Book of Acts | Craig T. Owens

March 2026
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Links & Quotes

August 31, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

A.W. Tozer said, “There’s an awesomeness about God which is missing in our day altogether; there’s little sense of admiring awe in the Church of Christ these days.” May we repent of little prayers and boldly pray to an awesome God who wants to do awesome things that will bring Him glory!

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

I always smile at the archeological discoveries which confirm the historicity of the Bible! Discovery after discovery keeps reinforcing that the Bible is a reliable historical document—which is exactly what one would expect from the inspired Word of God. Here are two recent article: (1) An archeological biography of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and (2) The excavation of a rare Roman prison in Corinth that “likely gives us a picture of those that held the apostles as recorded in the New Testament (e.g. Acts 5:18, 12:5, 16:23).”

This is a very informative Q&A session with cold case detective and Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace. But I especially like his answer to the first question: Do Christians have to investigate every other religion to be convinced that the Bible is true?

“Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. … No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. … Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Mature Christians can be recognized by a variety of indicators. They feast on the Word of God (Hebrews 5:14), persevere in love and good works (Hebrews 6:9-10), bear the fruit of the Spirit rather than the marks of the flesh (Galatians 6:16-23), use their gifts to help build the church (1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:12-16), teach the things of Jesus to others (Hebrews 5:12: Acts 1:8), and more. This, the New Testament insists, is the condition toward which every Christian strives.” —T.M. Moore (check out all of the Scriptures T.M. references here)

“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done.” —W.E.B. Du Bois

Jesus shows us that only secure people can serve others. Insecure people won’t ever make themselves vulnerable, and so they miss out on God’s blessing. I address this in more depth in my book Shepherd Leadership.

An Apologetic For Apologetics

August 28, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

I would like to give Christians an apologetic about Christian apologetics.

Check out this episode of The Podcast.

The Scriptures I reference in this episode of The Podcast are 1 Peter 3:15-16; Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3; Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:5, 8.

In a couple of earlier blog posts, I elaborate more on some points in this episode. Check out:

I have also talked quite a bit about apologetics on my blog, which you can find here.

Keep up with everything else I have going on, including my newest book and my other podcasts by clicking here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Peter, apologetic, Book of Acts, Christianity, evidence, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus Christ, reason, testimony, video. Leave a Comment »

Unity Is Not Conformity

August 21, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Unity is not conformity nor is it mimicry. The Holy Spirit unites Christians in their message of hope to the world, but He does this by empowering each of our unique testimonies to our culture.

This is a message I shared with the congregation at Country Chapel during their week-long revival meetings.

The Scriptures I reference in this message are—2 Chronicles 18:1-13; Romans 12:2; Mark 12:28-31; John 12:49-50; John 8:34-36; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18; Acts 15:1-35; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-11.

I have previously shared a whole series of messages about how the Holy Spirit empowers Christians for ministry:

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 2 Chronicles, 2 Corinthians, Book of Acts, culture, empowerment, Gospel of John, Gospel of Mark, Holy Spirit, Romans, sermon, testimony, uniqueness, video, witness. 3 Comments »

Strength In Unity

August 12, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

The 12th Song of Ascent (Psalm 131) was written by David to remind us to rely on God’s help even more as we progress on the journey (or mature in our faith). In the 13th Song (Psalm 132), the psalmist says, “Remember David” and his passion for God’s people to experience God’s righteousness and joy. In order for us to know that, we have to remember Jesus.

Those who put this collection of Songs of Ascent together now include David’s fourth song (Psalm 133) in this collection which expresses his desire for unity among God’s people.

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Can you imagine the pilgrims starting out from their individual villages? Maybe there’s not very many of them to begin with and traveling is pretty easy, but they do have to be vigilant against dangers on the road.

As they progress, they begin to join with pilgrims from other villages. Maybe these are from the same tribe, perhaps even distant relatives. The journey may go a bit slower now that there are more people to keep track of, and some complications of personality may start to arise. But the level of safety and assistance also increases.

Soon the group is getting larger as they now join with pilgrims from other tribes. These aren’t near relatives at this point, so there may be more complications, but there is even greater encouragement, safety, and potential.

Aha! Potential.

We’ve gone singing with a small ensemble to singing in a choir. And David is anticipating us singing in an even larger, majestic choir! There will undoubtedly be more problems, but there is also assuredly so much more potential, beauty, and strength in their combined worship.

