it this one. It's that important." - Rick Warren

A Prayer for Strength in Suffering

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” – Romans 12:12

   Dear Heavenly Father, the sovereign God of all, search us, that we may come to You without selfish ambitions or foolish ideas of privilege, but have in us the perspective of true love that can only come from You. We are humbled to be allowed to be in Your holy presence, and astonished that You would hear the cries of lowly men. We are thankful at every thought of Your unrelenting grace. Let us pray with the knowledge that this life is not about us. Let every petition we articulate unto You disregard every prideful value of man, and keep You at the highest level of significance. We pray that in Your infinite wisdom and knowledge, You would forgive us when we, in our limited wisdom, ask for anything less than Your perfect will and eternal Kingdom. We thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; the ultimate example of humility and holy suffering. Thank You for your endless displays of mercy. We would like to turn our attention to the men and women all around the earth who live in places where the gospel is either forbidden or never heard. We ask You to give them open hearts to hear, and to give us open mouths to speak. Remind us continually of the people that You would have to accept that proclamation, knowing that their acceptance of the gospel could mean their death. We pray that in the midst of that persecution, they might remain faithful. Let not their sacrifices be in vain. Both Scripture and history attest to the fact that Christian persecution is not only a reality, but a necessity. It is in the worst suffering of Christians that You cause Your church to grow. We pray that we might not forget this fact as we live our lives in the comfort of “freedom”, permitted to continue half-heartedly in our nominal “Christianity”. Because of this, we do not ask You to end their suffering, but give them strength to suffer well, and to suffer for Your glory. That You might, in their suffering, bring more of their people into the embrace of Your glorious grace. We pray that, if it be Your will, You would allow us to partake in even just a fraction of the suffering they feel, so that we may experience just that more of Your victory. We ask that You would save not only individuals, but whole families. Give them a hunger for You that we could only dream of, that they might obtain a satisfaction we could never understand. Let us continually examine our excuses. How can we continually waste our lives with pointless pursuits and insignificant pleasures while men and women in these countries are giving their lives for the very gospel that we throw around? As we open our hearts, let our brothers and sisters around the world know that we are thinking of them. Encourage them with our love, and let us remember that love is more than a word. In conclusion, we pray that if it be Your will, let us go and be sacrificed so that the cause of Your mercy would be furthered.

"The blood of the martyr is the seed of the Church." - Tertullian

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for ‘their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’”- Romans 10:14-18

Book Review: Kingdom Principles for Church Growth by Gene Mims (1994)

Church growth has rapidly diminished. Pastors and laypeople alike are desperately looking for “new and improved” ways to facilitate church growth, but seemingly to no avail. Even when extravagant and well-planned events result in a surplus of “converts”, in a mere few months those same converts are never heard from again. And as we stand in the midst of failure, we may see that perhaps the solution has been right under our noses the whole time.

  And that is the ideology of former Lifeway Church Growth Group President, Gene Mims, in his book Kingdom Principles for Church Growth. Gene explains that, instead of crying out to be “Traditional!” or “Contemporary!” in our methodology, we should look to the Lord and His written Word, which contains all the information needed to successfully grow the Church.

  The main idea behind the book is summarized in one statement: Church growth begins with kingdom principles, not with methods. If it is to be successful, it will be nothing less than a divinely inspired process.

  Mims initiates his case by stating the fact that the Great Commission is the driving force of all Church growth. In the New Testament we see that all periods of church growth occurred when the people of God were relentlessly going and uncompromisingly preaching the gospel, even in the face of intense persecution.

  I especially respect Dr. Mims’ realization that Church growth is more than events and revivals, but intentional discipleship. This type of discipleship starts at salvation and continues until the believer has committed all areas of his life to pursuing the work of Jesus. He confronts the problem that many churches face as a result of merely speaking of discipleship and never acting upon it by exposing the fact that discipleship is difficult. It requires picking up your cross daily and humbly allowing the Lord work through you.

  He explains that holiness, piousness even, is to be a greatly desired attribute of the growing Christian, and that if Christians become mediocre or half-hearted in their Christianity, the Church will deteriorate from the inside out as a result.

  The institutions of Fellowship, Ministry, and Worship and their effectiveness are directly proportionate to how biblical and sincere the Evangelism and Discipleship of a Church is. Comfort, glitz, and glamour may attract people for a time, but will never grow the Kingdom of God. Unless we are, as I stated earlier, picking up our crosses daily and following him, we will never have successfully growing Churches.

  I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good perspective on biblical Church growth, regardless of whether they agree with all of his views.

