December 30, 2010

Sunday’s Message
Acts 11:19-12:24

“The church never stopped praying to God for him” Acts 12:5

New Year Resolution 3 – Pray for Friends and Neighbors and Never Stop

Pastor’s Reflections

This was a dangerous time in the early church. James had been killed by the sword which stirred anti-Christian sentiment. Peter had been thrown in jail. Meanwhile the church prayed and didn’t give up.

What follows is actually a funny story, but quite descriptive of many of us. As many Christians were praying in John Mark’s house ( the author of the Gospel of Mark) (they were also “hiding out”), God was answering their prayer. Peter escaped and came knocking on the door. Rhoda went to the door, heard his voice, and without opening the door ran back to the prayer gathering and told everyone that Peter’s here! No one believed her! They went back to praying while the answer to the prayer was right there knocking!

We can be like that too. We pray but somehow don’t really believe that God will answer and when he does, we still don’t believe it. The difference between them and us might be that they kept praying.

Luke is perhaps noting in practice what he records Jesus having taught in Luke 18:1, “pray and never give up”

The first and most important work of connecting someone to the saving work of Jesus Christ is praying for them and not giving up.

December 29, 2010

Sunday’s Message
Acts 11:19-12:24

“Some of the followers from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and started telling Gentiles the good news about the Lord Jesus.” Acts 11:20

New Year Resolution 2 – Tell Others the Good News About Jesus Christ

Pastor’s Reflections

Philip had shared his faith in Samaria and near Egypt. Peter had encountered a Roman who met Christ. But the church had still not “gone global”. Vs. 19 states that that most were sharing their faith “only with Jews”.

This verse indicates that now there were believers who were going “maverick”, sharing their faith with outsiders (gentiles, which meant non Jews). This marks a really big transition for the early church in the first 15 or so years of the church.

They had to use a new approach. No longer could they speak of the “hope of Israel” to non Israelis. Instead they called Jesus “Lord” (kurios in Greek). Many non Jews of the day, especially in the metropolitan city of Antioch were seeking all kinds of “mystery religions” which claimed a divine kurios who could offer salvation.
Perhaps Antioch was not all that different to our local world. Many are seeking some kind of “salvation” and there’s a huge menu to choose from. These Christians related to their world with the language of their world.

We also need to seek ways to connect the ultimate hopes and dreams of our friends and colleagues to the real hope that exists in Jesus, to help others exchange their “current lord”, which satisfies only temporarily, with the the Lord who satisfies eternally.

December 28, 2010

Sunday’s Message
Acts 11:19-12:24

“Barnabas encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” Acts 11:23

New Year Resolution 1 – Encourage Others in their Faith

Pastor’s Reflections

As Antioch became the new hub of growth for Christianity, the leaders in Jerusalem felt it necessary to make sure that the faith being spread was authentic. They sent Barnabas for quality control.

But Luke indicates that the influence of Barnabus was way more significant than that. His power was as an encourager. (Barnabus is actually his nickname, meaning “son of encouragement”. Joseph is his given name.)

Other Christians do not just need accountability, they need the encouragement of other Christians.

Luke indicates that the results of his arrival in Antioch were far reaching. Verse 24 says, “and a great number of people were brought to the Lord”. There had been a new wave of believers come into the church, but it seems that second new wave of believer came in because of Barnabus’ work of encouraging, bringing joy, stimulating friendships, loving people.

Do not underestimate the power that an encouraging word from you to a young believer can have.

Here’s a very powerful action that you can take: Each Sunday look for young couples, young parents, young singles, and approach them. Introduce yourself. And take a moment to find something very, very simple to say to encourage them.

That word of encouragement may be more powerful that day than anything they heard in the sanctuary.

Take part in the ministry of encouragement.

December 17, 2010

How to Grow Up

“And John grew and became strong in spirit” Luke 1:80
“Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people."
Luke 2:52

Pastor’s Thoughts

Here’s a “growing up” checklist: Let God work it into your thinking and doing this weekend.

 “strong in spirit” This is an inner quality of resiliency against things not of
God and strength to persevere in doing the things of God.

 “wisdom” This is big picture wisdom, God’s long term wisdom vs. the
short term wisdom of expediency

 “stature” In your better moments you know what this means. You know the
difference between worldly stature and a stature that comes
from a foundation of Godly character.

 “favor with God” I just want to please God in each thing I do today.

 “favor w/ people” People know I value them. People know they matter to me.

December 16, 2010

Zechariah Blesses His Son
Luke 1:67-79 (NIV)

“You, my child, will . . . prepare the way for Him” Luke 1:67-79 (NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

I cannot think of a greater vision for a father to have for his son, than to live a life of preparing the way for Jesus.

This can be done as a teacher, mechanic, attorney, homemaker, baker, accountant, engineer, or salesman. A man once asked Martin Luther, the 16rth century reformer, how he could live for Christ as a cobbler. Luther responded by saying, “first make a good shoe and sell it at a fair price”.

Exactly there is the place to start. Work hard, honor your superiors, treat others with respect, don’t gossip, value others, be fair, be honest, be truthful.

When I became a pastor I lost the power of witness that I had before it became “my job”.

Preparing the way for Jesus is God’s vocation for you to be played out wherever he has you today. If you work at McDonalds, Make a good hamburger and sell it with a smile and people will wonder, “what’s with her or him?” and you’ll have prepared the way for possible further discussion about the “reason for the hope that you have.”

Actually I frequent McDonald’s and there’s a young guy who always smiles and seems to love his job, and I actually do wonder, “what’s up with him?”

December 15, 2010

“I Must Become Less and Less”
(Read Luke 1:56-67(NIV) for the Birth of John the Baptist)

John said, “He must become greater and greater, I must become less and less."
John 3:30 (NLT)

Pastor’s Thoughts

When I was born I was the most important person in the universe, to my parents at least. I whined, and they fed me. I controled my universe.

But life has gone the other way ever since. I had to learn to do things I didn’t want to do. I had to discover that my parents had other things in their lives besides me. I had to learn that my college was willing to somehow survive without me if I didn’t shape up. When I left my first career, amazingly it somehow flourished without me. And now, as I age, I get first hand experience at seeing my expendability up close and personal. Nursing homes are full of people who once felt crucial to someone, and now feel crucial to nothing.

I think it’s part of God’s training. We start in a fetal position and end up in one.

John the baptizer “got it”. It’s not about becoming less and less so much as it is about Jesus becoming greater and greater.

That’s the real task, not just to humble myself more and more (God will do that to you if you won’t), but to elevate Jesus more and more.

Will you do that today somehow in some way?

December 14, 2010

Upside Down Gets Set Right Side Up
Luke 1:46-55 (NIV)

“Mary said: '. . . God . . . has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers . . . but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry . . . but has sent the rich away empty . . .'" Luke 1:46-55 NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

Pride is the chief of all sins. Nothing else compares. One scholar who studies such things said that men find it easier to knowingly go to their death in the Twin Towers than to apologize their wives.

Pride is the reason Satan left God. Pride is the reason we humans have fallen from grace (“you can be like God” Gen. 3)

One day the proud will be humbled and the humbled will be elevated. This is the great reversal. In the New Creation the lowly will be on top and the unhumbled rich will be sent away empty.

Here’s the really hard thing to swallow. You and I are the rich. . . . among the wealthiest two percent of the earth’s population. Is Mary’s prophecy, often called the “Magnificat”, a message to you and me?

December 13, 2010

Who First Announced Jesus’ Arrival?
Luke 1:39-45 NIV)

“When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb” Luke 1:41(NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

It was Mother Theresa who pointed out that the first person to announce the arrival of the Messiah was an unborn child. She was making the point that the people we value least in society, the unborn, are the very people God elevates.

