Acts 16
Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey
“The jailer . . asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.'” Acts 16:29-31 (NLT Translation)
“The jailer . . asked, 'Gentlemen, will you please tell me how to get out of this mess?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be rescued, along with everyone in your household.'”
Acts 16:29-31 (paraphrase which shows what he would have said in our way of speaking)
In the Bible “Salavation” meant primarily getting out the mess you’re in
Pastor’s Reflections
In the Bible “Salavation” meant primarily getting out the mess you’re in.
The Philippian Jailer was in trouble. His prisoners had escaped which meant he would have to pay with his life. He asked Paul, who had escaped miraculously, “what do I do now?”. He was not asking how he could get to heaven. He was in trouble and he needed to get out of it.
Paul told him to believe in Jesus. What do you think of that answer? “Saved” in the Bible is the same word as “healed” or “rescued” or “delivered” from whatever problem, sickness, financial disaster, personal catastrophe or anything else that might be threatening.
The Christian worldview is this: the world is in a mess, you name the problem, we’ve got it. And God sees the whole mess right down to your personal mess. But God also sees the world and you as one day being rescued, healed, delivered, and saved when the New Creation comes. Meanwhile Jesus , reigning right now from heaven, is working in every corner of the planet to bring healing and rescue in one form or another, sometimes sooner sometimes later. But the rescue will come.
Where does heaven come in? As always God gives us more than we are bargaining for at any one moment. The rescue that God granted the jailer and his family was immediate but he also got eternal life thrown in.
Back to the question. When you are in a specific earthly mess, does the answer, “believe in Jesus and you will be saved” help you?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
January 27, 2011
Acts 16
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“Paul and Silas . . .were severely beaten, and. . .thrown into prison. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!" Acts 16:24-26 (NLT)
Our Lives are like this: A vision & miraculous breakthrough opens Europe to the Gospel and right away Paul and Silas end up beaten and in prison. But God always has the last word.
Pastor’s Reflections
Our Lives are like this: A vision & miraculous breakthrough opens Europe to the Gospel and right away Paul and Silas end up beaten and in prison. But God always has the last word.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 42 BC it was at the battle of Philippi that Mark Antony and Octavion defeated Brutus. Octavian became Emporer and later became known as Augustus (the “august one” a form of deity). It was into this world that Jesus was born, and now it is into this key city that the Gospel had come by way of a vision of a “man of Macedonia” calling Paul and Silas to come there. That man may have been Luke.
Miracle of miracles! After months and months of fruitless wandering in Turkey Paul and Silas had brought the Gospel to Europe! They had a beautiful beginning with Lydia, but when they cast a demon out of an annoying slave girl, the crowd rioted and they were thrown in jail.
What do you do when God’s miracle turns into a nightmare?
Paul and Silas sang and prayed and sang some more. Instead of whining they praised God. Here’s a very beautiful scripture for you when your life seems to be going all wrong. It says to do the opposite of what you feel like doing. Do the hard thing (sacrifice what you feel like doing) and sing.
“let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." Hebrews 13:15 (NLT)
They trusted God regardless of their plight.
I do not believe that if I sing and praise God when my circumstances are horrible that God is required to set me free from anything. God owes me nothing. He’s already given me everything.
I do believe however. That God is not mocked. The Final Word, sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but certainly always, is God’s. So it was here. Paul and Silas were set free, the jailer became a believer, and the town officials, having witnessed the power of God, let them go.
How do the events at Philippi speak to you”?
ONE MORE THING: Luke was there when all this happened. He got the info about the escape directly from Paul and Silas and maybe some of the other prisoners who escaped. You can trust the veracity of Luke’s reporting.
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“Paul and Silas . . .were severely beaten, and. . .thrown into prison. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!" Acts 16:24-26 (NLT)
Our Lives are like this: A vision & miraculous breakthrough opens Europe to the Gospel and right away Paul and Silas end up beaten and in prison. But God always has the last word.
Pastor’s Reflections
Our Lives are like this: A vision & miraculous breakthrough opens Europe to the Gospel and right away Paul and Silas end up beaten and in prison. But God always has the last word.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 42 BC it was at the battle of Philippi that Mark Antony and Octavion defeated Brutus. Octavian became Emporer and later became known as Augustus (the “august one” a form of deity). It was into this world that Jesus was born, and now it is into this key city that the Gospel had come by way of a vision of a “man of Macedonia” calling Paul and Silas to come there. That man may have been Luke.
Miracle of miracles! After months and months of fruitless wandering in Turkey Paul and Silas had brought the Gospel to Europe! They had a beautiful beginning with Lydia, but when they cast a demon out of an annoying slave girl, the crowd rioted and they were thrown in jail.
What do you do when God’s miracle turns into a nightmare?
Paul and Silas sang and prayed and sang some more. Instead of whining they praised God. Here’s a very beautiful scripture for you when your life seems to be going all wrong. It says to do the opposite of what you feel like doing. Do the hard thing (sacrifice what you feel like doing) and sing.
“let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." Hebrews 13:15 (NLT)
They trusted God regardless of their plight.
I do not believe that if I sing and praise God when my circumstances are horrible that God is required to set me free from anything. God owes me nothing. He’s already given me everything.
I do believe however. That God is not mocked. The Final Word, sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but certainly always, is God’s. So it was here. Paul and Silas were set free, the jailer became a believer, and the town officials, having witnessed the power of God, let them go.
How do the events at Philippi speak to you”?
ONE MORE THING: Luke was there when all this happened. He got the info about the escape directly from Paul and Silas and maybe some of the other prisoners who escaped. You can trust the veracity of Luke’s reporting.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
January 26, 20211
Acts 16
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“We reached Philippi, . . (where we met) . . . Lydia . . , a merchant of expensive purple cloth . . . . . As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She was baptized along with other members of her household” Acts 16:1-40 (NLT)
I can take no credit for having faith in God.
Free will and predestination are the same thing.
Pastor’s Reflections
Perhaps you recall Acts 13:44, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed”. “Appointed to eternal life” sounds a lot like predestination. “believed” sounds a lot like one’s free will decision to place one’s faith in God.
Lydia believed, but did so because the “Lord opened her heart”. And it must have been real because she was baptized, had her whole household baptized (presumably children also, one of the few scriptural supports for infant baptism), and also she made her home a ministry center.
Predestination and free will are the same thing. God converted Lydia. Lydia chose Christ. Both are true.
We see time as a succession of consecutive events. God sees the entire cosmos as an eternal interaction of all spiritual and material forces and elements operating in perfect and free obedience to His will. To God all is an Eternal Now within which each of us lives and which is the actual Reality in which we live.