Book Review: Defiant Joy by Kevin Belmonte (2011)

In his work Defiant Joy, Kevin Belmonte gives an exposition of the life of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Although the life of Chesterton is one that has always intrigued me, as he is truly a literary legend, this book did not really elucidate quite what I hoped it would. I have always loved his quotes and books and really wanted to dig deeper into the life of this larger-than-life writer. But I would say it fell short. It was basically a chronological offering of Chesterton’s life and books and how they were received by the public at that time.

 

  Although few, there were nevertheless many interesting things I had learned from the text about Chesterton that I have never known. Belmonte basically takes you through what seems to be a very outside-looking-in feel of looking at Chesterton’s life. It seemed like more fitting for a history book than an engaging biography, which does not do a literary legend such as Chesterton justice.

  If you want a deep look into the intricacies of G.K.’s life, this is not for you. But if you are looking for basic details and generalization of Chesterton’s life, then Mr. Belmonte’s book will be what you are looking for. Although it was not what I anticipated, I will by no means say that this was a bad book and will still recommend it to friends and family.

  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Application in Acts: Week Four

This week we will be taking a little bit of a different approach as we see done in Acts. This week we will be talking about the Church, the body of believers; the community of witnesses.


Day 22: The church of witnesses should be involved in outreach. (Acts 11:19-26)

In the early days of the church in Jerusalem, they were the center of the Christian Witness to the Gentiles. With the establishing of a church in Antioch and their outreach to Gentiles, the focus in Acts shifts to that congregation, as will we.
This passage basically records the church reaching out to the Gentiles in the name of Jesus and the gospel.


Day 23: The church of witnesses should be involved with helping other churches in their time of need. (Acts 11:27-30)

These three verses communicate a difficult time for the church at Jerusalem. A time of famine.
The disciples were determined, however, that to the best of their ability, they would send relief to the church.
Paul and Barbabas represented the church in Antioch by conveying it's offering in this time of need.
How does your church add up? Do you do your best to help other bodies of believers in their time of need?


Day 24: The church of witnesses will face persecution. (Acts 12:1-5)

We already know that being a individual witness will come with it's persecutions and enemies, but here we see that Herod, who was king at this time, realized the power of the church community and vowed to bring it down. The apostle James died by Herod's sword.
And this made the Jews kind of happy. When Herod saw this, he continued to arrest Peter.
So how is the church to respond to persecution? With earnest prayer made to God by the church. (v. 5)


Day 25: The church of witnesses will persevere through trials with the help of God. (Acts 12:6-19)

Again we see that when people are doing the will of God and praying in earnest, God will always bring them out of it.
In this instance, we see Peter being released from jail by the messenger of the Lord.
This should be a great encouragement to us; if we are doing God's will and He is on our side, what do we have to fear?


Day 26: The church of witnesses will be triumphant through persecution. (Acts 12:20-25)

This is basically just Herod bringing about his own death. Through all the persecution he was giving to the church, the church stayed faithful because they had God on their side.
God eventually won the victory for them by striking Herod down for failing to give glory to Him.
And the result was that the word of God was increasing! God's word will not return void.


Day 27: The church of witnesses may commission people to spread the gospel on a wide mission. (Acts 13:1-3)

A church must listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
While the church was "worshipping and fasting" (ingredients for listening to the Holy Spirit), the Holy Spirit told the to set apart Saul and Barnabas for God's work. There was no hesitation. As soon as the finished praying they laid their hand on them and sent them off.
Our churches today should have no more hesitation than this church did.


Day 28: The church of witnesses will send out and support missionaries. (Acts 13:4-12)

With the Holy Spirit sending them off (which really keeps the emphasis on the divine direction of all that was happening in the growth of the church), Paul and Barnabas embark on their first missionary journey.
They were supported by the church and went to preach the gospel, which is vital to being a missionary.
And why would they need to worry about anything? God had sent them on this mission and He would provide them with what they need to complete it.

For the glory of God,
Zayne Allen

Application in Acts: Week Three

Day 15: A true believer of Jesus Christ will feel the Spirit leading them to witness to the people they come in contact with. (Acts: 8:26-40)

As a believer of Christ Jesus, have you ever heard the Holy Spirit telling you to witness to somebody? How have you responded to it? Let's take a look at Phillip in this passage. When the Holy Spirit told him to go and join the eunuch in the chariot, he RAN to him. Are you ever that eager to follow what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do? You really should be.
The eunuch was reading Scripture and asked a question, this gave Phillip the perfect opportunity to preach the gospel. Phillip "opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture told him the good news about Jesus." The Holy Spirit leads for a reason; don't ever ignore it.


