#book-of-acts — Public Fediverse posts

The Heavy Cost of Carrying a Cross

4,982 words, 26 minutes read time.

We have turned the Cross into a piece of cheap jewelry. We polish it, dip it in gold, hang it around our necks, and tattoo it onto our biceps. We treat it like a spiritual merit badge, a cultural security blanket, or a lifestyle branding logo. But in the ancient world, the cross wasn’t a fashion statement—it was a horrific instrument of state-sponsored torture, public humiliation, and agonizing execution. When Jesus looked at His disciples and said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” the men listening didn’t think about a necklace. They pictured a man walking down a dusty road, skin torn to ribbons, carrying the very timber he was about to be nailed to. They understood the brutal, hard-boiled reality: to pick up a cross meant you were stepping onto death row. It meant your old life was dead, your rights were forfeited, and you were marching toward a hill where your pride and your flesh would be violently executed.

The modern Western pulpit has completely hidden the price tag of salvation. We preach a cost-free, friction-free Christianity that demands nothing but passive Sunday morning attendance, a polite nod to the stage, and a nominal donation. We have insulated men from the raw, grinding friction of the Gospel, handing them a padded, therapeutic faith that promises to optimize their comfort rather than crucify their ego. But the true Gospel comes with a staggering cost. It demands everything. It is a total, unconditional surrender of your reputation, your career advancement, your financial security, and your social standing to the absolute Lordship of King Jesus. If your faith has never cost you a single dollar, a single friendship, or a single promotion, you need to look closely at whose cross you are actually carrying—because it isn’t His.

The American Squeeze: The Rise of HR-Compliant Christianity

Let’s talk about the war zone right here in the United States. In the West, the enemy rarely needs a firing squad or a prison camp to disarm Christian men. Instead, he uses a much more insidious strategy: he sterilizes the faith from the outside, and fractures it from the inside. We are watching a generation of Christian men allow their beliefs to be completely domesticated, filing down the sharp edges of truth in favor of a soft, non-confrontational, and utterly non-offensive faith. We have traded the wild, dangerous call of Christ for a sanitized, HR-compliant religion that looks less like the early church and more like a corporate sensitivity seminar. The goal is no longer to stand for righteousness; it is to avoid causing friction at all costs.

We have turned church splitting into an Olympic sport.

While the secular world organizes an absolute blitzkrieg against the bedrock of scripture, look at what the Church is doing: we are hiding behind our own lines, fracturing into endless, petty tribalism. Walk down the main street of any American town and look at the signage: First Baptist, Second Baptist, Third Baptist. We have turned church splitting into an Olympic sport. We watch communities rip themselves apart, not over the deity of Christ or the authority of the Word, but over the color of the sanctuary carpet, the style of the music, or elevated preferences that someone decided to weaponize into dogma. We elevate minor religious opinions—theological minutiae that have zero bearing on a man’s salvation or his ability to fight the devil—and we turn them into hill-to-die-on doctrines. We are busy drawing lines in the dirt over secondary arguments while the enemy climbs over the walls and takes our children captive.

This systematic, double-pronged squeeze—corporate pressure on one side and religious fracturing on the other—leaves men entirely isolated. The enemy wants to make the professional and social cost of public biblical conviction so high that you will voluntarily choose a toothless silence just to protect your lifestyle, while your local church is too busy fighting its own civil war to offer you a shield. Look at the wreckage: we see employees in corporate offices quietly erasing their convictions, deleting their boldness, and keeping their heads down because they are terrified of being branded as “difficult” or “offensive.” They have been conditioned to believe that a good Christian is simply a quiet, polite worker who never rocks the boat, never mentions the name of Jesus, and belongs to a safe, bickering country-club church that never challenges the dark, deceptive ideologies multiplying in the culture around them.

This is where the rubber meets the road for American men. The squeeze hits you in your bank account, your retirement fund, and your professional reputation. When your company demands that you validate a lie under the guise of inclusivity, or when your industry dictates that you must hide your faith to survive, carrying the cross means refusing to let your soul be corporate-managed, and refusing to let your faith be trivialized by church politics. It means being willing to say, “My family’s provision belongs to God, not this company or this church, and I am done hiding.” It means accepting the awkward silence at the boardroom table, the loss of elite status, or the sudden termination of your contract because your loyalty to Christ cannot be sanitized. Most men fold in these moments because they love their material comfort and their safe, petty religious routines more than their King, trading their prophetic birthright for a corporate paycheck and a padded cubicle.

The Global Battlefield and the Approaching Storm

While American Christians sit in padded pews listening to uncomfortable corporate HR concepts wrapped up as a Sunday morning ‘self-help’ sermon on how to live a better life, our brothers and sisters across the globe are paying for the exact same Gospel in actual blood. We take the sanitized, non-offensive language of corporate compliance, slap a bible verse on it, and call it discipleship. Meanwhile, on the international frontlines, the padding is stripped completely away. Thousands of Christians are brutally murdered every single year purely because they bear the name of Christ, navigating an absolute inferno of dictatorial paranoia and violent systemic oppression. They don’t attend church to enjoy a coffee bar or an emotional light show; they walk into the sanctuary fully aware that they might be carried out in a body bag.

