{"podcast":{"title":"Awake Us Now","slug":"awake-us-now-3481","podcast_index_feed_id":3481,"rss_url":"https://awakeusnow.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://www.awakeusnow.com/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/0/c/f/b/0cfb11e159b4b02d/logo.jpg","author":"Rev. Christopher Dodge","episode_count":1082,"summary":"Awake Us Now is a body of believers who: WORSHIP the Triune God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Praise Him with joy and thanksgiving for He is God and He is good; WALK by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the clear teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and the clear declaration of the Scriptures. Such a daily walk is a far cry from mere religion or \"church as usual;\" WITNESS to Jesus Christ our Savior in daily life situations. Take seriously His call to make disciples. Be alert to the opportunities God provides to encourage and mentor others in the Christian life. Utilize the developing technologies to reach a new generation with the timeless Gospel of Christ.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-19T06:19:12.673859+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/awake-us-now-3481"},"episode":{"title":"Dig Deeper - Acts Chapter 7_ The Witnesses Laid Their Coats...","slug":"dig-deeper-acts-chapter-7-the-witnesses-laid-their-coats","published_at":"2026-07-14T15:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/awake-us-now-3481/dig-deeper-acts-chapter-7-the-witnesses-laid-their-coats","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/awake-us-now-3481","url":"https://awakeusnow.libsyn.com/dig-deeper-acts-chapter-7_-the-witnesses-laid-their-coats","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/awakeusnow/Dig_Deeper_-_Acts_Chapter_7__The_Witnesses_Laid_Their_Coats....mp3?dest-id=246214","summary":"We dig deeper into a few specific aspects of Stephen's execution. Acts 7:57 When Stephen completed his speech the leaders and people covered their ears and rushed at him dragging him out of the city to stone him. Why stone him? Because they thought he was guilty of blasphemy ( but he was not ) and the Torah in Numbers 15:35 we read that the guilty were to be stoned outside the city. Keep in mind, though, that Stephen was not guilty of blasphemy. Acts 7:58 We read that the witnesses involved in the stoning, laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul . What do we know about the witnesses? We read in Acts 6:13 that they were FALSE witnesses. We know that they also stripped off their coats. But according to Jewish tradition, the guilty were stripped so that the punishment would be more brutal. However, here we read the witnesses took off clothing. (Unbeknownst to them admitting guilt) Saul, who we know today as the Apostle Paul, had not yet experienced his conversion, he had not yet met Jesus on the road to Damascus. At this point he is young, probably late teens to early 20's. Acts 7:60 Tells us that Stephen fell on his knees and cried out to the Lord not to hold this sin against them. Then he died. Again Jewish tradition sheds light on this. The tradition was that the guilty were to confess their own sins. But instead, here we see Stephen (the innocent one) confessing the sins of the guilty. He was confessing the sins of the ones who were his persecutors. The enemy attacks the innocent and applauds the guilty but Stephen walked faithfully with Jesus and even in death showed the mercy of Christ in his final words. Pastor wonders how impactful that prayer of Stephen was as he was being stoned…. Was that prayer part of the reason that the young man named Saul wo…","meta_description":"We dig deeper into a few specific aspects of Stephen's execution. Acts 7:57 When Stephen completed his speech the leaders and people covered their ears an…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":554,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/awake-us-now-3481/episodes/dig-deeper-acts-chapter-7-the-witnesses-laid-their-coats/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/awake-us-now-3481/dig-deeper-acts-chapter-7-the-witnesses-laid-their-coats.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}