Stephen Missick, a resident of Shepherd, Texas, and pastor of King of Saints Tabernacle in Cleveland, Texas, has recently released a new book titled The Further Acts of the Apostles According to Abdias of Babylon, Disciple of Jesus Christ.
“Many people who read the Book of Acts are left curious about what happened to the Twelve Apostles afterward,” said Dr. Missick. “Several accounts of their lives have survived in the writings of ancient historians and the Early Church Fathers.”
One of these ancient accounts is the Apostolic History attributed to Abdias of Babylon, who, according to tradition, was one of the 72 Disciples of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 10:1). Abdias is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Obadiah,” which means “Servant of God.”
“Oddly enough, Abdias of Babylon hasn’t been translated into English, although it is often viewed as one of the most ancient and authoritative accounts of the lives of the Twelve Apostles,” Missick explained. “I had to reconstruct the text from long quotations found in medieval writings and descriptions in the New Testament Apocrypha.”
The book, which is now available on Amazon, is illustrated with more than 40 drawings created by Dr. Missick himself.
“I believe that we are in desperate need of spiritual renewal, and one of the ways to seek it is through the lives and testimonies of the men Jesus chose and entrusted with his message after the crucifixion,” he added.
Missick is an ordained minister of the Gospel. He is the pastor of King of Saints Tabernacle in Cleveland, Texas. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Sam Houston State University, a Master’s of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctorate from Houston Graduate School of Theology.
In addition to his ministry work, Dr. Missick served as a soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003 to 2004 and later as a chaplain in the same operation from 2009 to 2010. From 2018 to 2020, he served as a chaplain for border missions such as Operation Guardian Support, Operation Secure Texas, Operation Lionheart, and Operation Lone Star.
He is also the author of several other books, including The Saint Jude Thaddeus Storybook, The Ennead, and The Language of Jesus: Introducing Aramaic.
To learn more about The Further Acts of the Apostles According to Abdias of Babylon, Disciple of Jesus Christ, visit Amazon.
1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
Galatians 1:8-9 in the Bible states, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed”.
Are you cursing this author? Curious as to why. I understand the Bible, am a born-again Spirit-led follower of Jesus. I am studying the original language of Our Lord (which is Aramaic) and the deeper I get, the more I realize we’ve been lied to for centuries. A book like the above could be an English translation similar to that of the Apocrypha which is not cannon today, but was until mid 1700’s. So are you saying he’s adding to the Bible? First, he isn’t, he’s translating a non-canon story. Second, If so, I highly recommend as a sister in Christ that you seek more – boy does it strengthen the bond. Jesus radically woke me up 3 years ago and ever since, I seek to be as close to Him and His truth as possible. The Bible was changed in the early 1900’s by none other than the Rothschild family. We have a SUPER watered down version of scripture. Boy did the devil do a good job making us all sleepy Christians. Praying a wonderful journey! I started mine on TheAramaicScriptures.com or .org — look at what our government did to us in 15 years. Imagine what power hungry humans would do to dumb-down the TRUE authority and words and testimony of Jesus Christ. Words that would actually show He’s God without the doubts we have today. 🙌 Sending up a prayer for you!