My friend Dan Chastain has over 20 years of experience in the United States Army. He points out that the Army did the same things in his day as we read in the Old Testament.

The unity of a fighting force, Dan said, is a blessing. David was a professional soldier. Many people today join the military because of this professional, unity, and camaraderie. Maintaining this unity is the responsibility of everyone, because disunity leads to mistrust, chaos, and defeat.

David says this choir paints a picture—“it is like” (v. 2) and “it is as if” (v. 3). He is saying that God desires overflowing blessings on His people (v. 2), and that God desires saturating blessings on His people (v. 3). Why? Because God wants to give us more than enough for our needs so that there is plenty left for those who aren’t brothers and sisters yet. He longs for our choir to include people from every tribe, race, and nation.

Just as we said last week that a Christian’s joy is a testimony, a choir of Christians is an even more compelling testimony!

David calls this unity “good” which really means so much better than the alternative. And he calls this unity “pleasant.” The Hebrew word literally means singing a sweet sound!

The Hebrew word for “unity” here is also instructive. It means to be together in the same place—not just in spirit and desire—but in physical proximity. This is exactly the picture we see in the first Church (Acts 2:44, 46-47), as well as the picture of the choir from every nation, tribe, people, and language singing around God’s throne in Heaven (Revelation 7:9-10).

In order to navigate all of the differences of personality that could keep us from this unity, we have to work at. We need the attitude of Jesus (Philippians 2:1-5). This requires a daily transformation of our minds (Romans 12:1-3), and this transformed mind is what helps us move from a small ensemble to a majestic choir (Romans 12:4-5, 16-18).

Remember the word “saints” is always plural in the New Testament. You and I each have a vital part to play in helping other saints!

If you’ve missed our look at any of the other Songs of Ascent, you can find them all listed here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Christian, community, joy, King David, military, potential, Psalm, Psalms of Ascent, Revelation, Romans, saints, sermon, singing, Songs of Ascent, unity, US armed forces, video, worship. 4 Comments »

Assured Expectation

August 5, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

A recent movie set box office records. Many Hollywood commentators are surmising that it is because the unlikely duo in the movie does something so noble at the end of the movie. Throughout the movie one of the main characters takes to calling himself “Jesus.” At the end of this movie, this character and his friend take the full brunt of the evil on them in the hopes of saving the universe.

Of course, this storyline isn’t new to Hollywood or even in ancient literature. This epic quest is longed for in the human heart, looking for a hero to selflessly sacrifice himself to save everyone else around them.

The only problem is that these heroes aren’t sure if their sacrifice is actually going to work.

This, of course, isn’t the case with Jesus. Angels announce before His incarnation that He will save His people. Jesus Himself says, “I will lay down My life for My friends and I will take it up again.” And in the very last book of the Bible we read that before Time even began, Jesus was already seen as the sacrificial Lamb slain for the deliverance of His people.

This story doesn’t start in Bethlehem, but when John 1:1 says, “In the beginning,” the language there is really saying, “From before there was a beginning, Jesus our Hero already knew the outcome of His selfless sacrifice.”

We see hints and foreshadowing of this Most Epic Story all throughout history and throughout Scripture. Like in Psalm 132—the longest of the Songs of Ascent (at 18 verses, the next longest song is only half its length).

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

The key verse (v. 10) is in the middle: it connects David and Jesus. The words “Anointed One” is one word in Hebrew: Masiah which is Messiah. In the New Testament, the word Christ also means Anointed One.

What do we learn in the first half of this song. It opens with the words, “O LORD, remember David…” (v. 1).

Because this psalmist mentions the same incident that we discussed in Psalm 131, this is another reason why I think David had the incident of moving the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem in mind when he wrote the previous song (see Psalm 132:2-5; 2 Samuel 6:17). The people continued to rejoices as David made arrangements and provided building materials for his son Solomon to build the temple (vv. 6-9).

Look at how verse 10 connects David to Jesus the Messiah. In verse 2, David swore an oath to the Lord, but he was physically unable to fulfill his promise. In verse 11 (also see 2 Samuel 7:11-16), “The Lord swore an oath to David.”

God was able to fulfill His promise, which we see in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and then in the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter declares this in his sermon—connecting the work of Jesus to the prophesy of King David (Acts 2:22-36).

We can sum up the first half of Psalm 132 with the words “Remember David.” And we can sum up the second half of this song of ascent with the words “Remember Jesus.”

Remember Jesus [the] Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David (2 Timothy 2:8).

