Taken from NIV Extreme Teen Bible
Alright, I think this Study Bible has a lot of practical applications that are easy to apply to our lives. This time, I found one in Hebrews 3:13.
“But exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin”
Most of us feel insecure when we are in a different place, doing new things, or meeting new people. Somehow we forget everything that is good and strong about ourselves. We can only see our weaknesses and think about our failures. You or your friend may need some encouragement in this area.
Verse 13 says that we need encouragement every day. That's what being the body of Christ is all about. Christians are supposed to encourage one another and remind each other that they are children of a loving God – empowered by His Strength and covered by His grace. It's our job to encourage each other and be there for one another.
“Blessed be the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:3-4
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” - Galatians 6:9-10
“Now we exhort you brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” 1 Thessalonians 5:28
Reflect on these passages as well as the one in Hebrews and see how you can be one of encouragement.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Thank God for the Church, the global believers that are all preparing for the second coming
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Little Heart in a Big City
You all have heard stories of people trying to make it big in even bigger cities. New York City, Chicago, Detroit, etc. You probably heard of how people eventually faded into the vast expanse of life, and sometimes of people striking it big. Nevertheless, you know for sure that big cities are cruel and cold and unforgiving. Now imagine Rome, the New York City of Europe way back when. Remember a few weeks ago, when I wrote about the fight that erupted in the Sanhedrin, and we all wondered what would happen when he went to big, bad, Rome? Well, read this passage:
Acts 28:11-31
Amazing, isn’t it? Paul was persecuted in Jerusalem by the Jewish people, and the commotion that he stirred there should have been nothing compared to what would happen in Rome, which is known to be unforgiving to those who preach God’s word. But that’s not the case here. Remember when God told Paul to not fear, for He was with Paul? Well God kept his promise, of course. Paul received a relatively warm welcome from the leader of the Jews in Rome. When he went to preach the good news of Jesus, he was successful at winning hearts for Christ. Of course there would be opposition, but none that matched the magnitude of what occurred at the Sanhedrin. Paul was able to settle in Rome for 2 whole years preaching the Word of God to the citizens of Rome. This passage should be an encouragement for all of us, because God has made a similar promise to us. When we became part of His family, He told us that we would be protected, and that He would be with us until the end of time. With that in mind, we should have no fear in speaking the Lord’s word. More than speaking, we should have no fear in living the Lord’s word. God had done amazing works in Paul, even when he was in Rome, even after he had been so discouraged after the Sanhedrin fiasco. God has a plan for you, and just because you have been struggling or have failed in one regard does not mean that God has forgotten about you. Remember, when one door closes, many more open. Ask God to show you these doors, and ask for the courage and the trust to let God take you where He wants you. With God at our side, how can we fail?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Thank God for the church, that he has provided us a place to gather and worship him
Acts 28:11-31
Amazing, isn’t it? Paul was persecuted in Jerusalem by the Jewish people, and the commotion that he stirred there should have been nothing compared to what would happen in Rome, which is known to be unforgiving to those who preach God’s word. But that’s not the case here. Remember when God told Paul to not fear, for He was with Paul? Well God kept his promise, of course. Paul received a relatively warm welcome from the leader of the Jews in Rome. When he went to preach the good news of Jesus, he was successful at winning hearts for Christ. Of course there would be opposition, but none that matched the magnitude of what occurred at the Sanhedrin. Paul was able to settle in Rome for 2 whole years preaching the Word of God to the citizens of Rome. This passage should be an encouragement for all of us, because God has made a similar promise to us. When we became part of His family, He told us that we would be protected, and that He would be with us until the end of time. With that in mind, we should have no fear in speaking the Lord’s word. More than speaking, we should have no fear in living the Lord’s word. God had done amazing works in Paul, even when he was in Rome, even after he had been so discouraged after the Sanhedrin fiasco. God has a plan for you, and just because you have been struggling or have failed in one regard does not mean that God has forgotten about you. Remember, when one door closes, many more open. Ask God to show you these doors, and ask for the courage and the trust to let God take you where He wants you. With God at our side, how can we fail?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Thank God for the church, that he has provided us a place to gather and worship him
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Go Light Your World!
Read: Acts 28:1-10
The Biblical narrative now takes us to Paul, who was shipwrecked and found himself, along with the survivors, on the island of Malta. While helping the friendly Maltese build a fire, a poisonous snake came out and bit him, generating rumors among the Maltese that Paul was some getaway murderer. But when they noticed that Paul was okay, they changed their minds. Now, we hope that they would change their minds and think that God is the great Healer and Protector.
But no, the Maltese thought he was a god. Not long ago, we read about Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (Acts 14). Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, performed a miracle where a lame man finally could walk. Even though Paul and Barnabas tried to convince to Lycaonians that they were not gods, the crowd not only didn’t change their minds, but the priests of Zeus came to bring offerings to them! Don’t the Lycaonians “get it”? Don’t the Maltese “get it”?
But we must realize that even though God works powerfully in very visible ways, the people of this world fundamentally live in darkness. When you’re in a dark room, you certainly will behave like you’re stupid and silly. You can’t see, so you feel the air until your hands (or legs) bump into something, after which you feel around until you arrive at a switch. If you’re not careful, you might break something. So it is with people who are living in spiritual darkness. Until they receive the Light that is Christ, they will be like people feeling around in this world, trying to find that one switch that, when turned on, makes sense of the world around them.
That’s why we see so much brokenness in this world, because people are feeling around for that light. In Singapore, even though the country is extremely wealthy and safe, the people are not all happy. I see lots of young junior highers dating in Singapore, and it seems like a trend in the country. My mom talks about how instead of studying, so many young people in Singapore are now just wasting their days away either on the computer or with their “dates”. Across from my church-away-from-home, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, is an adults-only shop, something that I would never have thought of finding in Singapore. In the Anglican church there is a lot of debate about homosexuality, but psychologists have found that homosexual behavior is not genetic, but often the result of emotional damage. My mom told me of a 24-year old Singaporean who had a stroke. The reason: he (1) smoked, (2) spent his life at an internet cafe playing online games, and (3) ate McDonald’s for all his meals.
So many people in hopeless darkness, and so many people not “getting it”! This darkness causes us to mourn in sadness, kneel in despair and cry in the rain, does it not? But it is in times of darkness that people come to know the truth. That’s exactly why we need to go out and bring the light of Christ to the others, especially in difficult times.
Sure, our prayer meetings might be filled with stories of governments oppressing Christians. And yes, it should weigh heavily upon our souls that some governments like China and Malaysia are actively repressing Christian worship. But at the same time we should be encouraged by stories such as that in the native tribes of Papua New Guinea who converted to Christianity. Among one of their Christian practices is to display the skulls of enemies they had killed prior to their conversion. A missionary once came and asked them why they do that. The tribal chief said, “We display the skulls to show our young children that this is what we were like before Jesus came to our village.”
Shortly after the snake debacle, Paul was invited to the house of the local governor, Publius. After many healing miracles done by the power of the Holy Spirit, the population loved them and got to know the Jesus behind the miracles. By church tradition, Paul then began a church in Malta. The church still exists today, one of the many serving the Christians of Malta. Malta remains one of the most Christianized countries in the world, with 98% of the population going to church regularly! Indeed, the Light of Christ has been burning for almost 2,000 years on this tiny island.
Or maybe this story. Once a Christian high school student was bumped into by a seemingly aloof student. Her books all fell to the ground, to her embarrassment. The Christian student recalled, “I was tempted to tell her, ‘Watch it!’, but something told me otherwise.” She bent down and helped the student pick up her books. Later on, she ate lunch with her aloof friend. The two ladies went on to become great friends. The day they left for college, the Christian student received a note from her friend. Apparently, the day she accidentally bumped into her, she was depressed and was planning to commit suicide that day! But because of the Christian friend’s love, she changed her mind.
I close with a song that’s one of my favorites. As the song plays, reflect on the lyrics. Usually, I’d have an application with a bunch of other questions, but I think we all know what the application is. The only question is: how will YOU take your candle and go light your world?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Thank God for giving you friends who are a light to you, and friends who you can be a light to.
The Biblical narrative now takes us to Paul, who was shipwrecked and found himself, along with the survivors, on the island of Malta. While helping the friendly Maltese build a fire, a poisonous snake came out and bit him, generating rumors among the Maltese that Paul was some getaway murderer. But when they noticed that Paul was okay, they changed their minds. Now, we hope that they would change their minds and think that God is the great Healer and Protector.
But no, the Maltese thought he was a god. Not long ago, we read about Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (Acts 14). Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, performed a miracle where a lame man finally could walk. Even though Paul and Barnabas tried to convince to Lycaonians that they were not gods, the crowd not only didn’t change their minds, but the priests of Zeus came to bring offerings to them! Don’t the Lycaonians “get it”? Don’t the Maltese “get it”?
But we must realize that even though God works powerfully in very visible ways, the people of this world fundamentally live in darkness. When you’re in a dark room, you certainly will behave like you’re stupid and silly. You can’t see, so you feel the air until your hands (or legs) bump into something, after which you feel around until you arrive at a switch. If you’re not careful, you might break something. So it is with people who are living in spiritual darkness. Until they receive the Light that is Christ, they will be like people feeling around in this world, trying to find that one switch that, when turned on, makes sense of the world around them.
That’s why we see so much brokenness in this world, because people are feeling around for that light. In Singapore, even though the country is extremely wealthy and safe, the people are not all happy. I see lots of young junior highers dating in Singapore, and it seems like a trend in the country. My mom talks about how instead of studying, so many young people in Singapore are now just wasting their days away either on the computer or with their “dates”. Across from my church-away-from-home, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, is an adults-only shop, something that I would never have thought of finding in Singapore. In the Anglican church there is a lot of debate about homosexuality, but psychologists have found that homosexual behavior is not genetic, but often the result of emotional damage. My mom told me of a 24-year old Singaporean who had a stroke. The reason: he (1) smoked, (2) spent his life at an internet cafe playing online games, and (3) ate McDonald’s for all his meals.
So many people in hopeless darkness, and so many people not “getting it”! This darkness causes us to mourn in sadness, kneel in despair and cry in the rain, does it not? But it is in times of darkness that people come to know the truth. That’s exactly why we need to go out and bring the light of Christ to the others, especially in difficult times.
Sure, our prayer meetings might be filled with stories of governments oppressing Christians. And yes, it should weigh heavily upon our souls that some governments like China and Malaysia are actively repressing Christian worship. But at the same time we should be encouraged by stories such as that in the native tribes of Papua New Guinea who converted to Christianity. Among one of their Christian practices is to display the skulls of enemies they had killed prior to their conversion. A missionary once came and asked them why they do that. The tribal chief said, “We display the skulls to show our young children that this is what we were like before Jesus came to our village.”