Day 16: A true witness of Christ Jesus will realize that their conversion was only brought about by the sovereignty of God in their lives. (Acts 9:1-9)

In this passage we see that character from before, Saul.
The conversion of Saul may seem like something of an interruption in the Acts narrative, since in this section of Acts (chs. 6/12) deals primarily with the witness of Jerusalem church to the dispersed Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) and the apostle Peter. Saul's conversion fits into this time frame, however, and as a Greek-speaking Diaspora Jew he was a "Hellenist" himself and eventually the prime leader in their outreach to the Gentiles.
Saul's conversion has always been a very interesting one to me. He seems like the least likely person to be converted to Christianity because of his constant persecution of the church. God had a different plan, though.
He had a plan for Saul, and when God has a plan, He will carry it out.
And now we come to a scene where Saul is actually getting permission to go to Damascus and find people that belong to the church to bind them up and throw them in jail. But he meets Jesus on the way. Jesus had literally revealed himself to Saul and was instructing him to go into the city. I have always wondered if Saul was the only one in the group that Jesus was calling to. There were other men with him, yet they were "hearing the voice, but seeing no one" (v. 7) It never says whether or not they were converted, but it seems unlikely. Jesus was there for Saul.
And Jesus had to do a similar thing to us. While we were deep in our rebellion against Him, He came to where we were and brought us to Himself. Is this free will? Hardly. But aren't we glad it's not based on our will? Without God intently choosing him and coming into his life, Saul would have continued persecuting the Church and would have never written half of the New Testament we have today. Similar stories could be said of us. "If God had never chosen me and come into my life I would still..." You fill in the blank.
Praise God that he decided to redeem such sinners as we!


Day 17: A true witness of Jesus Christ will realize that sometimes God may use them to tell others of His call in their lives. (Acts 9:10-19)

Now the scene switches to a believer in Damascus, a man named Ananias.
I feel it's important to stress that this is not the same man from chapter five because, obviously, he's dead this point. There has been some misunderstandings when it comes to that.
God tells Ananias to go and find Saul so he might lay his hands on him so he may regain his sight. At first Ananias wasn't so sure. He knew about Saul and what he was doing to the church. But our Lord's answer was one that is amazing in my mind, he said, "go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name". Saul was chosen, and God chose Ananias to inform Saul of the calling.
Ananias laid his hands on Saul and three things happened: he was filled with the Holy Spirit, something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight, and he wanted to be baptized.

Day 18: A true witness of Christ Jesus will not delay in spreading the truth. (Acts 9:20-31)

After Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his reception of the Holy Spirit inside the city, the first thing he did was proclaim Jesus. He didn't wait a couple of months and go through a "new member workshop", he didn't even wait a couple of days. The Bible says that "immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is the Son of God'" (v. 20). Saul knew the urgency of the message, he understood the importance of the gospel. It wasn't something to just keep to yourself and "wait for the right time" to tell somebody. It needed to be said NOW.
People had their doubts about Saul's conversion (given his background), and despite that he " increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ."
This obviously did not make the Jews happy, so they plotted to kill him. But word of their plot came to Saul and he escaped Damascus. He had entered the war. He now knew that if he was to follow Christ it would come at a cost, yet not without a reward, which I'm sure he kept readily in his mind.

Day 19: A true witness of Christ Jesus knows that miracles can happen, with the ingredients being faith and prayer. (Acts 9:32-43)

Now, for time being, the Bible turns our focus back on Peter.
Peter now has started heading throughout the coastal towns to preach, but first he heads to the saints in the towns. Here two miracles are preformed.
The first miracle was the healing of Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years. All Peter said was "Jesus Christ heals you, rise and make your bed." (v. 34)
The second miracle happened in the town of Joppa. In Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha, which translated, means Dorcas. At that time she had become ill and died. So a couple of the men from Joppa came and got Peter and told him what was going on.
When Peter arrived, he sent all the people out of the room and kneeled to pray. He then turned to her and said "Tabitha, rise".
This is amazing. Once she heard it, she opened her eyes and sat up! She was alive! Peter had no supernatural power in his own words, but the Lord had shown him what He was going to do in response to Peter's prayer, and He imparted to Peter's heart the knowledge and faith that he was going to restore Tabitha to life as Peter spoke. Why don't we have such faith in prayer? Why don't we lean on the power of God to do miracles? Jesus said we can do miracles if we have faith, but why don't we? Imagine what we could accomplish... We could bring people from the dead, in order to proclaim the glory of God and bring people to Christ! But I believe "you have not, because you ask not." (Jam. 4:2)

