A ROCKY FOUNDATION

                   When a certain church decided to split, each faction filed a lawsuit to claim the church property. A judge finally referred the matter to the higher authorities in the particular denomination. A church court assembled to hear both sides of the case and awarded the church property to one of the two factions. The losers withdrew and formed another church in the area. During the hearing, the church courts learned that the conflict had all begun at a church dinner when a certain elder received a smaller slice of ham than a child seated next to him. Sadly, this was reported in the newspapers for everyone to read. The book of Acts chapter 5 ends with the words, “ the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Mess...

  Mrs. Ima Terror chased her husband through the crowds at the zoo, waving her umbrella and unleashing insults like invisible missiles. Her perspiring husband, seeing that the lock on the lion’s cage had not quite closed, yanked it open, jumped into the cage and slammed the door. He pushed the astonished lion hard against the bars and peered over its shoulder. His frustrated wife shook her umbrella, stuttered in anger and finally managed to explode, “Ralph, come out of there, you coward!” In the book of Acts chapter 5 we read that the apostles were arrested because of preaching the gospel. They were put in jail waiting to appear before the Sanhedrin the following morning. That night an angel rescued them and instructed them to go and continue preaching. In the morning “when the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel” v.21. This was an important matter; the full assembly of the elders of Israel were ...

  Margaret Nikol was born into a pastor’s family in Bulgaria. She grew up under one of the most repressive communist regimes in history. Her father and brother were both pastors. After multiple imprisonments and torture in concentration camps, her father, mother and brother sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Gospel. In spite overwhelming adversity, Nikol excelled in music and became a world-renowned concert violinist. She achieved fame throughout Europe and became concertmaster of the Dresden Symphony. Because of her faith in Christ, she was subjected to physical and emotional cruelty. Eventually, she was given a prison sentence, to begin as soon as the concert season was over. But God had other plans. Nikol was invited to play in Vienna at an Easter concert in 1982. The communists repeatedly denied permission, but finally, because of external pressure, they relented. “God was faster than they were,” testifies Nikol. In Vienna she requested political asylum. Nikol then ...