Shortly after the snake debacle, Paul was invited to the house of the local governor, Publius. After many healing miracles done by the power of the Holy Spirit, the population loved them and got to know the Jesus behind the miracles. By church tradition, Paul then began a church in Malta. The church still exists today, one of the many serving the Christians of Malta. Malta remains one of the most Christianized countries in the world, with 98% of the population going to church regularly! Indeed, the Light of Christ has been burning for almost 2,000 years on this tiny island.
Or maybe this story. Once a Christian high school student was bumped into by a seemingly aloof student. Her books all fell to the ground, to her embarrassment. The Christian student recalled, “I was tempted to tell her, ‘Watch it!’, but something told me otherwise.” She bent down and helped the student pick up her books. Later on, she ate lunch with her aloof friend. The two ladies went on to become great friends. The day they left for college, the Christian student received a note from her friend. Apparently, the day she accidentally bumped into her, she was depressed and was planning to commit suicide that day! But because of the Christian friend’s love, she changed her mind.
I close with a song that’s one of my favorites. As the song plays, reflect on the lyrics. Usually, I’d have an application with a bunch of other questions, but I think we all know what the application is. The only question is: how will YOU take your candle and go light your world?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Thank God for giving you friends who are a light to you, and friends who you can be a light to.
Agents of Hope
Read Acts 27:27-44
In the passage right before this, we see Paul is being transferred as a prisoner to Rome. We continue in this section to see a very narrative passage which seems to just give us a very Luke-like detailed account of what happened. However, we must understand that we can see ways that God is calling us to be like Paul in situations where we are among non-Christians (his fellow prisoners as well as the sailors and soldiers transferring them) but need to be such a witness to them. Paul exercises great leadership skills given from God. I was reading Ajith Fernando’s commentary on this passage and he says, “God called Paul to find significant things about leadership in what we might call “secular” situations, which are the situations in which Christians find themselves most often. Paul was an agent of hope, a wise person, one who had an attitude of servanthood, and one whose testimony was clear and appropriate.”
We can find ourselves very often in the secular world. We have the opportunity to be agents of hope and rays of light for the people living in times where miserable situations overwhelm them. Without a trust in God, we also could be caught in this, but since we know God is sovereign and trust in His faithfulness, we can exercise a peace that comes from above. With this type of attitude and living, people around us desire to understand what is different about us. This gives the opportunity for us to share about the God we believe in. In today’s society, Christians are often shown as religious people who are nice people but don’t really know much about what is happening in the world (which may be true about some of us). Therefore, since Christians are like this, they are of little use in emergencies, for they lack the wisdom needed. Paul did not fit into this stereotype, nor did Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel and many other people from the Old Testament.
Ajith again states, “we are challenged to be alert to what is happening in the world and to seek wisdom on the best ways to live and work in this world. While some may be gifted with more wisdom than others, this is essentially something we acquire through alert observation, through conversations with people active in fields different from ours, through reading periodicals and books, through viewing programs that give us information about the world around us, and through involvement in the affairs of the societies and nations in which we live.”
So in other words, we have to really know this world and understand it so that we can be able to be wise in this world. Not to be conformed and sucked into the patterns of this world, but because we then are able to see the ways that God gives us wisdom to show that Christians are well-thought out, responsible people that are such a great witness to the God that we believe and serve. Are you being such a witness now in the ways you know what is going on around the world? How would you do in trusting in God’s faithful during hard times? Are you an agent of hope to this world?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Thank God for your family.
In the passage right before this, we see Paul is being transferred as a prisoner to Rome. We continue in this section to see a very narrative passage which seems to just give us a very Luke-like detailed account of what happened. However, we must understand that we can see ways that God is calling us to be like Paul in situations where we are among non-Christians (his fellow prisoners as well as the sailors and soldiers transferring them) but need to be such a witness to them. Paul exercises great leadership skills given from God. I was reading Ajith Fernando’s commentary on this passage and he says, “God called Paul to find significant things about leadership in what we might call “secular” situations, which are the situations in which Christians find themselves most often. Paul was an agent of hope, a wise person, one who had an attitude of servanthood, and one whose testimony was clear and appropriate.”
We can find ourselves very often in the secular world. We have the opportunity to be agents of hope and rays of light for the people living in times where miserable situations overwhelm them. Without a trust in God, we also could be caught in this, but since we know God is sovereign and trust in His faithfulness, we can exercise a peace that comes from above. With this type of attitude and living, people around us desire to understand what is different about us. This gives the opportunity for us to share about the God we believe in. In today’s society, Christians are often shown as religious people who are nice people but don’t really know much about what is happening in the world (which may be true about some of us). Therefore, since Christians are like this, they are of little use in emergencies, for they lack the wisdom needed. Paul did not fit into this stereotype, nor did Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel and many other people from the Old Testament.
Ajith again states, “we are challenged to be alert to what is happening in the world and to seek wisdom on the best ways to live and work in this world. While some may be gifted with more wisdom than others, this is essentially something we acquire through alert observation, through conversations with people active in fields different from ours, through reading periodicals and books, through viewing programs that give us information about the world around us, and through involvement in the affairs of the societies and nations in which we live.”
So in other words, we have to really know this world and understand it so that we can be able to be wise in this world. Not to be conformed and sucked into the patterns of this world, but because we then are able to see the ways that God gives us wisdom to show that Christians are well-thought out, responsible people that are such a great witness to the God that we believe and serve. Are you being such a witness now in the ways you know what is going on around the world? How would you do in trusting in God’s faithful during hard times? Are you an agent of hope to this world?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Thank God for your family.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Stormy Seas
When people ask me what was the most difficult time of my life, I point to two times. One was in high school when I really struggled with understanding God’s goodness. I was angry with God because my dad had died when I was so young, and I was having a hard time seeing the goodness of God in my own life. The other time was early on in college when after a few mistakes on my part, I could see myself getting kicked out of school just around the corner, and I had no idea what I was going to do about it. I was unsure of God’s plan for me. For me, those were two of the biggest storms that I have ever faced, and before I tell you about what got me through it, I want to look at how the Apostle Paul handled some of the storms in his life (literally!).
Read Acts 27:1-26
This is just part one of an amazing story, but the historian Luke documents firsthand what Paul and his companions were going through. Paul was on his way to Rome to stand trial before Caesar, he had been imprisoned or under house arrest for quite some time now, not having the freedom to minister the way he wanted. In order to get to Rome, they took the fastest means of travel, sailing across the Mediterranean Sea. Luke then goes on to describe the storm in great detail as well as the hopelessness that the sailors encountered. Acts 27:20 tells us, “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.” Luke is describing his own feelings as much as he is describing the sailors, he didn’t think they were going to make it. But how does Paul respond? He urges them to take heart because God had told him that none of them would die from the storm. He says in Acts 27:25, “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”
During the storms of his life, Paul banked on the faithfulness of God. He was completely convinced that God would come through and deliver in a big way. And if you read on in Acts, God does not disappoint, he saves all the men despite the boat being shipwrecked! In the storms of my own life, it took me awhile to realize the solution was to completely be dependent on God’s promises. Whether it was my dad’s death or being kicked out of college, I had lost sight of the promises that God had made me. Even as He was showing me his faithfulness in plain sight, it took me awhile to realize it. The storms are coming, I’d be lying if I told you they weren’t. But the good news is that God’s faithfulness shines through the storms, and He’s promised to leave us or abandon us. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
PRAYER CALENDAR
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Thank God and his never ending love for you.
Read Acts 27:1-26
This is just part one of an amazing story, but the historian Luke documents firsthand what Paul and his companions were going through. Paul was on his way to Rome to stand trial before Caesar, he had been imprisoned or under house arrest for quite some time now, not having the freedom to minister the way he wanted. In order to get to Rome, they took the fastest means of travel, sailing across the Mediterranean Sea. Luke then goes on to describe the storm in great detail as well as the hopelessness that the sailors encountered. Acts 27:20 tells us, “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.” Luke is describing his own feelings as much as he is describing the sailors, he didn’t think they were going to make it. But how does Paul respond? He urges them to take heart because God had told him that none of them would die from the storm. He says in Acts 27:25, “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”
During the storms of his life, Paul banked on the faithfulness of God. He was completely convinced that God would come through and deliver in a big way. And if you read on in Acts, God does not disappoint, he saves all the men despite the boat being shipwrecked! In the storms of my own life, it took me awhile to realize the solution was to completely be dependent on God’s promises. Whether it was my dad’s death or being kicked out of college, I had lost sight of the promises that God had made me. Even as He was showing me his faithfulness in plain sight, it took me awhile to realize it. The storms are coming, I’d be lying if I told you they weren’t. But the good news is that God’s faithfulness shines through the storms, and He’s promised to leave us or abandon us. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
PRAYER CALENDAR
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Thank God and his never ending love for you.
Friday, November 20, 2009
A Mission Statement
Read Acts 26:19-32
Paul finally meets the head honcho, the big boss, the King Agrippa. And what does he do? He witnesses to him! He just met the guy and he witnessing to him? He just starts off with his testimony in verse 20:
“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. “
The moment God changed his life, he became a testimony and began spreading the gospel. To Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, and to those outside of the Jewish bloodline. For his passion, the Jews wanted to get rid of him. Ever since he began his ministry, the Jews wanted to kill him. But with God's help, he is still alive as it says in verse 21:
“But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. “
The king is like, “you're out of your mind!”
Then Paul is like, “nope.” and then he continues by saying, “do you believe the prophet? I know you do.”
Then the king is going, “Woah, woah, woah! Are you trying to convert me?”
And Paul simply replies like this in verse 29:
“Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Do you see how powerful that statement is? That should be our prayer, too. We should be witnessing and testifying to others whether or not we get received in the right way or not. That is a mission statement. Therefore we should not be discouraged because God is helping us and helping them every step of the way.
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Praise God for the ways He has been working the world, bringing more and more people into relationship with Himself.
Paul finally meets the head honcho, the big boss, the King Agrippa. And what does he do? He witnesses to him! He just met the guy and he witnessing to him? He just starts off with his testimony in verse 20:
“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. “
The moment God changed his life, he became a testimony and began spreading the gospel. To Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, and to those outside of the Jewish bloodline. For his passion, the Jews wanted to get rid of him. Ever since he began his ministry, the Jews wanted to kill him. But with God's help, he is still alive as it says in verse 21:
“But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. “
The king is like, “you're out of your mind!”
