I'm not up to this verse yet, but verse 6 is really noteworthy to me. Part of it reads "having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost". They were in a time of persecution but yet they received the Word with joy. Those sound like real, genuine conversions to me. Persecution was a very serious matter in those days -- yes, we seem to be in a time of increasing persecution, but we in the Western World haven't yet reached the level it was at in Roman times. And yet they received the Word with joy -- the very thing that was causing the persecution was what they received with joy.
Someone recently told me that she likes to read the Bible, but does not find it to be very practical. (I think she finds psychology to be more practical). Well, if the Word enables someone to have joy in the midst of persecution -- I find that to be very, very practical. Perhaps we (believers as a whole) are the ones who are not understanding the Word properly, or not applying it properly, or perhaps we are not serious enough about the Word.
I don't mean to be critical of anyone -- I can see in my own life where I have not properly allowed the Word of God to do its work. God's love and grace are the greatest things.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, being honest and voicing an opinion is not always easy, particularly when there is a possibility of being misunderstood or considered as critical. I am still working through the Gospel of John, and have recently been pondering on the fundamental truth and importance of :seeking for Jesus (John 6:24). Interestingly, I have been reading ‘Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react’ by Charles R. Swindoll and that’s where the above verse set was taken from and the poem below:
One ship drives east and another drives west With the self-same winds that blow. ‘Tis the set of the sails And not the gails, Which tell us the way to go.