Look at North Korea, sitting at the absolute peak of global tyranny, where owning a physical copy of the Holy Bible is an automatic ticket to a slave labor camp or a public execution squad. In this kingdom of absolute darkness, entire generations of Christian families are systematically starved, tortured, and worked to death in underground mines because they refuse to worship a socialist dictator as god. Look at Nigeria, where the soil is literally stained red with the blood of the saints. Fulani militants and terrorist factions routinely ambush Christian villages, burning churches to the ground and slaughtering believers with machetes—even opening fire on unarmed congregants during holy celebrations. Look at Pakistan and India, where Christian men watch their homes burned by raging mobs, and young Christian daughters are abducted and torn from their families while corrupt local courts look the other way. In these regions, baptism isn’t a celebratory Sunday photo-op with cupcakes—it is a literal funeral for your social existence. The moment you go under that water, your family disowns you, your community hunts you, and your life expectancy drops to zero.

Make no mistake: if you think this violent crucible will stay confined to foreign soil, you are living in a fool’s paradise. The storm is coming to America, and in many ways, the first tremors have already begun. The enemy always starts by weaponizing the law before he weaponizes the streets. Look across our northern border in Canada, where pastors like Artur Pawlowski were hunted down on public highways by SWAT-style police, dragged into the mud, and thrown into prison cells for months simply because they refused to close their churches. Look at the United Kingdom, where street preachers are routinely tackled by police, handcuffed, and jailed under ‘public order acts’ for daring to speak biblical truth about human sexuality on a public sidewalk.

If you think the United States is somehow immune to this, you aren’t paying attention to the scoreboard. Look at our own federal courts, where the Department of Justice successfully weaponized the FACE Act to hand down multi-year federal prison sentences to peaceful, everyday Christians—including grandmothers in their seventies and an 87-year-old woman—treating them like cartel bosses because they dared to sing hymns and pray outside abortion clinics. Look at American sidewalks from Idaho to Georgia, where street preachers have been slapped with handcuffs and hauled off to local jails under the guise of ‘disorderly conduct’ or ‘noise ordinances’ simply for raising their voices to declare the Gospel in the public square. Even the administrative state has begun turning its sights on the faithful, with leaked FBI memos exposing covert intelligence gathering targeting traditional, conservative Christians as potential ‘domestic threats’ based purely on their orthodoxy.

The transition from a sanitized corporate squeeze to actual, hard-iron persecution is a short step. The infrastructure to criminalize your faith is being built right under our noses while we argue about church budgets and sanctuary aesthetics. When the legal trap snaps shut and the pressure shifts from social awkwardness to an actual jail cell, a man raised on a diet of ‘feel-good’ self-help sermons will collapse instantly. He will trade his convictions for security because he was never trained to endure the weight of an actual cross.

The Anatomy of an Uncompromising Faith

This forces the ultimate question that every man must look squarely in the eye: What kind of faith does it take to survive actual persecution?

We are rapidly moving into an era where the global elite and compromised politicians are actively laying the groundwork for what can only be described as a “Global Church”—a One-World Religion designed, financed, and controlled by human institutions. It is a highly sophisticated, synthesized spiritual infrastructure engineered to demand absolute compliance to the state under the guise of global unity, tolerance, and human progress. It is the ultimate evolution of the HR-compliant faith: a religion that includes everything except the truth, accommodates everyone except the holy, and bows to every authority except the throne of God.

If you think your current, comfortable Sunday routine will survive that kind of centralized deception, you are drastically miscalculating the weight of the storm. Surviving the squeeze of a globalized, state-mandated religion does not take a casual preference or a cultural identity. It takes a specific, hardened, and uncompromised fire.

The Genesis of the Deception: Babel Reborn

The concept of a “Global Church” or a unified, state-controlled world religion isn’t a new progressive invention. It is the oldest pagan impulse in human history. It started at the Tower of Babel.

At Babel, humanity didn’t just build a skyscraper; they constructed a unified, centralized system designed to bypass the authority of the Creator. The core philosophy was: “Let us make a name for ourselves.” It was the original attempt to build a global utopia based on human sovereignty, human pride, and collective spiritual compromise.

The coming global system is simply Babel with a digital upgrade. The elites don’t want to eliminate religion—they want to harness it. They know that man is inherently a worshipping creature. If you strip him of the true God, he won’t believe in nothing; he will believe in anything. By engineering a synchronized global faith, the state creates the ultimate tool for total psychological and behavioral control. It is a religion designed to worship the creation rather than the Creator, exalting human consensus as the ultimate moral law.

The Ancient War: The Beast vs. The Lamb

This is the exact spiritual architecture described in the Book of Revelation. The text warns of a day when a global economic and political power structure (The Beast) works in absolute lockstep with a global religious deceptive system (The False Prophet).

This system will not look overtly evil at first. It will be packaged in the language of light, unity, and global healing. It will use words like peace, safety, equity, and collective salvation. It will claim to be fixing a broken world.

But it has a lethal catch: It demands that you surrender your exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ.

The world system can tolerate a watered-down, therapeutic “Jesus” who is just one of many good teachers. It can tolerate a Christianity that stays locked inside the four walls of a church building and remains completely toothless. What it absolutely cannot tolerate—what causes violent, demonic friction—is the unyielding declaration of the Exclusivity of Christ.

The moment you say that Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life, you become an enemy of the global state. Why? Because exclusive truth shatters centralized control. It means your conscience cannot be managed by an HR department, a political party, or a global committee. It means your knees only bow to One.

Standing with the God of the Covenant

To survive this, you cannot rely on an inherited, cultural faith. You cannot survive on the back of your parents’ religion or a generic, country-club Christianity. You must be anchored into the raw, fierce reality of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Think about the God described in the text of Scripture. He is not a vague, cosmic force. He is the El Shaddai—the Lord God Almighty. He is a Covenant-Keeping God who draws hard lines in the sand.