As CS Lewis puts it, “God is outside and above our time line. What we call tomorrow is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call “today” or “now”. All days are now for Him. He simply sees you doing things, because, though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not “foresee” you doing things tomorrow. He simply sees you doing them, because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him”
“You never suppose, though, that your actions at this moment are any less free because God knows what you are doing.”
From our perspective of time while God is at work in and through all things in His Eternal Now we are also acting freely, yet in a perfect interaction which God is orchestrating at this very moment. Both are happening at once.
What we learn from this is humility. In the end I can “take pride” only in my sin and failure. If I’ve done anything good, I can only thank God from whom all good and perfect things come.
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“We reached Philippi, . . (where we met) . . . Lydia . . , a merchant of expensive purple cloth . . . . . As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She was baptized along with other members of her household” Acts 16:1-40 (NLT)
I can take no credit for having faith in God.
Free will and predestination are the same thing.
Pastor’s Reflections
Perhaps you recall Acts 13:44, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed”. “Appointed to eternal life” sounds a lot like predestination. “believed” sounds a lot like one’s free will decision to place one’s faith in God.
Lydia believed, but did so because the “Lord opened her heart”. And it must have been real because she was baptized, had her whole household baptized (presumably children also, one of the few scriptural supports for infant baptism), and also she made her home a ministry center.
Predestination and free will are the same thing. God converted Lydia. Lydia chose Christ. Both are true.
We see time as a succession of consecutive events. God sees the entire cosmos as an eternal interaction of all spiritual and material forces and elements operating in perfect and free obedience to His will. To God all is an Eternal Now within which each of us lives and which is the actual Reality in which we live.
As CS Lewis puts it, “God is outside and above our time line. What we call tomorrow is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call “today” or “now”. All days are now for Him. He simply sees you doing things, because, though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not “foresee” you doing things tomorrow. He simply sees you doing them, because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him”
“You never suppose, though, that your actions at this moment are any less free because God knows what you are doing.”
From our perspective of time while God is at work in and through all things in His Eternal Now we are also acting freely, yet in a perfect interaction which God is orchestrating at this very moment. Both are happening at once.
What we learn from this is humility. In the end I can “take pride” only in my sin and failure. If I’ve done anything good, I can only thank God from whom all good and perfect things come.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
January 25, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 16
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
Next they went to the Turkish seaport of Troy on the coast of Asia, directly across the sea from Europe)
“That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us!' The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the Good News to the Europeans” Acts 16:8-10 (MSG)
God also “speaks” using “extra-ordinary” means. Are you alert to them?
Pastor’s Reflections
The author of Acts is the physician, Luke. Acts is volume 2 of Luke/Acts. Luke researched all that is contained in Gospel and also everything contained in Acts through chapter 16 vs. 8. Now in verse 10 we see for the time that that the narrative is written in the first person plural, “we”. This means that everything that happens from here on out is that which Luke has personally witnessed.
Some have even linked Luke with the man from Macedonia (northern Greece which is Europe). Whatever the case, Paul had a dream and God broke the long, long period of time when it felt like he was getting nothing done, where it looked like their time and efforts were being completely wasted.
Paul paid attention, believed that the dream was from God, probably consulted with the others, prayed, thought everything through and then simply followed God’s guidance. The result? The Gospel got to Europe, including the center of the ancient world, Athens. AND Luke joins the group. Of course it is Luke who then became God’s great scribe through whom we have learned so much.
Are you in a “waiting on God” mode? Have you allowed yourself to become dulled to the voice of God through dreams, thoughts, comments of others, your Bible reading, sermons ?
Acts 16
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
Next they went to the Turkish seaport of Troy on the coast of Asia, directly across the sea from Europe)
“That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us!' The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the Good News to the Europeans” Acts 16:8-10 (MSG)
God also “speaks” using “extra-ordinary” means. Are you alert to them?
Pastor’s Reflections
The author of Acts is the physician, Luke. Acts is volume 2 of Luke/Acts. Luke researched all that is contained in Gospel and also everything contained in Acts through chapter 16 vs. 8. Now in verse 10 we see for the time that that the narrative is written in the first person plural, “we”. This means that everything that happens from here on out is that which Luke has personally witnessed.
Some have even linked Luke with the man from Macedonia (northern Greece which is Europe). Whatever the case, Paul had a dream and God broke the long, long period of time when it felt like he was getting nothing done, where it looked like their time and efforts were being completely wasted.
Paul paid attention, believed that the dream was from God, probably consulted with the others, prayed, thought everything through and then simply followed God’s guidance. The result? The Gospel got to Europe, including the center of the ancient world, Athens. AND Luke joins the group. Of course it is Luke who then became God’s great scribe through whom we have learned so much.
Are you in a “waiting on God” mode? Have you allowed yourself to become dulled to the voice of God through dreams, thoughts, comments of others, your Bible reading, sermons ?
Monday, January 24, 2011
January 24, 2011
Acts 16
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then . . . they headed north . . . but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. . . then we concluded that the Holy Spirit wanted us to go to Macedonia." Acts 16:6, 7, 10
Pastor’s Reflections
We come to Paul’s second missionary journey, his greatest one, the one that brings the gospel to Europe. But the Holy Spirit didn’t keep it simple. Here’ what we learn:
1. Paul wanted to head north, but the Holy Spirit “said no”. The “no” could have come in the form of circumstantial obstacles, lack of agreement among one another about where God wanted them to go, a spiritual, mental or emotional unsettledness about each place they considered, or something else. Whatever the “no” we learn that God’s guidance is negative as well as positive. It consists of closed doors as well as open doors.
2. God’s guidance comes by wrestling with the data, using your mind, and making a choice. The Greek word for “conclude” means putting the pieces of a puzzle together. God’s guidance is rational as well as circumstantial.
3. Notice the pronouns we, they, us. They are plural. God’s guidance comes to groups who must discern together. Jesus famously said, “where two or three are gathered, there I am”.
4. Guidance is gradual. They travelled back and forth across Turkey with no results. They were “muzzled”. Often there are long periods of time when it feels like nothing is happening. But in reality God is working His plan. If they had gone north there may never have been the letters to the Thessalonians or Corinthians or Ephesians. Nor may Paul have ever met Luke.
Beware of “God told me”. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is normally more comprehensive than that.
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then . . . they headed north . . . but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. . . then we concluded that the Holy Spirit wanted us to go to Macedonia." Acts 16:6, 7, 10
Pastor’s Reflections
We come to Paul’s second missionary journey, his greatest one, the one that brings the gospel to Europe. But the Holy Spirit didn’t keep it simple. Here’ what we learn:
1. Paul wanted to head north, but the Holy Spirit “said no”. The “no” could have come in the form of circumstantial obstacles, lack of agreement among one another about where God wanted them to go, a spiritual, mental or emotional unsettledness about each place they considered, or something else. Whatever the “no” we learn that God’s guidance is negative as well as positive. It consists of closed doors as well as open doors.
