During what I’ve heard referred to as the Apostolic Age, there are instances of miraculous healings and wanders in the book of Acts. Peter for example heals a crippled beggar in Acts 3:6-10, collectively the apostles are credited with miraculous signs and wanders in Acts 5:12-16. Philip meets and baptizes an Ethiopian on a desert road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza, then seems to mysteriously leave the Ethiopian’s company only to appear in Azotus (Ashdod in the Old Testament.)
Acts 8:34-40
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
For a few years now I’ve held a skeptical view toward anyone claiming to be an Apostle; as in the sense of being able to work miracles. I didn’t really base my opinion off of Scripture at the time, just being another Doubting Thomas I guess. :) I don’t deny the possibility that God could or would empower people in this present age to have Apostolic gifts. I do however believe that such gifts are rare, not as prevalent as others might contend.
Reading from Ephesians about a week ago, I came across a passage that I believe makes sense of those doubts I have…
Ephesians 2:19-22
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Looking at the word "foundation" it occurs to me that when a contractor builds a house or building, they prep the ground initially to lay the foundation. Once the foundation is laid, the work commences on 
actually constructing the building. The contractor doesn’t continue laying cement or installing re-bar in the foundation as walls, plumbing and electrical lines are installed. Likewise I think that in the book of Acts, the miraculous work done by the Apostles was meant as the groundwork set down to establish the Church. Those works being evidence to early believers; which facilitated Church growth in the day and that future generations would be built up upon, as the gospel spread and Christianity took root in the lives of people and the pages of history. Just my 2 ¢. 🙂
Grace and peace be with you.
Got-Fruit(?) 
It’s a mad,mad,mad,world.
Here we go again…
I found out this morning that a gunman in Upstate New York had taken a school principle hostage, fortunately it’s been reported via online sources that the gunman surrendered without incident. Thank God!
You know? This stuff is starting to get old..real quick. Sometimes it seems as though there’s a lot of truth to the notion that your just not safe anywhere. Forgive me if I sound like an old fogey when I say that “I don’t recall so much violence being so common when I was a kid.” Perhaps I simply didn’t pay enough attention to the news.
I can recall in December of 1984, just weeks before CHRISTmas, Southwest Oklahoma was shocked by news of a grisly mass murder committed at a small bank located in Geronimo, OK. Law enforcement agencies would conduct a national manhunt; three days later tracking down suspects Jay Wesley Niell and Robert Grady Johnson in San Francisco, California.
August 20th, 1986; hearing later that afternoon on the car radio, the news of the Enid, Oklahoma Postal massacre that had taken place earlier that morning. Almost two years prior on 18 July, 1984, 22 people were murdered in the San Ysidro McDonald’s massacre. These incidents at the time, seemed like sporadic instances vs… an epidemic?
Then… there’s the Littleton, Colorado school shootings at Columbine High and then more recently the Virginia Tech rampage, which cause me to think that even at school, our children aren’t guaranteed safety. Isn’t there something, just wrong with that!?
But these aren’t isolated cases! On the “web” I found a compiled list of some of the violence committed in the past 13 years in schools, playgrounds and on campuses throughout the world.
It would seem that the norm is that people generally mind their own business and go about their daily routine, not thinking that a stop at the convenience store for gas or stopping at the local fast food restaurant may become a fatal decision…
December 1993, Colin Ferguson murders 6 and injures 19 other commuters on a Long Island Rail Road. Then there’s the Orlando, Florida and the Fort Hood, Texas attacks, still fresh on our minds, while memories of the DC/”Beltway” Sniper have been rekindled as the governor of Virginia has cleared the way for the execution of John Allen Muhammad.
Years ago, my knee jerk reaction to the “all of this” violence would be to look to the government for a solution; pass more laws, stricter penalties,”throw “em in jail, then throw away the key”; even going so far as willing to give up a few rights and liberties for safety. But that really isn’t the answer is it?
A possible downside of a governmental response? State police "securing" public schools? That sounds like a recipe for wayyyyyy too much control by a government. It is in my opinion, a flawed approach in that it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter. That matter being sin. The question I ask when I look at these instances of violence against co-workers, innocent bystanders, school mates etc; is this? “What in a person’s mind, gives them reason and the “right” to assume any authority to infringe upon the right of another to live?”
Sin does not however play nice with others. Sin doesn’t consider the welfare of others over one’s self. Sin is, self serving, and as we witness daily through stories of murder and terror; ultimately a destructive act, for not only the victims but also a slow (spiritual) suicide for the transgressor.
Isaiah the prophet spoke of a vision he had concerning Judah and Jerusalem, “funny” how familiar the words of Isaiah the prophet still seem to apply with the current state of the world, but particularly with regard to the US….
Romans 1:28-32
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Grace and peace be with you.