My next comments will make you cringe, yet I’ve got to say them:

We humans are barbaric. We murder off our young and for the worst of reasons . . . . because they inconvenience us. And each of is part of the system that condones it. We need rescued. We need forgiven. We need Jesus. We are so much more evil than any of us realize even in our most aware moments.

Yet, and this is incredible, each of us is, apart from the sacrament of Christ’s body, the most holy thing/creature that any of us ever encounters in life. Each of us is an image of God, destined, if we allow Jesus to save us, to become a glorious creature, whom others would be tempted to worship, were they to see us as we will be through Christ. There are no ordinary human beings, only immortal ones.

Amazing. Barbaric, yet Glorious. What do you see when you see another person?

December 10, 2010

Luke’s Christmas Story
Luke 1:1-38

God Appears to Mary
Acts 11: 18 (NLT)

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God." 38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

There is no more famous passage in the entire Bible than this one.

Talk show host Larry King once said that if someone could prove to him that Mary was actually a virgin that he would believe that Jesus is God.

Personally I do spend of a lot of time trying to reconcile what we know about the world from history and science with what we read in the Bible. Just taking hard to believe things I read in the Bible as accurate without thinking them through as completely as possible is foreign to me. There’s something in me that wants to know what’s true, to make sure I’m getting things as right as I possibly can. I am absolutely convinced that any truth about God will stand up to the most rigorous scrutiny.

My method of doing this has been to check out the reliability of the Bible from a number of angles, then to decide that what the biblical authors wrote can be trusted, and finally to conclude that what they wrote means exactly what they intended it mean and then I go from there.

In the case of the virgin conception (not birth) I have to conclude simply that the account we have above is accurate, especially in light of Monday’s reading.

One of the things that helped me early on to believe in the virgin conception is that the Gospels simply mention it as a fact and do not find the need to use it as a proof of Jesus’ deity. It’s just there along with all the other details. It seems to me that there no compelling reason that the Son of Man had to be conceived that way. The documents simply say that’s how it happened.

I still wonder how Joseph felt. Yet, contradictory as it is to what I wrote above, I feel absolutely certain that I would just have believed Mary stuck by her even without an angel showing up. So there is a place in me that just trusts in the most important of circumstances.

December 9, 2010

Luke’s Christmas Story
Luke 1:1-38

Elizabeth
Luke 1:21-25 (NIV)

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25"The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." Luke 1:21-25 (NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

I like very much the following passage from William Barclay’s commentary on the New Testament:
“We may often wish that a message from God would come to us. It was in God’s House that the message came to Zehariah.
In Shaw's play, Saint Joan, Joan hears voices from God. The Dauphin is annoyed. "Oh, your voices, your voices," he said, "Why don't the voices come to me? I am king not you." "They do come to you," said Joan, "but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field in the evening listening for them. When the angelus rings you cross yourself and have done with it; but if you prayed from your heart, and listened to the thrilling of the bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I do."

Joan gave herself the chance to hear God's voice. Zacharias was in the Temple waiting on God. God's voice comes to those who listen for it--as Zacharias did--in God's house”

Do you come to worship with expectation that God will speak to you?

December 8, 2010

Luke’s Christmas Story
Luke 1:1-38

John, Elijah, Zechariah, Gabriel
There’s a lot more more Going on than meets the eye!
Luke 1:14-20 (NIV)

"He (John) will be a joy and delight to you . . . he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take. . . and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.' 19 The angel answered, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.' " Luke 1:14-20 (NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

An elderly couple in an obscure province in the Roman Empire is told that their son will announce the coming of the Savior of the world.

The chief of all angels appears to him and it’s scary. Zechariah looses his speech and it’s because he disbelieved.

Here’s what I make of this:
1. God does always seem to be preparing the way for good things to come. I think we rarely see this. Most of the time we are too much about ourselves and we miss the big picture of how God wants to use us for some great purpose than our little myopic dreams for ourselves.

2. It doesn’t seem fair that Zechariah lost his speech just because he had trouble believing. For me I choose to think, “so what about what I think .. . who am I to make judgments about how God does things?"

3. Angels exist. Like all modern educated Americans my default thinking is not to believe in angels. But I also recognize how narrow and closed minded that default thinking of mine is. In fact when I turn off my default setting, my logic tells me that the world of God’s space is more real and varied than the one we see with our physical eyes. Our world, I think, is indeed the shadowlands, the shadow of the real world that is God’s.

December 7, 2010

Luke’s Christmas Story
Luke 1:1-38

Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:5-13 (NIV)

”In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah . . . his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God . . . But they had no children . . .

“When Zechariah . . . was chosen by lot . . . to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense . . .an angel of the Lord appeared to him (and he) . . . was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.' " Luke 1:5-13

Pastor’s Thoughts

The Big Story of the world is this: God made the world good. God created human beings to be His managers of the this good world. Human beings “messed with God”. The world is now a mess (just read the news). But God loved the world too much to leave it that way. So he chose a certain group of people through whom he would bring healing to the world. These people were the Jews and you can read all about this in the Old Testament beginning in Genesis chapter 12.

Throughout that history there are hints, predictions and prophecies that one day a savior, a messiah would be born who would finally set the world to rights. Furthermore it was predicted that someone would come along, someone like Elijah, who would announce the Messiah’s coming.

In today’s passage we see God acting in history to prepare the way for the Messiah to arrive. It didn’t happen easily. Zechariah yearned for a son, he worked hard to be a good observant Jew, he struggled with disbelief, and Elizabeth had little hope of conceiving. But the angel said, “don’t be afraid”. “ What God is doing in the world cannot be thwarted. You are part of that plan. Trust Me”

What God is doing in the world cannot be thwarted. And you are part of his plan too. Don’t be afraid. Are you willing to trust Him?

December 6, 2010

Luke’s Christmas Story
Luke 1:1-38

The Main Reason to Believe in Christianity is Because It is True
Luke 1:1-4 (NIV)

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke 1:1-4 (NIV)

Pastor’s Thoughts

Theophilus is the name of the man for whom Luke wrote this account of the life of Jesus. Of course Luke hoped for a wide readership as well.

Luke starts out his Gospel by making it clear that he did his homework and that what he has written was well researched, accurate and factual. In other words he is saying that everything he wrote happened as he described it. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus are a true story.

I cannot overstate how important this is. It seems to me that if this true, if Jesus really is and was God, then the only sane thing to do with this fact is to re-orient your life around Jesus. Anything less, especially in light of the overwhelming promises of riches and joy he offers to believers as recorded in scripture, is irrational.

It’s so amazing when one thinks about it, that somehow we humans seem to think that we can just go about our lives as if we are neither in need of nor accountable to God as he is revealed in Jesus. One day each of us will meet Him face to face. There will be a day of reckoning. Our lives will be examined. And none of us will look back with anything but regret on those times when we’ve chosen live independently of God.

December 3, 2010

The Privilege of Repentance
Acts 11:18 (NLT)

When the others heard this, . . They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
Acts 11:18 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog:

How is repentance a privilege?

Repentance is the gift given to human beings by God through Jesus’ death on the cross. Without asking me. Pure Grace. This means God is saying, “I want you back. I want to you to be in the family, not estranged. I want you as my beloved son or daughter” Do you see the length to which God has gone to make things right between you and Him?

Now it’s your, my, our move. Can you see that intellectual assent is not relationship? Can you see that if you reached out to an estranged child at great cost to yourself and that child simply said, “I understand” with no emotional or practical response, that you still have no relationship?

Repentance is the gift given to me and to you by God’s work on the cross to make things right with God from our side. God initiated and did everything necessary from his side. Repentance, then, is our side of the great reconciliation offered by God.

One more thing: relationships are fragile. When was the last time you repented in prayer for your actions, sins, and attitudes? Repentance is a healer. It’s ground zero. When you have nowhere else to go, you always have the foot of the cross. There you are accepted, have a fresh start and have God who will offer you help for the one zillionth time.