Day 20: A true witness of Christ Jesus knows that the Holy Spirit will sometimes bring people to him. (Acts 10:1-48)

There was a man named Cornelius who was a centurion of the Italian Cohort. He was a God-fearing man who prayed and gave to the poor. One day he saw, in a vision, a messenger of the Lord tell him to find Peter.
At that time Peter was praying and had a vision. And while he was pondering the vision, the Holy Spirit spoke to him saying, "three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them." The Holy Spirit was intentionally sending Cornelius to Peter.
Who has the Holy Spirit sent to you? Have you proclaimed Jesus to all who the Spirit sends to you? Look for people who you feel the Spirit is leading and speak the gospel with them, God will do the rest.


Day 21: A true witness of Jesus Christ will take opportunities to show the glory of God through their testimony. (Acts 11:1-18)

The final scene of the Cornelius narrative takes place in Jerusalem, where some of Peter's fellow Jewish Christians questioned his acceptance of the Gentiles. Peter defended his action by retelling the events of the Gentile conversions with an added ephasis on God's leading. This section is basically a summary of chapter 10, with only a few added details.
As Peter told the testimony of the Gentiles, he really pounds down the fact that God had given them the gift, and who was he to stand in God's way. The telling of a testimony is all about God's victory over our selfish deceitful heart that He now calls holy. It's not about us. It's about God.
So what was the result of all that? What was the point? It's all in verse 18, "When they heard these things they fell silent, AND THEY GLORIFIED GOD, saying, 'then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life'".


For the glory of God,
Zayne Allen

Application in Acts: Week Two

Day 8: A true witness of Jesus Christ will, as a part of the Church, share with others who are in need. (Acts 4:32-5:16)

   There is a great lesson to be learned from the early Church in the book of Acts. They were unselfish; they considered nothing to be their own (4:32), no one had need of anything (4:34), and it was because they gave to who was needy (4:35).  An example is given of Barnabas; he sold a piece of land and gave the money away. That’s quite a bit different than the materialistic society we live in today, where it’s rare to even find a Church that does that.

   And the Scriptures tell us that God took this seriously. There was a certain couple named Ananias and Sapphira who sold their land but instead of giving it all away, kept a portion of the money for their selves. When Ananias came to bring the money to the disciples, Peter said “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?” (5:3). Wow! That’s pretty harsh. I wonder what he would have said about our materialism. “You have not lied to men, but to God.” (5:4). and what happened? They died. (5:5, 10) There’s no reason to believe that anyone other than God had killed them. He was serious.

   Although there was a result of disobedience for Ananias and Sapphira, there was also a result of obedience for the others. Verses 12-16 highlight the growth of the community and its experience with the Spirit’s power.

Day 9: A true witness of Jesus Christ, when doing as the Lord commands, will not need to worry about the earthly hardships they must face, for God will bring them out of it according to His will. (Acts 5:17-42)

   After seeing all the wonders the Holy Spirit was doing through the Church, the Sadducees became jealous, arrested the apostles, and put them into prison. But such a situation is no problem for a slave of Christ, for God had sent an angel to break them out, instructing them to stand in the temple and preach the gospel (5:19-20)

   And they obeyed. Just as Peter’s healing of the lame man provoked a trial before the Sanhedrin (3:1-4:22), once again the apostolic miracles precipitated a trial, this time with all the apostles. The high priest then stood before them and said “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name” (5:28). But Peter and the apostles’ answer is one that should be on the tip of the tongue of every witness of Christ, “We must obey God rather than men” (5:30). They were beaten and let go (5:40), but their response to it is one that totally blows my mind. They were rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name (5:41)!  THAT is being a witness of Jesus Christ! REJOICING for the opportunity to suffer in Jesus’ name!  I’m sure they kept Jesus’ words in Matt. 5:11-12 readily in their mind.

   And guess what? They didn’t stop! Every day they did not cease to teach and preach Jesus as the Christ. (5:42)

Day 10: A true witness of Jesus Christ will make sure no needy person goes un-helped. (Acts 6:1-7)

   The growth of the Church created problems when a number of Hellenistic (i.e., Greek-speaking) Jews responded to the gospel. The resulting language barrier led to the neglect of some needy widows, and the apostles called upon the Greek-speaking community to choose leaders to meet the need. They could have just left them alone, but they didn’t. I think they probably thought about what Jesus would have done and it drove them to action. They chose seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to serve the widows while the Apostles continued to preach.

   And what was the result?

   I think if we really want revival to happen in our culture today, we need to follow what the apostles did here in Acts.