2. God’s guidance comes by wrestling with the data, using your mind, and making a choice. The Greek word for “conclude” means putting the pieces of a puzzle together. God’s guidance is rational as well as circumstantial.
3. Notice the pronouns we, they, us. They are plural. God’s guidance comes to groups who must discern together. Jesus famously said, “where two or three are gathered, there I am”.
4. Guidance is gradual. They travelled back and forth across Turkey with no results. They were “muzzled”. Often there are long periods of time when it feels like nothing is happening. But in reality God is working His plan. If they had gone north there may never have been the letters to the Thessalonians or Corinthians or Ephesians. Nor may Paul have ever met Luke.
Beware of “God told me”. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is normally more comprehensive than that.
Friday, January 21, 2011
January 21, 2011
Acts 15
The Great Controversy-How they handled conflict
“We decided, having come to complete agreement". . . .. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” Acts 15:25, 28
Learn to differ differently from how “the world” differs
Pastor’s Reflections
"In essentials, unity.
In non-essentials, liberty.
In all things, charity"
Augustine (354-430 AD)
The Jerusalem Council of 49 AD pitted Christian against Christian. Some felt that to become Christian one needed to be circumcised. Others disagreed. It may have been a quite bitter dispute.
Conflict is an opportunity. It’s normal for people to differ. Since Christians are people, Christians differ. The difference that needs to made is that Christians need to differ differently. Talk Radio and Cable news shows feature differing people shouting, interrupting, insulting and smugly looking down their nose at each other. Ever wonder why these kinds of shows (both liberal and conservative) have high ratings (including most sports radio)?. It’s because we watch it! There’s something in us that wants in on the fight!
The circumcision dispute got settled. If you read chapter 15 attentively you will notice that they came to unanimity. That’s astonishing. When have you EVER seen unanimity before?
How did it happen? They consulted Scripture, they prayed, they debated, and did so over enough time that finally the Holy Spirit put them all on the same page. You’ll even notice that some compromise (in the non essentials) was involved. And make no mistake about it. The stakes in the debate were huge.
When you find yourself in conflict with another, it is your chance to demonstrate your faith while “your world” is watching! Can you listen, be strong yet gentle with your point of view, asking God to give you insight into the situation and respect for all those involved regardless of their demeanor? You don’t have to tell your adversary that you are seeking the guidance of scripture or the Holy Spirit. He or she will be influenced by how you handle the adversarial situation.
One more thing. If the dispute is between Christians, a great piece of advice is “seek unanimity”. It stands to reason that God will have the same direction for all involved in a decision if all are seeking him on the issue. If someone has a “check in the Spirit”, then keep seeking God until you get beyond it. That’s a great way to ensure that Jesus, not your personal bias is leading the way. Great advice for husbands and wives, too. “Until you are in unanimity, don’t.”
The Great Controversy-How they handled conflict
“We decided, having come to complete agreement". . . .. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” Acts 15:25, 28
Learn to differ differently from how “the world” differs
Pastor’s Reflections
"In essentials, unity.
In non-essentials, liberty.
In all things, charity"
Augustine (354-430 AD)
The Jerusalem Council of 49 AD pitted Christian against Christian. Some felt that to become Christian one needed to be circumcised. Others disagreed. It may have been a quite bitter dispute.
Conflict is an opportunity. It’s normal for people to differ. Since Christians are people, Christians differ. The difference that needs to made is that Christians need to differ differently. Talk Radio and Cable news shows feature differing people shouting, interrupting, insulting and smugly looking down their nose at each other. Ever wonder why these kinds of shows (both liberal and conservative) have high ratings (including most sports radio)?. It’s because we watch it! There’s something in us that wants in on the fight!
The circumcision dispute got settled. If you read chapter 15 attentively you will notice that they came to unanimity. That’s astonishing. When have you EVER seen unanimity before?
How did it happen? They consulted Scripture, they prayed, they debated, and did so over enough time that finally the Holy Spirit put them all on the same page. You’ll even notice that some compromise (in the non essentials) was involved. And make no mistake about it. The stakes in the debate were huge.
When you find yourself in conflict with another, it is your chance to demonstrate your faith while “your world” is watching! Can you listen, be strong yet gentle with your point of view, asking God to give you insight into the situation and respect for all those involved regardless of their demeanor? You don’t have to tell your adversary that you are seeking the guidance of scripture or the Holy Spirit. He or she will be influenced by how you handle the adversarial situation.
One more thing. If the dispute is between Christians, a great piece of advice is “seek unanimity”. It stands to reason that God will have the same direction for all involved in a decision if all are seeking him on the issue. If someone has a “check in the Spirit”, then keep seeking God until you get beyond it. That’s a great way to ensure that Jesus, not your personal bias is leading the way. Great advice for husbands and wives, too. “Until you are in unanimity, don’t.”
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
January 19, 2011
Acts 15
The Great Controversy- How they handled conflict
“God treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him. . . . why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too?" Acts 15:9-10 (MSG)
The Cross, not the law, is the cure for sin.
The Holy Spirit, not human regulations, does the Life Long work of changing us.
Pastor’s Reflections
Acts 15 records the pivotal Jerusalem council in 50 AD where the Christian Leadership, virtually all Jews, had to decide what would be required of gentiles before they could be admitted into the Christian Church.
In today’s passage Peter is adamant that salvation takes place for everyone, Jew or gentile, through faith, belief, trust in Jesus Christ. That’s it. That’s all that’s necessary. At the point of salvation, the point at which one trusts one’s life to Jesus Christ and gives Him leadership of one’s life, one’s salvation is both complete and just begun. It is complete because once a child of God, always a child of God. It has just begun because, like a physical birth, there’s still a lot growing up to do. The rest of one’s life is spent cooperating with God, who, by way of the Holy Spirit, works from the inside out to transform one into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Peter is arguing for God through Jesus Christ as savior. He is arguing against having to become Jewish, get circumcised, in order to become a Christian. And he makes a very profound observation, one that Paul makes in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. That is that the law never cured a single soul. The law was and is good, but it saved no one. It simply led a nation to understood God’s holiness, but never to attain to that holiness.
Peter got it, at least at this moment, that the law in the hands of the Holy Spirit is a beautiful thing. But as a set of rules acting as an entrance gate into the kingdom, it is an insurmountable barrier.
The Great Controversy- How they handled conflict
“God treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him. . . . why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too?" Acts 15:9-10 (MSG)
The Cross, not the law, is the cure for sin.
The Holy Spirit, not human regulations, does the Life Long work of changing us.
