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On my evening commute the other day, I was amused by a motorcyclist who passed, wearing a club vest bearing the name “Loners”. Hmm! A club for loners? The club is evidently big enough and wide-spread enough that there is even a Tucson chapter. Maybe there is only one member per chapter? A whole raft of equally plausible organizations ran through my mind like “The International Fellowship of Introverts” and “The Hermit Consortium”. Or how about “The American Association for the Promotion of Apathy” or “The Procrastinator’s Action Committee”? Despite my amusement at a social club for loners, it reminds me that even the most independent of us still crave relationship. It is a basic need and a motivating force (for better or worse) in much of what we do. Because we are created for fellowship, with God and others, we are completed through relationships in ways that possessions, accomplishments, and experiences never will. The need is so strong that I will tolerate selfish abuse, duplicity, or even apathy. When I have had enough I may withdraw to prevent others from taking advantage of my need for relationship. (Probably why there is a club for loners in the first place!) Witness the prevalence of “support groups” in our society. We know that we can survive almost anything as long as we can be in relationship with others who understand our losses or weaknesses. We will risk vulnerability in order to belong. Many are willing to endure humiliating, and sometimes painful rituals to be “initiated” into an organization such as a fraternity, sorority, or other social group. The need for relationship keeps a battered wife tethered to her abusive husband because she believes he is the only person on earth who would want a relationship with her. The desire for relationship is not a learned response; we come wired that way from the womb. It is part of who we are as humans. God said, on the sixth day of creation, “It is not good for man to be alone.” The rest of the Bible shows us how this need drives us into all sorts of sinful behavior, trying to fill that relational void left when we fell from grace. Need for relationship may even underlie the “love of money.” I rationalize, “If I have enough money, people will like me.” But as the prodigal son learned, their attention is as fickle as mine. Because relationship is such a critical need, it is also often a source of pain and grief. My sinful nature makes it virtually impossible for me to satisfy that need in someone else’s life in a way that does not often disappoint or damage. I am so focused on my own need, that it is only by the grace of God that I can ever give something of lasting value to someone else. But something in me makes me want to try, even at great risk. The Triune God says, in Genesis 2, “Let us create man in our own image.” The desire for relationship is one aspect of that image that we reflect. It is also one attribute that was deeply damaged and distorted by the fall into sin. Rather than being dominated by the desire to give in relationship, we have been deceived into thinking happiness comes from what we receive from our relationships. A while back I was thinking about eternity, and what it might be like. I became excited at the thought of living in perfect relationships – relationships uncontaminated by duplicity, fear, disinterest, or exploitation. Imagine what it might be like to live and work with others in transparent relationships that only strengthen and energize each other, and draw us into closer relationship with God – no secrets, no hidden agendas, no mistrust… no pain! I am grateful that I have experienced glimpses of such relationship in this temporal part of eternity. I have been ministered to by some wonderfully grace-filled believers that reflected just enough of God’s love and kindness that I got a taste of what heaven might be like. I pray that I too, may be that to some others, and that where I lack, God will more than adequately make up.

Three things are going on in the Acts ministry of Christ today. Christ is coming as the spirit to dwell in His followers. Jesus is engaged in His greatest work of building His church using dispersed believers. Christ is adding members to His church as His power enables us to do His work on earth.

Praying the powerful names of God is the way Jesus prays. He is intimately connected with His Heavenly Father, so He knows both the Father’s heart and the Father’s will. When we focus on God’s attributes, we can pray in confidence that He will hear and answer.

To walk by the spirit is to live with a moment-by-moment dependency on, and sensitivity to, the initial promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit intends to produce in us the character of Jesus Christ. What does this look like? The fruit of the spirit, the most effective evangelistic tool we have.