I like this verse from the Amplified Bible: Constantly keep in mind Jesus Christ (the Messiah) as risen from the dead, as the prophesied King descended from David, according to the good news (the Gospel) that I preach.

David swears an oath (v. 2) but has no power to fulfill it. God swears an oath (v. 11-12) and fulfills it (Luke 1:33; Revelation 11:15).

David longs for blessings for the priests and saints (v. 10) but has no power to make it happen. God says, “I will” bless the priests and saints (vv. 13-18; 1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6).

All of our longings for a Hero—for salvation, for purpose, for meaning—are fulfilled in Jesus. All of God’s promises for these things are fulfilled in Jesus. All of our life should be lived in this joyful assurance (Hebrews 10:35-39; Revelation 3:11)!

Not only should we not stumble in the homestretch, but we should live in such joyful assurance of God’s promises that we soar across the finish line!

If you cannot remember anything else, remember David and remember Jesus.

Check out all of the other Songs of Ascent by clicking here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Sowing In Expectation

June 10, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

I’ve noticed how quick some people are to give up when things don’t get them the results they thought they should get, or the results don’t come as soon as they expected.

Anytime we try something new, there is always the potential for failure. Even later on, those who appear to be an expert at something rarely do it perfectly. But in either case, there are three things we need to do if we don’t get the results we expected: (1) reflect, (2) evaluate possible improvements, (3) re-engage.

Even before Jesus commissioned us to take His message of Good News to every street everywhere, He told us not to expect perfect results. In one of His best-known parables, Jesus talked about the farmer sowing seed (see Luke 8:5-8).

(You can see all of the Scriptures I mention in this post by clicking here.)

Jesus didn’t say, “All of your efforts at sharing the Gospel will be successful.” In fact, He said some efforts would totally fail (falling on the hard path), and some would have only temporary success (falling on the weedy and stony ground). But we keep on sowing the seed because some will fall on good soil and yield a harvest a hundred times more than was sown!

So, as John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings dynamic, life-changing power (Acts 1:8). The life that is changed first is our own. Everything about us begins to change.

When people heard Jesus speak, they said, “How did this Man get such learning without having been taught?” (John 7:15). The same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus to speak is the same Holy Spirit who will empower our words.

When our words are Spirit-empowered words, people can feel it. When our words are matched by our lifestyle, people can’t ignore it (John 7:46; Acts 2:37, 4:13, 6:10)!

Just like salt that influences effortlessly, silently, and irreversibly, we never know what part the salt of our lives is playing in someone else’s life, even if it appears that nothing substantial is happening at all. But God said His word always accomplishes its purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11), which is why we keep on living and speaking as Spirit-empowered witnesses.

And we live expecting that something is happening—Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).

How do we take this message of Jesus to every street?

Stay yielded to the influence of the Holy Spirit
Regularly and consistently read and apply God’s Word to your own life
Keep sowing in expectation
If your efforts appear to fail: reflect, evaluate, re-engage in expectation

We can be salt without being salty; we can be light without being annoying.

We have been empowered to take the Good News to every street, so let us not become weary in doing this.

If you’ve missed any of the message in our series Takin’ Him to the Streets, you can find them all by clicking here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, empowerment, expectation, Galatians, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, perseverance, quote, salt, sermon, testimony, video, witnessing. 2 Comments »

Takin’ Him To Hollywood Boulevard

June 3, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Jesus sent us and the Holy Spirit empowers us to take the Good News to all nations—all the streets (Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:8)—even the streets of Samaria where we will have more differences than similarities.

There is one street that has infiltrated and affected every other street more profoundly than any other: Hollywood Boulevard. The constant bombardment of messages through movies, television programs, music, literature, and the arts is almost immeasurable.

I think Christians rarely stop to ponder how much of the culture on Main Street is influenced by the content from Hollywood Boulevard. Probably because so few Christians are involved in the artistic or creative communities.

Here’s what we need to remember: All of this creativity is God-given. The opening words in the Bible say, “In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1).

We specific examples of God-given creative skills in:

Bezalel—Exodus 31:1-5
Oholiab—Exodus 31:6, 35:34
craftsmen and craftswomen—Exodus 31:6; 35:10, 22, 25
Huram—1 Kings 7:13-14
food administrators—Acts 6:3
Tabitha—Acts 9:36-39

(You can check out all of the Scriptures mentioned in this post here.)

In more modern times, we see notable creative people giving credit to God for their abilities.

