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¹ Now there was a married couple who promised to sell a piece of property to raise money for Pete, John, and the rest of the cowboys. ² Ananias and Sapphira did sell the property, but instead of giving all the money to the cause, they kept back a sizable amount for themselves.

³ Then Pete said, "Ananias, I thought you were more of a man than that. You didn't just lie to us. You lied to God. You told him you'd sell that property and give all the money to help us spread the word. ⁴ The property belonged to you to do as you wanted. You could have sold it and kept all the money, but you said you'd donate it all. You didn't just lie to us. You lied to God."

⁵ When Ananias heard what Pete said, he collapsed and died. Everyone who heard about what happened was scared to death. ⁶ Some younger men who were there when it happened got up and took care of the body and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later, Sapphira came walking in, unaware of what had happened. ⁸ Pete showed her the money Ananias had given him and asked, "Is this the price y'all got for the land?"

"Yes, sir," she said quickly.

⁹ Pete said, "How is it that you thought you could pull a fast one on God? The footsteps you hear behind you are the feet of the men who just buried your husband, and they will bury you too."

¹⁰ She was dead before she hit the floor. The young men came back in and found another dead body. They went back out and buried her next to her husband. ¹¹ Word spread quickly that the new church wasn't one to be trifled with. No longer could you say one thing and do another. God was to be respected.

The Cowboys Cure Many

¹² The cowboys were healing folks right and left. They performed miracles and other great things that many people saw. Everyone who believed in what the cowboys said met on the porch at the main church. This porch was named after Solomon. ¹³ But the bad thing was no one else would join them there in public. Fear of persecution and other things made folks wary. But one thing was true, the cowboys and those who followed their teachings were well respected. ¹⁴ Yet more and more cowboys started to ride for the Lord. Some of the greatest of these new cowboys were women. ¹⁵ As a result of the cowboy's work and message, sick folks were laid out in the street in the hope that Pete's shadow might fall across them when he walked by and the sick would be healed. ¹⁶ Loads and loads of the sick, hurting, and possessed were brought to the cowboys, and all of them were healed.

The Cowboys Are Opposed

¹⁷ The head preacher and his cronies, who belonged the Sadducees, were jealous and completely frustrated because of what these cowboys were doing. ¹⁸ They arrested the cowboys and threw them in jail. ¹⁹ But God sent an angel that night to open the prison doors and set the cowboys free. The angel told them, ²⁰ "Go to the main church and give people the good news about the new life that is available to all."

²¹ The cowboys rode through the gates of the main church at daylight and spoke loud and clear for all to hear.

When the head preacher and his cronies arrived at work that day, they called for an emergency meeting of all the bigwig rulers of Israel. They told the guards to bring the cowboys in for a hearing. ²² But when the church police went to get them, they found the guards still there and all the doors locked, but no one was inside. They ran back to the meeting and said, ²³ "The doors are locked and the guards are there, but the ones who ain't there are the cowboys. They've vanished!" ²⁴ Everyone looked around trying to figure out what had happened and who could be blamed for their escape.

²⁵ Then someone busted in and said, "Look out the window! Those cowboys we arrested are out there in front of the main church teaching again." ²⁶ The church police captain went out there and asked them nicely to come talk to the bigwigs. The captain didn't cause a scene and asked nicely because he was afraid of all the people. The last thing he wanted was to get stoned to death.

²⁷ The cowboys went in and stood before all the bigwigs and were questioned by the main preacher. ²⁸ "We gave y'all strict orders not to teach about Jesus. You have caused everyone to believe we were responsible for his death."

²⁹ Pete and some of the other cowboys said, "We don't take orders from y'all. We obey God. ³⁰ The God of all our granddaddies raised Jesus from the grave—the same grave y'all put him in when you strung him up on that cross. ³¹ God raised him from the dead and gave him the best seat in his house. He made him Prince of the kingdom and Savior of all cowboys. Why would he do this, you ask? God did it so the people of Israel would turn from their sins and be forgiven. ³² We saw all this with our own two eyes, and so did the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the power of God given to those who obey him."

³³ When they heard this, the bigwigs gnashed their teeth like rabid coyotes and wanted to kill them on the spot. ³⁴ But one of the members of the ruling party, Gamaliel, who was a teacher of the Code and very well respected, stood up and sent the cowboys outside for a minute. ³⁵ Then he turned to the other bigwigs and said, "Listen closely, men. Consider very carefully what course of action you will take. ³⁶ Do y'all remember when Theudas was claiming to be someone important? He had about four hundred followers, but he and all his men were killed. It turned out they were nothing. ³⁷ A little while later, that guy named Judas from Galilee came riding out during the census making a big ruckus, but he and his men were also killed. Everything they claimed they rode for came to nothing. ³⁸ So this is what I'm saying, leave these cowboys be. Just leave them alone. If they are charlatans, their human efforts will fail. ³⁹ But if they are riding for God, then you will be opposing the Lord himself."

⁴⁰ Gamaliel's speech convinced them. They called the cowboys back into the meeting and had them flogged with a bullwhip and then released. As the cowboys left, the bigwigs once again ordered them not to preach about Jesus.

⁴¹ The cowboys left in a good mood. They felt honored that they had been bullwhipped and got to suffer for the name of Jesus. ⁴² Day in and day out, the cowboys rode the countryside. They went from house to house and from ranch to ranch telling people the good news of Jesus Christ. They never stopped.