They Became Generous
Acts 2:14-21 (MSG)
“All the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need”
Acts 2:44-45 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
When God makes you generous, you know that something significant has happened. Somehow the needs of others became more important to the first believers than their own wants. They sacrificed monetarily and materially. They did with less. Nothing was off limits. They actually went so far as to divest themselves of things we would call essential in favor of choosing to invest in others.
Divestment in favor of investment. Doing with less in “my kingdom” so that God’s Kingdom could expand. And I suspect that in their world the economy was no more conducive to sacrificial generosity than is ours today in the Fall of 2010.
Ever since I first learned of God’s desire to make us generous I have thought that the most important “benchmark” of my faith is how much money I give away relative to how much I earn or am given. I suspect that if you want to judge how much you trust God one of the most central places for you to look is in your checkbook and Visa statement.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
October 12, 2010
Miracles Seen and Unseen
Acts 2:43 (NLT)
“A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.” Acts 2:43 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
The 4 Gospels and Acts are full of miracles. The big miracles are God’s coming to earth (incarnation), Jesus’ resurrection, and the creation of the church as God’s healing agent on earth by means of God’s Spirit (Pentecost).
There are lots of other miracles too, which we should expect. Next week’s reading has a beautifully described one.
Many yearn to see concrete, irrefutable demonstrations of God’s miracle working power. There are many things to say about this. Here are two of them.
1. Signs and wonders happened in the Bible and they still happen today. They are wonders of God an are inexplicable apart from God.
However, we might call these “God’s Power plays” and God restrains from using them as a norm because God doesn’t seek followers based on “coerciveness”. God invites, He rarely overwhelms. He wants freely chosen trust, faith, and belief, not a “bowled over” followership.
2. Signs and wonders happen every day, every moment of every day. I have had the thought that my “demand” to see the power of God is something like the demand of a needy child to parents who provide everything he needs day in and day out. What that parent wants the child to grow into is a child who recognizes and trust the parents’ love, provision, and loyalty.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Acts 2:43 (NLT)
“A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.” Acts 2:43 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
The 4 Gospels and Acts are full of miracles. The big miracles are God’s coming to earth (incarnation), Jesus’ resurrection, and the creation of the church as God’s healing agent on earth by means of God’s Spirit (Pentecost).
There are lots of other miracles too, which we should expect. Next week’s reading has a beautifully described one.
Many yearn to see concrete, irrefutable demonstrations of God’s miracle working power. There are many things to say about this. Here are two of them.
1. Signs and wonders happened in the Bible and they still happen today. They are wonders of God an are inexplicable apart from God.
However, we might call these “God’s Power plays” and God restrains from using them as a norm because God doesn’t seek followers based on “coerciveness”. God invites, He rarely overwhelms. He wants freely chosen trust, faith, and belief, not a “bowled over” followership.
2. Signs and wonders happen every day, every moment of every day. I have had the thought that my “demand” to see the power of God is something like the demand of a needy child to parents who provide everything he needs day in and day out. What that parent wants the child to grow into is a child who recognizes and trust the parents’ love, provision, and loyalty.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Monday, October 11, 2010
October 11, 2010
The New Kind of Family
Acts 2:42 (NLT)
“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer” Acts 2:42(NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
All the fire, thunder and “tongues” of Pentecost resulted in this, a new kind of family which has some aspect of 4 things: Teaching the things of God which shape the mind and heart over and against the shaping of other social influences; fellowship which is more, but not less than friendship which is necessary to sustain a living faith; communion “which raises the flag” that says Jesus’ death and resurrection are the center of everything; prayer, which says that Christians are “heaven and earth” people living simultaneously in our space and God’s space.
Perhaps these aspects of the early church can guide you as you seek to make your family one which is a “heaven and earth” family, one which is increasingly able to live effectively in both worlds.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Acts 2:42 (NLT)
“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer” Acts 2:42(NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
All the fire, thunder and “tongues” of Pentecost resulted in this, a new kind of family which has some aspect of 4 things: Teaching the things of God which shape the mind and heart over and against the shaping of other social influences; fellowship which is more, but not less than friendship which is necessary to sustain a living faith; communion “which raises the flag” that says Jesus’ death and resurrection are the center of everything; prayer, which says that Christians are “heaven and earth” people living simultaneously in our space and God’s space.
Perhaps these aspects of the early church can guide you as you seek to make your family one which is a “heaven and earth” family, one which is increasingly able to live effectively in both worlds.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Friday, October 8, 2010
October 8, 2010
How to Become a Christian
Acts 2:36-39 (MSG)
“Know this: There's no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross."
Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?"
“Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites." Acts 2:36-39 (MSG)
Pastor’s Blog
There is one pathway into the Christian life. It is repentance.
Have you recognized how you have helped to “kill” Jesus? How you have spent much or most of your life living, thinking, believing in a way that “kills off” the work of God in you and the work that God wants to do through you for others?