Then Paul is like, “nope.” and then he continues by saying, “do you believe the prophet? I know you do.”
Then the king is going, “Woah, woah, woah! Are you trying to convert me?”
And Paul simply replies like this in verse 29:
“Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Do you see how powerful that statement is? That should be our prayer, too. We should be witnessing and testifying to others whether or not we get received in the right way or not. That is a mission statement. Therefore we should not be discouraged because God is helping us and helping them every step of the way.
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Praise God for the ways He has been working the world, bringing more and more people into relationship with Himself.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
360 Degree Turnaround
America has a very unique justice system. Offenders get free food and housing, rehab, and a chance for parole. I even read about this man who spent three months in prison, and upon leaving, stated that he wanted to go back because it was “so carefree.” Now compare this with God’s justice and retributions. Pretty marked difference, eh? Now imagine that America’s legal system is as absolute as Gods, which basically means it’s perfect. Now let’s imagine that there was this one man who went around persecuting various ambassadors who were only trying to tell other countries that America is a good place to be. Not only did he persecute them, he even tried to get them to renounce their belief in the good ol’ USA. But it gets even weirder: as this man goes to another city with his gang of haters to wreak havoc, he is approached by the President himself. The President should have the man killed on the spot, right? But what does Mr. President do? He says to the man, “Hey, I wanna recruit you as one of the ambassadors.” He offers this man who committed atrocious crimes a job; a job that this man has been working to overturn. Isn’t that amazing? Well, let’s take a look at the passage for today.
Please read Acts 25:23 – 26:18
Paul’s testimony is one of the most powerful I have ever read or encountered. A man who was wholeheartedly opposed to Jesus, a man who once proudly called himself a Pharisee to the point that his goal was to have saints and followers of Jesus executed, was won over by Jesus Christ. Paul should have got a lightning bolt or runaway train thrown his way, but that’s not what God had planned for Paul. God took Paul’s life and changed it 360 degrees, and the good works that this servant has performed are testimony to the Christ inside of Paul. So what does this mean for us? Well, God uses everyone, even people we would never expect! I’ve read about paroled murderers who gave their lives to Jesus Christ and did incredible works in His name. The radio station K-love once told about an ex-convict who was so changed by Jesus, that this man decided to take a 12 foot cross and carry it on foot throughout the entire country. And these are the tame stories! Rejoice, brothers and sisters, because no one is left out of God’s plans! So that means even the people that you think are hopeless are fair game in Jesus’ eyes. So that tells us two things: one, to be able to spread the Word to people who you think are too far gone, and two, that YOU are integral to God’s plans for this world. I want you to pray for a few people who you think are hopeless, and I hope that you can one day approach them- be the impetus for change in them! Second, I want you to ask God to reassure you that He has a plan for you, and whatever it is, it’s going to be glorious!
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for the Alliance Youth Conference, that we will have good fellowship with the other youths
Please read Acts 25:23 – 26:18
Paul’s testimony is one of the most powerful I have ever read or encountered. A man who was wholeheartedly opposed to Jesus, a man who once proudly called himself a Pharisee to the point that his goal was to have saints and followers of Jesus executed, was won over by Jesus Christ. Paul should have got a lightning bolt or runaway train thrown his way, but that’s not what God had planned for Paul. God took Paul’s life and changed it 360 degrees, and the good works that this servant has performed are testimony to the Christ inside of Paul. So what does this mean for us? Well, God uses everyone, even people we would never expect! I’ve read about paroled murderers who gave their lives to Jesus Christ and did incredible works in His name. The radio station K-love once told about an ex-convict who was so changed by Jesus, that this man decided to take a 12 foot cross and carry it on foot throughout the entire country. And these are the tame stories! Rejoice, brothers and sisters, because no one is left out of God’s plans! So that means even the people that you think are hopeless are fair game in Jesus’ eyes. So that tells us two things: one, to be able to spread the Word to people who you think are too far gone, and two, that YOU are integral to God’s plans for this world. I want you to pray for a few people who you think are hopeless, and I hope that you can one day approach them- be the impetus for change in them! Second, I want you to ask God to reassure you that He has a plan for you, and whatever it is, it’s going to be glorious!
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for the Alliance Youth Conference, that we will have good fellowship with the other youths
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Acts 25: 1-12
Read: Acts 25: 1-12
I wrote a few weeks ago that, for the apostles, Jesus’ command for them to take the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” meant taking the Gospel to Rome, which was the capital of “the ends of the earth.” They knew clearly that once the power of the Holy Spirit captures the hearts of Rome, the entire empire would convert in only a matter of time. Only last week, Paul has been caught and, with Spirit-led timing, pulled out “the Roman card”, which is the privilege for a Roman to exercise his/her right to a fair trial. Now, the Lord uses Paul’s Roman status in another brilliant move. The Biblical narrative now takes us to Paul on trial... again. This time, the Roman magistrate of Judea was Festus. Festus was not a stupid politician. He knew that Judea is, like, 99% Jewish. If he could be seen as a friend of the Jewish people (i.e. his constituents) his leadership is secure. Since many of the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Paul at the time, Festus brought a few of them to Caesarea and held a court there with the intention of doing the Jews a favor. Paul was not stupid, either. He knew his rights as a Roman. One of the most privileged rights of a Roman was the ability to appeal any sentence to the Emperor Caesar himself! Paul knew as well that the Jewish leaders Festus brought to the “court” would accuse him of 1,001 serious violations with no evidence at all. When Festus offered to hold a trial in Jerusalem, Paul knew as well that the situation would be even more heavily weighted against him, he appealed to Caesar!
I’m sure what was on Paul’s mind was not, “Oh, thank God I escaped death again!” No. As you will see later, Paul would’ve eventually been set free had he not appealed to Rome. But saving his skin was not on his mind. Paul was concerned about preaching the Gospel and taking it “to the ends of the earth”! If appealing to Caesar is the quickest way to do that, then by all means he would exercise that right. Sometimes God places us in positions of power or privilege for the purposes of His kingdom. The story of Esther is an example of that. Queen Esther, if you recall, was the only Jewish lady living in a secular court led by the anti-Semite Haman. The Jews’ only salvation lay in her hands alone, as she had the closest connection to the King Xerxes. Esther’s brother, Mordecai, frankly reminded her: “Maybe it’s for this purpose you have been given this position.” Esther, by the grace of God, was then able to save her people from Haman’s irrationality.
Stories of this continue through the ages. Not long ago, a promising investment analyst at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) felt called to attend seminary. At the time he was stationed in Hong Kong, so he attended the Anglican seminary there. He eventually was ordained, but decided to continue his job in HSBC. Within a decade he became the CEO of the entire corporation. Throughout his leadership, Stephen Green was able to minimize (but not eliminate) the bank’s exposure to the subprime mortgage stocks, which last year would bankrupt Lehman Brothers and cripple almost all the banks. One of the clear winners of the financial crisis was HSBC. Stephen Green remains a stunning example of how Christian leadership and values can have financial ramifications, and how one person with power is used by God to be a testimony to His greatness.
Or what about privilege? In the 1900s, Henrietta C. Mears was a wealthy L.A. socialite living in a red-brick mansion near Hollywood. She was involved with her church. Instead of shopping at exclusive places, and doing the typical Hollywood things, she opened her mansion to her church for fellowship... to the point where it almost became like a “second church building”. To this day, even after her death in 1963, many evangelical leaders like Billy Graham and Bill Bright would later count her as one of their greatest influences. So the moral of the story is that God sometimes endows us with power or privilege in order to further His kingdom. Some of you hold positions of leadership at church or at school, both of which are excellent! Do you use your position to further your own ambitions and goals or do you use it to further God’s kingdom? This is a question we all will struggle with regularly as we progress into college, graduate school (for some of you) and our working lives. Never forget, however, that you are where you are for God’s purpose. You are, after all, always working for our great Father in Heaven.
I close with a story of a dear friend - Ben Lowe. Ben came to Wheaton wanting to serve God and expand His kingdom, which is great. Originally, he thought that would mean majoring in Bible/Theology (great major too). But along the way he encountered environmental studies, and discovered that there was a lack of Christian witness in this area. At the time, the environmental studies department consisted of only maybe 3-4 majors (including Ben himself). Ben was first placed into leadership at youth group, serving as a counselor before being placed on leadership at A Rocha, a creation care organization. By the time Ben graduated, the “Green Revolution” has made its headway around the world! The Lord would take Ben to the offices of Barack Obama, Sir John Houghton, and to audiences at U of I, Wheaton, and various campuses across the United States to further God’s Kingdom in an amazing way. Ben Lowe remains a great example of God placing a person in a position of influence in order to further His kingdom... and he remains a great example for all of us to follow.
Ben Lowe’s influence, no offense, pales in comparison to Paul’s. In the case of Paul, his Roman status enabled the Gospel to not just penetrate Rome, but even enter the halls of the Imperial Palace and into the ears of the great Julius Caesar himself! Christianity, from then on, became a known religion. After 200 years of persecution, Christianity became the official religion of the empire. And to this day, much of our secular world, strangely enough, is still shaped by the Christianized Roman Empire. All this because God made it so that Paul was born a Roman!
To God be all glory, power, and strength indeed!
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray for your Christian friends, that they will not be swayed by outside pressures
I wrote a few weeks ago that, for the apostles, Jesus’ command for them to take the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” meant taking the Gospel to Rome, which was the capital of “the ends of the earth.” They knew clearly that once the power of the Holy Spirit captures the hearts of Rome, the entire empire would convert in only a matter of time. Only last week, Paul has been caught and, with Spirit-led timing, pulled out “the Roman card”, which is the privilege for a Roman to exercise his/her right to a fair trial. Now, the Lord uses Paul’s Roman status in another brilliant move. The Biblical narrative now takes us to Paul on trial... again. This time, the Roman magistrate of Judea was Festus. Festus was not a stupid politician. He knew that Judea is, like, 99% Jewish. If he could be seen as a friend of the Jewish people (i.e. his constituents) his leadership is secure. Since many of the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Paul at the time, Festus brought a few of them to Caesarea and held a court there with the intention of doing the Jews a favor. Paul was not stupid, either. He knew his rights as a Roman. One of the most privileged rights of a Roman was the ability to appeal any sentence to the Emperor Caesar himself! Paul knew as well that the Jewish leaders Festus brought to the “court” would accuse him of 1,001 serious violations with no evidence at all. When Festus offered to hold a trial in Jerusalem, Paul knew as well that the situation would be even more heavily weighted against him, he appealed to Caesar!