Pastor’s Reflections
Acts 15 records the pivotal Jerusalem council in 50 AD where the Christian Leadership, virtually all Jews, had to decide what would be required of gentiles before they could be admitted into the Christian Church.
In today’s passage Peter is adamant that salvation takes place for everyone, Jew or gentile, through faith, belief, trust in Jesus Christ. That’s it. That’s all that’s necessary. At the point of salvation, the point at which one trusts one’s life to Jesus Christ and gives Him leadership of one’s life, one’s salvation is both complete and just begun. It is complete because once a child of God, always a child of God. It has just begun because, like a physical birth, there’s still a lot growing up to do. The rest of one’s life is spent cooperating with God, who, by way of the Holy Spirit, works from the inside out to transform one into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Peter is arguing for God through Jesus Christ as savior. He is arguing against having to become Jewish, get circumcised, in order to become a Christian. And he makes a very profound observation, one that Paul makes in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. That is that the law never cured a single soul. The law was and is good, but it saved no one. It simply led a nation to understood God’s holiness, but never to attain to that holiness.
Peter got it, at least at this moment, that the law in the hands of the Holy Spirit is a beautiful thing. But as a set of rules acting as an entrance gate into the kingdom, it is an insurmountable barrier.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
January 18, 2011
Acts 15
The Great Controversy - How they handled conflict
"While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers:
'Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.'
Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. . . .so the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue." Acts 15:1-6(NLT)
If you want to find the perfect church, don't look for it in the Bible.
Pastor's Reflections:
If you want to find the perfect church don't look in the Bible.
Acts 15 records perhaps the most contentious meeting in the early church. Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first missionary journey with news that God accepts outsiders/gentiles, no strings attached, and without needing to follow Jewish ritual. Other Jewish Christians had no plans to water down their faith for anyone. And the new gentile Christians felt that to require the demands of the Jewish law would be to doubt what God had already done in them by Grace through faith, that no Jewish ritual has the power to save.
This was not minor dispute. None of them could have been more adamant about their position. Paul had just written down his view (letter to the Galatians, the churches in Turkey he had visited) that absolutely nothing more is needed than faith to get into the Kingdom of God. TheJewish legalists were also right.. . . faith without works is dead. James (Jesus' brother and the about to be leader of the Jerusalem church) was certain that God wants unity. What to do?
They met, talked, prayerd, sought the Lord, consulted scripture, and as you will see later in the chapter they emerged from a contentious disagreement as One. They stuck together. Who knows what would have happened to Christianity had they not persevered until they had achieved unanimity, not consensus, but unanimity. (vs 25 & 28).
Do you have any relationships which have been broken because of unresolved contention? Have you done all you can to resolve what divides you? If all parties are Christians, it seems to me that doing so is required of each involved. What might be your next move?
The Great Controversy - How they handled conflict
"While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers:
'Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.'
Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. . . .so the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue." Acts 15:1-6(NLT)
If you want to find the perfect church, don't look for it in the Bible.
Pastor's Reflections:
If you want to find the perfect church don't look in the Bible.
Acts 15 records perhaps the most contentious meeting in the early church. Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first missionary journey with news that God accepts outsiders/gentiles, no strings attached, and without needing to follow Jewish ritual. Other Jewish Christians had no plans to water down their faith for anyone. And the new gentile Christians felt that to require the demands of the Jewish law would be to doubt what God had already done in them by Grace through faith, that no Jewish ritual has the power to save.
This was not minor dispute. None of them could have been more adamant about their position. Paul had just written down his view (letter to the Galatians, the churches in Turkey he had visited) that absolutely nothing more is needed than faith to get into the Kingdom of God. TheJewish legalists were also right.. . . faith without works is dead. James (Jesus' brother and the about to be leader of the Jerusalem church) was certain that God wants unity. What to do?
They met, talked, prayerd, sought the Lord, consulted scripture, and as you will see later in the chapter they emerged from a contentious disagreement as One. They stuck together. Who knows what would have happened to Christianity had they not persevered until they had achieved unanimity, not consensus, but unanimity. (vs 25 & 28).
Do you have any relationships which have been broken because of unresolved contention? Have you done all you can to resolve what divides you? If all parties are Christians, it seems to me that doing so is required of each involved. What might be your next move?
Friday, January 14, 2011
January 14, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
"Paul and Barnabus strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God” Acts 14:22
Could it be otherwise?
Pastor’s Reflections
God seeks a world voluntarily submitted to Him, finally free in its choice of perfected obedience. Most of us, however, prefer to be “true to ourselves”. It’s a lethal mix.
“To thine own self be true” said Shakespeare’s Polonius in Hamlet. “Seek first the kingdom of God”, said Jesus in the sermon on the mount. Each promises reward. Only one is correct beyond immediate short term gratifcation that reward will come. Western Christians, I suspect, take their cue more from Polonius than Jesus.
If one chooses to “loose one’s life” for the sake of Jesus in a world where everyone else seeks their own life, how could suffering not occur? 7 billion people seeking to be true to themselves means conflict, pain, suffering, holocausts, death. And often the only thing unifying the “Polonius’s” is a common enemy. Enemy formation is a great unifier. Israel served that role for millennia, probably still does. Christianity fits that role nicely too, more and more in fact as the years role on.
Paul and Barnabus strengthened the believers, and part of that encouraging and strengthening was being honest with them about the fact that they will suffer. Paul even went so far as to write, “I want to know the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings” (see Philippians). I don’t think Paul was a masochist at all. I just think he embraced reality and wanted to throw himself fully into it.
In other words, we all suffer. Why not “go for it” in terms of living the Gospel fully and make whatever inevitable suffering which comes your way a “worth it” kind of suffering?
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
"Paul and Barnabus strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God” Acts 14:22
Could it be otherwise?
Pastor’s Reflections
God seeks a world voluntarily submitted to Him, finally free in its choice of perfected obedience. Most of us, however, prefer to be “true to ourselves”. It’s a lethal mix.
“To thine own self be true” said Shakespeare’s Polonius in Hamlet. “Seek first the kingdom of God”, said Jesus in the sermon on the mount. Each promises reward. Only one is correct beyond immediate short term gratifcation that reward will come. Western Christians, I suspect, take their cue more from Polonius than Jesus.
If one chooses to “loose one’s life” for the sake of Jesus in a world where everyone else seeks their own life, how could suffering not occur? 7 billion people seeking to be true to themselves means conflict, pain, suffering, holocausts, death. And often the only thing unifying the “Polonius’s” is a common enemy. Enemy formation is a great unifier. Israel served that role for millennia, probably still does. Christianity fits that role nicely too, more and more in fact as the years role on.
Paul and Barnabus strengthened the believers, and part of that encouraging and strengthening was being honest with them about the fact that they will suffer. Paul even went so far as to write, “I want to know the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings” (see Philippians). I don’t think Paul was a masochist at all. I just think he embraced reality and wanted to throw himself fully into it.