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December 2, 2010

Who Am I To Stand in God’s Way?
Acts 11:1-18 (NLT)

“The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and the other gentiles, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?” Acs 11:15-17

Pastor's Blog:

Isn’t there something I have to DO to “get into heaven”?

Peter had to explain himself to the Jewish authorities who contended that to be accepted by God a person had to be circumcised (women got accepted through their husband’s circumcision). But Cornelius was not circumcised. And Peter saw that Cornelius and his family believed, were accepted by God and even received the Holy Spirit. How could this be? You can’t just throw out the rules, can you?

The “circumcision” group of Jewish believers were the “hard-liners”, who said, “Yes, there IS something you must DO to get saved, you must become Jews first and go through the Jewish rite of initiation”. Peter held his ground (for now) and four chapters later we will discover that the entire church asked God about this and God showed them that “rites” are not the way to God, rather trust, faith, relationship, response, following Jesus are the core elements of salvation.

In your life are these elements of salvation overshadowed by an overemphasis on ritual?

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December 1, 2010

Peter Explains the Good News to An Outsider
Acts 10:34-48

“God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. . . . ."

“Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too”
Acts 10:34 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog:

Peter discovered that there were no ethnic, geographical, cultural or moral barriers anymore in the way of anyone who wanted forgiveness and new life. He and the other Jews were astonished that God found the new gentile believers fit vessels for His Holy Spirit.

This is NOT easy, laissez-faire, 21st century tolerance. This is does not mean that God simply validates everyone’s opinion about everything or that He validates everyone’s chosen lifestyle. Cornelius (the gentile highlighted in this portion of scripture) did not want tolerated. He wanted welcomed, forgiven, healed and to be transformed. And he was.

It is a fascinating thing we learn here. Everyone is invited “in” just as we are. Yet no one is accepted in without some sort of response of the heart that issues in allowing the Lord to take leadership one’s life. It’s a bit paradoxical yet very, very simple. Does not the cohesion of every family rest on trust and reciprocity?

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November 30, 2010

God Invites Us As We Are
Acts 10:17-33

“You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean” Acts 10:28 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog:

Peter has just made this radical discovery that non Jews are just as loved by God as Jews. That was hyper-radical in his day.

I have often said that God accepts us just as we are. I am usually careful to add, however, that God won’t leave us there.

I now think a better way to express myself is to say the same thing, but to substitute the world “invite” for the word “accept”. God invites everyone into an eternal relationship with Him. He wants everyone, red, yellow, black, and white . . .everyone . . .in his forever family, none excluded.

The way anyone “gets in” is through God’s having opened the door by forgiving our rebellion and sin. He did this on the cross 2,000 years. This is the invitation. On the cross he said, “God forgive them”.

However, this does not mean we are finally accepted into His family. In order to be part of God’s family, I must accept the invitation. I must receive the gift. I must recognize that I get in as pure gift, not because I deserve it or have earned it any way. A gift is not a gift until it is received. I receive this gift by believing that God has forgiven me on the cross, that he has suffered for all my sin, and by living the remainder of my life as a “thank you” for what he has already done for me. At that point I am accepted.

Have you made this life altering acceptance of God’s invitation or are you just assuming that God accepts you as you are with no life altering corresponding response on your part?

To comment, click below.

November 29, 2010

God’s Ringing Condemnation of Prejudice
Acts 10:1-16

"Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean." Acts 10:15 (NLT)
"What God has made clean, you have no right to call profane." Acts 10:15 (NJB)
"God has made these things clean so don’t call them ’unholy'!" Acts 10:15 (NCV)

Pastor's Blog:

The story is told of CS Lewis as a small boy of about 6 or 7. One day he announced to his father, “Daddy, I have a prejudice against the French.” “Why?”, asked his father. “If I knew that”, replied the young Lewis, “it wouldn’t be a prejudice!”

The word prejudice comes from the word pre-judgment. It has to do with making up your mind before having all the facts.

Personally I am convinced that most of what we think is well reasoned thought is in reality reasoning in defense of what we’ve already decided before getting the full story.

Jews and gentiles of the day had all kinds of pre-judgments about each other. Imagine then the uproar when Peter discovers that non Jews can have the same access to God as the Jewish “insiders”. This is not about 21st century “tolerance”. It’s about full inclusion.

Although we will see that there is a difference between “invitation” and “acceptance” into God’s Kingdom, we do well first to ask, “who is it I look down on?”. “Whom am I predisposed to call ‘unholy’, ‘profane’, or ‘unclean’?”

What do you do to counter your prejudices (and I suspect that there is no one without any)?

To post a comment, click below.

November 26, 2010

There is No Such Thing as a Small Errand in the Kingdom of God“
Acts 9:32-43

Meanwhile, Peter traveled to Lydda. 33 There he met Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly. 35 Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.

“There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. She became ill and died. As soon as Peter arrived he went to the upstairs room filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.

Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive. 42 The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides. Acts 9:32-43

Pastor's Blog

Luke takes us from the earth shattering, history changing conversion of Paul to the upstairs room of a poor home filled with the knitting and sewing that had occupied the good lady who had just died.

If all we knew about Peter was that he healed a disabled man and had raised Dorcas from the dead, that would be enough. Individual hurting people are noticed by God. Their plight matters to Him. Peter was a mediator of God’s love to the “least” among us.

Dorcas was an unsung hero of the faith and Luke makes sure she makes it into his story. Peter noticed her, God noticed her and Luke noticed her enough to highlight her in his story.

Luke makes the point well: There is no such thing as a small errand in the Kingdom of God.

November 25, 2010

“Phew!” Glad we Got him out of the Way!!!
Acts 9;23-31

“some of the Jews plotted together to kill him . . . . So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, . . the believers . . . were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer! Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them about Saul’s conversion and his bold preaching.

So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. 30 When the believers heard about this, they . . . sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown. 31 The church then had peace . . . ., and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers." Acts 9:23-31

Pastor's Blog:

“So, Paul, how did you start your great missionary career?” . . . “I was let down through the wall and ran away!”

Actually that is more or less what Paul himself wrote at the end of 2 Corinthians 11 deliberately showing the proud Corinthians that he was proclaiming the God who delights in standing everything on its head. All human boasting, a human pride has to be upended so that God’s glory can shine through.

So we shouldn’t be surprised that the first chapters of Paul’s great missionary career were full of plots and runnings away. You can almost feel the sigh of relief in verse 30, as the Jerusalem apostles finally pack Saul off by boat from Caesarea to Tarsus. Phew! That’s one bit of trouble out of the way. It’s actually kind of funny . . . . the Jesus followers finally get a little peace once Paul is gone!

Of course Luke is making a really important point. When God is at work, things are stirred up. There’s energy of all kinds. Saul had been stopped in his tracks, he was turned around. Yet the miracle caused not only more outpouring of the work of God but also more problems.

Is God stirring your world? Do you see God at work or do you just see problems?

November 24, 2010

Son of God and Messiah
Acts 9:19-22(NLT)

Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. 20 And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is indeed the Son of God!' 21 All who heard him were amazed. 'Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?' they asked. 'And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?' 22 Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah." Acts 9:19-22 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog?

What do Son of God (vs 20) and Messiah (vs22) mean? What was Paul preaching?

What is the relationship between Son of God and Messiah? Luke doesn’t explain. “Son of God” is not used much in the OT, but when it is, it refers to two things: the people of Israel and the son of David, the Messiah himself. (2 Samuel 7:12-14, Psalm 2:7).