I’m sure what was on Paul’s mind was not, “Oh, thank God I escaped death again!” No. As you will see later, Paul would’ve eventually been set free had he not appealed to Rome. But saving his skin was not on his mind. Paul was concerned about preaching the Gospel and taking it “to the ends of the earth”! If appealing to Caesar is the quickest way to do that, then by all means he would exercise that right. Sometimes God places us in positions of power or privilege for the purposes of His kingdom. The story of Esther is an example of that. Queen Esther, if you recall, was the only Jewish lady living in a secular court led by the anti-Semite Haman. The Jews’ only salvation lay in her hands alone, as she had the closest connection to the King Xerxes. Esther’s brother, Mordecai, frankly reminded her: “Maybe it’s for this purpose you have been given this position.” Esther, by the grace of God, was then able to save her people from Haman’s irrationality.
Stories of this continue through the ages. Not long ago, a promising investment analyst at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) felt called to attend seminary. At the time he was stationed in Hong Kong, so he attended the Anglican seminary there. He eventually was ordained, but decided to continue his job in HSBC. Within a decade he became the CEO of the entire corporation. Throughout his leadership, Stephen Green was able to minimize (but not eliminate) the bank’s exposure to the subprime mortgage stocks, which last year would bankrupt Lehman Brothers and cripple almost all the banks. One of the clear winners of the financial crisis was HSBC. Stephen Green remains a stunning example of how Christian leadership and values can have financial ramifications, and how one person with power is used by God to be a testimony to His greatness.
Or what about privilege? In the 1900s, Henrietta C. Mears was a wealthy L.A. socialite living in a red-brick mansion near Hollywood. She was involved with her church. Instead of shopping at exclusive places, and doing the typical Hollywood things, she opened her mansion to her church for fellowship... to the point where it almost became like a “second church building”. To this day, even after her death in 1963, many evangelical leaders like Billy Graham and Bill Bright would later count her as one of their greatest influences. So the moral of the story is that God sometimes endows us with power or privilege in order to further His kingdom. Some of you hold positions of leadership at church or at school, both of which are excellent! Do you use your position to further your own ambitions and goals or do you use it to further God’s kingdom? This is a question we all will struggle with regularly as we progress into college, graduate school (for some of you) and our working lives. Never forget, however, that you are where you are for God’s purpose. You are, after all, always working for our great Father in Heaven.
I close with a story of a dear friend - Ben Lowe. Ben came to Wheaton wanting to serve God and expand His kingdom, which is great. Originally, he thought that would mean majoring in Bible/Theology (great major too). But along the way he encountered environmental studies, and discovered that there was a lack of Christian witness in this area. At the time, the environmental studies department consisted of only maybe 3-4 majors (including Ben himself). Ben was first placed into leadership at youth group, serving as a counselor before being placed on leadership at A Rocha, a creation care organization. By the time Ben graduated, the “Green Revolution” has made its headway around the world! The Lord would take Ben to the offices of Barack Obama, Sir John Houghton, and to audiences at U of I, Wheaton, and various campuses across the United States to further God’s Kingdom in an amazing way. Ben Lowe remains a great example of God placing a person in a position of influence in order to further His kingdom... and he remains a great example for all of us to follow.
Ben Lowe’s influence, no offense, pales in comparison to Paul’s. In the case of Paul, his Roman status enabled the Gospel to not just penetrate Rome, but even enter the halls of the Imperial Palace and into the ears of the great Julius Caesar himself! Christianity, from then on, became a known religion. After 200 years of persecution, Christianity became the official religion of the empire. And to this day, much of our secular world, strangely enough, is still shaped by the Christianized Roman Empire. All this because God made it so that Paul was born a Roman!
To God be all glory, power, and strength indeed!
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray for your Christian friends, that they will not be swayed by outside pressures
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
“Don’t be Gangrene”
An important word to know before you read the passage is :
Definition – Gangrene: is an infection of the bloodstream that not only spreads rapidly through the body, but smells horribly. Foul, suppurating wounds keep increasing in size, so that it is one of the most difficult problems to handle, medically.
Read 2 Timothy 2:14-26
Paul is writing to the Ephesus church and is addressing arguments and squabbles that are destroying the church. So Paul shows that God's view of a church squabble is that it spreads like gangrene. It smells bad, it spreads quickly, and a whole congregation can be infected by it. It is important to read a passage like this and understand that it is a warning for all of us.
He also uses the imagery of living in God’s household. He states that there are some that are noble and others that are ignoble. So there are those who call themselves Christians in the church that we should “cleanse [themselves]” from. Therefore it is important to know what God stands for from his Word and Truth. So we must be dedicated to learning and studying it. Then we must be firm in standing for the truth in the church and making sure that the Word of God does not become watered down.
Lastly, with dealing with those that are not Christians. The greatest single turn-off for skeptics is the Christian who sets up an us-versus-them argument between Christianity and science. One writer observes:
When people on the streets are asked, What is a Christian? What do they stand for?, on nearly every occasion words come back such as anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-welfare, anti-this, anti-that. And words like harsh, self-righteous, intolerant, or mean-spirited. Yet another poll of people, asked what they think Jesus was like, almost universally returns with words like compassionate, nonviolent peacemaker, and reconciler. How do we explain the contradictions here? Either the popular conception of Jesus is mistaken, or we in the church have been following the wrong agenda.
This passage like the rest of the Pastoral Letters, leaves no doubt that Paul was anti-heresy and anti-godlessness, but the point of this passage is that Timothy should not be argumentative and quarrelsome in his attitude, as the false teachers were. In this life we will always need to take some stands that are “anti,” but the issue is whether we can do this in a way that will not involve us in sub-Christian quarreling, producing a sub-Christian reputation.
Application Questions to Reflect on:
1) Have you found times where there are arguments in the church that have lead you or others into ungodly behavior and actions?
2) What are ways you can become firm in understanding God’s Truth and Word? What are some ways you have seen it become watered down in your life and the life of your church?
3) Do you agree that Christians are labeled with an “anti-“ attitude towards this world? How can we change that?
Spend some time in prayer that God would lead you to understand more of Him through his Word and how we are to live in this world.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Pray that God will provide for your family’s daily needs
Definition – Gangrene: is an infection of the bloodstream that not only spreads rapidly through the body, but smells horribly. Foul, suppurating wounds keep increasing in size, so that it is one of the most difficult problems to handle, medically.
Read 2 Timothy 2:14-26
Paul is writing to the Ephesus church and is addressing arguments and squabbles that are destroying the church. So Paul shows that God's view of a church squabble is that it spreads like gangrene. It smells bad, it spreads quickly, and a whole congregation can be infected by it. It is important to read a passage like this and understand that it is a warning for all of us.
He also uses the imagery of living in God’s household. He states that there are some that are noble and others that are ignoble. So there are those who call themselves Christians in the church that we should “cleanse [themselves]” from. Therefore it is important to know what God stands for from his Word and Truth. So we must be dedicated to learning and studying it. Then we must be firm in standing for the truth in the church and making sure that the Word of God does not become watered down.
Lastly, with dealing with those that are not Christians. The greatest single turn-off for skeptics is the Christian who sets up an us-versus-them argument between Christianity and science. One writer observes:
When people on the streets are asked, What is a Christian? What do they stand for?, on nearly every occasion words come back such as anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-welfare, anti-this, anti-that. And words like harsh, self-righteous, intolerant, or mean-spirited. Yet another poll of people, asked what they think Jesus was like, almost universally returns with words like compassionate, nonviolent peacemaker, and reconciler. How do we explain the contradictions here? Either the popular conception of Jesus is mistaken, or we in the church have been following the wrong agenda.
This passage like the rest of the Pastoral Letters, leaves no doubt that Paul was anti-heresy and anti-godlessness, but the point of this passage is that Timothy should not be argumentative and quarrelsome in his attitude, as the false teachers were. In this life we will always need to take some stands that are “anti,” but the issue is whether we can do this in a way that will not involve us in sub-Christian quarreling, producing a sub-Christian reputation.
Application Questions to Reflect on:
1) Have you found times where there are arguments in the church that have lead you or others into ungodly behavior and actions?
2) What are ways you can become firm in understanding God’s Truth and Word? What are some ways you have seen it become watered down in your life and the life of your church?
3) Do you agree that Christians are labeled with an “anti-“ attitude towards this world? How can we change that?
Spend some time in prayer that God would lead you to understand more of Him through his Word and how we are to live in this world.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Pray that God will provide for your family’s daily needs
Monday, November 16, 2009
Standing Accused
Have you ever been accused of doing something you didn’t do? How did you respond? I think our natural response to a false accusation is anger or indignation. We don’t like to be accused of wrong doing, especially when we’re innocent. Often in my own life, when I’ve been place in situations like this, my response is anger or I become defensive. In the end, regardless of whether the accusation was right or wrong, my response wasn’t right either. In our passage for today, the Apostle Paul stands trial having been accused of something he had not done.
Read Acts 24
Paul stood falsely accused of stirring up riots among the Jews and trying to profane the temple. Never mind that it was his accusers that stirred up the riots in order to try and hurt Paul and his ministry. But how did Paul respond in the face of these accusations?
“I cheerfully make my defense.” (Acts 24:10) Paul knew the accusations made against him were wildly incorrect. But instead of responding out of bitterness or anger, Paul cheerfully made his defense. He did it with an attitude of joy, knowing that what he suffered was for the sake of the Gospel. When our desire is to respond our of bitterness, we ought to remember how Paul handled his accusers.
“But this I confess to you…I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets.” (Acts 24:14) I love how Paul, no matter his circumstance has Jesus coming out of his mouth. It’s just a part of who he is. When Paul speaks, the world hears about God. What an opportunity to show people the God we serve, to speak of His glory and honor, and to demonstrate how we’ve given our lives to Him even in the midst of being falsely accused. I don’t necessarily mean talking about God all the time, but do our actions reflect Who we belong to?
Spend some time asking God to give you the strength to stand for His glory and purpose. Even in the face of false accusation, our prayer should be that God would shine through in our lives.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Lift up your complaints to God. Know that he hears them and cares for you
Read Acts 24
Paul stood falsely accused of stirring up riots among the Jews and trying to profane the temple. Never mind that it was his accusers that stirred up the riots in order to try and hurt Paul and his ministry. But how did Paul respond in the face of these accusations?
“I cheerfully make my defense.” (Acts 24:10) Paul knew the accusations made against him were wildly incorrect. But instead of responding out of bitterness or anger, Paul cheerfully made his defense. He did it with an attitude of joy, knowing that what he suffered was for the sake of the Gospel. When our desire is to respond our of bitterness, we ought to remember how Paul handled his accusers.