• When the entire Babylonian empire bowed to a giant golden idol, three Hebrew men stood straight up and risked the fiery furnace.
  
• When the Roman empire demanded that every citizen declare “Caesar is Lord” to buy and sell in the marketplace, the early Christians looked the executioners in the eye and declared “Jesus is Lord,” paying for that confession with their lives.

This is the lineage you belong to. The same God who split the Red Sea, who answered Elijah with consuming fire, and who raised Jesus from the dead is the God who holds your soul right now. He does not change. He does not negotiate with global empires, and He does not share His glory with pagan altars.

The Separation of the Wheat and the Chaff

We are entering the great sifting. The soft, padded, self-help Christianity of the West is being weighed in the balances and found wanting. God is allowing the pressure to rise, not to destroy His church, but to purify it.

The pressure is separating the consumers from the soldiers. It is blowing away the chaff of easy, cultural religion so that only the deep, unshakeable wheat remains.

If you want to survive the coming storm, you must make a definitive, blood-bought decision in the quiet of your own heart before the crisis hits:

• You must decide that the Word of God is your final, absolute authority, no matter what the Supreme Court, the corporate boardroom, or a compromised pulpit says.
  
• You must decide that you would rather lose your job, your reputation, your bank account, and your freedom than deny the name of Jesus Christ.
  
• You must build an altar of daily, hidden prayer where your fear of man goes to die, and your fear of the Lord becomes an unyielding shield.

The global elite are building their tower. But our God has already written the end of the story. The stone cut out by no human hand is going to strike the feet of the empire and shatter it into dust, and the Kingdom of our God will fill the entire earth. Stop playing defense. Stop trying to negotiate with a world that wants your soul. Pick up your cross, look to the God of Israel, and march straight into the fight.

The Sovereign Avenger and the Great Western Delusion

The raw, unvarnished truth that the soft modern pulpit refuses to say out loud is this: there are no guarantees that you won’t be persecuted, jailed, or murdered for your faith.

God never signed a contract promising to preserve your material comfort or keep your skin intact until retirement. The apostles weren’t given a security detail; they were hunted down and executed. But while following the true God might cost you your earthly life, biblical history has proven one absolute, terrifying reality: God avenges the mistreatment and martyrdom of His children with absolute, catastrophic fury.

The global elites and compromised rulers of this world think they can touch the saints with impunity. They forget that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keeps a precise ledger of blood, and when He decides to balance the books, empires crumble. If you want to know how the Sovereign Lord responds to the persecution of His people, look at the scoreboard of Scripture:

• Pharaoh and the Tyranny of Egypt: Pharaoh thought he could enslave, oppress, and systematically murder the children of God to protect his empire’s economy. He considered himself a god, untouchable and supreme. But the true God unleashed an avalanche of supernatural plagues that crippled Egypt’s infrastructure, turned their river into blood, executed their firstborn, and permanently buried the entire elite Egyptian army at the bottom of the Red Sea.
  
• Ahab, Jezebel, and the Murder of Naboth: King Ahab and his pagan queen, Jezebel, used state-sanctioned corruption to murder a righteous man named Naboth just to seize his land, while systematically hunting down the true prophets of God. They thought their royal status shielded them. It didn’t. God dispatched Elijah with a message of brutal doom. Ahab was shot by a random arrow in battle, bleeding out in his chariot, and dogs literally licked up his blood. Jezebel was thrown out of a high window by her own advisors, trampled by horses, and her corpse was eaten by feral dogs on the street.
  
• King Herod and the Pride of Tyrannical Statecraft: In the Book of Acts, King Herod Agrippa launched a violent campaign against the early church, executing the apostle James with the sword and throwing Peter into a maximum-security prison cell to please the mob. Later, Herod stood before the people in royal robes, giving a speech while the crowd shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Herod soaked in the praise, refusing to give glory to the true God. Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck him down on his throne, and he was eaten from the inside out by worms—rotting alive as a public monument to the fury of God.
  
• The Ultimate Accounting in Revelation: The final book of Scripture pulls back the curtain on the cosmic timeline and shows the martyrs under the altar crying out, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” The answer comes in the terrifying wrath of the Lamb. When the centralized world system tries to eradicate the faithful, God turns their water into poison, strikes their economy with absolute ruin, and causes the very elites who orchestrated the persecution to hide in caves, begging the rocks to fall on them to shield them from His terrifying vengeance.

The Vision that Shattered the Fear of Death

What was it that ultimately kept the disciples and the early Christians moving forward into the teeth of this Roman machinery? Why did they march into the Colosseum singing hymns instead of begging for their lives?

It wasn’t because they subscribed to a nice philosophical worldview or a comforting moral code. It was because they had witnessed the physical annihilation of the grave.

When Christ gave up His spirit on the cross, the earth didn’t just shake—the fabric of death itself ripped wide open. The Gospel of Matthew records that the rocks split, and the very graves of the saints tore open. Those holy men and women were alive, waiting in the dark of those ruptured tombs for the exact moment Jesus broke His own seal. He was the firstfruits of the resurrection, but He was not the last that day. After His resurrection, those resurrected saints walked out of their graves, marched right into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared alive to many.

The early church didn’t look at the resurrection as an abstract theological concept to be debated on Sunday mornings; they had literally seen the dead walking the streets.

The moment a man realizes that the grave has a trapdoor, he becomes completely untamable. You cannot threaten a man with death when he knows his King has already conquered the cemetery.