The whole point is that God will reach the world through Israel’s Messiah. Yet, triumphalistic as these verses are, Paul also remembers Isaiah’s vision of the suffering servant (Is. 53) who doesn’t conquer, rather saves by being “conquered”. Paul then put the resurrection into this mix and his preaching beginning here and continuing for the next 30 years has become the primary way Christians have understood God’s redemptive plan for the world, the single story of God rescuing the world beginning in Genesis 12 and ending in Revelation.

It will be 14 years between his conversion and the beginning of his most profound teachings in the late 40’s. He needed to sort through everything and get it right. He learned how to present The Message.

None of us is called to be an apostle Paul, but each of us can look up passages, study them, and with the help of others learn for ourselves God’s salvation plan for the world so that we can tell others. It’s not too hard. It just takes time and effort.

November 23, 2010

The Courage of Ananias

“There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, 'Ananias!' 'Yes, Lord!' he replied. 11 The Lord said, 'Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.'

'But Lord,' exclaimed Ananias, 'I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.' 15 But the Lord said, 'Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.'

So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized." Acts 9:10-18 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog:

I wonder if in vs. 15 we might be seeing God’s sense of humor.

Can you imagine? God wants to reach all the pagan world, not just Israel. So what’s He do? He chooses a hard line, fanatical, ultra nationalist, super-orthodox, Pharisaic Jew!!

Saul had been on mission to cause the suffering of the Jesus fanatics and now he is called not only to join them but to suffer on their behalf. God is the God of radical turn-arounds. In fact Saul (renamed Paul) will spend a life a suffering. So it is with Saul. So it is with Ananias. When God calls someone, said Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he bids them come and die. As with Saul and with Ananias, so with us.

My it never be said of any of us that we are in this thing (following Christ) for a comfortable life, human glory, power or wealth.

The story of Ananias is legendary among believers. This was his moment and he got it right.

November 22, 2010

The Conversion of the Apostle Paul

1 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.

3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Acts 9:1-5

Pastor's Blog:

“If there is a God, if there is a spiritual dimension to our world, if there are indeed many dimensions to our world, then you are unlikely to get in touch with them, or only at a great distance, by holding off from anything which might open you to the enormous and powerful world which throbs with life and possibility never suspected by the average churchgoer”.

Try reading Ezekiel 1 as an exercise designed to lead you to encounter the holiness of God. This was a practice of at least some Jews and it has been suggested by serious scholars that this is exactly what the apostle Paul was doing on his way to Damascus. His mission to eradicate the Christ followers was one of seeking to honor God after all.

Imagine then his seeing with the eyes of his heart the glorious figure on the chariot, flaming with fire, surrounded by brilliant light and then seeing with his physical eyes, could it be, the face, the face of Jesus?!!

Suddenly Saul’s world is turned upside down. Terror, ruin, sorrow, shame, awe, horror, glory, and terror again, must have swept over him. He had seen Jesus (2 Cor 4:6, 1 Cor 9:1). Now the law and prophets had not only come true, they have been ripped apart and put back together again by Jesus.

Can you imagine Paul’s brilliant mind sweeping from OT text to text and seeing it anew! “ It’s all there, it’s all there!” he must certainly have thought.

Has your world ever been rocked by Jesus?

November 19, 2010

You Must Learn to Connect the Dots

"Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' 31 The man replied, 'How can I, unless someone instructs me?' And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, 'Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?' So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.

As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?' 37 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing." Acts 8:30-40 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog

I can’t think of any other way to say it. If you are a Christian, you have a responsibility to be able to explain the Bible basics to another person.

The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53. Philip knew that passage and then connected it to Jesus. The Ethiopian saw the connection, believed, was baptized, was saved, and then took the Gospel to his homeland where Christianity has ebbed and flowed for the last 2,000 years (mostly in the Coptic church).

I think the primary way to learn the basics is to decide to do so and then act on that decision in whatever way works for you. It is not true that it is too hard. All it takes is time, trouble, and intentionality. If you are reading these comments you are probably a person who has done or is doing this very thing. I congratulate you!!! You are among a minority of Christians who are intentional about learning the Bible and desire to communicate its message to others.

I encourage you to continue learning, ask God for opportunities to “connect the dots” for others and then to actually walk through the door when God opens one up.

Notice that the Ethiopian asked questions. God was already working on him. Phillip just responded to his inquisitiveness. God prepares the opportunities, we just need to keep our eyes open and maintain our preparedness. We don’t knock down doors, we just walk through them. But that in itself is a big responsibility.

November 18, 2010

Why Do You Ignore God’s Promptings?

"As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, 'Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.' 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and walk along beside the carriage.' " Acts 8:26-29

Pastor's Blog

It happens all the time. I get a thought, think it may be a prompting from God, then think maybe it’s not, then the prompting has come and gone without my having acted on it.

Sound familiar? The reasons I do this range from not trusting my thoughts, to not believing God “speaks” that directly, to being too “into” my own agenda for the day.

Here’s a thought that is probably worth heeding. It’s better to err on the side of following a prompting than to err on the side of ignoring one. The latter is too easy and leaves me living a self –directed life. The former is hard, requires interruptibility and inconvenience, and gets me off of myself and into others. Sounds like something God would do. Finally, how will I know if the prompting is from God or not unless I follow it? If it wasn’t from God, then at the very least I practiced obedience. At worst I lost some time.

If , on the other hand, I err on the side of becoming “unpromptable”, then . . . (you fill in the blank)

Phillip followed his prompting and the Gospel made it to the heart of Ethiopia. That was God’s plan. Phillip just had to “go south” instead of wherever else he was headed.

What is your latest “go south” prompting from the Lord?

November 17, 2010

God is Not for Sale

"Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years . . . . . Everyone . . . . spoke of him as 'the Great One—the Power of God.' . . . . . Then Simon became a believer and was baptized. . . . When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. . . .
But Peter replied, 'May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!' " Acts 8:15-20

Pastor's Blog

Believers are in danger of wanting the blessings and power of God, but not God Himself.

Simon wanted, not the gift of the Holy Spirit, but the power to lay hands on people and have the Spirit come upon them. And He thought Peter would sell him this power for money (this is where the word “simony” comes from, which means the attempt to buy spiritual office, status or power.

Peter’s reply is swift. Destruction is the only destination for such money, he says, and “you will be destroyed along with it”. (Luke doesn’t tell us what happened to Simon)

I find this so challenging. Do I honor God with preconceived notions of who God ought to be and what He ought to do, and thereby end up seeking the things of God instead of God? The only way through this I’ve found, at least for me, is to submit to God no matter what, accepting the fact that no matter what I do, or how “good” I may, nothing better that that which I already have may ever come my way.

I have earned nothing more than I already have. Nothing I can do can “buy” anything better than what I have at this very moment. It’s all gift. It’s all gift. God can’t be bought.

November 16, 2010

God Will Send You to Someone You Don’t Like

"Philip went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city." Acts 8:5-8

Pastor's Blog

So, who is it you don’t like? What does God want you to do about that? Am I supposed to suddenly become best friends with him or her?

Acts 1:8 records Jesus telling his followers to reach out to Jerusalem, Judea and also Samaria. The first two were “family”. Samaria wasn’t. Samaria and Judea got along kind of like India and Pakistan. Samaria was an enemy.

Who don’t you get along with? Did you know that Jesus wants you to be a witness to the salvation of God through Jesus Christ to people in your sphere of Influence whom you don’t like?

What are you going to do about that?

One thing you can do is to recognize that that other person is in a position to be influenced by you whether you like it or not. And to recognize that isn’t an accident. And to conclude therefore that you are given spiritual responsibility for that person you don’t like. God has entrusted you with the gospel and for you not be a good steward of that trust in the life of that other person is a sin. Christians are not permitted to look at others and say “he or she is not my problem”. God has not granted us that relief.

Philip went to Samaria. But Samaria was on his God Given itinerary. Who’s on your God given itinerary?