In other words, we all suffer. Why not “go for it” in terms of living the Gospel fully and make whatever inevitable suffering which comes your way a “worth it” kind of suffering?
Thursday, January 13, 2011
January 13, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” Acts 14:15-17
In a world of a “thousand voices” demanding your allegiance, it is a sigh of relief to know that there is only one voice which can make sense out of it all
Pastor’s Reflections
“I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun. It is not so much that I see the sun, rather it is that by it I can see everything else.” This misquoted quote from CS Lewis has stuck with ever since I first read it many, many years ago. This is because that is exactly what happened to me after having decided to become a believer. Christianity has shed a clarifying light on everything, absolutely everything, every question, every doubt, every presupposition. This does not mean that Christianity has “answered” everything in a way that my finite mind can comprehend. At the same time, however, a cloud has dissipated, a veil has been lifted.
We live in world of a “thousand truths” all claiming supremacy, each campaigning for your allegiance. How do you know what to believe, whom to believe, and which voice to follow?
Paul and Barnabus are preaching to the citizens of Lystra who have many gods and are pummeled with fear and threats and promises from all of them. And now they get to hear that there is one God above all who made the entire world and who at this very moment is providing for their needs.
Maybe part of the salvation of the Lystrans was the relief of finding out that there is only one voice above all other voices which they must heed . . .or get to heed. They are no longer beholden to lesser gods and lesser voices. They can go to the creator of the universe himself.
Paul and Barnabus got cut off before they even got to talking about Jesus, but where they did get to is a good reminder for us. We would do well to seek out and listen for that one Voice above all others which cuts through the confusion, pushes some voices aside and speaks through others and allows us to be single minded (not narrow minded-far from it) but single minded in away that makes new sense of each of our days.
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” Acts 14:15-17
In a world of a “thousand voices” demanding your allegiance, it is a sigh of relief to know that there is only one voice which can make sense out of it all
Pastor’s Reflections
“I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun. It is not so much that I see the sun, rather it is that by it I can see everything else.” This misquoted quote from CS Lewis has stuck with ever since I first read it many, many years ago. This is because that is exactly what happened to me after having decided to become a believer. Christianity has shed a clarifying light on everything, absolutely everything, every question, every doubt, every presupposition. This does not mean that Christianity has “answered” everything in a way that my finite mind can comprehend. At the same time, however, a cloud has dissipated, a veil has been lifted.
We live in world of a “thousand truths” all claiming supremacy, each campaigning for your allegiance. How do you know what to believe, whom to believe, and which voice to follow?
Paul and Barnabus are preaching to the citizens of Lystra who have many gods and are pummeled with fear and threats and promises from all of them. And now they get to hear that there is one God above all who made the entire world and who at this very moment is providing for their needs.
Maybe part of the salvation of the Lystrans was the relief of finding out that there is only one voice above all other voices which they must heed . . .or get to heed. They are no longer beholden to lesser gods and lesser voices. They can go to the creator of the universe himself.
Paul and Barnabus got cut off before they even got to talking about Jesus, but where they did get to is a good reminder for us. We would do well to seek out and listen for that one Voice above all others which cuts through the confusion, pushes some voices aside and speaks through others and allows us to be single minded (not narrow minded-far from it) but single minded in away that makes new sense of each of our days.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
January 12, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“While . . . at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas healed a man with crippled feet. . . . When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” Acts 14:8, 11
God Won’t fit your Preconceptions
Pastor’s Reflections
Each of us has a worldview, a specific mental lens through which we see and interpret everything. The western worldview sees things logically, “reasonably”, linearly, and materially. The eastern world sees the world cyclically, kind of the like the Lion King’s circle of life. Many third world nations see an enchanted world full of gods and devils (perhaps they are wiser than we).
How you view the world is the framework into which you will fit new information. Each worldview therefore fits its understanding of Jesus into itself, thereby altering in some way the Gospel itself. We westerners have westernized Jesus for example. For one thing Jesus was probably a short semite, not a tall rough looking northern European.
In Today’s passage those from Lystra had no conception of ordinary men exercising the delegated power of the one God of the universe. They simply thought Paul and Silas were gods and they conducted an elaborate ceremony of sacrifice to them.
There is a great lesson here for us. When we talk about Jesus to others we cannot expect them to understand exactly what we are talking about. They will fit Jesus into their worldview. It will take time and experience and care to correct that. Your Bible is essential. Read the Gospels in particular so that you don’t fall into the “Lystra trap” yourself, attributing to the Gospel what your presuppositions may have wrongly assumed. Make sure you know the Jesus of scripture, not of your own creating, the Jesus as communicated through the Gospels so that the Jesus to whom we introduce others is indeed the Jesus of the Gospels and not a caricature of Him.
Many people reject the caricature, but would be astounded if they knew the real thing.
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“While . . . at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas healed a man with crippled feet. . . . When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” Acts 14:8, 11
God Won’t fit your Preconceptions
Pastor’s Reflections
Each of us has a worldview, a specific mental lens through which we see and interpret everything. The western worldview sees things logically, “reasonably”, linearly, and materially. The eastern world sees the world cyclically, kind of the like the Lion King’s circle of life. Many third world nations see an enchanted world full of gods and devils (perhaps they are wiser than we).
How you view the world is the framework into which you will fit new information. Each worldview therefore fits its understanding of Jesus into itself, thereby altering in some way the Gospel itself. We westerners have westernized Jesus for example. For one thing Jesus was probably a short semite, not a tall rough looking northern European.
In Today’s passage those from Lystra had no conception of ordinary men exercising the delegated power of the one God of the universe. They simply thought Paul and Silas were gods and they conducted an elaborate ceremony of sacrifice to them.
There is a great lesson here for us. When we talk about Jesus to others we cannot expect them to understand exactly what we are talking about. They will fit Jesus into their worldview. It will take time and experience and care to correct that. Your Bible is essential. Read the Gospels in particular so that you don’t fall into the “Lystra trap” yourself, attributing to the Gospel what your presuppositions may have wrongly assumed. Make sure you know the Jesus of scripture, not of your own creating, the Jesus as communicated through the Gospels so that the Jesus to whom we introduce others is indeed the Jesus of the Gospels and not a caricature of Him.
Many people reject the caricature, but would be astounded if they knew the real thing.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
January 11, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders."
“but the people of the town were divided . . . . a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them." Acts 14:3-5
Why is it that in America nobody much gets healed and nobody much gets stoned?
