In the 9th chapter of the book of Acts, verses 36 through 42, the story opens with the illness and eventual death of Dorcas, a woman who was highly esteemed in the community for her good works. The apostle Peter prayed for Dorcas as her friends stood by weeping. According to the Bible, God used Peter to restore Dorcas to life.
Join me as I take a closer look at Dorcas’ life. A model of servitude and kindness, I hope Dorcas’ story will offer inspiration as well as reveal many fruitful lessons.
She was a woman of Beauty
The Bible text does not tell us whether she possessed physical beauty, but we know that she was beautiful in the eyes of God and in the eyes of the widows and the poor that she helped. “Women are to gain respect, not by physical
…show more content…
The picture of the people gathered about her weeping does not describe people who are sorry for the service they have lost, but people who remembered her self-consuming service, her compassion, her faithfulness and her charity. They knew that they had lost their dearest friend “In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matt 5:16).
Her example initiated a charitable society – the Dorcas Society – dedicated to doing acts of charitable service.
Friend, the world is a busy place. It often seems to take all our energy just to get ourselves through the day. But, we need to remember the example of Dorcas. Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth.
WHAT IS THAT IN THINE HAND? This question would probably have come to Dorcas as it did to Moses. Her name to this day stands for the benevolent use of her ‘needle’.
The hands that dispensed alms and made garments were inwardly inspired by HIM whose hands were nailed to a tree.
Dorcas’ work of making clothes and helping the poor may sound insignificant when compared to the outstanding works of the apostles. Yet, her deeds were so widely known that God inspired Luke to include them in the book of Acts.
Penelope was the next instance of prayer. She prayed that the gods would ease her pain and protect her son. A higher being, possibly an angel was sent to her to tell her that things would be ok and to ease her mind. She was also usually put into a deep sleep.
Often skimmed over, is the story of Paul casting out a spirit from an unnamed slave-girl found in Acts 16. When read using a feminist lens, the seemingly minor text reveals unique power differentials between the girl and the other characters. Every character in the story exploits and uses the girl for a specific purpose, which illuminates the power differentials. The spirit of divination uses her body to speak through, the apostle Paul uses her by casting out her spirit so satisfy his needs, the owners exploit her for her fortunetelling abilities, and Luke, the author of the text, uses her to progress the story.
Her beauty is very non-traditional: "features were not of that regular mould which we have been falsely taught to worship in the classical labors of the heathen".
According to Morrison and Furlong, normative ethics discovers what is right and wrong and guides decision making for all situations in many areas including health care. A normative ethical theory that this research will discuss is virtue ethics in the American health care system. The purpose of this research is to develop potential for excellence and to find the highest good for humans by doing what is right short-term, long-term, and to compete globally (Morrison & Furlong, 2013). Giving certain situations each theory can provide tools to assist in decision-making but virtue ethics concentrates on excellence and perfection.
According to Aristotle, ownership of tangible goods can help to develop one’s moral character. I agree with his philosophy. Owning an object or other goods helps one to discover certain virtues, such as responsibility or purpose in caring for what you own. All objects you own, you must acquire, either through purchasing or through gift. Depending on how you acquire the object, defines its value, either monetary or sentimental. These different values help to develop one’s sense of self, as one grows as a person and develops one’s moral character. By learning these important skills, such as responsibility and purpose, one has a better understanding of oneself.
...gth in self and faith to stand up with the power of God knowing already that she was going to die. Burning at the stake for what she believed fueled her country and now her heroism lives on in art and writings.
was considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world, even at such a young
...ctions. Peter answered with the Spirit. The power by which the crippled man was healed was that of Jesus of Nazareth. Not only that, but Peter accused the Sanhedrin of responsibility for rejecting and killing Christ. He also noted God’s power in raising Jesus from the dead. Peter’s speech to the Sanhedrin summarizes his other two sermons. Although they were unable to deny the apostolic miracle, the Sanhedrin felt compelled to stop the apostolic preaching. Before the power of God that transformed unschooled, ordinary men into powerful proclaim of the gospel, the Sanhedrin was unable to punish the apostles. This chapter ends with a report of the church’s prayer in gratitude for God’s deliverance of the apostles from the Jewish authorities.
Paul the Apostle, formerly known as Saul, lived much of his life preaching the Good News that Jesus brought and spreading it to the nations. Paul is a particularly notable follower of Jesus because he contributed several books to the Bible, and he reached a large number of people groups during his travels abroad. However, Paul was not always a such a saint. It is important to note that Paul was a human and had real struggles, just like us. Although he accomplished many things for the Kingdom of God, he wouldn’t have been able to do so without trusting God to work through him. In this paper I will demonstrate how God can turn a life around and what the life of a servant of the Lord looks like, with its successes and failures, through a chronology of Paul’s life.
... she was enhanced, modified, airbrushed, and computerized, creating a false, unobtainable beauty. The "media truly distorts the truth and instills in women this false hope because, in essence, they will live their lives never truly attaining this ideal physical appearance." Though many women are aware that such beauty is unreal, they will still strive to obtain it because it is the object that their peers judge them with. They feel unaccepted until they can feel beautiful.
Next, strong Christians analyze about what they hear (A). In Acts 17:11, the Bible tells the story of Paul preaching in a region called Berea, and after hearing Pau...
Paul, formerly a persecutor of Christians, was on the road to Damascus when suddenly God spoke to him. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) God asked. Paul was then blinded and led by his friends to Damascus, where a disciple named Ananias was waiting for him. Ananias cured Paul’s blindness and baptized him. From then on, Paul was devoted to spreading the Good News all over the world.
...Peter with the rest of the disciples, and not that of the “over exalted” view some people of the time had created.
The first section was an introduction to the concept of ethics and morals. Morals and ethics were defined and the difference between them was established.