November 15, 2010

God Never Wastes a Tragedy

"As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, . . .'Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!' And with that, he died.

Saul (who later became the Apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament) agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

A great wave of persecution began that day. . . .Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. 4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went." Acts 7:57-8:1-4

Pastor's Blog

Stephen decides to follow Christ and right away dies a tragic death. What a waste! Or was it?

If the Bible is correct in its view that this life is only the duration of a breath and that life in the resurrection in the new creation is big and long beyond imagination, then a short life lived for and used by God for his purpose is not bad.

Life is not about comfort or pain or quality or longevity. It is about becoming God’s servant and living His purpose in whatever years and circumstances you are given. The real life for which this one is the preparation begins after this one. This life is the cover page, the next one is begins the book.

Stephen did what Jesus did. He offered forgiveness to the unforgivable. Saul heard that and was motivated even more to kill people like Stephen. Yet Stephen’s witness was part of the intervention of God which broke Saul and changed him into the Paul who became one of those people he wanted to rid the world of.

Stephen’s life was not a waste. A life of prosperity, character, public acclaim and success, even characterized by a generous spirit, although still used by God (God uses all things for good), can still be a waste in terms of the individual person’s heart. If all that was about him, then, well yes, what a waste.

November 12, 2010

When Trouble Comes, Where Do You Look?

Acts 6:15 "And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel."

Acts 7:55 "But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;"

Pastor's Blog

This is no prayer meeting these men are dragging Stephen to. Their intention is pretty clear, they do not like the Gospel and they intend to stop it by silencing the messenger.

Stephen has been given the task of the distribution of food to the widows and has been doing it well, so well in fact that many of the priests were coming to faith. Stephen’s ministry is so effective that the temple worship is being affected. It might be one thing to be feeding widows it is another thing all together to make serious inroads into the Jewish faith, costumes and worship. Converting priest to Christianity was no small thing, these priests ministered at the temple. No wonder these men are accusing Stephen of speaking against the Law and the Temple. Stephen is now falsely accused and dragged before the Council, the same Council that had just dealt with Peter and John.

Yesterday we saw the need for others in times like this, but what happens when we find ourselves alone. We can not look to someone else, we are alone or are we? Jesus said “I will never leave you or forsake you” so we must not be alone. It might feel lonely but this is never an indication that we are alone. We are not alone because scripture tells us we are not even if our feelings tell us different. If it is between our feeling and God’s Word, the Word is right every time. What we need is to get our emotions to align with God’s Word. This is done by where we place our focus.

The mob put their focus on Stephen and what he was saying. They had already made up their mind about his message before hand. They simply needed him to cross the line. In other words they were waiting to rush him. Stephen, on the other hand, put his focus on Christ and Him crucified. When he was alone and in need in an earthly sense, he found he was not alone at all. He in fact had all of Heaven at his aide. Stephen is a wonderful example of a life lived in surrender in small ways each day which prepared him for a day when surrender would be all he had. Surrender for Stephen had not become “second nature”, but in fact it had become his new nature. This is what God wishes from all His children.

November 11, 2010

When Contention Moves to Misrepresentation and Outright Anger.

Acts 6:11 "Then they bribed men, who said, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.' "

Acts 6:12 "And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,"

Acts 6:13 "And set up false witnesses, who said, 'This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:'"

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Have you ever been going along minding your own business, doing what you are supposed to be doing and have someone attack you? Attack not just what you are doing but where the attack becomes personal?

Well if you have then you have been persecuted. Now imagine that happening because you are stepping out in faith and following God. Are we not supposed to be protected from this kind of treatment when we are in His service? The Bible says no, “all those who would live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” 2 Timothy 3:12. If our idea of the Christian life is that we go from faith to faith and glory to glory with no opposition then there is something wrong in our thinking. We are missing a major part of the Gospel message, all of those who wish to grow in their relationship with God will sooner or later find themselves in pain, sorrow, trouble, persecution or something of the like. Scripture tells us, as well as life experience that no one escapes trouble in this world. Scripture tells us that it is not what we go through but how we go through it that makes all the difference. In other words we are not defined by what happens to us but by how we respond. This is not to diminish in any way the pain and sorrow, since of loss or problems we go through. It is to say that we are not to let them define our faith, our view of God or let them rewrite God’s plan for us. This can be a very hard thing to do and one of the many reasons we need others around us to love us and keep us on the right path.

Being a person who enjoys being alone allows a lot of time for reflection and quiet time with God which I love so much yet there is a danger if I do not seek to balance it with time in fellowship, real fellowship. I need others and so do you. I wonder if Paul would have gone on when he was stoned had it not been for Barnabas. Would Peter have rejoiced when he was beaten if it were not for John, would Silas have sung if it were not for Paul? When Jesus sends out the disciples they are told to carry no bag, no shoes no purse just do not go alone. Jesus sends them out in two’s as lambs among wolves Luke 10:1-4. Fellowship is not just a good idea; it is a vital necessity for the Christian life. We all need comfort; healing encouragement and perspective and Gods answer to these needs is others.

November 10, 2010

How to Withstand With Those Who Contend With You?

Acts 6:8 "And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people."
Acts 6:9 "But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen."
Acts 6:10 "And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke."

Pastor's Blog

While serving the widows and preserving the unity some come along who are bothered by what Stephen is saying. What are we to do and where do we find the ability to handle those who are causing trouble in or to the body of Christ?

It starts in verse 8 when we see Stephen was full of grace and power. The power must have given great proof of the truth of the message but the grace is what drew the people in. No wonder Stephen is listed at the top of the men chosen to lead this task. Yet at the same time it is not Stephen at all. Stephen has no claim to the grace for it too, is a gift of God just like faith, wisdom and the Spirit. Stephen is surrendered by the Holy Spirit for Him to do His blessed work from. The same is true of the power; it is not of or from Stephen. It is of the Holy Spirit and directed from Him. It is important for us to remember that it is not in our own strength that we are to stand but in HIS! Praise God then we can do it!

Luke has much to say about this in his Gospel in the 21st chapter and the 14th and
15th verses:

"Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand what you shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to contradict nor resist."

It is not Stephen’s faith, wisdom, spirit, grace or power that he is operating in it is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. This is the heart of Galatians 2:20 …”the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of Christ”. It is not Stephen’s life we are looking at it is Christ’s life lived out through Stephan. This has everything to do with focus, our focus.

It is not Stephen’s words or wisdom but Christ’s, so we should be able to be rest in this promise but only if we are already at rest in Him with our focus on Him.

November 9, 2010

Stephen Full of the Spirit of Wisdom and of Faith.

Acts 6:3 "Look ye out therefore, brethren, from among you seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business."
Acts 6:4 "But we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word."
Acts 6:5 "And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus a proselyte of Antioch;"

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What does it look like to be full of the Spirit or of wisdom or even faith? Whatever it is it must have been visible because the Apostles asked the people to choose men who possessed these attributes.

We saw in part what happened at Pentecost with the initial filling of the Spirit upon the Church, but what is it to be full of the Spirit and what does it look like? We know from the teaching of the Gospels that the Spirit of God is a gift given to us in which we play no part. It is based solely upon the grace of God and we only need to receive. Wisdom and faith are different though. Wisdom we are told to ask for in James 1 and it too will be given, but if we doubt we will receive nothing. So asking and not doubting are our part although wisdom is still a gift given. With faith we are told “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. Romans 12:3 says “to each man is given a measure of faith” so we see like the Spirit and wisdom, faith is also a gift but it comes in seed form and must be nurtured by hearing. All three are gifts given that can not be acquired by any other means except God Himself , yet the last two require something from us. Wisdom that requires a lack of doubting, which is directly connected to faith and faith which needs the wisdom to know how to nurture it. It might seem all twisted up and in a way it is but not so twisted that it does not make sense. Wisdom also needs asking and faith also needs hearing and both of these are foundational components of communication. When we are communicating with God we call that prayer. We find wisdom in the scriptures as well as our ability to hear comes from them as well, so the Word of God is also critical to our being full of the Spirit of wisdom and of faith.

