Mixed Responses Acts 14

In Acts 14 this week, we will see Paul and Barnabas go from town to town sharing the wonderful message of the gospel. And yet, we will also see adversaries who oppose the gospel following them around, seeking to poison the minds of the people and turn them against the apostles. In many cases, it works, and Paul and Barnabas are run out of town. We don’t often see this level of persecution in our culture right now, and yet there are still those who oppose the gospel. We ran into one of those realities this week. As many of you know, there was an email phishing scam targeting the church office that resulted in people’s email addresses being shared with a scammer. As a result, many of you have received emails impersonating the pastors. It grieves my heart that there are people who target churches in order to gain information and steal money from others. This kind of thing is an unfortunate distraction from the gospel, and it plays right into the enemy’s hands. And yet, all we can do (besides being vigilant about scam emails) is remain faithful to God’s calling on our lives each day. In the midst of difficulty, we must remember that God is faithful, and that He is at work in people’s hearts—even when we don’t see it.