“But this I confess to you…I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets.” (Acts 24:14) I love how Paul, no matter his circumstance has Jesus coming out of his mouth. It’s just a part of who he is. When Paul speaks, the world hears about God. What an opportunity to show people the God we serve, to speak of His glory and honor, and to demonstrate how we’ve given our lives to Him even in the midst of being falsely accused. I don’t necessarily mean talking about God all the time, but do our actions reflect Who we belong to?
Spend some time asking God to give you the strength to stand for His glory and purpose. Even in the face of false accusation, our prayer should be that God would shine through in our lives.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Lift up your complaints to God. Know that he hears them and cares for you
Saturday, November 14, 2009
God Delivers
Read Acts 23:12-22
OK, so there is this group of Jews that want to kill Paul. They want to kill him SO BAD that they're not going to eat anything until they kill Paul. These weren't your ordinary Jews, these were super-Jews. They were pretty zealous. And they wanted to kill Paul in cold blood. Just straight up ambush him, stab him a couple times, leave him to die, and then go eat their food.
So we've painted the picture of their side. But what they didn't know was that Paul's nephew heard all of this, he told Paul, and then he told the tribune. So the plot of forty zealous Jews is ruined by one little boy. We don't even know his name! See, God worked in a powerful way as he usually does. Isn't it beautiful, though? Just because his nephew got the scoop, these forty Jews weren't able to kill Paul and then they starved to death. Just kidding, because by law, in the event a vow was impossible to complete, everybody under it were released from the terms of the oath. That's another beautiful thing, no casualties on either side.
Alright, so this was just a little Bible story that we've probably never heard of, but we can still take a lot from it. We see that God's hand was in all of this. He saved Paul so he could die another day. You know, I've actually been in a few car crashes myself. And God delivered me from all of them. If that's not God's power, I don't know what is, because one of them was a high speed crash. My name isn't even Paul and I don't even go on missionary trips around the area, but I believe in God's saving power.
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Pray for our brothers and sisters who are going through severe persecution.
OK, so there is this group of Jews that want to kill Paul. They want to kill him SO BAD that they're not going to eat anything until they kill Paul. These weren't your ordinary Jews, these were super-Jews. They were pretty zealous. And they wanted to kill Paul in cold blood. Just straight up ambush him, stab him a couple times, leave him to die, and then go eat their food.
So we've painted the picture of their side. But what they didn't know was that Paul's nephew heard all of this, he told Paul, and then he told the tribune. So the plot of forty zealous Jews is ruined by one little boy. We don't even know his name! See, God worked in a powerful way as he usually does. Isn't it beautiful, though? Just because his nephew got the scoop, these forty Jews weren't able to kill Paul and then they starved to death. Just kidding, because by law, in the event a vow was impossible to complete, everybody under it were released from the terms of the oath. That's another beautiful thing, no casualties on either side.
Alright, so this was just a little Bible story that we've probably never heard of, but we can still take a lot from it. We see that God's hand was in all of this. He saved Paul so he could die another day. You know, I've actually been in a few car crashes myself. And God delivered me from all of them. If that's not God's power, I don't know what is, because one of them was a high speed crash. My name isn't even Paul and I don't even go on missionary trips around the area, but I believe in God's saving power.
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Pray for our brothers and sisters who are going through severe persecution.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
I’m Gonna Start a Fight (For Jesus)
I remember when I was in Beijing China, after a breakdancing class that went late, I was eating in this Mongolian grill and bar, and the mother of bar fights broke out when these two blokes over at the counter disputed ownership of a drink. One thing led to another, and like a comedy movie gone wrong, mayhem broke out. Bottles were smashed, tables overturned, men screaming at each other, women running, children crying, tables overturned, fists flying. I remember being horrified by the violence (and the language) that ensued, paying the bill, and offering a quick prayer while dodging bodies and flying objects. I remember thinking as the police rushed by me into the diner, “All this over a single drink?”
Now you might be thinking, “Steven, what does this have to do with anything?!!” Well, let us look at
ACTS 22:30 – 23:11.
When two sides have opinions and views that clash, sometimes it gets really intense! Not to mention what happens when two opposing beliefs come head to head. Wars have been fought over these kinds of disputes, millions of people killed in the name of a god. Now imagine what went down inside the Sanhedrin that day when Paul knowingly brought up the controversy of the resurrection. Basically, Paul rattled the cages for God, to testify in the face of overwhelming hostility. Paul put his well-being on the line in order to bring the good news; he started a fight for God! That is courage like none other. God later told him, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” Paul’s job isn’t over. The brawl in the Sanhedrin will be a sibling tussle compared to what lay ahead of him. I’m pretty sure Paul was daunted by the prospect. If violence ensued in a small Jerusalem courtroom, what would happen in the New York City of Europe that is Rome? Would you be willing to continue? Would you be discouraged? I would be a little bit intimidated and disheartened, that’s for sure. But take faith in the Lord! He has our backs, and no courtroom showdown will daunt Him, so it shouldn’t scare us either. I ask you this: would you be willing to start a fight for Jesus? Would you fight the odds? Not that I’m saying for you to go tie two Bibles together and go nunchuck some evil Non-Christians. I’m simply challenging you to spread God’s word even in uncomfortable and hostile situations. Personally, I have trouble with this because when my temper flares, things tend to get ugly. I hope that I can be like Paul, calm and composed, but burning with passion for God on the inside. I also hope that I can place myself in uncomfortable situations for Him like Paul does. Forget those superheroes who throw themselves into danger for justice; Paul throws himself at entire cities in the name of God. That’s really worth commending.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for our church’s expansion project; that God will lead us in the right direction
Now you might be thinking, “Steven, what does this have to do with anything?!!” Well, let us look at
ACTS 22:30 – 23:11.
When two sides have opinions and views that clash, sometimes it gets really intense! Not to mention what happens when two opposing beliefs come head to head. Wars have been fought over these kinds of disputes, millions of people killed in the name of a god. Now imagine what went down inside the Sanhedrin that day when Paul knowingly brought up the controversy of the resurrection. Basically, Paul rattled the cages for God, to testify in the face of overwhelming hostility. Paul put his well-being on the line in order to bring the good news; he started a fight for God! That is courage like none other. God later told him, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” Paul’s job isn’t over. The brawl in the Sanhedrin will be a sibling tussle compared to what lay ahead of him. I’m pretty sure Paul was daunted by the prospect. If violence ensued in a small Jerusalem courtroom, what would happen in the New York City of Europe that is Rome? Would you be willing to continue? Would you be discouraged? I would be a little bit intimidated and disheartened, that’s for sure. But take faith in the Lord! He has our backs, and no courtroom showdown will daunt Him, so it shouldn’t scare us either. I ask you this: would you be willing to start a fight for Jesus? Would you fight the odds? Not that I’m saying for you to go tie two Bibles together and go nunchuck some evil Non-Christians. I’m simply challenging you to spread God’s word even in uncomfortable and hostile situations. Personally, I have trouble with this because when my temper flares, things tend to get ugly. I hope that I can be like Paul, calm and composed, but burning with passion for God on the inside. I also hope that I can place myself in uncomfortable situations for Him like Paul does. Forget those superheroes who throw themselves into danger for justice; Paul throws himself at entire cities in the name of God. That’s really worth commending.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for our church’s expansion project; that God will lead us in the right direction
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
On Laying Down Our Rights
Read: Acts 22: 22-29
I recommend you read, once again, Rev. Ben’s devotion on Oct 20.
The Biblical narrative takes us today to Paul, preaching the Gospel again. The story sounds familiar - he preaches the Gospel, people get mad, and Paul gets in trouble. But in this narrative the story takes an interesting turn. Paul, if you recall, was born in Tarsus, which was a Roman city. Thus, he was born a Roman citizen, a very, very privileged position to be indeed! Now, keep in mind that Paul could’ve flashed his “I’m a Roman” card then and got away with everything, but instead Paul allowed himself to be dragged to the interrogation room. As Americans, we might be tempted to yell at Paul, “flash your Roman card, you silly!!”
The commander dragged Paul into a cell and ordered for him to be flogged and then interrogated (yep... flog first, then ask questions). The centurions stripped him and as they stretched him (quite painfully) onto the whipping pole, Paul then flashed his Roman card (vs. 25b). Now, Paul has knowingly thrown a legal bomb at the centurions. A Roman was supposed to be walked in, questioned respectfully by the commander, and if the offender was guilty the punishment, at worst, would’ve been jail time.
Now, if the person arrested were naturalized (i.e. were not born a Roman but paid lots of moolah to be one), the rules might slide a little bit, but for a born Roman, the rules were to be followed to the T! For Paul to have been dragged in, stripped, and stretched for whipping was already a punishable crime for the commander and his subordinates! What’s worse - the Roman commander himself was not a born-Roman, but only wealthy enough to pay for citizenship! If news of this leaked out to Rome, he’d lose his citizenship (at best) or lose his life (at worst and likely the case).
In America, we’re often used to, or even taught, to protect our rights. When someone cuts in front of us, we’d object and go, “Uh, there’s a line...” When someone cuts someone off on the highway, we’d quickly go crazy on the horns on an angry road-rage-rampage. I, for one, value my right to have my thoughts. If someone tells me I’m wrong for no reasons, I’d scoff back and go, “Ugh ... quite dumb...” (nobody at WCAC and none of my friends fall into this category, by the way).
But as Christians, we were taught to be gracious and loving, patient and longsuffering. Yes, our rights are not to be taken lightly, but we need to understand that sometimes to be a good witness we need to lay them down. Yes, that might even mean letting others take advantage of us! In Asia, this is suicidal.
My mom saw a news item on Taiwanese TV that she found quite humorous in a grotesque way. A thief at a Christian rehabilitation center was crying inconsolably, telling a Christian counselor that he was unable to pay his bills and feed his two year old. The counselor was moved and gave him NT$1000. She gave him a hug... which the thief used to pickpocket her entire wallet. Now, I find it hard to blame the poor counselor who was simply trying to be a witness for Christ.
Now, she could’ve prosecuted the guy to Cloud 9, but she calmly forgave him and was satisfied when the police returned her stolen wallet and money. You might call her “unwise” or even “dumb” for even paying attention to the bum, but I think we need to praise God that there’s someone like her in a place like Taiwan. She gave up her right to go home safely with nothing stolen in order to be a witness to Christ, even though the thief used it as an opportunity to profit illegally.