They watched the tombs split open with their own eyes. They knew with absolute, terrifying certainty that the Roman Empire could build all the crosses, sharpen all the swords, and dig all the graves they wanted—but they couldn’t make the death stick. Jesus was the first out of the dirt, and because He lived, they knew they would live too. The moment a man realizes that the grave has a trapdoor, he becomes completely untamable. You cannot threaten a man with death when he knows his King has already conquered the cemetery.

Conquering the Squeeze

When you stack that level of raw, historical conviction against our modern Western complaints—and the shifting totalitarian landscape closing in at home—our spiritual fragility becomes completely embarrassing. We have developed a brittle, coddled theology that throws a temper tantrum at the heavens if we face a minor financial setback, an awkward boardroom meeting, or an uncomfortable conversation at work. We have been spoon-fed a prosperity deception that treats Jesus like a divine butler, leaving us entirely unprepared for the actual friction of a world that fundamentally hates our Master. If your faith cannot survive a mocking comment from a secular neighbor or a missed promotion in an American office without you demanding a refund from God, how will you ever stand firm when the legal trap snaps shut and the prison door slams behind you?

The global church isn’t growing because it’s comfortable; it is exploding in the fires of affliction because suffering strips away the fakes and leaves an unstoppable phalanx of holy warriors. The underground church doesn’t have time for vague, three-point self-help sermons on “how to manage your stress” or “how to have a positive week.” They don’t care about corporate compliance tips masquerading as theology, and they are completely done with bickering over petty, country-club church splits. They need a deep, unyielding doctrine of the Sovereignty of the God of Israel that can hold their souls steady when the SWAT team forces its way into the building. They possess a fierce, infectious confidence because they have already counted the cost, embraced the death of self, and realized that a jail cell has no power over a spirit that has already surrendered entirely to King Jesus.

It is time for American men to wake up from their deep, consumer-driven slumber. We must stop expecting a life of uninterrupted luxury, padded pews, and soft-pedaled Sunday messages while our brothers across the ocean are being slaughtered, and faithful pastors at home are being hunted down for the exact same confession of faith. The global elite are building their modern Tower of Babel, and a gutless, sanitized religion will willingly bow to it. We need to step back into the forge, burn the masks of easy, cheap Christianity, and actively train for the spiritual warfare right outside our front doors. Pick up the heavy timber of the Cross. Embrace the social friction, accept the professional risk, and stand firm on the frontlines of your workplace, your neighborhood, and your home. Stop playing defense. If the Gospel we preach isn’t worth going to jail for in the West, or dying for in Nigeria, it isn’t worth living for in America.

A Line in the Sand: Choose This Day

The time for playing games is over. The cultural luxury of being a casual, comfortable Christian in the West has completely evaporated. The corporate squeeze is tightening, the legal machinery is being deployed, and the architects of the new global order are demanding your total, uncompromised compliance. You cannot ride the fence any longer.

If you want to survive the storm that is coming, you have to draw a line in the dirt right now, look the system in the eye, and make your definitive choice.

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” — Joshua 24:15

American men, the altars have been built. On one side stands the sanitized, HR-compliant religion of the age—a gutless, self-help deception that bows to the state, protects its retirement fund, and stays silent while the culture burns. On the other side stands the blood-bought, battle-tested faith of the saints—the exclusive allegiance to the God of Israel, the King who broke the power of the grave and who avenges His children with catastrophic fury.

Do not wait for the SWAT team to hit your door or the corporate firing squad to clear your desk before you decide where you stand. The forge is hot right now.

Step up. Shake off the consumer-driven slumber. Burn the masks of easy, cheap Christianity that have kept you coddled and weak. Stand firm on the frontlines of your workplace, your neighborhood, and your home, and let the world know exactly whose banner you fly.

Choose this day. Stop playing defense. If the Gospel isn’t worth losing everything for, it isn’t worth living for at all. Pick up your cross, look to the King, and march straight into the fight.

Join the Discussion:

• Where have you felt the “American Squeeze” trying to sanitize your faith into an HR-compliant version? Have you chosen the safety of silence, or have you stood firm on biblical truth regardless of the cost?
• How does the brutal reality of our persecuted brothers and sisters in North Korea and Nigeria expose the absolute shallowness of the Western “self-help” gospel?
• What is one specific area in your life right now where you need to stop protecting your comfort, pick up your cross, and execute tactical obedience to King Jesus?

Drop your raw, unvarnished thoughts in the comments below. No plastic answers. Let the sparks fly.

The Cross isn’t a crown to wear in this life—it’s an anvil where your pride goes to die.