The Word and prayer go together and can not be separated. If one leans on the Word they will have knowledge/information but without prayer they might well lack the revelation to use it to the glory of God. If they lean on prayer they may receive revelation but lack the knowledge of where it comes from, maybe not from God.

Being full of the Spirit and being full of the Word both have the same outworking according to scripture. In Ephesians 5:18-6:9 and Colossians 3:16-22 we see that being filled with the Spirit and being filled with the Word produce the same result and it is visible and verifiable in the relationships closest to us, our families. This should also extend to our Church family but must start in our homes. I felt the Spirit of God once tell me “if you can not run your house why would I want you to run mine”. Being gifted by God does not mean matured in God. We need the Word of God building us up and at the same time we need prayer to keep us humble that we might become what a dying world needs, full of the Spirit of wisdom and of faith.

November 8, 2010

A Simple Assignment or is It?
Acts 6:7

"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."

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The task of serving the widows tables may at first glance seem needful but how could it possibly further the Gospel.

There is a single stream of thought from verse 1 through verse 10 which then flows into the trouble that starts in the 11th. The problem for the Hellenistic Jews was not just that their widows were being overlooked, but it in fact had become a point of division that was creeping into the Church. The Apostles saw their need for the Word and Prayer and at the same time saw the needs of the widows and the growing problem of racial tension. They rightly understood that the simple feeding of the widows would not heal all the troubles. They told the “all the congregation” Hellenistic and native Jew alike to select men to take charge of the task. Not just any men, men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of Wisdom. The disciples saw that the true need was greater than meeting the physical needs of the poor and helpless. By allowing the people to choose the men the racial tension would have been eased. The entire congregation would have felt their voice was heard and equal interest would be given to their situation. By giving the qualifications for the men the Apostles knew the Spirit of God would guide these men to bring about unity which was lacking between the two groups.

In other words the unequal distribution of food becomes an opportunity to bring about true unity which had never before existed in the Jewish community in Jerusalem.

Is it possible that by devoting themselves to the Word and to Prayer the apostles were able to discern all the needs, not just those needs that were manifest outwardly. What if we were to spend more of our time devoting ourselves to the Word and Prayer, not just doing them but really devoting ourselves, the totality of our being to them, would we then be able to discern the real true needs of those around us?

We are all given the “ministry of reconciliation” what we need is to be able to clearly see what the root problem is and how to heal it. This only comes when we devote ourselves to both the Word and Prayer.

November 5, 2010

Problems of Family Living
When the Family Just Can’t Get Along

“As the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.

So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, 'We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.' . . . . So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.” Acts 6:1-7 (NLT)

It often happens in families that some feel slighted by others, that some are favored over others and jealously and suspicion arises. The bigger a family gets, the more likely this is to happen. God led this early family of Christians to address this problem in the following way:

• The spiritual leaders saw that it was all the more important that they stay grounded in the “Word of God”. They thought it was more important than ever that took responsibility for knowing what God says and then telling this new expanded family how to live it.
• The spiritual leaders saw also that they needed to pray more, not less. They needed God. They couldn’t do without them.
• They delegated responsibility. Not only does everyone need to take responsibility for making a family work, but it is simply true that in a large group of people, things get complicated and life needs organized and administered.

On a side note, I bet Jesus is glad he didn’t have to live to 60 and have to move into the administration of large groups of people!!)

Making a family work is really, really, really hard. But these three actions apparently addressed the situation. The family grew even more!

November 4, 2010

Problems of Family Living
When Beliefs within the Family Clash

“The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees . .. . . . arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But an angel opened the gates of the jail, and told them, 2'Go to the Temple and give the people this message of this life!' 21 So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. .

They then rearrested the apostles . . . . 'Didn’t we tell you never again to teach in this man’s name?' . . . . 29 But Peter and the apostles replied, 'We must obey God rather than any human authority'. . . . .. When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them. 34 But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel . .. .. . said to his colleagues . . .. 'my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.' Acts 5:17-42

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Like this family of Jews, some of whom rejected Jesus and others of whom had begun to follow Him, our families can also experience a “split” based on religious beliefs. It’s a tough thing to face, especially when loyalty to a particular belief trumps loyalty to family. Blame, accusations and mistrust can replace family unity.

Within Judaism there were two approaches to this kind of problem. The “school” of Shammai was harsh: get rid of those who defect to another faith. The “school” of Hillel (the teacher of Gamaliel) said, “Torah is a matter of the heart”. We must “live and let live (my words). (on a side note, the apostle Paul trained under Gamaliel of the “liberal” Hillel “school”)
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The result of this family spat? It turned out that Gamaliel was wise. If this new faith was not from God , it would fail. If it was from God it can’t be stopped.

From Hillel to Gamaliel to Paul, the New Testament leans away from legalism. The early followers of Jesus were adamant about what they had seen and heard. Sometimes they were “in your face” about it. Yet their heart was to tell everyone they knew, even those who fought them. For the traditionalists “whose world was rocked”, who foundation for living was called into question, Gamaliel was a more than a moderating voice. His was a wise one.

God seems to intervene in all kinds of ways: an angel one day, a leader from the opposition on another day.

Family unity matters. So does loyalty to Jesus. It’s not easy to negotiate these things.

November 3, 2010

Problems of Family Living
When Others think Your Faith is Weird.

“The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple . . . . . . But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.

14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed." Acts 5:12-16

Pastor's Blog

Do your neighbors ever wonder why you spend so much time at church? Do they fear joining you because they don’t want to “go overboard” like you have?

It’s even worse when they hear about really weird things happening which they associate with the “televangelist faith healer frauds”. Peter’s shadow healed people!!!! How weird is that, not to mention simply not believable.

Yet this New Community didn’t seem to think there was anything odd about all these healings. Luke says quite matter of factly in vs. 16, “they were all healed”. These believers seemed to think that God was free and able to do whatever He wanted. Nor were they burdened by modern democratic thinking which asks and demands, “if God does it for one, why not for all”. Nor does God’s power appear to be connected to the devotion or the holiness of those involved. They simply believed and God did even more than they expected.

It’s okay to be “weird” like the early Christians were weird, it that means believing that God is free to do what God wants. Just don’t act weird. Be yourself (if you’re a weird person by birth that’s okay, you’re stuck with that) , be humble, be a servant to your neighbors, ask God to unleash his power for them too just don’t’ pray out loud in weird ways on their doorstep).

November 2, 2010

Problems of Family Living
When Family Members Take God For Granted

“There was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. 3 Then Peter said, 'Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!'

As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died.. . . . Later Peter said to Sapphira, 'How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this?'. . . .. she fell to the floor and died.

Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened."
Acts 5:1-11

Pastor's Blog

In our society which “spins” everything and tells half truths, God has warned us. Lying to Him is dangerous.

We can’t have it both ways. If we love the generosity, power, boldness, and miracles generated by God in the early church . . . if we love how the New Community had become the new holy residence of God, then we must not be surprised when God takes his church, us, seriously enough to make it clear that there is no such thing as cheap grace. God is not mocked.

The New Testament tells of the same God we read of in the Old Testament. He is still holy and still dangerous. Check out Leviticus 10 about Aaron’s sons taking God lightly. Or Joshua 7 where Aachan bends the rules. Same thing in 2 Chronicles 26 with King Uzziah.

Annanias and Sapphira lied to their church family (which is the new temple) and to God.

God lies down his Marker. Lying is a way of saying “I don’t trust God”. In our society which “spins” everything and tells half truths, we have this warning.

