<p>9:29 <i>Preaching boldly in the name of the Lord; and he spoke and disputed against the Greek speaking Jews, and they that were seeking to kill him</i>- <em>Preaching... spoke... disputed- </em>These are all different preaching styles. Sometimes there was simple, joyful proclamation of the good news (<em>euaggelizein)</em>, sometimes patient comparison of the OT Scriptures (<em>suzetein,</em> Acts 9:29<em>, paratithestai</em>, 17:3<em>, sumbibazein, </em>9:22); at other times there was the utter defeat of the listener by argument (<em>sunchunei</em>, 9:22). This is a far cry from the blanket attitude to &lsquo;the world&rsquo; which our preachers so often show. There <em>is</em> a place for intellectual argument; belief is a matter of the mind as well as the heart.</p><p><em>He &ldquo;preached boldly</em>&rdquo; as he had done in Damascus. Bold preaching was a characteristic of Paul, and this particular Greek word which means 'bold preaching' is used so often to describe his style (Acts 9:27,29; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; 26:26; 28:31; 2 Cor. 3:12; 7:4; Eph. 3:12; 1 Thess. 2:2). But this points up the deep significance of Paul's request that others join him in prayer that he may be bold in preaching (Eph. 6:19,20; Phil. 1:20 s.w.). He didn't find it easy, and his request for prayer that he might achieve imply that he wasn't a natural at this 'bold preaching'. We shouldn't assume that those who have the limelight in Gospel preaching are in fact confident extroverts, naturally brave and bold. Not all are; some only achieve that through prayerful struggle with their deep sense of inadequacy. And Paul was one of them.</p><p><em>&ldquo;Disputed&rdquo; is the </em>very same word used for how this same group, Greek-speaking Jews, &quot;disputed&quot; with Stephen (Acts 6:1,9). Seeing it was Saul who had arranged the murder of Stephen, this cannot be coincidental. The Lord was again seeking to bring Saul to enter into the experience of another, whom he had effectively killed. But there is a slight difference- it was these Greek speakers who disputed with Stephen in Acts 6, whereas here it is Saul who apparently takes the initiative and disputes with them. Perhaps he consciously wanted to stand up for Stephen, or wilfully sought to enter into Stephen's experiences and life's struggles. This was and is repentance indeed- seeking to know the mind of the one you have hurt.</p><p>He was purposefully trying to convince those who wanted to kill him. Again, Saul was truly motivated by his own recent experience; those whom he had sought to kill were now his brethren, and he marvelled at the grace of men like Ananias, the epitome of 'God's grace' as his name meant, and those brethren who let him down over the Damascus wall. And he wished to reflect that same grace that he had been shown. There are principles here for all time, meaning that this is no mere history for us. He tried to preach to and persuade those who wanted to kill him- rather than keeping away from them. He knew so well that those <em>he</em> had wanted to kill had taken great risks in order to preach to and persuade <em>him</em>. And he was trying to do likewise.</p>