D. Bryan King

Sources

• Open Doors US: North Korea Country Profile & Christian Persecution
• Open Doors US: Nigeria Country Profile & Violent Attacks on Christians
• Open Doors US: Pakistan Country Profile & Blasphemy Laws
• Open Doors US: India Country Profile & Anti-Conversion Violence
• Open Doors US: Nicaragua Country Profile & Church Crackdowns
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: Annual Report on North Korea
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: Country Reports on Nigerian Extremism
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: Religious Freedom Crackdowns in Nicaragua
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: Religious Freedom Violations in Pakistan
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: Reports on Violence Against Minorities in India
• Vatican News: Nicaragua Regime Bans Jesuits and Seizes Church Properties
• Vatican News: Ortega Regime Imprisons and Deports Nicaraguan Clergy
• BBC News: Nigeria Church Attack — Gunmen Kill Worshippers in Owo
• BBC News: Pakistan Christian Homes and Churches Burned Over Blasphemy Accusation
• Reuters: Ortega Administration Shuts Down Catholic Radio and Detains Pastors
• Reuters: Terrorist Factions and Militants Ambush Christian Villages in Nigeria
• International Christian Concern: Severe Torture and Labor Camps in North Korea
• International Christian Concern: Fulani Militants and Massacres in Nigeria
• International Christian Concern: Mob Attacks and Church Burnings across India
• International Christian Concern: Kidnapping and Forced Conversion of Christian Daughters
• Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms: The Legal Battles and Arrest of Pastor Artur Pawlowski
• CBC News: Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski Sentenced and Jailed over Covid Lockdowns
• The Telegraph: Street Preacher Hauled Off by Police Officers under Public Order Acts
• Christian Concern: Pastor John Sherwood Arrested for Preaching Biblical Marriage
• U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee: Investigation into FBI Memos Targeting Traditional Catholics
• U.S. House of Representatives: Judiciary Committee Report on Federal Weaponization and FBI Memos
• U.S. Department of Justice: Protesters Convicted of Federal FACE Act Violations in Washington D.C.
• U.S. Department of Justice: Federal Convictions and Multi-Year Sentences for Peaceful Activists in Tennessee
• Alliance Defending Freedom: Street Preachers Handcuffed and Jailed over Local Noise Ordinances
• Alliance Defending Freedom: The Suppression of Religious Speech and Signage in Public Squares
• Fox News: Internal FBI Document Leaked Disclosing Surveillance of Conservative Christians
• The Daily Wire: Grandmothers and Elderly Christians Handed Multi-Year Federal Prison Sentences
• Bible Gateway: Genesis 11:1-9 — The Tower of Babel and Centralized Deception
• Bible Gateway: Revelation 13 — The Global Power Structure and the Beast System
• Bible Gateway: Revelation 6:9-11 — The Cry of the Martyrs under the Altar
• Bible Gateway: Exodus 14 — The Judgment of Pharaoh and the Elite Egyptian Army
• Bible Gateway: 1 Kings 21 — The Murder of Naboth and the Arrogance of Ahab
• Bible Gateway: 2 Kings 9 — The Demise of Jezebel and the Vengeance of God
• Bible Gateway: Acts 12:1-23 — King Herod’s Execution of James and His Supernatural Judgment
• Bible Gateway: Matthew 27:50-54 — The Graves Splitting Open and Saints Resurrecting at the Cross
• Bible Gateway: Joshua 24:15 — Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. The information provided is based on personal research, experience, and understanding of the subject matter at the time of writing. Readers should consult relevant experts or authorities for specific guidance related to their unique situations.

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Maclaren—Scottish Baptist, expounding Acts—says the Incarnation creates a bond of universal brotherhood: Christ took every man’s nature and brought all into one. The early church’s communal sharing was the visible witness of this. Some Calvinist applications of “Esau I hated” have drifted from Calvin’s own instructions about kindness. More Calvinist than Calvin is a specific achievement.

#baptist #christian #bookofacts #sharingeconomy #bodyofchrist

I Visited The Western Wall Twice

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from my personal experiences and observations during the Israel pilgrimage tour I joined and what happened during my free time. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back, readers and fellow followers of the Lord! This is the 11th chapter of my ongoing series of articles about the holy nation of Israel with recollections about the experiences and discoveries I had during the pilgrimage tour I joined with my local church (hosted by strategic partner Behold Israel) in 2023. To see my previous Israel tour articles, click here, here, here, here, here,  here, here, here, here and here. No matter what happens in this unpredictable and chaotic world we live in, I will always stand with Israel and my faith in the Lord remains uncompromising!

In this latest edition of my Israel 2023 series, I share with you what I experienced when I visited Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem not once but twice. Also referred to as the Wailing Wall, the Western Wall is a very holy site and is one of the most definitive places to be in with regards to worshiping the Lord.

For starters, I share with you the very video I recorded about my first time ever to arrive at the Western Wall Plaza (note: I was with my pilgrimage tour group companions, our pastors and our hard-working local tour guide) as well as my first-ever approach (starts at 2:01 in the video) to the Western Wall itself. It’s a video of more than three minutes and it’s available for public viewing via YouTube. Watch the video below and pay attention to the details closely.

https://youtu.be/H9EF50bcv_A

As you can see in the above video, I stopped recording before entering the perimeter to get closer to the Western Wall. What happened after was my personal discovery and my personal sensing of the Lord’s presence.

About The Western Wall

To put things in perspective, the Western Wall is a retaining wall which was part of the Temple Mount expansion that King Herod (Herod the Great) did in around 19 BC. It is one of the four supporting walls of the Temple Mount which remained intact after the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple many decades later. Above it is the Temple Mount already.

Historically, the First Jewish Temple was built on the top of Mount Moriah during the time of King Solomon. The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. In 19 BC, King Herod started rebuilding a new temple and this includes enlarging the Temple Mount platform a lot which made it 1,575 feet long and 985 feet wide. Herod had ten thousand men working and trained a thousand priests to work on the most sacred parts of the Second Jewish Temple.

The construction was done after several years but the decoration was completed in 64 AD. Six years after the Second Jewish Temple was fully completed, the Romans destroyed it but the western side of the Temple Mount survived. This happened in 70 AD, long after Lord Jesus conquered death and ascended to Heaven.

The Western Wall faces westward and it is the closest in proximity to the site of the Holy of Holies, the most sacred location in the Temple for the Jewish people. Be aware that Mount Moriah is the same exact mountain where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac before God sent the angel to intervene and provided the ram as the sacrifice.   

