Hill Country in Sri Lanka

Homework

Hi guys, we interrupt this blog of family memories and random thoughts to bring you... my New Testament homework. Did I tell you I'm in school again? Yes, it's a bit hectic and I'm barely surviving it, but onward and upward!

For my assignment, I had to read Acts 12 and compare the two main characters: Herod and Peter. Here's the handy chart I made:

	Herod the King	Peter the Prophet
What motivated him?	He acted to please himself, and to please other men, as evidenced by how he killed James, and then because the Jews liked it, he decided to try to kill Peter also.	He was motivated by a desire to do right, and to do the will of God. He was humble, and submissive to the Lord’s will, and steadfast in following it.
How did he deal with others?	Violently. He killed those that displeased him, and was very prideful in dealings with others.	He was kind, and loving. He served and healed others. Upon being instructed to go to the gentiles, he was faithful and opened the gospel to them, wholeheartedly.
How did God deal with him?	He was smitten by disease and died.	He was delivered out of the hands of Herod, miraculously by an angel. He was given the keys to ministrations in the Lord’s work, and extended mercy and forgiveness in his weaknesses.

Moral of the story: Be like Peter, not Herod. When your "friends" think it's cool that you did something awful, like kill an apostle in Herod's case, don't be a goofball and respond with, "Oh you liked that? well watch this!" It's not a good road to travel, you don't want to end up at that diseased and decomposing destination.  Meanwhile, Peter was awesome! He handled hard things with humility and grace, and still had time to help people all along the way.  

Herod, Bad. Peter, good.

Peter, yes. Herod, No. 

Got it?