Jim Gallagher

Acts 26:8

“Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?”

It has been said,  if we can believe the first four words of the Bible, we should have no problem with the rest of its claims. “In the beginning God…” The Bible is filled with stories of the mighty workings of God. We read of Him speaking the worlds into existence, delivering a nation from the threat of death, parting the seas, providing food in a desert, knocking down the walls of Jericho, raising a shepherd boy to the palace, healing the sick, and delivering those who were possessed by devils. Page after page, we read of God being God and providing victory over the affairs of life. It seems that for many of us, we have no problem believing in the mighty workings of God. We trust the validity of our Bibles, we…

Judges 20:14
“Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel.”

The book of Judges ends on a tragic note. Personal immorality, social chaos, and civil war mark the close of the book. This was certainly one of the darkest times in the history of the people of God. The rape and murder of a young woman led to a heated battle between the tribes of Israel. Instead of facing their true enemies, Israel was caught up in civil infighting that cost the lives of some of their most gifted men. When all is recorded, we find they were simply fighting all the wrong battles.

Instead of devoting herself to the Lord, the young woman who lost her life, spent her days in adulterous affairs. The Levite who reported the crime, was himself guilty of immorality. He was…

Acts 25:8 

“Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.”

Jesus instructed His followers that their lives are to be lived as a testimony to the world. He taught “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  In other words, the way we live should testify of a living God.

Paul lived that way. He not only believed that Christ was alive, he spoke about it, and lived it. His life was a living testimony of a risen Savior. While the religious leaders were in an uproar because of his preaching, they had nothing to hold against him regarding the law or customs.

We all ought to live that way. Writing to the Church in Philippi, Paul stated,

“Do all things without…

Judges 18:24
“So he said, ‘You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, “What ails you?”‘”

Israel had forsaken the Word of God and fallen into a place of spiritual confusion. We read of “homemade religions” with their own gods, priests and theology. As the story unfolds, we will see this spiritual confusion leads to social chaos and immorality.

In the current chapter, we find one of the many follies of creating your own god based upon your experiences and imagination. Micah paid good money to have a silver image built, and his own priest on salary. When a large group from the tribe of Dan, passed through town and saw his priest and god, they decided to confiscate them for their own use. Because they outnumbered Micah, he…

Acts 24:25 

“Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

Time is an interesting thing. We are always spending it and it cannot be saved. Failing to do something today, does not guarantee we will have the time for it tomorrow. Felix’s encounter with the Gospel message teaches us something important about how we use this moment for eternal things.

Paul had been promised, early on in his walk with the Lord, that he would have opportunity to share Christ with kings, or political rulers. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he finds himself standing before the Roman Ruler of Judea, with an open door to share Christ. In true Pauline fashion, he “swings for the fences”, and declares how Christ was risen from the dead and offers eternal life. He warns of the coming resurrection; that all men will one day stand…

Judges 17:5
“The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.”

The story of Micah is all too familiar. In a time when the Word of God was being neglected, Micah created his own “homemade religion.” He used terminology familiar to true religion, he had a priest and an ephod. However, his god, his worship, and his lifestyle, was really nothing more than a product of his own imagination. As time went on, his religion became even more organized. He established a priesthood consisting first of his own son, then of a wayward Levite, who pretended to be an expert on the things of God. Only in vocabulary, did this religion bear any similarity to a real relationship with the true and living God.

Sadly, though the Word of God is more accessible today than…

Judges 16:20
“And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ So he awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.”

The story of Samson is both fascinating and tragic. His feats of strength are paralleled only by legendary super heroes. He defeated lions, carried city walls, and fought off platoons of soldiers, with nothing more than skeleton bones. As far as Biblical characters go, he was the most gifted of all. Sadly, those gifts were never really used for the work of God. Each of his feats of strength was only used to get him out of difficult situations that his disobedience got himself into. Instead of reading of Samson leading the nation of Israel back to the Lord, we read only of his selfishness and continual…

Acts 23:11

“But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.'”

Judges 14:3

“…And Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she pleases me well.’”

Few people have ever had the kind of talent Samson had. He was gifted far above anyone else in his generation. Tragically however, Samson wasted his gifts by consuming them in search of his own pleasures. Two truths seem to cry out from his story. 

First, I notice how common it is for gifts to be wasted. I remember back in my high school years, there was a student, just a year above me, who was the most gifted basketball player in the area. Every time he took the to court, he was a standout in scoring, and in defense. It looked as though he could write his own ticket to college, and perhaps even the NBA. Sadly however, he got involved in the party life and went nowhere. Even as a teenager, I…