For centuries, the Western Wall became a great source of influence and inspiration. It became the focus of yearning and prayer for the Jewish people for countless generations. The open-air section of the Western Wall serves as a place of worshipping the Lord and it is officially a synagogue. Apart from worship, the Western Wall keeps the memory of the Jewish Temples alive and it has also been used by the State of Israel for formal ceremonies. For centuries, pilgrims from around world came to the wall to pray and leave written noted in its ancient stones.

Physically, the Western Wall is 488 meters long and the height of the exposed section reaches a height of 40 meters above the bedrock of the eastern hill of Jerusalem (Mount Moriah). The open-air section of the wall (visible to the Prayer Plaza) is comprised of 46 layers of stone and the very large stones (that many are able to touch) were put in place during the time of King Herod (Second Jewish Temple period).

My First Visit – February 13, 2023

After recording the video, I placed my smartphone into my pocket, entered the worship area and gradually made my way to the wall.

With my Holy Bible in my left hand, I touched the Western Wall with my right hand and started spending quality time with the Lord God, praying to Him. With all my heart, I expressed my thanks and dedication to Lord Jesus there at the wall. I also prayed in support of Israel and the peace of Jerusalem.

Each moment I had there, I truly felt God’s presence and I did not confuse it with the wall’s visual magnificence. As I prayed, I felt the unction from the Lord to open my eyes and look straight up at the blue sky above knowing that He is spiritual, and He is in Heaven. The Lord is not inside the stones of the wall but in His Kingdom. That said, I did not worship the stones (reminder: idolatry is foolish and unholy) as I directed my worship directly to the Lord knowing He is in Heaven.

Because we only had fifteen minutes to spend as our tour group had a schedule to follow, I wisely spent time to praising and honoring the Lord. Let me remind you all that Lord Jesus will someday return and He will fulfill His promise. He will return in Israel and Jerusalem will be His destination.

After praying to Him, I spent the remaining minutes looking around and observing. I was surrounded by Ultra-Orthodox Jews, National Religious Jews, rabbis, tourists and Christians. I witnessed the religious rituals and practices of the Jewish people and I know deep inside that the ties between Jews and Christians are biblical.

The whole area is indeed sacred and that means visitors should be respectful and should practice decency near the Western Wall. People praying to God are to be respected and when there are many others praying while touching the wall, you will really have to wait for your turn. Be mindful that the Lord is always watching you as there is simply no reason to cause disrespect, playing around and causing trouble at the Western Wall.

When my fifteen minutes ran out, I went to the exit to rejoin my tour group.

My Second Visit – February 15, 2023

Two days later, it was our tour group’s one and only rest day. After having a really early breakfast at our hotel, I marched to the Old City of Jerusalem and visited the Temple Mount for the first time ever. After spending time up there, I took the exit and made my way down to return to the Western Wall.

Once again I took time touching the wall and praying to the Lord and expressing my thanks to Him with a lot of heart. After several minutes, I took a seat to pray to Him while resting my legs. Then I noticed a North American man (who looked so much like Hillsong Church’s Phil Dooley) with the Holy Bible at one end of the fence (separating the men and the women) by the wall facing at the other direction (his back on the wall). He preached the Word of God and asked the Lord to save everyone. What he said reminded me that God has a plan for everyone, including the Jews (His chosen people) and there is still time for the lost and unsaved to realize Jesus as the Lord and the Savior of all.

After I was done praying by the wall, I decided to visit Wilson’s Arch as I was so curious why a lot of people had been entering and exiting it. It turned out to be Western Wall tunnel (with an arch area) and inside was a synagogue where there lots of Jews read the Old Testament, the Torah and pray. At the entrance/exit, a Jewish rabbi invited me in and assured me that foreigners and non-Jews were welcome. So I went in and he showed some parts of the indoor synagogue.

As it was a place of worship by the Jews, I was cautious moving inside and spending time observing. Carefully I only took a few photos for this feature article and it was astonishing to see more of the Western Wall indoors. Not only that, it was impressive to see the arches – including those huge stones above our heads – and it turns out they were constructed during Herod’s time and without any cement at all. There were also lots of shelves of books on both sides.

The indoor synagogue is one of the holiest synagogues in Israel due to its proximity to where the original Jewish Temple was wherein the Holy of Holies resided. Since it was my plan to revisit the Upper Room and visit both King David’s Tomb and Oskar Schindler’s grave, I eventually left the Western Wall tunnel. Before tracing my way back to the Jewish Quarter (where we visited two days prior), I took one last look back at the Western Wall. I intend to revisit it and spend quality time with the Lord there again in the future.  

Biblical Significance

While it is a fact that the Western Wall was not explicitly mentioned in the Holy Bible, it has always been part of the Temple Mount since Herod’s time. To put things in perspective, we need to go back to the time when King Solomon dedicated the First Temple asking God to hear the prayers made toward it. Learn from the holy scriptures below.

that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

1 Kings 8:29-30 (NKJV)

“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

1 Kings 8:41-43 (NKJV)

The First Jewish Temple eventually got destroyed by the Babylonians. Centuries later, Herod executed the massive rebuilding of the Temple (Second Jewish Temple) in Jerusalem as well as the expansion of the Temple Mount itself. What was achieved drew reactions from many people who saw it and there were references of such reactions in the New Testament. For insight, read the scriptures below.

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!”

Mark 13:1 (NKJV)

Then the Jews replied, It took forty-six years to build this temple (sanctuary), and will You raise it up in three days?