Pastor’s Reflections
In third world Christianity believers get arrested and also see miracles of healing. Some believers are killed for their faith and others are raised from the dead. Some are stoned and others see signs and wonders. In America no one much gets stoned and no one much gets healed. I’m exaggerating perhaps but you get the message. Extremism is viewed with spurn and healers are thought charlatans, so much so that some even fight to discredit those who the power to heal in Jesus’ name.
One author wrote, “what is the medication that we have taken which has made us the ecclesiastical equivalent of a herd of cows, mooing and mooching to and fro, doing nobody any harm, but never getting excited either? Nobody much gets healed, and nobody much gets stoned”
In the book of Acts, people were thrilled, offended, amazed and angry. The Gospel has this result when its radical truth understood. What God had promised and now had done through Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, God was now doing for the whole world. And it can’t be stopped. The world was being blessed and a new King was reigning.
How can we share the Gospel, equally true and dynamic today as it was in the first century, in a way that elicits a response, either positive or negative, rather than a yawn?
If the Gospel and its details are true and if the result is a world being turned right side up and a me who has moved from death to life, how then could it possibly be that the Gospel has been tamed?
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders."
“but the people of the town were divided . . . . a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them." Acts 14:3-5
Why is it that in America nobody much gets healed and nobody much gets stoned?
Pastor’s Reflections
In third world Christianity believers get arrested and also see miracles of healing. Some believers are killed for their faith and others are raised from the dead. Some are stoned and others see signs and wonders. In America no one much gets stoned and no one much gets healed. I’m exaggerating perhaps but you get the message. Extremism is viewed with spurn and healers are thought charlatans, so much so that some even fight to discredit those who the power to heal in Jesus’ name.
One author wrote, “what is the medication that we have taken which has made us the ecclesiastical equivalent of a herd of cows, mooing and mooching to and fro, doing nobody any harm, but never getting excited either? Nobody much gets healed, and nobody much gets stoned”
In the book of Acts, people were thrilled, offended, amazed and angry. The Gospel has this result when its radical truth understood. What God had promised and now had done through Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, God was now doing for the whole world. And it can’t be stopped. The world was being blessed and a new King was reigning.
How can we share the Gospel, equally true and dynamic today as it was in the first century, in a way that elicits a response, either positive or negative, rather than a yawn?
If the Gospel and its details are true and if the result is a world being turned right side up and a me who has moved from death to life, how then could it possibly be that the Gospel has been tamed?
Monday, January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. Some . . . however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas.” Acts 14:1, 2
The Message of God’s Grace Never Goes Unopposed
Pastor’s Reflections
Many Christians simply can’t bear to think of confrontation. They tend to think that there is really no such thing as serious wickedness or real evil. Or if they do, they tend to think of a small number of truly evil people, while everyone else is basically good and just trying to get along in life. In their minds spreading the gospel is mostly about trying to help people do a little bit better in life than they already are, rather than the radical transformation of life like what was happening all over the place in the early chapters of Acts.
Chapters 13 and 14 mark the great turning point in Acts where Paul begins his great triple journey that would take him right across Turkey and Greece and back again (and then do it again) and finally off to Rome. All the journeys are full of confrontation, suffering, conflict and the opposition of evil forces. Most of us would probably prefer that spreading the gospel would be a story of simple and gentle persuasion.
Today’s passage is just the beginning of anything but conflict free gentle persuasion. When a person’s comfortable world is “rocked” with new information that changes everything, well, opposition will always be present sooner or later.
In expecting opposition I think it is crucial to remember that we must become good at two things: speaking the truth and doing so in genuine love for all, those who receive the gospel gladly and those who oppose it sometimes vehemently.
Acts 14:1-28
Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey
“Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. Some . . . however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas.” Acts 14:1, 2
The Message of God’s Grace Never Goes Unopposed
Pastor’s Reflections
Many Christians simply can’t bear to think of confrontation. They tend to think that there is really no such thing as serious wickedness or real evil. Or if they do, they tend to think of a small number of truly evil people, while everyone else is basically good and just trying to get along in life. In their minds spreading the gospel is mostly about trying to help people do a little bit better in life than they already are, rather than the radical transformation of life like what was happening all over the place in the early chapters of Acts.
Chapters 13 and 14 mark the great turning point in Acts where Paul begins his great triple journey that would take him right across Turkey and Greece and back again (and then do it again) and finally off to Rome. All the journeys are full of confrontation, suffering, conflict and the opposition of evil forces. Most of us would probably prefer that spreading the gospel would be a story of simple and gentle persuasion.
Today’s passage is just the beginning of anything but conflict free gentle persuasion. When a person’s comfortable world is “rocked” with new information that changes everything, well, opposition will always be present sooner or later.
In expecting opposition I think it is crucial to remember that we must become good at two things: speaking the truth and doing so in genuine love for all, those who receive the gospel gladly and those who oppose it sometimes vehemently.
Friday, January 7, 2011
January 7, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 12:25 – 13:52
“They were thrilled and . . .. and all who were chosen for life in the world to come became believers” Acts 13:47-49
Make the decision to be Absolutely Thrilled with Your Salvation
NOTE: I invite each of you to consider fasting in some way between Jan. 9 and Jan. 30.
Fasting is giving up some food for some period of time for the purpose of directing your hunger toward God and to experience God’s “satisfying” you in new ways.
As a church our prayer will be “God give us a hunger for the salvation of others”. Your personal prayer requests will vary based on your circumstances.
Below is a website with lots of information on fasting that will help you know how to proceed (you don’t have buy any of their stuff!!).
I do expect that many of you will experience significant spiritual breakthroughs.
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting
Pastor’s Reflections
This is a fascinating verse. The words “thrilled” and “all who were chosen” stand out to me.
My thought for myself is that I am not a very outwardly thrilling or visibly thrilled person. But inwardly I am. I am among the .00000000000000000001 % of all people who ever lived who was present at the “immaculate reception”. For those of you who have no life, that was when Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers (a football team) threw a last second pass to Frenchy Fuqua and it bounced into the hands of Franco Harris and he ran for a touchdown, marking the turning point of the Steelers fanchise.
I was there! But I did not stand up. I did not cheer. I just sat there. BUT I was cheering on the inside!
I think I need to “cheer” more about God on the outside this year.
The “all who were chosen” is great because it reminds me one more time, that my salvation comes from God wholly and fully. Even my choice to follow Christ wasn’t my choice. Why God would choose me is beyond logic. But he did and that’s a very happy thing. I see 2011 being a very happy year for me, one that others can see.
Acts 12:25 – 13:52
“They were thrilled and . . .. and all who were chosen for life in the world to come became believers” Acts 13:47-49
Make the decision to be Absolutely Thrilled with Your Salvation
NOTE: I invite each of you to consider fasting in some way between Jan. 9 and Jan. 30.
Fasting is giving up some food for some period of time for the purpose of directing your hunger toward God and to experience God’s “satisfying” you in new ways.
