relationships within and without are solidified in their Cod-honor ing objectives. The third and most missed areas of development are organic from the organizational standpoint. It is in the sixth chapter of Acts that we find the first crisis. There appears discontentment by those who felt they had been discrimin ated against. The apostles gave im mediate attention to the complaint. Some widows had been neglected in the daily distributions for phys ical needs. The leaders saw the problem which was caused by the church's growth. Therefore, they established guidelines for an intel ligent assignment of duties. The proportioning of responsibilities resulted in creating the office of "deacon." Acts 6:7 indicates that this effort only made the ministry move forward. In the ninth chapter we discover another crisis. The Christian Jews wer being persecuted by Saul of Tarsus. While the earlier problem was solved through a re-organiza- tional process, this answer does not seem as simple. The Lord provides "the way of escape" which is com pletely supernatural. The enemy of the church is miraculously con verted and even his name changed to Paul. Again, the entire situation results in the vast furtherance of the Gospel. The 12th chapter (vs. 24ff) deals with the arrest of Peter. This causes dismay and discouragement among some of the believers. Their leader is in jail and the end of their work seems to be in sight. The Lord again steps into the picture pro nouncing judgment on wicked King Herod who had opposed God (vs. 20). All of this caused a great surg- Page 35
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