John 2:20 (AMPC)

To be clear, the forty-six years mentioned in John 2:20 refers to the massive renovation and the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple.

Long before the Second Temple got destroyed, Lord Jesus prophesied its destruction. By the time Lord Jesus made the prophesy, He was already rejected by the religious Jews. Those people refused to accept Him as their Messiah and they had disobeyed God as a result. Lord Jesus wept for Jerusalem knowing that suffering and destruction would come and it happened in 70 AD. Learn from the scriptures below.

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying,

“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Luke 19:41-44 (NKJV)

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them,

“Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:1-2 (NKJV)

As it is very clear that God always has a plan for the faithful and His chosen people, it was prophesied that He would bring the Jews (scattered around the world) back to Israel in the last days. This prophecy was fulfilled in May 1948 when the modern State of Israel was formally established and a lot of Jews returned or settled in since then. Lord Jesus will return to us some time in the future and there is time for the Jews to accept Him as their Messiah, to repent and submit to Him. The other lost and unsaved people of the world still have opportunities to realize Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Very clearly, Lord Jesus is the hope of ALL nations! Learn from the scriptures below.

If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

Deuteronomy 30:4-5 (NKJV)

Jesus answered him,

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God.”

John 3:3 (AMP)

Beloved ones, let me repeat emphatically that the gospel entrusted to me was not given to me by any man. No one taught me this revelation, for it was given to me directly by the unveiling of Jesus Christ.

By now you have heard stories of how severely I harassed and persecuted Christians and how systematically I endeavored to destroy God’s church, all because of my radical devotion to the Jewish religion. My zeal and passion for the doctrines of Judaism distinguished me among my people, for I was far more advanced in my religious instruction than others my age.

But then God called me by his grace, and chose me from my birth to be his. He was pleased to unveil his Son in me so that I would proclaim him to the peoples of the world. After I had this encounter, I kept it a secret for some time, sharing it with no one. And I had no desire to run to Jerusalem and try to impress those who had become apostles before me. Instead, I withdrew into the Arabian Desert. Then I returned to Damascus, where I had first encountered Jesus.

Galatians 1:11-17 (TPT)

For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,

By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.

And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.

And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near.

For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].

Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s [own] household.

You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone.

In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].

In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:14-22 (AMPC)

Conclusion

My two visits to the Western Wall were very significant to me personally. As seen above, each visit has been different, new discoveries happened and I spent quality time with Lord. The place is holy and it is a must-visit for anyone going to Israel. If I ever visit Israel again, I would return to the Western Wall to praise, thank and honor the Lord. If you are a person of faith who is about to visit Israel for the first time, I urge you to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Learn from my experiences. I also encourage you all to stand united in support of Israel, learn to love and bless the Jewish people, help the lost and unsaved come to Lord Jesus and always pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they prosper who love you [the Holy City]!

May peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces!

For my brethren and companions’ sake, I will now say, Peace be within you!

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek, inquire for, and require your good.

Psalm 122:6-9 (AMPC)

Israel is the holiest place to visit in the whole world! Visit Israel with the Holy Bible! Pray to the Lord wholeheartedly and reveal to Him your heart’s desire to visit Israel to deepen your faith in Him. Always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus! Follow the light of Lord Jesus, keep on praying to support Israel, learn to love and bless the Jewish people and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Watch out for more Israel 2023 travel articles here. There is more to come! Thank you for reading.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

I was at the Southern Steps in Jerusalem

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from my personal experiences and observations during the Israel pilgrimage tour I joined and what happened during my free time. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back, readers and fellow followers of the Lord! This is the 10th chapter of my ongoing series of articles about the holy nation of Israel with recollections about the experiences and discoveries I had during the pilgrimage tour I joined with my local church (hosted by strategic partner Behold Israel). To see my previous Israel tour articles, click here, here, here, here, here,  here, here, here and here. No matter what happens in this twisted world we live in, I will always stand with Israel and my faith in the Lord remains uncompromising!

In this latest edition of my Israel 2023 series, I share with you what I experienced when our pilgrimage tour group visited the Southern Steps (also referred to as the Southern Stairs and Rabbi Stairs) located at the lower part of the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Thanks to our dedicated local tourist guide, our tour group had a meaningful visit there and we spent several minutes observing the place. Our time at the steps concluded with a bible teaching led by New Life Philippines Pastor Edwin Tugano. In my personal experience, I felt something from the Lord there as I realized the biblical relevance of the holy site as well as insight regarding what the place was like thousands of years ago.

The site is very significant as it is the place that served as one of the main entrances from the south to the Temple Mount during the time of Lord Jesus. In fact, people coming from the City of David going north to the Temple Mount used the Southern Steps very long ago. Also, the Southern Steps became a useful place where rabbis and their disciples gathered for faith lessons and this explains why the said steps are also called the Rabbi Stairs. Physically, the steps were hundreds of feet wide which provided abundant space for congregating and teaching.

As many centuries had passed since Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven, there were physical changes that happened at the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount and this is evident as visitors today cannot access the mentioned sacred site above (where the Jewish temples used to be) using the Southern Steps. This is because there is noticeable expansion of the Southern Wall blocking the steps’ upward access to the Temple Mount. I myself had touched that wall and noticed how its stone quality and colors differed from the rest of the Southern Wall.

