Study Desk

It was at this time that King Herod Agrippa began to cause problems in the church.

Now there were some top hands at the church in Antioch of Syria. There was Barnabas, Simeon (nicknamed Blackie), Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen (who'd been brought up in the palace with King Herod Antipas), and Saul.

When they got to Salamis, they headed to the local Jewish church and started telling them about Jesus. A young cowboy named John Mark was with 'em.

Paul and Barnabas struck a long trot inland for Antioch of Pisidia. On the day of rest, they went to the local Jewish church for the services.

The people of Jerusalem and the head honchos of the church didn't recognize Jesus for the cowboy he really was and had him strung up and killed without cause.

Just like before, Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish church in Iconium, and God spoke through them so powerfully that many Jews and Greeks became believers.

Then Jesus's handpicked cowboys and the church jigger bosses, as well as the rest of the outfit, chose some cowboys to represent them and sent them back to Antioch in Syria with a letter about their decision. They all traveled back with Paul and Barnabas. The two cowboys chosen as representatives were a couple of the church bosses, Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas.

The letter said, "This letter is from Jesus's handpicked cowboys and jigger bosses from the church in Jerusalem. It is written to the maverick believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Howdy, boys!

As they rode from place to place, they delivered the message from the main church in Jerusalem.

Paul and his crew passed through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving in Thessalonica. There was a Jewish church there, so they stopped to say hello.

Like he did all the time, Paul went to the church to preach on the day of rest for three weeks. He used the Good Book to reason with people.

That night, under cover of darkness, Paul and Silas slipped out of town and headed southwest to Berea. Once again, they went to the local Jewish church.

He went to the local Jewish church to try to talk some sense into the Jews and God-following mavericks. He even preached in the town square to anyone who would listen.

But on the day of rest, Paul could be found down at the Jewish church in town. He did everything he could to recruit riders for Jesus's outfit.

He headed over to Titius Justus's place. This cowboy had once been an unbranded maverick, but now he wore the brand of Jesus proudly. Ol' Titius's place was right next door to the Jewish church.

But not everyone had shunned Paul's message. Crispus, the head honcho at the church, believed in Jesus along with his whole family and household staff. There were quite a few others who also became believers and were baptized with the brand of Jesus on their hearts.

As they were leaving, the Jews grabbed a guy named Sosthenes (the new leader of the Jewish church and a believer in Jesus) and beat him mercilessly. Gallio rolled his eyes and said nothing.

The boat stopped at the port of Ephesus and Paul left his two companions there. While he was there, he once again went to the Jewish church to try to talk some sense into them.

When Aquila and Priscilla heard him preach in the Jewish church, they mentored him and explained Jesus's way even more to him.

While in Ephesus, Paul once again went to the Jewish church and talked convincingly to them about God's outfit for about three months.