Foreign hello good people.

Welcome to Daily Bible Refresh with Dr.

Brad Miller.

It's always a joy to be with you as we bring you a daily reading of the Scriptures which is brought to you in a new and fresh way.

In as much as we take the assigned Scripture for this very day using the Revised Common Lectionary, we're in year C in the Epiphany season and we bring it to you in an understandable way in as much as we read from the New Testament and from the message translation of the Bible relatable and as much as we offer you a couple of points to ponder, to think about teaching points and applicable and we give you an action step to take, we do so and we also offer a prayer and we do so in under 10 minutes.

It's all brought to you by by Voice of God daily.

Here's our reading for Today from Acts 19:1 10 Reading from the Message now it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus and happened on some disciples there.

The first thing he said was, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart?

Did he get inside you?

We never heard of that.

A Holy Spirit, God within us.

Well, how were you baptized then?

Asked Paul.

In John's baptism.

That explains it, said Paul.

John preached a baptism of radical life change so that people would be ready to receive the one coming after him who turned out to be Jesus.

If you've been baptized in John's baptism, you're ready now for the real thing, for Jesus.

And they were.

As soon as they heard of it, they were baptized in the name of the Master Jesus.

Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them.

And from that moment on they were praising God in tongues and talking about God's actions.

And altogether there were about 12 people there that day.

Paul they went straight to the to the meeting place.

And he had the run of the place for three months, doing his best to make the things of the Kingdom of God real and convincing to them.

But then resistance began to form as some of them began spreading evil rumors through the congregation about the Christian way of life.

So Paul left, taking the disciples with him and set up shop in the school of Taranis, holding class there daily.

He did this for two years, giving everyone in the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, ample opportunity to to hear the message of the Master.

Well, in this, in this passage of scripture here.

My my good my friends.

It's about going beyond belief to an embodied faith that in an adaptive community and how there's transitions and models and different ways of leadership that all happen in a community.

Here's a few points to ponder.

Few points to ponder One is about embodied spirituality.

Paul's question is did you take God into your mind only or did you embrace him with your heart?

That is a good challenge for us.

Is our faith a purely intellectual faith?

Progressive Christianity recognizes that authentic spirituality must engage our whole selves, body, emotions and lived experience is not just a mental exercise.

There's also the evolution of faith.

This text shows people moving from one understanding John's baptism to another Jesus way.

This affirms that spiritual growth often involves leaving behind former beliefs for a deeper understanding.

Progressive faith celebrates this evolution rather than demanding static belief.

One more point to ponder.

It's about adaptive leadership when faith with when faced with resistance, Paul doesn't fight about it, but adapts.

He moves to a new space for learning and dialogue.

And this models how sometimes progressive communities can respond to opposition not through defensive entrenchment, but by creating alternative spaces for growth and learning.

Here's an action step for you.

Create an evolution map that is to gather with others to share your spiritual journey and hear their spiritual journey and focus on moments of transformation and growth.

Document ways that you've outgrown or grown the new ways, your understandings or how you may have embraced new spaces or supported or places to support your growth and how maybe you have created new learning spaces or create a new learning space, both physical or virtual, where you can explore your faith together.

Well, the closing prayer in just a second here.

But just a reminder, we have a resource just for you.

It's called the ABC 123 Bible Study Guide.

It makes Bible study as easy as ABC 1, 2, 3.

You can find it at our show notes@voiceofgod daily.com that's also where you will find the entire back catalog of the Daily Bible refresh over 700 episodes and all the transcripts as well.

Let's pray.

Oh divine God, help us embrace faith that lives in our bodies as well as our minds.

Give us courage to leave behind beliefs that no longer serve love and justice.

We face opposition to growth.

Show us how to create new spaces for learning and transformation.

Thank you for our fellow travelers who support our evolution for questions that lead to deeper truth and for your presence that remains even as our understanding changes.

May we be gentle with ourselves and others in times of transition.

It's always a joy to be with you.

Here on Daily Bible Refresh.

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Until then, My name is Dr.

Brad Miller.

I'll be with you tomorrow.

Remember that God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up.

It's created new every morning.