There is something within human nature which desires to hear stories. In all cultures and throughout history, there have been story-tellers. Their stories can take many forms. Sometimes they take the form of poetry. Sometimes the stories are sung. Sometimes the stories are acted out in the form of drama, whether designed for the stage or for the cinema. Sometimes the stories are written down in books. Whatever form the stories take, people eagerly listen or watch. We are willing to pay our hard-earned money for the privilege. Nor is story-telling restricted to professionals who make their living from it. People in all walks of life tell and listen to stories. For example, mothers often will tell stories to their children as part of their bedtime ritual.
Part of the reason that stories are so popular is that they engage our emotions and our imaginations. Stories take us out of or away from our environment. Through the characters in the story we can go places we have never seen with our own eyes and do things we’ve never had the opportunity to experience. They allow us to temporarily escape our problems and difficulties. We can pretend to be brave without actually facing danger. We can be witty without having to actually speak to an antagonist. We can see and appreciate beauty in the midst of drabness.
Paradoxically, the more we enjoy a story, the more potential it has to leave us dissatisfied. The reason is that we don’t want the stories we enjoy to come to an end. When they do end, we want to know what happened next. This is especially true of those stories which have affected our lives in a significant way.
Of all the narratives in the world, the one which has the ability to impact us the most is that of Jesus. In the Bible there are four accounts of how God, came to earth in human form in order to serve mankind. As the man Jesus, God taught about true righteousness and the Kingdom of Heaven. He healed people of their physical and spiritual diseases and finally, sacrificed His own life to pay the penalty for our sins. After rising from the dead, Jesus then ascended into heaven.
The question is, what happened afterward? Did Jesus’ disciples follow His instructions to proclaim His message throughout the world, or did they go home and return to the lives they were living before encountering Jesus?
We find the answers to these and many other questions in the book of Acts. In it we read of the explosive growth of the church, the problems it faced and how the church overcame those problems. Acts is not only an historical record of how the church began and spread, it also provides answers for the church of today.
The commentary we published covers the entire book of Acts in 69 chapters. It is 460 pages long. We believe it will be a major help to Urdu speaking churches in Pakistan and elsewhere.