   “And the Word of God continued to increase” (6:7)

   “But the Word of God increased and multiplied” (12:24)

   “And the Word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.” (13:49)

   “So the Word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” (19:20)

     I rest my case.

Day 11: A true witness of Jesus Christ may have to bear the ultimate witness. The first step: initiation of witnessing. (Acts 6:8-15)

   Like I said on day one, the Greek word for “witness” is μάρτυς (martus), which came to be associated with witnessing to the point of death, from which the word “martyr” derives. The next three days will be a study on what the “ultimate witness” is. Stephen became the first such “ultimate witness” in the early church (c. A.D. 31/34).

   Today I will explain what the “initiation of witnessing” looks like.

   Stephen was the first listed of the seven Hellenists selected to minister to the widows (v. 5). Like the apostles, he not only ministered to the needy but was primarily concerned with the ministry of the Word. He preached Christ in the Greek-speaking synagogues of Jerusalem, where he was seized and dragged before the Sanhedrin.

   Stephen was said to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit (v. 5): the two main ingredients of a true witness of Jesus (look back at day one). We see that the initiation of witnessing should start when you confess Jesus and the Holy Spirit indwells you.

   But such witness will not be popular. It’s not popular today and it wasn’t popular when Stephen did it. Just when it seems like you’re on the top of your game and you’re “doing great signs and wonders among the people” (v. 8), the opposition will come. Because when you’re facing God it means you’ve turned your back on the world, you can’t look both ways at the same time.  You may come across people like Stephen did, people who “set up false witnesses” (v. 13) to take you down, and you may even face the same results as he did, like being arrested. But even through all of that, can it be said of you, “And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (v. 15”)? He probably wasn’t beautiful and thus his face wasn’t physically like an angel’s, there was apparently a visible manifestation of the brightness of the glory of God on his face, as there had been with Moses (Ex. 34:29-30, 35) and, to an even greater extent, with Jesus at His transfiguration (Matt. 17:2)

Day 12: A true witness of Jesus Christ may have to bear the ultimate witness. The second step: the defense of the witness. (Acts 7:1-53)

   Stephen's defense is the longest discourse in Acts. It is a selective recital of OT history, including sections on Abraham (v. 2-8), Joseph (v. 9-16), Moses (v. 17-34), and Israel's apostasy (v. 35-50). It was cut short when Stephen applied his history lesson to Israel's present rejection of the Messiah (v. 51-53). Stephen responded to the charges by turning them on his accusers; THEY were the ones who were really disobeying God because they rejected His appointed leaders.

   Stephen was not ashamed of what he believed. He not only knew what he believed was true, he could explain WHY he believed it was true. He not only defended his position but turned the tables against the Sanhedrin because they had rejected Jesus (v.52). The witness just wouldn't stop.

Day 13: A true witness of Jesus Christ may have to bear the ultimate witness. The third step: the fulfillment of the witness. (Acts 7:54-8:3)

   Stephen's testimony was cut short as the enraged Sanhedrin turned on him (7:54). Their anger intensified                                 

 as he shared his vision of the exalted Christ (7:55-57). What they do next made me laugh: they "cried out with a loud voice and stopped

their ears". Just like my little brother and sister when I say something they don't want to hear.

   The anger built up so much to the point where they threw him out of the city and stoned him. Stephen had fulfilled his witness. As he died he was calling out to Jesus, not only for himself but for his persecutors. He died praying for the people who were killing him!

   Although Stephen had fulfilled his witness, there were many Christians who had yet to fulfill theirs, and since Stephen's martyrdom triggered a general persecution against the church (8:1b-3), it looked like they would get their chance.

   Acts now also introduces a new character, Saul, who will have a huge role to play in

God's plan for the Church.

Day 14: The witnessing must continue. Period. (Acts 8:4-25)

   With his message of a God not bound to one people or place, Stephen had laid the foundation for a worldwide mission. Philip, who like Stephen was a Hellenist, was the first to put Stephen's vision into practice, witnessing to the Samaritans.

   There was a certain magician named Simon, who had practiced magic and amazed everybody, but when he had heard Phillip praching the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, he believed and was baptized. He continued with Philip and the disciples and, after seeing true miracles done through the Holy Spirit, noticed that his petty magic was worthless compared to the power of God. But Simon, being ignorant of the power of God, thought too much of the power of money; he tried to pay the disciples to teach him how to lay his hands on people, in order for them to recieve the Holy Spirit. Peter was not happy with this saying, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 

   How often do we try to obtain gifts of God with money rather than just by obediance to the gospel?