Last week I wrote about St. Eulalia, who gave her life in the name of Christ at a tender age of 13. Eulalia had the right to live a normal teenage life, to get married to some nice guy, to raise great children, to live to a ripe old age. We all take this right for granted when we are/were teens. But St. Eulalia gave that right up in order that she may never deny the name of Christ! In the eyes of the world, it’s pure folly, but to St. Eulalia, the name of Christ is so precious to her she never denied it!
When we lay down our rights for Christ, He allows beautiful things to happen. The Taiwanese news unfortunately didn’t continue on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the thief came to Christ one day. St. Eulalia’s death galvanized the nation of Spain. To this day, Spain is 95% Catholic because of her testimony. And as for Paul, his careful timing paid off. The Roman commander didn’t want his mistake to reach the ears of Rome, so he took every effort to protect Paul from everyone who wanted him dead. Within a few months, Paul was on his way to Rome.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray for your non-Christian friends. That they will not be swayed by negative pressures.
I recommend you read, once again, Rev. Ben’s devotion on Oct 20.
The Biblical narrative takes us today to Paul, preaching the Gospel again. The story sounds familiar - he preaches the Gospel, people get mad, and Paul gets in trouble. But in this narrative the story takes an interesting turn. Paul, if you recall, was born in Tarsus, which was a Roman city. Thus, he was born a Roman citizen, a very, very privileged position to be indeed! Now, keep in mind that Paul could’ve flashed his “I’m a Roman” card then and got away with everything, but instead Paul allowed himself to be dragged to the interrogation room. As Americans, we might be tempted to yell at Paul, “flash your Roman card, you silly!!”
The commander dragged Paul into a cell and ordered for him to be flogged and then interrogated (yep... flog first, then ask questions). The centurions stripped him and as they stretched him (quite painfully) onto the whipping pole, Paul then flashed his Roman card (vs. 25b). Now, Paul has knowingly thrown a legal bomb at the centurions. A Roman was supposed to be walked in, questioned respectfully by the commander, and if the offender was guilty the punishment, at worst, would’ve been jail time.
Now, if the person arrested were naturalized (i.e. were not born a Roman but paid lots of moolah to be one), the rules might slide a little bit, but for a born Roman, the rules were to be followed to the T! For Paul to have been dragged in, stripped, and stretched for whipping was already a punishable crime for the commander and his subordinates! What’s worse - the Roman commander himself was not a born-Roman, but only wealthy enough to pay for citizenship! If news of this leaked out to Rome, he’d lose his citizenship (at best) or lose his life (at worst and likely the case).
In America, we’re often used to, or even taught, to protect our rights. When someone cuts in front of us, we’d object and go, “Uh, there’s a line...” When someone cuts someone off on the highway, we’d quickly go crazy on the horns on an angry road-rage-rampage. I, for one, value my right to have my thoughts. If someone tells me I’m wrong for no reasons, I’d scoff back and go, “Ugh ... quite dumb...” (nobody at WCAC and none of my friends fall into this category, by the way).
But as Christians, we were taught to be gracious and loving, patient and longsuffering. Yes, our rights are not to be taken lightly, but we need to understand that sometimes to be a good witness we need to lay them down. Yes, that might even mean letting others take advantage of us! In Asia, this is suicidal.
My mom saw a news item on Taiwanese TV that she found quite humorous in a grotesque way. A thief at a Christian rehabilitation center was crying inconsolably, telling a Christian counselor that he was unable to pay his bills and feed his two year old. The counselor was moved and gave him NT$1000. She gave him a hug... which the thief used to pickpocket her entire wallet. Now, I find it hard to blame the poor counselor who was simply trying to be a witness for Christ.
Now, she could’ve prosecuted the guy to Cloud 9, but she calmly forgave him and was satisfied when the police returned her stolen wallet and money. You might call her “unwise” or even “dumb” for even paying attention to the bum, but I think we need to praise God that there’s someone like her in a place like Taiwan. She gave up her right to go home safely with nothing stolen in order to be a witness to Christ, even though the thief used it as an opportunity to profit illegally.
Last week I wrote about St. Eulalia, who gave her life in the name of Christ at a tender age of 13. Eulalia had the right to live a normal teenage life, to get married to some nice guy, to raise great children, to live to a ripe old age. We all take this right for granted when we are/were teens. But St. Eulalia gave that right up in order that she may never deny the name of Christ! In the eyes of the world, it’s pure folly, but to St. Eulalia, the name of Christ is so precious to her she never denied it!
When we lay down our rights for Christ, He allows beautiful things to happen. The Taiwanese news unfortunately didn’t continue on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the thief came to Christ one day. St. Eulalia’s death galvanized the nation of Spain. To this day, Spain is 95% Catholic because of her testimony. And as for Paul, his careful timing paid off. The Roman commander didn’t want his mistake to reach the ears of Rome, so he took every effort to protect Paul from everyone who wanted him dead. Within a few months, Paul was on his way to Rome.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray for your non-Christian friends. That they will not be swayed by negative pressures.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Take Up Every Opportunity
Read Acts 21:37-22:21
In this part of Acts, we continue in the story of an angry mob raising against Paul which gets the attention of the Roman commander. The soldiers take Paul away from the violent mob and the commander then starts asking Paul questions. Here we find that Paul is mistook for another person who has been causing lots of riots and problems. Paul then impresses the soldiers with his ability to speak Greek but more so by the fact that Paul is a Roman citizen. It is in this fact that we realize that God knows best and has a plan. He chose Paul for this mission because of all the doors that it would open for Paul to share. As we realize that God knows best, we also see Paul’s faithfulness to take up every opportunity. Here we see him address the crowd and share his testimony.
Paul could have very easily ignored this opportunity to share his testimony by just trying to find safety from the angry mob. He also could have totally ignored the fact that he can speak Greek or that he was a Roman citizen, but he saw that all the things that God placed in his life that made him who he was – allowed him now to have the opportunity to share his testimony with people.
Do we take up every opportunity to share about God? Do we know our story and our testimony of how God has taken hold of our lives, that reveal more and more of God and His incredible love and power? Embrace all the things that God has done in your life and the places He has lead you, so that you can take up every opportunity to share God with the people around. For example, many of us have been trained in a musical instrument. Do you recognize that being in orchestra or band gives you the opportunity at times to share your testimony with people around you? There are many other things that God has placed in our lives that has lead us to different places. God is now calling you to take up every opportunity.
Spend some time praying that the Holy Spirit will give you eyes to see these opportunities and also the boldness to share your testimony.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Ask God how your family can be a light to the community around you
In this part of Acts, we continue in the story of an angry mob raising against Paul which gets the attention of the Roman commander. The soldiers take Paul away from the violent mob and the commander then starts asking Paul questions. Here we find that Paul is mistook for another person who has been causing lots of riots and problems. Paul then impresses the soldiers with his ability to speak Greek but more so by the fact that Paul is a Roman citizen. It is in this fact that we realize that God knows best and has a plan. He chose Paul for this mission because of all the doors that it would open for Paul to share. As we realize that God knows best, we also see Paul’s faithfulness to take up every opportunity. Here we see him address the crowd and share his testimony.
Paul could have very easily ignored this opportunity to share his testimony by just trying to find safety from the angry mob. He also could have totally ignored the fact that he can speak Greek or that he was a Roman citizen, but he saw that all the things that God placed in his life that made him who he was – allowed him now to have the opportunity to share his testimony with people.
Do we take up every opportunity to share about God? Do we know our story and our testimony of how God has taken hold of our lives, that reveal more and more of God and His incredible love and power? Embrace all the things that God has done in your life and the places He has lead you, so that you can take up every opportunity to share God with the people around. For example, many of us have been trained in a musical instrument. Do you recognize that being in orchestra or band gives you the opportunity at times to share your testimony with people around you? There are many other things that God has placed in our lives that has lead us to different places. God is now calling you to take up every opportunity.
Spend some time praying that the Holy Spirit will give you eyes to see these opportunities and also the boldness to share your testimony.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Ask God how your family can be a light to the community around you
Monday, November 9, 2009
Arrested!
Read Acts 21:27-36
I think one of the hardest parts of the Christian life for me to understand is persecution. Sure, I hear stories about the church around the world and about men and women giving their lives for Jesus, but I have a difficult time grasping what that means for me. Is persecution even a relevant part of my life? When I read our passage for today, about Paul being arrested, its so easy for me to think, “Well, I’ve never been arrested for Jesus, so how do I apply this?” But the more I think about it, the more I come to see that I view what happened to Paul from the wrong angle.
I think one of the reasons we struggle with the idea of persecution is because we focus on the suffering. We say, “I don’t get persecution, because I don’t suffer the way the early church or the church around the world does.” But I think what we miss is that Paul’s suffering was not for the sake of suffering. Paul was suffering because he was preaching Jesus. He was going into the temple and the synagogues and telling the world that Jesus was the Messiah! Persecution and suffering is not something that we can control. Preaching the gospel is. The question we should ask isn’t “why am I not being persecuted” but rather, “why am I not telling other’s about Jesus?” Paul’s life was so wrapped up in this idea. Not that he was living a life of persecution, but that his task and his goal was to preach the Gospel. In Acts 20:24 Paul says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”
Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-28
Paul understood this. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, Paul sarcastically details the persecution he has went through when people in the church in Corinth began to elevate persecution above the proclamation of the Gospel. Paul went through beatings, stonings, floggings, imprisonment, all because God had called him to the task of preaching the gospel. So what then for us? Maybe here in the U.S. we don’t experience persecution the way the church in China might experience it. That’s out of our control. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Am I preaching the good news?”
Prayer Calendar
Sunday: Pray for the Global community
At the end of our “Open Doors” Mission Conference. Pray that we can be a light to the world around us.
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Pray that your will would be aligned with Gods throughout this week
I think one of the hardest parts of the Christian life for me to understand is persecution. Sure, I hear stories about the church around the world and about men and women giving their lives for Jesus, but I have a difficult time grasping what that means for me. Is persecution even a relevant part of my life? When I read our passage for today, about Paul being arrested, its so easy for me to think, “Well, I’ve never been arrested for Jesus, so how do I apply this?” But the more I think about it, the more I come to see that I view what happened to Paul from the wrong angle.
