Ron and Nick's Best Friend Podcast

Acts 1:2 IdentityThe Holy Spirit will now be the identity who moves through the earth and everyone who comes in contact with him is trying to figure out who he is and who they are relative to him.  Now he is the Jesus identity fully present.  This is the handoff.Giving instructions through the Holy Spirit If Jesus is with them and showing them convincing proofs he is alive, why is the Holy Spirit mentioned here as the agent of instruction?  Isn't Jesus himself instructing them?  Is this a combination of Jesus speaking and the Spirit affirming in their hearts?  This is a very curious statement. Couple this with Jesus' command for them to wait on the Holy Spirit and it becomes even more curious. The Spirit is present and active but not fully present and active or as present and active as He will be when Pentecost comes. This brief period of time must be like a turnover of command on a ship. Both captains are present at once but the outgoing is giving power and authority to the incoming.  What could be the reason(s) for this?  Perhaps it is so the disciples are ready to recognize the Spirit when he comes. They are getting both voices at one time and can hear that Jesus and the Spirit speak the same language - have one voice. Maybe this is the burning experienced by the disciples on the way to Emmaus when Jesus was opening the Scriptures to them.  Was this "turnover" of command a new way of being led by Jesus who had only followed the Father's leading before the resurrection?  Now the Spirit is leading the risen Jesus and so he is experiencing what his followers must experience after he leaves. This would complete his identification with us who will be led through the Holy Spirit and he will completely understand what it is like to be a Christian dependent upon the Comforter.Acts 1:3Kingdom After 30+ years and a brutal separation from God the Father, Jesus the Son is not in a hurry to get home. This is counterintuitive. The work is done - he said so himself on the cross (John 19:30). Why 40 days more?  Whatever it is you'd think it must be pretty important to delay his return to heaven.  But we do not get the inside story on Jesus's 40 day seminar. We only get the table of contents as it were. He proves his identity beyond their doubts and he teaches about the kingdom.  What can we make of this?  Knowing that Jesus is alive is essential - He offers many convincing proofs. Knowing about a new administration is essential - it is the only subject Jesus teaches. What we know is that Jesus is alive and a new kingdom is either in place or coming or both. This must lead to the conclusion that Jesus's command for his followers to wait upon the Holy Spirit must have something to do with both his revealed, resurrection-type life and the kingdom. Holy Spirit is the kingdom come not just as an administrator of life like human kings but as the indestructible life that enters the heart of believers and sets up an internal administration. A life like Jesus's life. 

Ron and Nick begin a weekly study through the book of Acts looking for and listening to the work of the Holy Spirit.Notes:First account... began to do and to teachLuke has begun a research project that takes him from the birth of Jesus to the birth of the church. Along the way he ceases to be an observer/journalist and falls into the story. The “they did” will become “we did” (see Acts 16:10). Luke is meticulous. Of all the gospel writers he is the most detailed. He uses words precisely. When he says his first account was what Jesus began to do and teach we need to take note. Luke's first work is the gospel of Luke where Jesus is the lead character from start to finish, but in this second work, Jesus is going to make a brief appearance and strangely depart. How are we to understand the word “began”? Luke implies that Jesus is going to continue both doing and teaching. How?  The way this is written is supposed to make us lean in and look for the answer right at the outset. We are supposed to enter here looking over the shoulder of the Jesus Christ, the resurrection man; listening to a dead man teach about how to live now in light of his destruction of the laws of sin, death, and physics. He is going to continue doing things and teaching us things and we'd better pay attention. He is no longer the peasant prophet, he is now the ruler of life and death. We listen in to the conversation and find out that he is not planning on sticking around and that some other person is going to shape and guide the movement he has begun. It is the Holy Spirit. It is not an it but a He; a person. He is the Spirit of Christ. What does that mean?  It means we should look for and expect Him to act like Jesus; to do the kinds of things Jesus did and say the kind of things Jesus said. He is not unknown to us. The whole gospel of Luke tells us what to expect from Him. Now we wait to see how He will arrive on the scene and what the gospel of Acts will be. 

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Ron and Nick talk about wandering away from the Spirit and how it effects us.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Ron and Nick talk about the definition of love and how Love defines our lives.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Ron and Nick talk about the proper perspective on being married.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Ron and Nick talk about how we get divorced long before we go to court.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Ron and Nick talk about the reasons for affairs and what happens after one.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Ron and Nick ask, "what difference does it make to hear the voice of God in your marriage?"

Ron and Nick talk about the impossible commandments of marriage.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Nick finishes his interview with Ron about his 13 year long battle with treatment resistant depression.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Nick continues his interview with Ron about his 13 year long battle with treatment resistant depression and his recovery.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Nick interviews Ron about his 13 year long battle with treatment resistant depression and his recovery.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

In between interviews about recovering from treatment resistant depression Ron prays for all of us.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Nick interviews Ron about his 13 year long battle with treatment resistant depression and his recovery.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Re-broadcast of verse by verse study through John 11 with the Holy Spirit.

Nick interviews Ron about his latest nonfiction book; The Little Book of Forgiveness . What is forgiveness really? Why does it cause us so much pain?