“I want my faith here to last as long as my life here. I want to continue faithfully in the faith as did Stephen. Eventually Jesus chose to finish Stephen’s faith. I want the finishing of my faith to likewise be of Jesus’ choosing and timing. I don’t want my faith to end prematurely!”

Source: Panting, Stephen’s Martyrdom, “Applying God’s Word to Me”

“Whatever got into the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira to think God would wink at their self-aggrandizing scheme?! Somehow they must have persuaded themselves that the odds of incurring God’s wrath were so low that taking the risk made sense against the ‘benefits’ they expected to enjoy. Or maybe they simply didn’t even factor in the God-sees-us angle.”

Source: Panting, The Sin of Ananias and Sapphira, “Applying God’s Word to Me”

“The exercise of faith sometimes results in amazing miracles and wonders, but not most of the time. We know that, and yet we may be troubled if our own faith never has resulted in some obvious miracle.”

Source: Panting, Stephen: Spirit-Filled Deacon and Fiery Preacher, “Applying God’s Word to Me”