DO NOT TAKE GOD FOR GRANTED

November 1, 2010

Problems of Family Living
The Promising Early Years

“They felt that what they owned was not their own” Acts 4:32

“All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. . . . . There were no needy people among them, because they would bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.” Acts 4:32-37 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog

If you are fortunate you starting your family by sharing everything, holding all things in common, and you dreamed that it would always be like this. The early church family started off great. It was becoming exactly what the Old Testament had foretold. God had made them into generous givers exactly as the Old Testament had predicted.

With this passage Luke is making the dramatic claim that what is happening here in Jerusalem in this Christian Community is exactly what God has intended all along. Luke does this by basing vs. 34 on Deuteronomy 15, especially vs. 4. Jesus had set this very same agenda in Luke 4 by quoting Isaiah 61.

My wife, Kathy, likes to quote Revelation where Jesus tells us to remember our first love. Luke is writing long after these events and he has by now seen many things go wrong in the church. Perhaps, by recounting the beginnings of the church he wants to remind us how believers behave.

Luke shows us what kind of generosity and charity is generated when the Holy Spirit has His way. These people where demonstrating the fruit of the resurrection in way that many Christians today, who often sadly balk at even giving a tithe of their income to the church, can only dream of.

October 29, 2010

Pray This Prayer Today and
Apply It to the Circumstances of Your Life
Acts 4:23-31

23 As soon as they were freed, they prayed,

“O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— 25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? 26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against his Messiah.’ 27 In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. 29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:23-31

Pastor's Blog:

My Advice? Do this! Actually pray this prayer today word for word and see if any part of it awakens something in you? Praying scripture is not a bad way to learn to pray!!!!!!

To post a comment click below.

October 28, 2010

You Must Not Keep Quiet About God’s Love in Jesus Christ
(But don’t be obnoxious or annoying 1 Peter 3:15, 16)
Acts 4:19-22

“The religious leaders commanded the apostles never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, 'Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.'

The council . . they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years. Acts 4:19-22

Pastor's Blog:

Here’s what I think. Ready? God Grace and His miracles are happening every day, all around us. We have innumerable gifts coming our way constantly for which we ought to be grateful. Our job is to “see”, to “open our physical eyes and the “eyes of our hearts”, and then spend much time every day saying “thank you, thank you, thank you” to Giver of it all. And then we should tell everyone we know about it (but don’t be obnoxious or annoying)

To post a comment click below.

October 27, 2010

Find a Reading Plan to Take You Through the Bible
and Then Stick to It
Acts 4:11-15

11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. 13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures.

They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. Acts 4:11-15

Pastor's Blog:

You do not need special training to learn the Bible! Only two things are needed: to stay connected to Jesus in prayer and to take the time and trouble to read your Bible. You can do this!!! There are many tools available and many ways to go about this. Here’s the best advice I know: Find your own way. Take ownership and set yourself to doing it.

To post a comment click below.

October 26, 2010

Be Clear, not Coercive, About What You Believe
Acts 4:1-10

“The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious . . . brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead” Acts 4:1-10

Pastor's Blog

44% of all “un-churched” people think Christians “get on their nerves”. But we can be clear without being obnoxious. I think most people like directness without pushiness. In fact 78% of “un-churched (89% of twenty-somethings) want to hear more about the Christian faith!

(To post a comment click below)

October 25, 2010

Opponents to Christianity Exist,
but They are Far Outnumbered by Those Who Would Like to Hear More
Acts 4:1-6

“While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted . . . . These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.

Nevertheless many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children. Acts 4:1-6

Pastor's Blog

How Do Unchurched Americans View Christianity?By Audrey Barrick|Christian Post Reporter

In a portrait of the "unchurched" in America, a new study found that most are willing to hear what people have to say about Christianity but a majority also sees the church as a place full of hypocrites.

"A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites,’" said LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer. "At the same time, however, 71 percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus ‘makes a positive difference in a person’s life’ and 78 percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity."

LifeWay Research studied 1,402 adults who were unchurched - those who had not attended a religious service at a church, synagogue or mosque in the previous six months - last spring and summer.

Many unchurched adults don't have a biblical understanding about God and Jesus, according to the survey.

Study results, released this week, showed that while 64 percent of the respondents think "the Christian religion is a relevant and viable religion for today," 72 percent of unchurched adults said they believe God, a higher or supreme being actually exists. Only 48 percent agree there is only one God as described in the Bible and 61 percent believe the God of the Bible is no different from the gods or spiritual being depicted.

"If you went back 100 years in North America, there would have been a consensus that God is the God in the Bible. We can't assume this any longer," said Stetzer. "We no longer have a home-field advantage as Christians in this culture."

LifeWay Research Associate Director Scott McConnell isn't surprised that the unchurched population doesn't understand Bible basics.

"If you aren't going to church, you don’t have an opportunity to be informed about what the Bible teaches or what other faiths teach," he said. "It’s not surprising then that unchurched people lump world religions all together and consider the gods described in them as being the same."

Up from 17 percent in 2004, 22 percent of Americans say they never go to church - the highest ever recorded by the General Social Survey.

But the problem is compounded by a widespread notion of religious tolerance that says religious and spiritual truth is a matter of personal opinion, Stetzer said, according to the report.

"We found a real openness to hearing about matters of faith, but the study also clearly documents what I call the Oprah-ization of American Christianity," he said. "It’s very much a generic ‘big guy in the sky’ view of God and a ‘you believe what you believe, I believe what I believe’ viewpoint on theology. People say, ‘Who am I to judge?’

"We have seen this in the current political campaigns, in regard to Mormonism," Stetzer added. "Recently a Christian leader was asked whether Mormons are Christians, and he replied that no, Mormons are outside the standard definition of what an orthodox Christian is. The host was shocked somebody would say that. How dare we say someone else is or is not a Christian?"

The American public seems to hold a similar opinion, Stetzer indicated.

"Christians begin with a faith system that teaches who God is, but the people in our culture not only don’t believe that, but often consider us intolerant because we dare to believe it," he said.

Many unchurched Americans have a negative perception of the church.

"There will always be the stumbling block of the cross. Yet our study shows that many are tripping over the church before they hear the message of the cross," said Stetzer.

A majority of unchurched Americans (79 percent) think that Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people; 86 percent believe they can have a good relationship with God without being involved in church.

"These outsiders are making a clear comment that churches are not getting through on the two greatest commandments," to love God and love your neighbor, said McConnell.

What they see the church as is "candles, pews and flowers, rather than people living out their love for God by loving others," he noted. "Such skepticism can only be overcome by churches and believers who demonstrate the unity and love for which Jesus prayed."

Other findings showed that 44 percent said Christians "get on my nerves."

Still, a majority (89 percent) of the unchurched have at least one close friend who is Christian, Stetzer noted. And while turned off by church, 78 percent are willing to listen to someone who wanted to talk about their Christian beliefs. The number rose to 89 percent among adults 18-29 years of age.

Additionally, 78 percent of adults 30 years and older said they would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual beliefs, even if they disagreed with the friend.

Only 28 percent of adults 30 years and older said they think Christians they know talk to them too much about their beliefs.

"We think religion is a topic that is off-limits in polite conversation, but unchurched people say they would enjoy conversations about spiritual matters," Stetzer noted.

October 22, 2010

Have you ever tried to be someone you’re not?
How’s that been working for you?
Acts 2:47 (NLT)

“For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.’" Acts 3:26 (NLT)

Pastor’s Blog

If you take a cue tip and then take a swab of your saliva and then send it in to the National Geographic Magazine, they will analyze it and trace your biological ancestry back to its origination somewhere on the planet. I really wanted to do this but Kathy wouldn’t let me.