My youngest daughter Bronwyn has always pushed the envelope, sticking her hairy toe across any line drawn before her. Bronwyn, or “White Breast” was a Welsh heroine in her father’s favorite book, “How Green Was My Valley.” We never told her what her real name meant until much later. We just called her “pure heart” which matches her nature now. Her “pure heart,” however, was coupled with a predilection for stubbornness and extreme sports. Life with the Bronskie was never dull. When she burst forth from the womb (after performing a continual tap-dance in my abdomen for nine months) her bright red face and Indian mohawk were prophetic. Her colicky warpath made for long nights of rocking and loud days of cajoling. Once we passed babyhood, Roger and I were sure Bronie would settle down. Forget it. She protested any hair-combing or hair-washing the first two years of life. Headbands and hats were our only option. I don’t blame her for being cross. Nobody could spell or pronounce her name (including her). She was dubbed everything from “Brownie” to “Broadman” (the name of the old Baptist hymnal). Her only consolation came years later when we travelled to Wales and discovered her name was a household word. Instead of Barbie dolls, Welsh little girls had Bronwyn dolls. Bronwyn had three treasured possessions in her young life: the first was the “animal blankie”-a multi-colored mini-quilt pock-marked with farm animals and handed down from her older sister, Brianna. One tear-filled afternoon, we jumped in the car, peeled out and frantically drove to El Paso’s Motel 6 to retrieve it-dust bunnies and all. The second treasured possession was a blue taffeta dress with a built-in jingle bell petticoat. It never left her stinky body between the ages of three and four without a fist fight. The third, and by far the greatest, was a bald baby doll named Otis Lee. Otis appeared as the trophy toy from her three-year-old Christmas bounty. None of the other gifts mattered. It was Otis who stole her heart. Otis had a hard life. Besides the smelly task of living under Bronwyn’s armpit day and night, Otis had many brushes with death. Becky, our black and white border collie, fancied Otis as a chew-toy. Besides dragging the plastic heartthrob through dog-poop, several teeth-marks had actually penetrated Otis’ skull. After major surgery and some duct tape, Otis survived. We’re not sure whether he had brain damage. The worst catastrophe of Otis’ and Bronwyn’s lives came when her older sister Brianna had finally taken all of the pestering she could stand from her annoying little sister. Being the precocious yet sneaky seven-year-old that she was, Brie watched the weather channel to find a rainy night in July. After dark, she slipped Otis under a very deeply planted rosebush and waited for the mud to bury Otis alive. Her act was ruthless, pre-meditated dolly murder. Much to my chagrin, Otis was found. Bronwyn was in hysterics. In desperation, I threw Otis in the washer on perma-press. Although the rubber body parts were slightly deformed, Bronwyn didn’t mind. Otis slept in her bed for years. One day she was forced to give up Otis for another. Otis was exchanged for Richard, the man who captured her heart. Bronwyn loved Otis, but as long as she held onto him, she could never grow-up and enjoy the man of her dreams. After all, Richard is washable. We hold onto many things in this life-journey. Most of them are made of plastic. However, if by faith we choose to invite Jesus Christ into our lives and receive His gift of eternal life, we are forever transformed. All the playthings of this earth seem to fade when He captures our hearts. We do not carry Him under our arm, as Bronwyn toted Otis. We carry Him in our hearts. And when He draws us with His love, we will never be the same.

We witness at every stage of our spiritual growth, but we evangelize more effectively as we mature in Christ. Fishing for lost souls looks like accepting the rejected, supporting the struggling and comforting the hurting, the example Jesus sets.

No matter what kind of pressure we are under, the Lord understands and comforts us. Even while being stoned, Stephen sees the glory of God and testifies of his Savior. We also can know peace in the midst of chaos when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and anchored on the Holy Bible. Eternal victory is ours through the power of Jesus Christ.

God forces Peter to face his prejudices and surrender them to the Lord. Mankind has a history of prejudging others based on superficial characteristics. Instead God asks us to look at what is in the heart, accept our intrinsic value and rejoice in the uniqueness that makes us one of a kind.

Stephen is one of God’s overlooked, unsung heroes. But the New Testament is born because Stephen lives and dies for the glory of God. Being persecuted for our faith is the outward sign of convition when unbelievers reject Christ and His followers.

Every Christian will eventually be wounded in church. How do we heal? By recognizing Satan’s schemes, facing issues with honesty, comfort, forgiveness and love.

Every pastor’s wife deals with pandemonium. The day-to-day challenges of family, work and ministry demand patience, grace and strength. Proverbs 31 was written by a mother to express the inestimable value of a godly woman, especially the woman who supports the man in the pulpit.

The four gospels present distinctive portraits of Christ: Jesus as King (Matthew), Jesus as Servant (Mark), Jesus as a Man (Luke) and Jesus as God (John). In the Old Testament, Christ is Creator and the Angel of the Lord.