As a church our prayer will be “God give us a hunger for the salvation of others”. Your personal prayer requests will vary based on your circumstances.
Below is a website with lots of information on fasting that will help you know how to proceed (you don’t have buy any of their stuff!!).
I do expect that many of you will experience significant spiritual breakthroughs.
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting
Pastor’s Reflections
This is a fascinating verse. The words “thrilled” and “all who were chosen” stand out to me.
My thought for myself is that I am not a very outwardly thrilling or visibly thrilled person. But inwardly I am. I am among the .00000000000000000001 % of all people who ever lived who was present at the “immaculate reception”. For those of you who have no life, that was when Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers (a football team) threw a last second pass to Frenchy Fuqua and it bounced into the hands of Franco Harris and he ran for a touchdown, marking the turning point of the Steelers fanchise.
I was there! But I did not stand up. I did not cheer. I just sat there. BUT I was cheering on the inside!
I think I need to “cheer” more about God on the outside this year.
The “all who were chosen” is great because it reminds me one more time, that my salvation comes from God wholly and fully. Even my choice to follow Christ wasn’t my choice. Why God would choose me is beyond logic. But he did and that’s a very happy thing. I see 2011 being a very happy year for me, one that others can see.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
January 6, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 12:25 – 13:52
“After David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died” Acts 13:36
Live Today so that “tomorrow’s” backward look on today will not be one of Regret
NOTE: I invite each of you to consider fasting in some way between Jan. 9 and Jan. 30.
Fasting is giving up some food for some period of time for the purpose of directing your hunger toward God and to experience God’s “satisfying” you in new ways.
As a church our prayer will be “God give us a hunger for the salvation of others”. Your personal prayer requests will vary based on your circumstances.
Below is a website with lots of information on fasting that will help you know how to proceed (you don’t have buy any of their stuff!!).
I do expect that many of you will experience significant spiritual breakthroughs.
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting
Pastor’s Reflections
Think of your last mentally fully functioning days on earth. Now reflect on your life. Will you be able to say “I did God’s will in my own generation . . . .and now I can die in peace”?
Personally I look back on my life with a ton of regrets. I have lived God’s will poorly. However, I can also say that I have had the incredible, outrageous blessing of having been placed by God into His will for my life in a way that has superseded even my worst failures, sins, and mess-ups. God has placed this unworthy vessel into a worthy life purpose even though I’ve played this life out in unworthy ways.
I will die at peace with what God has done with me. I will not die at peace with what I have done. But that’s the Gospel. The former trumps the latter.
Perhaps this can be your prayer, “Lord, I offer all that I know of myself to all that I know of you . . . . . please use me where, when, and how You see fit. And in that I will find my peace. Amen”
Acts 12:25 – 13:52
“After David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died” Acts 13:36
Live Today so that “tomorrow’s” backward look on today will not be one of Regret
NOTE: I invite each of you to consider fasting in some way between Jan. 9 and Jan. 30.
Fasting is giving up some food for some period of time for the purpose of directing your hunger toward God and to experience God’s “satisfying” you in new ways.
As a church our prayer will be “God give us a hunger for the salvation of others”. Your personal prayer requests will vary based on your circumstances.
Below is a website with lots of information on fasting that will help you know how to proceed (you don’t have buy any of their stuff!!).
I do expect that many of you will experience significant spiritual breakthroughs.
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting
Pastor’s Reflections
Think of your last mentally fully functioning days on earth. Now reflect on your life. Will you be able to say “I did God’s will in my own generation . . . .and now I can die in peace”?
Personally I look back on my life with a ton of regrets. I have lived God’s will poorly. However, I can also say that I have had the incredible, outrageous blessing of having been placed by God into His will for my life in a way that has superseded even my worst failures, sins, and mess-ups. God has placed this unworthy vessel into a worthy life purpose even though I’ve played this life out in unworthy ways.
I will die at peace with what God has done with me. I will not die at peace with what I have done. But that’s the Gospel. The former trumps the latter.
Perhaps this can be your prayer, “Lord, I offer all that I know of myself to all that I know of you . . . . . please use me where, when, and how You see fit. And in that I will find my peace. Amen”
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
January 5, 2011
This Week’s Reading
Acts 12:25 – 13:52
“Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit . . . . .John Mark went with them as their assistant.” Acts 13:4-5
Join God Where He Sends You
NOTE: I invite each of you to consider fasting in some way between Jan. 9 and Jan. 30.
Fasting is giving up some food for some period of time for the purpose of directing your hunger toward God and to experience God’s “satisfying” you in new ways.
As a church our prayer will be “God give us a hunger for the salvation of others”. Your personal prayer requests will vary based on your circumstances.
Below is a website with lots of information on fasting that will help you know how to proceed (you don’t have buy any of their stuff!!).
I do expect that many of you will experience significant spiritual breakthroughs.
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting
Pastor’s Reflections
The church in Antioch was the first missionary sending body ever in the history of the world!
Through worship, prayer, gathering together, listening, fasting and waiting, the believers discerned that they needed to send certain of their leaders into the rest of the world. I imagine one person standing up and saying,
“I can’t believe I’m sensing this but I think we’ve got to sent Paul and
Barnabus. I have no idea how we’ll do without them, but I think the Lord is
telling them to go”
Then another speaks up and agrees, then another, and the whole gathering is amazed at the unanimity that can exist when all are praying and fasting and waiting together. They all heard the one voice of God’s Spirit.
Interestingly no one mentioned that John Mark was supposed to go even though he went anyway. And he’s the one who quit the journey early on. Was his addition to the trip a “man-made” decision as opposed to a spirit-led one?
Lessons? Wait, seek unanimity, especially as a married couple. It’s one of the best ways to know that the Lord is guiding you. A good rule is if you don’t have unanimity, don’t. Someone is not hearing from God. Another good way to know if the guidance is from God is if the guidance not only feels good, but it is also hard.
Acts 12:25 – 13:52
“Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit . . . . .John Mark went with them as their assistant.” Acts 13:4-5
Join God Where He Sends You
NOTE: I invite each of you to consider fasting in some way between Jan. 9 and Jan. 30.
Fasting is giving up some food for some period of time for the purpose of directing your hunger toward God and to experience God’s “satisfying” you in new ways.
As a church our prayer will be “God give us a hunger for the salvation of others”. Your personal prayer requests will vary based on your circumstances.
Below is a website with lots of information on fasting that will help you know how to proceed (you don’t have buy any of their stuff!!).
I do expect that many of you will experience significant spiritual breakthroughs.
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting
Pastor’s Reflections
The church in Antioch was the first missionary sending body ever in the history of the world!