I think one of the reasons we struggle with the idea of persecution is because we focus on the suffering. We say, “I don’t get persecution, because I don’t suffer the way the early church or the church around the world does.” But I think what we miss is that Paul’s suffering was not for the sake of suffering. Paul was suffering because he was preaching Jesus. He was going into the temple and the synagogues and telling the world that Jesus was the Messiah! Persecution and suffering is not something that we can control. Preaching the gospel is. The question we should ask isn’t “why am I not being persecuted” but rather, “why am I not telling other’s about Jesus?” Paul’s life was so wrapped up in this idea. Not that he was living a life of persecution, but that his task and his goal was to preach the Gospel. In Acts 20:24 Paul says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”
Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-28
Paul understood this. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, Paul sarcastically details the persecution he has went through when people in the church in Corinth began to elevate persecution above the proclamation of the Gospel. Paul went through beatings, stonings, floggings, imprisonment, all because God had called him to the task of preaching the gospel. So what then for us? Maybe here in the U.S. we don’t experience persecution the way the church in China might experience it. That’s out of our control. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Am I preaching the good news?”
Prayer Calendar
Sunday: Pray for the Global community
At the end of our “Open Doors” Mission Conference. Pray that we can be a light to the world around us.
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Pray that your will would be aligned with Gods throughout this week
Friday, November 6, 2009
Every Hindrance Aside
Acts 20:1-16
Paul is going on his third missionary journey, led by the Spirit, to Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem, he said many goodbyes and received many warnings. Which reminded him of when Jesus went to Jerusalem years ago.
Many of the places that Paul passed through begged him not to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because there was such an opposition to Christianity. After all, Jerusalem was the holy city for Jews. They were not going to let Paul go to such a place where he was going to face intense persecution.
In verse 4 it says, “through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.” Wait what? Isn't Paul being led by the Spirit? Then why is the Spirit being split in two different directions? One direction telling Paul to go to Jerusalem, and one direction telling Paul to stop his journey. The fact is, the Spirit isn't being split in two directions. Even though those people telling Paul not to go had the gift of prophecy, there are two possible problems. Paul reasoned that either their prophecy was wrong, or the prophet's interpretation was wrong. But that's not the point.
The first point is that when we are doing God's work, we should first pray like in verse 5.
“When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed...”
The second point is that when we are doing God's work, we should be led by the Spirit very strongly. Paul had a clear vision from the Spirit that could not be deterred by others who were also led by the Spirit. Why? Because this was God's work at stake, a perfect opportunity to share His love.
“For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
And that is also the third point. When we are doing God's work, we should have our hearts open to anything. For Paul, he was willing to go to Jerusalem even though he knew that he would be persecuted very strongly.
“And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said...‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
So... what are you going to do for God?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Pray for those who are training and going to school to become ministry workers
Paul is going on his third missionary journey, led by the Spirit, to Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem, he said many goodbyes and received many warnings. Which reminded him of when Jesus went to Jerusalem years ago.
Many of the places that Paul passed through begged him not to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because there was such an opposition to Christianity. After all, Jerusalem was the holy city for Jews. They were not going to let Paul go to such a place where he was going to face intense persecution.
In verse 4 it says, “through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.” Wait what? Isn't Paul being led by the Spirit? Then why is the Spirit being split in two different directions? One direction telling Paul to go to Jerusalem, and one direction telling Paul to stop his journey. The fact is, the Spirit isn't being split in two directions. Even though those people telling Paul not to go had the gift of prophecy, there are two possible problems. Paul reasoned that either their prophecy was wrong, or the prophet's interpretation was wrong. But that's not the point.
The first point is that when we are doing God's work, we should first pray like in verse 5.
“When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed...”
The second point is that when we are doing God's work, we should be led by the Spirit very strongly. Paul had a clear vision from the Spirit that could not be deterred by others who were also led by the Spirit. Why? Because this was God's work at stake, a perfect opportunity to share His love.
“For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
And that is also the third point. When we are doing God's work, we should have our hearts open to anything. For Paul, he was willing to go to Jerusalem even though he knew that he would be persecuted very strongly.
“And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said...‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
So... what are you going to do for God?
PRAYER CALENDAR
Friday: Pray for the Church (Big C)
Pray for those who are training and going to school to become ministry workers
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Fighting the Good Fight
Read Acts 20:13 - 38
I want you to imagine what it would be like if WCAC one day didn’t have any leaders or counselors. No Ben, no Jon Mann, no Jenn, no Spencer, no Kevin, etc. What would happen? Either chaos would ensue, or maybe Ariel would establish a dictatorship on the youth group, who knows? I know personally that if there weren’t leaders to guide the Doulos, I would be very scared and feel helpless. I’m pretty sure you would too. We would all feel like baby robins just pushed out of our nests to fend for ourselves in a cruel world. This is exactly what the Ephesian elders felt when Paul left them. No prophet or disciple, no guide for them anymore. They had to establish God’s kingdom without the very man that showed them how to. Paul warns them, “keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” That’s pretty unnerving. God never said that it would be easy; it’s gonna be a tough journey, and there will be wolves to hunt the sheep. But there is good news. They have their roots in Christ, so how could they fail?
So what does this mean for us? Well, let me ask you this. If you didn’t have, say, Ben to be with you every Saturday, guiding your walk with Christ, how would you fare? Would people still see your actions and think, “Oh, he’s a soldier for Christ?” Would the wolves come in and tear you apart? If you honestly think that you wouldn’t do too well, then I want you to pray. Ask God to fortify you, to show you that He is with you every moment, so that you could wholeheartedly trust in Him. Seek after Him, because a life with God is so much more fulfilling than anything this world could offer. It’s gonna be a tough fight. The contestants are you vs. the entire world. The odds are overwhelming, but we have an ace in the hole. Jesus Christ will turn the tables. But it still won’t be easy. Think you can handle it? I know you can.
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for the Missions Conference that is going on from Nov. 1-8.
I want you to imagine what it would be like if WCAC one day didn’t have any leaders or counselors. No Ben, no Jon Mann, no Jenn, no Spencer, no Kevin, etc. What would happen? Either chaos would ensue, or maybe Ariel would establish a dictatorship on the youth group, who knows? I know personally that if there weren’t leaders to guide the Doulos, I would be very scared and feel helpless. I’m pretty sure you would too. We would all feel like baby robins just pushed out of our nests to fend for ourselves in a cruel world. This is exactly what the Ephesian elders felt when Paul left them. No prophet or disciple, no guide for them anymore. They had to establish God’s kingdom without the very man that showed them how to. Paul warns them, “keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” That’s pretty unnerving. God never said that it would be easy; it’s gonna be a tough journey, and there will be wolves to hunt the sheep. But there is good news. They have their roots in Christ, so how could they fail?
So what does this mean for us? Well, let me ask you this. If you didn’t have, say, Ben to be with you every Saturday, guiding your walk with Christ, how would you fare? Would people still see your actions and think, “Oh, he’s a soldier for Christ?” Would the wolves come in and tear you apart? If you honestly think that you wouldn’t do too well, then I want you to pray. Ask God to fortify you, to show you that He is with you every moment, so that you could wholeheartedly trust in Him. Seek after Him, because a life with God is so much more fulfilling than anything this world could offer. It’s gonna be a tough fight. The contestants are you vs. the entire world. The odds are overwhelming, but we have an ace in the hole. Jesus Christ will turn the tables. But it still won’t be easy. Think you can handle it? I know you can.
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for the Missions Conference that is going on from Nov. 1-8.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Holy Spirit, come!
Read: Acts 20: 7-12
Now, you might not think there’s much to the passage you’ve read just now, but keep in mind that Theophilus was the one reading this. Right off the bat, the moment he read about Eutychus raised from the dead, he thought about Acts 9:40 where Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit, raised Tabitha from the dead! In fact, for 2,000 years in Christian history there have been legends and records of miracles that have happened. This should be encouraging to all of us because the same Holy Spirit that raised Tabitha and Eutychus from the dead is the same Holy Spirit that empowers all Christians, even today, to do extraordinary things! And the better news is that He works through all people, from the youngest of VBS kids to the 100+ year old seniors!
One of my favorite Christian legends is the story of St. Eulalia. During the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the largest societal-level persecution against Christianity began, stretching from as far east as Jerusalem to as far west as Barcelona, where St. Eulalia was from. At a tender 13 years old (generally 7th grade) she was caught worshipping God. When pressed to deny her faith, she steadfastly refused! The Romans then subjected her to 13 tortures, each one for her age, until she denied. Her tortures included putting her into a barrel with knives and glass shards and rolling the barrel down a steep road; crucifixion on a X-shaped cross, stripping her naked in front of the public (for which the Lord caused an unusual snowstorm to blow, covering her nakedness, to the fury of the Roman authorities). In the end, when she still refused to deny her faith after her 13 tortures, the Romans decapitated her. Indeed, the same Holy Spirit that raised Tabitha and Eutychus from the dead, gave St. Eulalia the strength to withstand torture and yet stay strong in her faith!
Within many cultures, including the Chinese culture, the older you are, the more respect you get because (in theory) the wiser you are. It is particularly true for my maternal grandmother, who is now at both my earthly father and Heavenly Father’s sides. She was a wise woman with many amazing stories of her youth. Yes, we should respect our grandparents. But that doesn’t mean we are not able to do great things for God. My mom told me once when I was young, “Now is the time to learn. You can do great things later.” To a certain extent she’s right. When we are young, we tend to be very idealist, wanting equal justice under God in every corner of the land. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we need to learn how we can be effective bringers of justice to the world.
But to the other extent, I respectfully disagree with my mom, because you can do great things even NOW. Yes, even if you’re in 6th grade or 7th grade (didn’t you just read the story of St. Eulalia just now?)! Yes! Right where you are. When you go to school you have done a great thing by simply being a good example of Christ. Maybe instead of being the usual student (i.e. arguing for every point on the exam) perhaps you can respectfully approach the teacher and ask how he/she graded and be satisfied with her explanation? Maybe you can be a witness by how you interact with friends. I confess that I’m not as good with this than many of you are. My friends, fortunately, are very forgiving and very longsuffering people, willing to put up with my weaknesses. But do you put up with your friends’ weaknesses? Do your friends want to be as good a friend as you? Or are you the kind of person people just should avoid because you’re a terrible person?
And note that you can do great things now only because the Holy Spirit is with you. Yes, the Holy Spirit, the same One that worked in the lives of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Eulalia, is the same One that will work in your life. No, don’t look at Jeff or Dustin and go, “Aw... I wish I could lead worship.” If you do have such a gift, the Holy Spirit will lead you appropriately in His timing. If you don’t, let Him lead you to something that He knows you will truly enjoy. It’s great that the Spirit is using people like Ben Lowe to further His kingdom in a huge and global way, but it’s just as great that the Spirit is using people like Malcolm Smillie, who is humbly teaching at an international school in Thailand, and is satisfied for what God has called him to do.
So let us be open to the Spirit! May the Holy Spirit come and work mighty wonders through you! Maybe you won’t raise people from the dead, but my prayer is that you will, by the power of the Spirit, raise others around you from spiritual or emotional death.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray that God will help you be intentional in the ways you interact with others.
