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An old story told of the devil once advertising his tools for sale at public auction. When the buyers assembled, there was one odd shaped tool labeled “Not for Sale”. 

If you or a family member are battling depression, let me be blunt, your struggle is quite real. Like heart disease or diabetes, depression is a condition that ranges in degrees of ferocity. For some their depression is mild and...

Would you rather be "loved" or "respected"? A comedian is liked. People laugh. Is he respected? Respect is earned by loving people AND treating them with merciful and kind respect. 

Depression has been called the mental and emotional common cold. Depression is common. However, many people remain unaware. They also remain unaware that depression affects people from the most successful – to the unknown.

What is it like to be depressed. Obviously that varies from one person to another. But this one chapter from the book Light in a Dark Place - Encountering Depression captures the essence of the experience from several vantage points.

He departed visibly. He shall return visibly. He went to heaven; He will return from heaven. He went away bodily; He shall return bodily.

The disciples already had His promise of a SPIRITUAL return to be IN them, but this was different.  The angels speak of another PHYSICAL return of the Lord.

Ordinary people were able to do extraordinary things because the Spirit of God was at work in their lives.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit is not a luxury; it is an absolute necessity 

That the residents of Samaria hear the gospel was more important to Jesus than the restoration of the kingdom to Israel would have been beyond the disciples’ imagination. 

Pentecost changed the entire outlook of these men.

A great fallacy of the North American prosperity doctrine is that it presumes God having the same ambitions for us that we may have for ourselves. Such is usually not the case.

We do not see the Holy Ghost giving these men dictatorial authority. They served the church and the lost. These men did not dominate.

In the days after Jesus ascension and here in deciding on someone to take Judas’ place, they instinctively turned to God in prayer 

Somewhere along the way, Satan began to work on Judas, as he had tempted Jesus and desired Peter “that he might sift you as wheat.” (Luke 22:31b). Judas allowed himself to be enticed away. He “fell.”

Peter and apparently his peers felt it was important to have twelve ordained workers. This was about staffing the mission.

It is not enough for Christians to have faith in the Lord; they must also have faith in one another.

They continued daily in prayer and supplication. The use of two words which speak of much the same activity adds weight to what those in the upper room were doing.

The eleven had received direct instruction. They were to “wait and then go.” In obedience they came to this place to “wait.” Their waiting was not sitting quietly and folding their hands. Instead they took spiritual action. They prayed.

The apostles carried out Jesus’ instructions. They did not scatter, but went at once to the upper room where they abode. It seems this was a temporary residence that had been used when Jesus and His closest followers were in Jerusalem.

Do Christian leaders occasionally make the mistake of trying to bring people to a place of participation they are not ready for. People should be rooted in the church as well as rooted in the Word of God to be productive.

Where else does Acts or the gospels speak of the promise of the Father?