Through worship, prayer, gathering together, listening, fasting and waiting, the believers discerned that they needed to send certain of their leaders into the rest of the world. I imagine one person standing up and saying,
“I can’t believe I’m sensing this but I think we’ve got to sent Paul and
Barnabus. I have no idea how we’ll do without them, but I think the Lord is
telling them to go”
Then another speaks up and agrees, then another, and the whole gathering is amazed at the unanimity that can exist when all are praying and fasting and waiting together. They all heard the one voice of God’s Spirit.
Interestingly no one mentioned that John Mark was supposed to go even though he went anyway. And he’s the one who quit the journey early on. Was his addition to the trip a “man-made” decision as opposed to a spirit-led one?
Lessons? Wait, seek unanimity, especially as a married couple. It’s one of the best ways to know that the Lord is guiding you. A good rule is if you don’t have unanimity, don’t. Someone is not hearing from God. Another good way to know if the guidance is from God is if the guidance not only feels good, but it is also hard.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
January 4, 2011
“One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke"
Acts 13:2
Practice Dependence on God
NOTE:
On Sunday, January 9, we begin a 21 day all church fast. I am asking all who are able to fast (giving up some sort of food for spiritual purposes) and to do so for any length of time during that period, be it one day or 21 days. Doing so makes you aware of the tyranny of your appetite, as well as of the opportunity to consider what that kind of hunger for the things of God would look like. On January 30 we have the opportunity to hear testimonies about how God worked your lives.
Pastor’s Reflections
In this passage we get a great look at the regular devotional life of the church in Antioch in Syria, now the hub of Christianity by the mid 40’s. It appears to have consisted of prayer and fasting surrounding the worship of the Lord, while waiting for the Spirit to give new and fresh direction.
Fasting was practiced in the Old Testament and was assumed by Jesus who said “when you fast”. As we see here, it was also practiced in the early church along with passionately seeking the Lord’s guidance.
Let’s all of us do the same over the next 21 days!!!!! This can be a wonderful way to disciple ourselves into a deeper dependence on the Lord.
I am hoping for 100% participation from those who are able. One idea is to do a “Daniel fast” which is fruits and vegetables, juices, broth and water. This could be for one, three, ten, or 21 days. It could be three consecutive Mondays. Do what works for you. Just begin somewhere (although those who fast tell us that at least three consecutive days give the best shot at spiritual breakthroughs)
Simply give up whatever food that you will miss. As you struggle with your hungers and cravings, pray this prayer, “Lord make me as hungry for You and for the salvation of others as I am for (___________whatever you’ve given up)
At the end of three weeks, let’s together see what the Lord will have done!
Acts 13:2
Practice Dependence on God
NOTE:
On Sunday, January 9, we begin a 21 day all church fast. I am asking all who are able to fast (giving up some sort of food for spiritual purposes) and to do so for any length of time during that period, be it one day or 21 days. Doing so makes you aware of the tyranny of your appetite, as well as of the opportunity to consider what that kind of hunger for the things of God would look like. On January 30 we have the opportunity to hear testimonies about how God worked your lives.
Pastor’s Reflections
In this passage we get a great look at the regular devotional life of the church in Antioch in Syria, now the hub of Christianity by the mid 40’s. It appears to have consisted of prayer and fasting surrounding the worship of the Lord, while waiting for the Spirit to give new and fresh direction.
Fasting was practiced in the Old Testament and was assumed by Jesus who said “when you fast”. As we see here, it was also practiced in the early church along with passionately seeking the Lord’s guidance.
Let’s all of us do the same over the next 21 days!!!!! This can be a wonderful way to disciple ourselves into a deeper dependence on the Lord.
I am hoping for 100% participation from those who are able. One idea is to do a “Daniel fast” which is fruits and vegetables, juices, broth and water. This could be for one, three, ten, or 21 days. It could be three consecutive Mondays. Do what works for you. Just begin somewhere (although those who fast tell us that at least three consecutive days give the best shot at spiritual breakthroughs)
Simply give up whatever food that you will miss. As you struggle with your hungers and cravings, pray this prayer, “Lord make me as hungry for You and for the salvation of others as I am for (___________whatever you’ve given up)
At the end of three weeks, let’s together see what the Lord will have done!
Monday, January 3, 2011
January 3, 2011
“God’s Good News was spreading rapidly, and there were many new believers”
Acts 12:24
First . . . let the Good News really be Good News for you
Then . . . . . . . let it leak . . . . . . . so that others want in on it
Pastor’s Reflections
By now in Acts it is at least 44 AD (the recorded date of Herod Agrippa’s death) which means at least a dozen years have passed since that first Christian Pentecost. In other words all that we read in Acts, all the miracles, all of God’s sovereign acts of justice, all the power of the Word . . . . all these are spread over many years. What Luke gives is basically an outline of the early history of the church.
My point is this. There was more going on than just a bunch of believers living in daily awe at the power of God. In Chapter 12 James was killed and Peter became a marked man who now fades from the picture. Life was hard. Believers were ostracized, lost their homes, and were expelled from their towns. Many would have a hard time finding employment. You get the picture.
So for them, certainly no less than for us, there was the necessity of living a life of believing when it was hard to keep believing. The Good News of God’s salvation was in them. They were “happy in Jesus” as the old hymn puts it, in spite of the circumstances of their lives. And it leaked.
So, put two and two together: A + B = C
A crummy set of living conditions + Belief that’s incongruently happy = Contagious faith that “infected” more and more and more people.
Wouldn’t you like the Good News to leak from you like that . . . especially when the miracles seem dormant.?
Acts 12:24
First . . . let the Good News really be Good News for you
Then . . . . . . . let it leak . . . . . . . so that others want in on it
Pastor’s Reflections
By now in Acts it is at least 44 AD (the recorded date of Herod Agrippa’s death) which means at least a dozen years have passed since that first Christian Pentecost. In other words all that we read in Acts, all the miracles, all of God’s sovereign acts of justice, all the power of the Word . . . . all these are spread over many years. What Luke gives is basically an outline of the early history of the church.
My point is this. There was more going on than just a bunch of believers living in daily awe at the power of God. In Chapter 12 James was killed and Peter became a marked man who now fades from the picture. Life was hard. Believers were ostracized, lost their homes, and were expelled from their towns. Many would have a hard time finding employment. You get the picture.
So for them, certainly no less than for us, there was the necessity of living a life of believing when it was hard to keep believing. The Good News of God’s salvation was in them. They were “happy in Jesus” as the old hymn puts it, in spite of the circumstances of their lives. And it leaked.
So, put two and two together: A + B = C
A crummy set of living conditions + Belief that’s incongruently happy = Contagious faith that “infected” more and more and more people.
Wouldn’t you like the Good News to leak from you like that . . . especially when the miracles seem dormant.?
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