I have now been a Christian for over 30 years and I have come to see clearly that, yes, I was there when they crucified our Lord. I am culpable. I am guilty. In fact, if I want to see all the evil in the world, all I have to do is look in the mirror. I suspect that the difference between me (a “good” person) and a “bad” person is almost indistinquishable in God’s eyes. I encourage you to go to the Holocaust museum and view one of the most horrible atrocities in the history of the planet and then recognize that you have in you the very same thing that every perpetrator had in them. You are not better than they.
Yet, it is in this recognition that we have the hope to be set free. In our confession of sin and evil within, in our remorse because of it, and in our plea for God’s forgiveness offered because of the cross freely to all, to all, none excluded . . . . . . in this repentance we have access to the salvation of God.
The path to God is closed to those who think they’re okay without Him. It’s wide open to those who are painfully aware of their utter need for Him. For the latter there is not only forgiveness, but also the empowered Spirit filled life.
Acts 2:36-39 (MSG)
“Know this: There's no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross."
Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?"
“Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites." Acts 2:36-39 (MSG)
Pastor’s Blog
There is one pathway into the Christian life. It is repentance.
Have you recognized how you have helped to “kill” Jesus? How you have spent much or most of your life living, thinking, believing in a way that “kills off” the work of God in you and the work that God wants to do through you for others?
I have now been a Christian for over 30 years and I have come to see clearly that, yes, I was there when they crucified our Lord. I am culpable. I am guilty. In fact, if I want to see all the evil in the world, all I have to do is look in the mirror. I suspect that the difference between me (a “good” person) and a “bad” person is almost indistinquishable in God’s eyes. I encourage you to go to the Holocaust museum and view one of the most horrible atrocities in the history of the planet and then recognize that you have in you the very same thing that every perpetrator had in them. You are not better than they.
Yet, it is in this recognition that we have the hope to be set free. In our confession of sin and evil within, in our remorse because of it, and in our plea for God’s forgiveness offered because of the cross freely to all, to all, none excluded . . . . . . in this repentance we have access to the salvation of God.
The path to God is closed to those who think they’re okay without Him. It’s wide open to those who are painfully aware of their utter need for Him. For the latter there is not only forgiveness, but also the empowered Spirit filled life.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
October 7, 2010
This is the Story You Must Know and Be Able to Tell
Acts 2:22-33 (MSG)
"listen carefully to these words. . . .
This Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him.
“This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. 33 Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. Acts 2: 22-24, 32-33 (MSG)
Pastor’s Blog
Are you able in your own words to tell someone why the Gospel story is good news?
Today’s passage is worth learning to the point where you can explain it to someone else.
God loves the world and everything and everyone in it. So much so that He planned from the beginning to send his Son to confront and defeat all sin, evil and even death itself on the cross. He took evil’s best shot, died, but then just got up again. He just got up again.
And now he rules the world and gives His Spirit to all believers, all believers, none left out. It is this Spirit of God in you which works within to grow you into Christlikeness.
These are the facts. Tomorrow’s scripture and reflection explains how to get in on it.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Acts 2:22-33 (MSG)
"listen carefully to these words. . . .
This Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him.
“This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. 33 Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. Acts 2: 22-24, 32-33 (MSG)
Pastor’s Blog
Are you able in your own words to tell someone why the Gospel story is good news?
Today’s passage is worth learning to the point where you can explain it to someone else.
God loves the world and everything and everyone in it. So much so that He planned from the beginning to send his Son to confront and defeat all sin, evil and even death itself on the cross. He took evil’s best shot, died, but then just got up again. He just got up again.
And now he rules the world and gives His Spirit to all believers, all believers, none left out. It is this Spirit of God in you which works within to grow you into Christlikeness.
These are the facts. Tomorrow’s scripture and reflection explains how to get in on it.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
October 6, 2010
A Dream Come True
Acts 2:14-21(MSG)
Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency:. . .“This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:
"In the Last Days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes, I'll pour out my Spirit On those who serve me, men and
women both, and they'll prophesy.
I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, Blood and fire
and billowing smoke, 20 the sun turning black and the moon blood-red, Before the
Day of the Lord arrives, the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help to me, God, will be saved." Acts 2:14-21(MSG)
Pastor’s Blog
Imagine the journey you have dreamed of all your life having finally begun. All that you’ve longed for, agonized over has finally begun. Hopes have been realized. Now at last the life you’ve yearned for can finally begin.
First century Jews knew that Daniel had predicted a 490 year exile. It had been about that long since Israel had been taken captive by Babylon. They were ready for deliverance. Daniel was the travel brochure that helped them keep going toward their destination of freedom
And now Peter says, “it’s here” The last days, during which God will set his people free have arrived. Peter, knowing his Bible, recognizes immediately that Joel had predicted this day. God’s redeeming power would not come through Jewish leaders, military power, or insurrection, but through ordinary people, young, old, women, children . . . all who receive and are energized by God’s Spirit
Luke is making a very big point. He is explaining how it was predicted from centuries earlier that a small group of frightened, puzzled, largely uneducated men and women could so quickly become a force to be reckoned with all across the known world.
The Holy Spirit in and through ordinary people swept across the Western World to the point where we can legitimately conclude the world today is simply unimaginable without that which God started on the day of Pentecost 2000 years ago.
