If ever there was a hostile environment for the gospel, it was the strife-torn, ethnically diverse backwater of the Roman Empire known as Palestine following the ascension of Jesus. But the gospel thrived--beginning from Jerusalem and spreading throughout Judea, Samaria and the rest of the known world.In Acts, the sequel to his Gospel, Luke tells how the Holy Spirit transformed a ragtag band of believers into a unified, world-engaging church. And...