Now, you might not think there’s much to the passage you’ve read just now, but keep in mind that Theophilus was the one reading this. Right off the bat, the moment he read about Eutychus raised from the dead, he thought about Acts 9:40 where Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit, raised Tabitha from the dead! In fact, for 2,000 years in Christian history there have been legends and records of miracles that have happened. This should be encouraging to all of us because the same Holy Spirit that raised Tabitha and Eutychus from the dead is the same Holy Spirit that empowers all Christians, even today, to do extraordinary things! And the better news is that He works through all people, from the youngest of VBS kids to the 100+ year old seniors!
One of my favorite Christian legends is the story of St. Eulalia. During the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the largest societal-level persecution against Christianity began, stretching from as far east as Jerusalem to as far west as Barcelona, where St. Eulalia was from. At a tender 13 years old (generally 7th grade) she was caught worshipping God. When pressed to deny her faith, she steadfastly refused! The Romans then subjected her to 13 tortures, each one for her age, until she denied. Her tortures included putting her into a barrel with knives and glass shards and rolling the barrel down a steep road; crucifixion on a X-shaped cross, stripping her naked in front of the public (for which the Lord caused an unusual snowstorm to blow, covering her nakedness, to the fury of the Roman authorities). In the end, when she still refused to deny her faith after her 13 tortures, the Romans decapitated her. Indeed, the same Holy Spirit that raised Tabitha and Eutychus from the dead, gave St. Eulalia the strength to withstand torture and yet stay strong in her faith!
Within many cultures, including the Chinese culture, the older you are, the more respect you get because (in theory) the wiser you are. It is particularly true for my maternal grandmother, who is now at both my earthly father and Heavenly Father’s sides. She was a wise woman with many amazing stories of her youth. Yes, we should respect our grandparents. But that doesn’t mean we are not able to do great things for God. My mom told me once when I was young, “Now is the time to learn. You can do great things later.” To a certain extent she’s right. When we are young, we tend to be very idealist, wanting equal justice under God in every corner of the land. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we need to learn how we can be effective bringers of justice to the world.
But to the other extent, I respectfully disagree with my mom, because you can do great things even NOW. Yes, even if you’re in 6th grade or 7th grade (didn’t you just read the story of St. Eulalia just now?)! Yes! Right where you are. When you go to school you have done a great thing by simply being a good example of Christ. Maybe instead of being the usual student (i.e. arguing for every point on the exam) perhaps you can respectfully approach the teacher and ask how he/she graded and be satisfied with her explanation? Maybe you can be a witness by how you interact with friends. I confess that I’m not as good with this than many of you are. My friends, fortunately, are very forgiving and very longsuffering people, willing to put up with my weaknesses. But do you put up with your friends’ weaknesses? Do your friends want to be as good a friend as you? Or are you the kind of person people just should avoid because you’re a terrible person?
And note that you can do great things now only because the Holy Spirit is with you. Yes, the Holy Spirit, the same One that worked in the lives of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Eulalia, is the same One that will work in your life. No, don’t look at Jeff or Dustin and go, “Aw... I wish I could lead worship.” If you do have such a gift, the Holy Spirit will lead you appropriately in His timing. If you don’t, let Him lead you to something that He knows you will truly enjoy. It’s great that the Spirit is using people like Ben Lowe to further His kingdom in a huge and global way, but it’s just as great that the Spirit is using people like Malcolm Smillie, who is humbly teaching at an international school in Thailand, and is satisfied for what God has called him to do.
So let us be open to the Spirit! May the Holy Spirit come and work mighty wonders through you! Maybe you won’t raise people from the dead, but my prayer is that you will, by the power of the Spirit, raise others around you from spiritual or emotional death.
PRAYER CALENDAR
Wednesday: Pray for friends (inside and outside church)
Pray that God will help you be intentional in the ways you interact with others.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Man made gods are no gods at all
Read Acts 19:23-41
The passage itself is long so I want you to make sure you spend time meditating on what happened in the narrative. So quickly go over it again making sure you know what actually is going on. So here we see that people are making idols and are threaten by Christians that are saying man made gods are no gods at all. Look at their protest. It doesn’t begin with, “this dishonors our gods that we worship”. It begins with “Don’t Let God Rob Us from things that benefit ME, ME, ME” (see verse 27) “there is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name”, and then it will dishonor the temple, and lastly it will dishonor our goddess.
Look at what the world values. The gods are here to serve us and meet our needs. We will appease the gods that it will work out for us. Sadly, many Christians treat GOD, Creator of the heavens and earth, this way. We treat him as like something out there that is there just to meet our needs. Or we are living out our lives to try to manipulate God to do the things we want Him to do. We look at our lives and ask why I don’t good things happen to me.
However, we are getting this whole thing backwards just like the world is seeing these gods. We need to see it with the right perspective. God created us, and we are His creation. God is ready to bless us and use us, but not just so that God does what we say. However, we serve him and his wishes. We have to do checks to make sure we aren’t living out lives that are looking just to manipulate God to do our wishes but that we are aligning ourselves with His will and desires.
Spend some time praying that God shows you ways that you have been treating God in the ways like the people in this passage were treating their gods. It was all about them. Now pray that God allows you to turn that around and pray for God to show you His ways and how you can follow Him.
Prayer Calendar
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Praise God for your parents and how they have loved you and provided for you.
The passage itself is long so I want you to make sure you spend time meditating on what happened in the narrative. So quickly go over it again making sure you know what actually is going on. So here we see that people are making idols and are threaten by Christians that are saying man made gods are no gods at all. Look at their protest. It doesn’t begin with, “this dishonors our gods that we worship”. It begins with “Don’t Let God Rob Us from things that benefit ME, ME, ME” (see verse 27) “there is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name”, and then it will dishonor the temple, and lastly it will dishonor our goddess.
Look at what the world values. The gods are here to serve us and meet our needs. We will appease the gods that it will work out for us. Sadly, many Christians treat GOD, Creator of the heavens and earth, this way. We treat him as like something out there that is there just to meet our needs. Or we are living out our lives to try to manipulate God to do the things we want Him to do. We look at our lives and ask why I don’t good things happen to me.
However, we are getting this whole thing backwards just like the world is seeing these gods. We need to see it with the right perspective. God created us, and we are His creation. God is ready to bless us and use us, but not just so that God does what we say. However, we serve him and his wishes. We have to do checks to make sure we aren’t living out lives that are looking just to manipulate God to do our wishes but that we are aligning ourselves with His will and desires.
Spend some time praying that God shows you ways that you have been treating God in the ways like the people in this passage were treating their gods. It was all about them. Now pray that God allows you to turn that around and pray for God to show you His ways and how you can follow Him.
Prayer Calendar
Tuesday: Pray for your family
Praise God for your parents and how they have loved you and provided for you.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Holy Spirit
I recently purchased the book Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan and have been trying to find the time to read it. I find the premise of Chan’s book to be intriguing, mostly because I feel its an idea that is so true in my own life. In a sense, I’ve neglected the Holy Spirit. I think for most Christians today, its so easy to fall into this trap of focusing only on the Father and the Son, but the Holy Spirit being an afterthought. In the midst of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, he ran into a situation where very much, there was a lack of understanding of the Holy Spirit.
Read Acts 19:1-22
In this passage, we see two drastically different responses to the Holy Spirit, in a sense one is a foil to the other. The first group, found in Acts 19:1-10 are the disciples in Ephesus who had not yet received the Holy Spirit. From reading the passage, these were not yet believers, though they were close. They were members of John the Baptist’s disciples, and were looking forward to the coming Messiah. When Paul preached that Jesus was the one they had been waiting for, they believed and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then what? Acts 19:6 clues us into what happened next. “And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.” As a result of Paul and the disciples ministry in Ephesus, Acts 19:10 tells us, “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” As a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, their ministry grew and God was doing mighty things.
But what of this other group, the sharp contrast to the believers with the Holy Spirit? The second half of this passage gives the account of the Sons of Sceva, Jewish exorcists. Even as the Holy Spirit was doing amazing things through the earlier mentioned disciples, the Sons of Sceva wanted to do the same things. Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they tried to cast out demons and what happened? They were quickly found out to be frauds and suffered for it.
I wonder how many of us run into this danger? Have we become so consumed with serving God that our ministry has completely shut out the Holy Spirit? I know for myself it was an eye opener, and even a call to repentance. God desires more that we allow Him to work in us than for us to serve Him but shut Him out of it. Spend some time asking for a better understanding of the Holy Spirit, that God would reveal more of himself through this person of the Trinity. Ask God to help you let the Holy Spirit take control and move through you. Its time that we stop thinking of the Holy Spirit as an afterthought, and start seeing Him as the reality He is, that the Holy Spirit is alive and working in us!
PRAYER CALENDAR
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Ask God to help you with the distractions and noise in your life that are keeping you from Him.
Read Acts 19:1-22
In this passage, we see two drastically different responses to the Holy Spirit, in a sense one is a foil to the other. The first group, found in Acts 19:1-10 are the disciples in Ephesus who had not yet received the Holy Spirit. From reading the passage, these were not yet believers, though they were close. They were members of John the Baptist’s disciples, and were looking forward to the coming Messiah. When Paul preached that Jesus was the one they had been waiting for, they believed and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then what? Acts 19:6 clues us into what happened next. “And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.” As a result of Paul and the disciples ministry in Ephesus, Acts 19:10 tells us, “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” As a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, their ministry grew and God was doing mighty things.
But what of this other group, the sharp contrast to the believers with the Holy Spirit? The second half of this passage gives the account of the Sons of Sceva, Jewish exorcists. Even as the Holy Spirit was doing amazing things through the earlier mentioned disciples, the Sons of Sceva wanted to do the same things. Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they tried to cast out demons and what happened? They were quickly found out to be frauds and suffered for it.
I wonder how many of us run into this danger? Have we become so consumed with serving God that our ministry has completely shut out the Holy Spirit? I know for myself it was an eye opener, and even a call to repentance. God desires more that we allow Him to work in us than for us to serve Him but shut Him out of it. Spend some time asking for a better understanding of the Holy Spirit, that God would reveal more of himself through this person of the Trinity. Ask God to help you let the Holy Spirit take control and move through you. Its time that we stop thinking of the Holy Spirit as an afterthought, and start seeing Him as the reality He is, that the Holy Spirit is alive and working in us!
PRAYER CALENDAR
Monday: Pray for your relationship with God
Ask God to help you with the distractions and noise in your life that are keeping you from Him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)