Regardless, the step themselves – composed of the original stones from Jesus’ time (those steps with the rougher stones) plus newer ones (added to fill the gaps) leading to the Southern Wall – are still there and climbing them required methodical walking. The Southern Steps today are widely visited by faithful Christians from around the world as it is a holy site and it is very likely that Lord Jesus Himself climbed the steps going to the Temple Mount. There is no doubt that Lord Jesus and His disciples also gathered at the steps for teachings. The holy site should remind you about the significance of Lord Jesus’ presence in Jerusalem.  

In my experience there at the Southern Steps with my tour companions, I felt the holiness of the place and that became more evident as I opened the Holy Bible during the bible teaching led by our pastor right there. During our time there, I noticed another pilgrimage tour group was present with us several feet away.  

Did Pentecost happen at the Southern Steps?

By reading the biblical reference of Pentecost and connecting it with my observations of the holy site, I can say that the Southern Steps is a possible place where Pentecost may have happened. I can even say that it is a more suitable place –  where about three thousand Jews got baptized after the apostle Peter preached the good news – than the Upper Room (itself a popular location in many paintings and artworks dramatizing Pentecost).

Take a close look at the biblical record of Pentecost below…

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your young men shall see visions,

Your old men shall dream dreams.

And on My menservants and on My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days;

And they shall prophesy.

I will show wonders in heaven above

And signs in the earth beneath:

Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass

That whoever calls on the name of the Lord

Shall be saved.’

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him:

‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,

For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;

Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.

For You will not leave my soul in Hades,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

You have made known to me the ways of life;

You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Acts 2:1-41 (NKJV)

Take note that verse 2 of Chapter 2 in the Book of Acts specifically mentioned “house” which is not limited to houses. In fact, in the Old Testament of the Bible, the Jewish temple is referred to as the house – as in the house of the Lord. The place of worship of the Lord!

Still within biblical context, “house” – as seen in verse 36 with “house of Israel” – also symbolizes family and lineage in the Holy Bible. “House of Israel” refers to the entire nation descended from Abraham through Jacob and Isaac and that includes the Jewish people (descendants) who were present in Jerusalem during Pentecost. For relevance of the house of Israel, read 2 Kings 7:1-16 in the Holy Bible – God’s words for King David passed through the prophet Nathan.

As it was an essential form of access into the Temple Mount, the Southern Steps also served as a natural place of gathering, spacious enough to accommodate thousands of Jews. As mentioned earlier, these wide and spacious holy stairs are a more suitable place than the Upper Room for Pentecost to happen.

Also take note that verse 41 of Chapter 2 of the Book of Acts mentions that there were around three thousand Jews who got baptized and helped the church of Lord Jesus grow a lot on the day of Pentecost itself (for relevance, read John 3:3 in the Holy Bible). This also means that there were between fifteen thousand to thirty thousand people in Jerusalem who witnessed Pentecost happen. Having been at the Southern Steps myself, I can easily visualize the whole place – from the steps themselves and the space between them and the City of David in the south, plus the whole stretch of the Southern Wall – being filled with lots of people on that very day. Having attended the bible teaching led by our pastor who stood at the steps facing us south, I can visualize the apostle Peter preaching to thousands of Jewish people there long ago.

There is absolutely no way that the 3,000 people who received Christ and got baptized would fit inside the Upper Room at the time of Pentecost. When the apostle Peter preached, he was not surrounded by only a tiny group of people but by a huge crowd who listened. The other apostles were with Peter back then. This should remind you that the artists responsible for the paintings and artworks portraying Pentecost happening inside the Upper Room or within an indoor place with walls and a roof did not fully understand the biblical record of Pentecost. In other words, those artists got it wrong and the Bible proves they are wrong. This should remind you to maintain faith in God’s Word, not in man-made artworks.

Once again, the Southern Steps is a possible site of Pentecost. It may not be definitive but it definitely is more suitable than the Upper Room for congregating and preaching in front of thousands. The other possible places where Pentecost may have happened include the Royal Stoa (which was intact at the Southern Wall covering its length and was located high above the Southern Steps) and at the Jewish Temple itself.

While the exact location of Pentecost remains unresolved, I encourage you all to always keep faith in the Lord and His Word knowing that Pentecost truly happened as it was an anointed by the Lord to happen. Location is one thing, but the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit are always essential to our faith in Lord Jesus.

Conclusion

I can say that me and my pilgrimage tour group companions were blessed by the Lord during our time at the Southern Steps. Simply thinking about Lord Jesus teaching His followers at the steps is uplifting  There clearly is a lot to learn and discover by being at the holy site and having the Bible for reference. I thank Lord Jesus for blessing us, for our pastors and our local tour guide, and for the anointed experience at the Southern Steps. I definitely will revisit those steps when I return to Israel.

Israel is a great and holy place to visit! Visit Israel with the Holy Bible! Pray to the Lord wholeheartedly and reveal to Him your heart’s desire to visit Israel to deepen your faith in Him. Always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus! Follow the light of Lord Jesus, keep on praying to support Israel, learn to love and bless the Jewish people and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Watch out for more Israel 2023 travel articles here. There is more to come!

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

-- Acts: Christian FanFiction? | Secular Bible Study (Episode 44) --
(from Mindshift)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOj0SuJrVqc

#BookOfActs #NewTestament #Bible #criticism #Christianity #apostles

What is the #BookofActs About?

https://ehrmanblog.org/what-is-the-book-of-acts-about
#bible #christian #sundayschool #history #atheist #religion #mythology

“Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” Immediately he arose.” Acts 9:34 WEBUS
#BookOfActs #ActsOfTheApostles #SaintPeter #Miracle #Miracles #Christianity‭‭ #BibleStudy