But I do know my spiritual DNA. I got this DNA when I cast my lot with Jesus. At that point the Holy Spirit that was given to/awakened in me made me a spiritual descendent of Jesus, who was a biological descendent of Abraham. I am not just an “honorary Jew,” I’m actually the real deal. I’ve been birthed into the blood line of Jesus, and therefore Abraham, themselves!!!!!! I like knowing this very, very much.

This means that I have the spiritual DNA that was given to Abraham by God way back in Genesis 12:2 which Peter cites in today’s passage.

In short, I, and you, if you have become a believer, are built to be a blessing to other people. That’s your fundamental genetic code!!!

Have you ever tried to be someone you’re not? How’s that been working for you? Not to well? Here’s a suggestion. Find some way each day to bless someone, somehow, in some way. See how that works for you. It’s your spiritual bloodline, it’s what you were built for, it’s being true to yourself, it’s the destiny of your spiritually altered genes!

(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)

October 21, 2010

Peter Predicts the Beginning of the World
Acts 3:21 (NLT)

“For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets” Acts 3:21 (NLT)

Pastor’s Blog

If you were to predict the future of the planet what would you predict?

When I first thought about things like this, I thought about the sun burning out. Later on I concluded that the future of man was on another planet. More recently I find it hard to imagine that we humans won’t blow ourselves up with nuclear weapons. In short, most end times scenarios are not peaceful, but violent and catastrophic. Because of this, most Christians tend to believe that the Gospel message is that when we die or when the planet is destroyed (as in 2nd Peter 3, for example) believers will be transported to heaven where will live forever.

Actually that’s not real story, although it may be part of it. The real story is not that we go to heaven when we die (although we do go there first as a kind resting place, like a vacation) rather it is that our ultimate destination is on a new/renewed earth after God brings heaven down to earth and rejoins the two.

“Thy Kingdom come”, Jesus told us to pray. And his prayer will be answered, just as Peter says in today’s passage. All things broken will be repaired. No matter how cataclysmic the future of civilization on earth may become, that won’t be the final chapter of the story. God writes the final chapter not we.

Peter is very clear about wanting us to know that.

(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)

October 20, 2010

How to Get Refreshed
Acts 3:19-20 (NLT)

“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. . ."
Acts 3:19-20(NLT)

Pastor’s Blog
Are you just plain weary and worn out?

“Life is difficult.” With these three words, M. Scott Peck began the first paragraph of the top selling book of the 20th century, The Road Less Traveled. It was the most brilliant and learned of all self help books I have ever read. However, the really interesting thing about it for me is the fact that Peck became a Christian (if unorthodox one) during his writing of the book. His final section on Grace is something I’ll never forget.

After all his massive learning in psychoanalysis from Harvard and private practice, he then learned from the Lord.

Meds and psychological counseling do have their place, but there is one fundamental without which no lasting times of refreshment will ever come; coming clean before God (really coming clean in a remorseful way), asking God to forgive you for your sins (no, you can’t forgive yourself, only God can do that), deciding to entrust your life to this God who, in Jesus Christ offers forgiveness, and finally accepting the reality that because of the cross, there is no longer a black, low lying cloud of condemnation hanging over you.

Are you weary? Whatever you do about it ultimately succeeds only insofar as it builds on this “prescription”.

(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)

October 19, 2010

Christianity Should Look Pretty Amazing
Acts 3:7-11 (NLT)

“then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often . . . they were absolutely astounded! Acts 3:7-11 (NLT)

Pastor’s Blog

What is there about Christianity that astounds the people you know?

I think this is a really humbling question to consider. Frankly, there are times when I can’t think of anyone on the outside who is particularly impressed with what they see of God in me or in the Christian church.

The instantaneous healing of the lame man was really impressive. Anyone would be impressed seeing a cripple suddenly begin to dance around. Because of this, the now healed man was really, really happy. He joined Peter and John for church! Everyone who knew him now knew both the before and after. He was lame and now he could walk.

Somehow each of us and all of us together should keep in the front of our minds what our “before God’s salvation” looked like and what our “after salvation” now looks like. We ourselves should be able to see some difference, be really, really happy about it, and then let it show. The overflow of the lame man’s healing touched many others.

Does your life have an “overflow” aspect to it? If not, do not fall into self criticism, rather take this observation to the Lord, believing there is something more he wants to do in you.

(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)

October 18, 2010

A New Kind of Giving
Acts 3:6

Peter said, “look at us” . . .“Silver and Gold have I none. But such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk”. Then Peter reached out his arm and helped him up. Acts 3:4-6

Pastor’s Blog

If you feel like you don’t have much to give, then reading this passage should be helpful.

Peter and John were on their way to worship in the temple when they met a lame beggar who wanted money. Peter and John didn’t have any. Moreover, they were on their way to worship which meant the beggar was interrupting them.

Yet Peter and John gave to the lame man from a vast store of riches that they did have. First, they noticed and stopped. Do you know how many people are yearning for someone to stop and notice them? Next, they diverted the man’s attention from money to themselves. They had him look at them. He then could see that what they had to give was what was in them. Next, they revealed the foundation of generosity that the Holy Spirit which they now had as a result of Pentecost. Next, they acted. They reached out and touched the man.

You and I may lack their faith, the faith that God can use us to be an agent of instantaneous physical healing. Nevertheless we can notice, be interrupted, engage other people and speak to them, desiring to offer what we have, in particular the desire to see the full power of God at work in them. And then we can act in whatever concrete way the Holy Spirit leads us to reach out and touch. And, who knows, the miracle may be bigger than instantaneous physical healing. It may be the gift of salvation and eternal life.

You and I have a lot to offer. Much more than we know. But we must be interruptible.

(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)

October 15, 2010

When Others Notice
Acts 2:47 (NLT)
“All the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved” Acts 2:47 (NLT)

Pastor’s Blog

I once heard someone say, “My job is to make God look good”. Part of me thought, “I don’t have to make God look anything. God is God”. Another part of me thought, “Who I am can never make God look good”. But another part of me, the better part of me, thought, “yes, if anyone is ever going to believe in God, there really should be something about me that makes God attractive”.

The result of this first Pentecost after that first Easter was that the early church gatherings looked good to outsiders. People wanted in. Thousands became believers very quickly. What outsiders saw was happy people who were giving credit to God for their joy and these people were good-willed. Who isn’t attracted to a good willed person.

Each day “those who were being saved” were added to these house churches. Luke puts this very nicely. He gives no profound well argued theological pronouncement like, “once saved always saved”. He just says that a lot of messy people still in process were unconditionally accepted into these Christian gatherings and that it was a really compelling and attractive thing that was happening.

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October 14, 2010

20 20 Vision

Acts 2:46 (NLT) & Acts 20:20 (NIV)

“They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity” Acts 2:46 (NLT)

“I have . .taught you publicly and from house to house” Acts 20:20 (NIV)

Pastor’s Blog

God’s “20 20 Vision” is a vision of meeting us both in very large gatherings and also in very small ones.

God’s plan to heal the world began with Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, a family, a dysfunctional family like so many of ours, but a family nonetheless . This family grew into a nation and a thoroughly pagan one at that. God intervened through Moses to create out of this family a nation with laws and with a place where they could meet with God, first in the big tent (tabernacle) then the temple. All Israel worshipping together at the one central place was crucial to their being reminded who they were and to be reminded how to live and how to meet Yahweh, the one who created them in the first place.

The New Testament continues to emphasize the “big tent meeting” where all eyes are directed to God. However, it introduces something new; fellowship. Small house gatherings where individuals are noticed, cared for, share their lives and resources, and go out to share with others. It is these local gathering from which the local church emerged.

We seek to maintain this “both-and”; Sunday mornings where all eyes are on God and smaller gatherings where Jesus is present as we “see” and connect to each other in Jesus’ name.

I hope you have found or are seeking to find some form of the latter for yourself.

(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)