Acts 5:34-42

"When [the high council] heard [the apostles' testimony about Jesus' resurrection], the high council was furious and decided to kill them. But one..."

"The others [on the council] accepted [Gamaliel's] advice [to let the Jesus-movement run its course to see if it was really the work of God]. They..."

"And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, [these early disciples] continued to teach and preach this message: "Jesus is the Messiah.""

"Dear Friends, Years before Peter wrote his short letter known as 1 Peter to My disciples, he was repeatedly persecuted. He regularly encountered..."

"Dear Faithful Follower, Yesterday, I asked you to read about the paralyzed man that I healed through Peter and John. I wanted you to see the..."

Would Timothy make it, and if he did, would he be faithful? Phil Ware uses Timothy's release from prison to be an opportunity to look at how we are to live in a culture opposed to Christianity.

When we choose our way, when we think we must be true to what we feel rather than what Jesus said, we find ourselves opposing the work of Christ. Phil Ware reminds us that authentic ministry involves listening for the will of God in time in God's presence, genuine compassionate and personal care for those who are broken, and obedience to Jesus as our Lord.

Are we looking in the right places to find happiness for ourselves? Teresa Bell Kindred reminds us that what we define as happiness is nearly always temporary pleasure that is soon gone and leaves us unhappy; happiness is really on our own shoulders.