William Shakespeare’s use of biblical themes—and even exact phrases—throughout his work is easy to spot. In the opening line of his last will and testament, he wrote, “I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, believing through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Savior, to be made a partaker of life everlasting.”
Johan Sebastian Bach, considered by many to be the greatest composer to ever live, placed “S.D.G.” on every one of his musical compositions, which stands for Sola Deo Gloria: only for the glory of God.

The apostle James tells us that every good and beautiful gift has come to us from God our Creator (James 1:17). And then this is my paraphrase of a similar thought the apostle Peter—

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks [writes, paints, composes, sculpts], they should do so as one who speaks [writes, paints, composes, sculpts] the very words of God. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

So, here are four thoughts about how we can take the Good News of Jesus to Hollywood Boulevard.

Create a beautiful culture in your home, your Main Street, your workplace, your school. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you answer the question, “What can I do so that the love and beauty of Jesus will be felt here?”

Use your creative skills—write poems, compose music, paint a picture, sew clothing, bring innovation to your job.

Support beautiful authors, musicians, moviemakers, painters, etc. Hollywood produces what they think will make money, so if you are supporting creators of beautiful things, they will produce more of those things.

Leverage Hollywood’s culture to talk to others about heavenly culture. Point out biblical themes, challenge the rationale behind unbiblical lyrics, etc.

“Christians need to ask themselves a few key questions to help us respond to the society around us. First, what is good in our culture that we can promote, protect, and celebrate? Second, what’s missing in our culture that we can creatively contribute? Third, what’s evil in our culture that we can stop? And fourth, what’s broken in our culture that we can restore?” —John Stonestreet

Don’t complain—create something better.

Don’t compromise—promote what is beautiful and edifying.

The Holy Spirit can empower us to take the Good News of Jesus even to Hollywood Boulevard!

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series Takin’ Him to the Streets, you can find them all here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Takin’ Him To Easy Street And Skid Row

May 27, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Jesus sent us and the Holy Spirit empowers us to take the Good News to all nations—all the streets (Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:8). As we move away from Jerusalem and into Judea, we should expect to see more differences with our audience. And then as we move into Samaria, there will probably be more differences than similarities. Regardless of how little we may have in common with those on other streets, the Holy Spirit still empowers us to witness there.

(You can find all of the Scriptures I reference in this post by clicking here.)

When we don’t live on someone else’s street, we tend to make some pretty big assumptions about them. For example, until I married a school teacher, I thought, “How nice it must be to be done with work by 3:00 every afternoon and have three months off in the summer!”

Mistakenly, we think we can so easily fix the problems people on other streets have—we think we can show them how simple it is to correct anything out of balance on their street. These are natural thought patterns when so little of our circles overlap.

If you live on Main Street, two streets which are quite different from you are Easy Street and Skid Row. When it comes to finances, there tends to be extremes in our thoughts about the Samaritans that live on those streets—

Those on Easy Street only cares about themselves
Those on Skid Row should work harder
Those on Easy Street have too much—it’s not fair!
Those on Skip Row don’t have enough—it’s not fair!

But here’s the thing: It’s really not about the money but it’s about our attitude about the money.

In Luke 21:1-6, Jesus saw both rich people from Easy Street placing their tithe in the temple treasury, and a poor widow from Skid Row doing the same. Jesus said this widow put in more than anyone else. He was talking in terms of quality, not quantity.

While they were still in the temple, the disciples pointed out how beautifully embellished the temple was. These decorations came from the money those on Easy Street had contributed. Jesus told them not to focus on the temporal temple but on the eternal Kingdom of God.

As I said, Jesus doesn’t have a problem with money, but He does warn us about our ungodly attitude toward money (Luke 8:1-3; Matthew 27:57; Acts 4:32-5:4; Exodus 20:17; Luke 12:13-22).

Even though Easy Street and Skid Row seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, I think we are effective witnesses for Jesus on these streets in exactly the same way.

(1) Guard your attitude about money. Remember that Gad often provides for us by giving us a skill, and then making a job available that can use our skill. So let’s be thankful for our God-given jobs. Then we guard our attitude about money by tithing regularly, and making sure that when we bless others financially, we do it without expecting any fanfare (Colossians 3:23; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 6:2-3).

(2) Let God be unique as unique with these folks on Easy Street and Skid Row as He is with you on Main Street. Don’t try to be someone else, and don’t expect others to be you—simply obey what God has spoken to your heart, just as you allow others to obey what God has spoken to their hearts.