Here’s the take away, I think. You as a believing member of a local body of Christ are right in the middle of the real action on planet earth. You are part of the most powerful force for good on the planet. Nothing else comes close. You, the local Body of Jesus Christ, are the hope of the world.
Acts 2:14-21(MSG)
Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency:. . .“This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:
"In the Last Days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes, I'll pour out my Spirit On those who serve me, men and
women both, and they'll prophesy.
I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, Blood and fire
and billowing smoke, 20 the sun turning black and the moon blood-red, Before the
Day of the Lord arrives, the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help to me, God, will be saved." Acts 2:14-21(MSG)
Pastor’s Blog
Imagine the journey you have dreamed of all your life having finally begun. All that you’ve longed for, agonized over has finally begun. Hopes have been realized. Now at last the life you’ve yearned for can finally begin.
First century Jews knew that Daniel had predicted a 490 year exile. It had been about that long since Israel had been taken captive by Babylon. They were ready for deliverance. Daniel was the travel brochure that helped them keep going toward their destination of freedom
And now Peter says, “it’s here” The last days, during which God will set his people free have arrived. Peter, knowing his Bible, recognizes immediately that Joel had predicted this day. God’s redeeming power would not come through Jewish leaders, military power, or insurrection, but through ordinary people, young, old, women, children . . . all who receive and are energized by God’s Spirit
Luke is making a very big point. He is explaining how it was predicted from centuries earlier that a small group of frightened, puzzled, largely uneducated men and women could so quickly become a force to be reckoned with all across the known world.
The Holy Spirit in and through ordinary people swept across the Western World to the point where we can legitimately conclude the world today is simply unimaginable without that which God started on the day of Pentecost 2000 years ago.
Here’s the take away, I think. You as a believing member of a local body of Christ are right in the middle of the real action on planet earth. You are part of the most powerful force for good on the planet. Nothing else comes close. You, the local Body of Jesus Christ, are the hope of the world.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
October 5, 2010
9:00 in the Morning
Acts 2:5-15
“There were people from all over the world in Jerusalem just then. 6 When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. . " How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; Immigrants from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes; Even Cretans and Arabs!
Some said, 'They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!' . . Others joked, 'They're drunk on cheap wine.'
That's when Peter . . . spoke . . . . 'These people aren't drunk as some of you suspect. They haven't had time to get drunk—it's only nine o'clock in the morning.' Acts 2:5-15
Pastor’s Blog
Most people don’t get drunk at 9:00 in the morning.
Something happened that resulted in at least some people questioning how people from all over the world could actually understand a hundred or so Jewish people talking about God in their own languages. This is not the “gift of tongues, the ability to speak in one’s own special prayer language. Rather this is God making Himself known to tons of people in a way they could understand.
I love this. I think one of the worst aspects of today’s society is our inability to listen to and hear others and as a consequence, God. God broke through and gave people the ability to hear and listen. It is God’s spoken Word, when expressed and received that brings us together.
Some didn’t hear God’s Word spoken. All they heard was “gibberish from drunks”. Other did hear. I’m guessing this difference had something to do with attitude, cynicism, closed mindedness, heart hardness, myopia.
Are you a listener? Can you “hear” God at work behind “noise” that you don’t understand. Are you open? Or are you closed minded, with your own opinion, always ready to someone straight with “the truth” when you see that they are wrong.
Those who believe that God is at work communicating his redemption world-wide , these people are the believers, who aren’t dismissive or jaded, but see and hear God speaking in their own language and trust that God will break through all barriers.
Acts 2:5-15
“There were people from all over the world in Jerusalem just then. 6 When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. . " How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; Immigrants from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes; Even Cretans and Arabs!
Some said, 'They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!' . . Others joked, 'They're drunk on cheap wine.'
That's when Peter . . . spoke . . . . 'These people aren't drunk as some of you suspect. They haven't had time to get drunk—it's only nine o'clock in the morning.' Acts 2:5-15
Pastor’s Blog
Most people don’t get drunk at 9:00 in the morning.
Something happened that resulted in at least some people questioning how people from all over the world could actually understand a hundred or so Jewish people talking about God in their own languages. This is not the “gift of tongues, the ability to speak in one’s own special prayer language. Rather this is God making Himself known to tons of people in a way they could understand.
I love this. I think one of the worst aspects of today’s society is our inability to listen to and hear others and as a consequence, God. God broke through and gave people the ability to hear and listen. It is God’s spoken Word, when expressed and received that brings us together.
Some didn’t hear God’s Word spoken. All they heard was “gibberish from drunks”. Other did hear. I’m guessing this difference had something to do with attitude, cynicism, closed mindedness, heart hardness, myopia.
Are you a listener? Can you “hear” God at work behind “noise” that you don’t understand. Are you open? Or are you closed minded, with your own opinion, always ready to someone straight with “the truth” when you see that they are wrong.
Those who believe that God is at work communicating his redemption world-wide , these people are the believers, who aren’t dismissive or jaded, but see and hear God speaking in their own language and trust that God will break through all barriers.
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