Episode 33 Acts 19:21-20:1

We find ourselves in Acts 19:21-20:1 reading about a mob riot in Ephesus. The riot at Ephesus is all about Paul messing with people’s Idolatry. And actually this has been a theme all along in the book of Acts. We will see idolatry in the man-made carved images here at Ephesus as well as the man-made created money we have today. I would say that money is the #1 idol in our culture and often if someone messes with our money, we riot (in our own way). The silversmiths at Ephesus had been organized into a trade union. And they found that they were being hit hard in the most sensitive part of the human anatomy -- the pocketbook. These silversmiths, who made little silver souvenirs of the goddess Artemis, found their business dropping off because so many people were becoming Christians that nobody wanted their shrines anymore. And if we are honest with ourselves as Christians, isn’t this what we want? We want to see Jesus capture so many hearts that bars loose revenue, that pornography websites can’t stay open, that abortion clinics have no customers, that the 49ers football team lose all their fans. Not because Christians are picketing with angry signs and yelling at the “sinners” that use those services, but because so many people love and follow Jesus that there just isn’t the demand anymore. Disciples, making disciples, making disciples, making disciples.

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Episide 34 Acts 20:2-24

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Episode 32 Act 19:1-22