(3) Don’t tell, but show how you use the resources God has given to you. It’s not our place to “preach” to others about how they should or shouldn’t be handling their finances, but simply live out the biblical principles outlined above, and let your life show your godly attitude.

(4) Always turn the focus to the eternal. Just as Jesus did with His disciples in the temple, He always reminded people that this world with its perks or tragedies is only temporary. What ultimately matters is where we will spend eternity (Luke 13:1-5).

Money is always a touchy subject with people, so let’s make sure we have our own attitude aligned with Scripture before we try to bring the subject up with others.

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our Takin’ Him To The Street series, you can find them all here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: assumption, attitude, Barnabas, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Colossians, empowerment, eternity, Exodus, finance, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, Holy Spirit, job, Joseph of Arimethea, Malachi, money, Nicodemus, Samaria, sermon, testimony, tithe, video, witness. 3 Comments »

Responding To The Invitations

May 16, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

The apostle Paul shows us how simply sharing the good news about Jesus opened a door for him to speak to a very influential group in Athens. I experienced something similar that I think will be helpful for you to hear.

The Scripture I reference in this video is Acts 17:16-34.

You can watch the full sermon this clip came from by clicking here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Book of Acts, Grand Rapids, testimony, video, witness, witnessing. Leave a Comment »

Takin’ Him To Rodeo Drive

May 6, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Jesus has sent us on-mission (which means we are missionaries) to every street. We don’t go in our power, but we are empowered by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 24:46-49).

Jesus said our missionary work would take us to every street, starting with Jerusalem—which we have called Main Street. These are people very similar to us. Then our mission will expand into all Judea (Acts 1:8). These are people that have less in common with us. Last week we talked about taking the message of Jesus to Lombard Street: Talking with people who have knowledge of the Bible, but tend to twist and turn with the popular traditions of the day.

Remember that our mission is to be witnesses—share the Scripture and our personal story. It’s not our responsibility to try to open people’s minds so they can repent, but the Holy Spirit opens minds and calls people to repentance.

The apostle Paul reminded us that, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Holy Spirit uses our witness as the catalyst to open minds. This clash of light and darkness creates acceptance and anger. Notice these contrasts in one short segment of Paul and Silas’ missionary journey in Acts 16:13-24 and 17:1-13:

Acceptance—Acts 16:13-15
Anger—16:16-24
Acceptance—17:1-4
Anger—17:5-6
Acceptance—17:10-12
Anger—17:13

The opposition in Philippi brought Paul and Silas to Thessalonica, and the opposition in Thessalonica brought them to Athens.

Athens was named for the goddess Athena, and it has been called “the university city of the Roman world.” Philo (a Jewish historian) called the Athenians “keenest in intellect.” It was the center of art, literature, and philosophy

I’m going to call Athens “Rodeo Drive.”

Rodeo Drive is called “the intersection of luxury, fashion and entertainment.” Kay Monica Rose, the Rodeo Drive Committee President, said, “There is nothing in the world comparable to Rodeo Drive. The legendary street’s magic continues thanks to the exemplary craftsmanship from today’s greatest fashion houses and brands, the architect-designed boutique spaces, the spectacular window displays, artist collaborations and pop ups, and our unrivaled customer service. At the heart of my vision for Rodeo Drive is the preservation and advancement of an unmatched legacy.”

A marketing professor once told me, “When advertising, you have to remember that everyone has radio station WIFM playing in their head—What’s in it for me?” The people on Rodeo Drive are self-focused and self-assured.

How do we take the message of Jesus to those Judeans on Rodeo Drive? Let’s learn from Paul’s time there (Acts 17:16-34).

Control your anger. Even though Paul was “greatly distressed,” he didn’t let his anger control him, but he kept his distress under control.
Use measured words. Paul “reasoned” with the people there, which means he engaged in meaningful dialogue with them.
Don’t argue. Some to the Athenians “disputed with him [Paul]” but he didn’t dispute back. Instead he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Start where they are. Paul noted that the Athenians were “very religious.” He doesn’t condone their idolatry, but he simply uses it as a conversation starter.
Move to the eternal issue. He then proceeds to point them to Jesus as the “unknown god” that they are worshiping, bringing everything back to His resurrection from the dead.
Be ready for acceptance and anger. As in Philippi and Thessalonica, there were some who accepted the Gospel message and some who got angry when they heard it.