A minister once received a bottle of apricot brandy from one of his parishioners under the condition that the minister thank the donor for his gift in the Sunday bulletin. On the following Sunday, the notice read: "The pastor thanks Mr. Jones for the apricots and the spirit in which they were given."

Some Bible readers look at the words from Acts 10, "While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word" (v. 44), and conclude, "Aha! A Pentecost story!" Then the words of verse 45 pop out: "The circumcised believers ... were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles." Conclusion? This Easter text is about a Gentile Pentecost! We can imagine that the Gentile (uncircumcised) hearers of Peter's words might have said, "We wis…