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If the Internet had been available during the time of Peter and John, they might have been captured on video and put on YouTube when they spoke to the crippled man and told him to get up and walk (see Acts 4:8-10). And it wouldn’t have made the religious leaders of the day very happy.

This crippled man was well known because he sat at the entrance of the temple every day, begging. In exchange for doing good to this man, the religious leaders put Peter and John in jail overnight. The following morning when the elders and teachers of the law gathered, Peter and John were questioned: “ 'By what power or what name have you done this?' " (v. 7, NKJV). 

Peter pointed out the irony that the leaders were upset because a man had been healed, and he wondered why they were so angry about such an act of kindness. He also pointed out that the man had been healed in the name of Jesus, whom these leaders had crucified.

Peter and John were caught doing a good thing for someone, and even without the benefit of YouTube, their act of kindness went "viral."

As I read again the story of Peter and John from Acts 4, I was reminded of a global project started by Phillip Cotsford in August 2010 called “Caught Doin' Good.” He is a young man who is traveling the world trying to catch people in the act of being kind to others.

Schoolteachers have used the idea as a motivational tool for teaching children to do right. Companies have also grasped this idea and are producing pencils, coins, bracelets and certificates with this slogan.

Peter and John were in trouble with the leaders because they caught them in the act of doing a good deed for someone. The leaders saw the evidence before their own eyes: The crippled man stood among them and walked. There was no denying it; the disciples used the powerful name of Jesus, and everyone saw the miraculous results.

What about us? Who is watching us today? Are they observing miraculous works of God being done in and through us? Are we looking for others whom we can catch in the act of doing good things in the name of Jesus?

By: Bonita Sanchez, a Foursquare missionary in Panama with her husband, Gino
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