Acts 27-28 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Acts 27:1-28:31.

“And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him” (Acts 28:16).

From one capital to another. The gospel started in Jerusalem, the capital of a backwater district of malcontents that were always causing the Romans problems. By the end of Acts it is in Rome. By the time Paul got there, Christ had already arrived. There were brethren there to visit him and uplift him.

I can’t help but think if God could do that with the gospel in the Middle East and Europe, He can do that with the Gospel here in Brownsburg, Indiana. He can do that with the gospel wherever you are. Why did this happen? Sure, Paul was a great preacher and a world traveler. But the real power behind this success was God.

Today, I need to remember that the Gospel can have success, not because I’m the messenger. The Gospel can have success because God is the power behind it. I need to rely on Him today and let Him be the leader that gets the Gospel spread where I live. I’m just His servant, doing what He says, going where He sends.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking here.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Acts 21-22 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Acts 21:1-22:30.

“Then Paul answered ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God’” (Acts 21:13).

There’s a challenge for us. Are we ready to die for Jesus? Are we ready to carry the message of the gospel to someone and they kill us for it? I like to think yes. But then I have to ask, am I ready to be hated, disliked, rejected for Jesus? Am I ready to be thought a fool for Jesus? Am I ready to be made fun of for Jesus? Am I ready to be given sidelong glances for Jesus? Am I ready to be given the cold-shoulder for Jesus? Am I ready to be avoided for Jesus?

Am I ready to put forth the time, effort, and money it takes to go to others with the gospel of the grace of God? Am I ready to give up a night with my family? Am I ready to give up my favorite tv show? Am I ready to give up the football game? Am I ready to give up some of my gadgets? Am I ready to give up some of my retirement investments?

Hmmm. Maybe I need to think a little harder before I think I’m ready to be imprisoned or die for the name of the Lord Jesus.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking here.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is Acts 15:1-16:40.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).

And here I am afraid or ashamed to sing and pray in front of people brought up in the Bible belt. There is no embarrassment, no shame, no fear. Just complete and total trust in the Lord. And that led to a new brother in Christ. I wonder what might happen if I refused to be ashamed and therefore sang hymns to God and even prayed where people could hear me. I’m not saying that I try to barge into people’s lives and be an annoyance with my spirituality. I’m definitely not suggesting I should take a “look how spiritual I am” approach. In fact, I don’t even think this was a calculated attempt at evangelism. It was just what they needed to do at the time and they didn’t have a problem with letting others overhear. If I could drop my guard and quit worrying about what people think of me, I might actually let something spiritual slip in front of someone who ends up wanting to respond to the Lord too.

As a friend of mine says, “It’s really none of my business what people think of me.” If they think I’m weird for praising the Lord, so be it. But what if they think, “Man, I wish I had what he has”?

Guess I better tune up my voice, I feel a song coming on.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS: What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 10:1-11:33.

Lately, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 has been very pointed to me: 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

We all know this means we don’t take up arms against non-Christians or Christian with whom we disagree. Rather, we take the gospel of Jesus to them. We persuade with the grace and gospel of Jesus, not the force of weapons. Yet, today, it seems that many Christians are neglecting part of this passage. They think that there is one fleshly warfare that is part of our lives. Those who have followed some of my other writings know exactly where I’m going with this. 

It seems today that the new battlefield is no longer the spiritual realm, fighting against the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12), but the political realm fighting against policy we don’t like. It is as if Christians are beginning to think the way to spread God’s gospel is to legislate it through our nation’s policies. 

Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. If it were, His citizens would stand up and fight (John 18:36). Yet some Christians seem to be intent on denying what Jesus said as if the United States of America is God’s kingdom in this world. It is not. It never has been. It never will be no matter what our laws say. 

God has not asked us to take up political arms to spread His will. He’s asked us to take His gospel to our neighbor, loving them enough to talk to them about His grace and salvation in His name through His Son. If we do that, then it won’t matter what our national policies and laws are, we’ll have helped another person surrender to God and live by His will. Who cares what the nation’s laws are if we can convince individuals to live by God’s will? On the other hand, who cares what the nation’s laws are if we don’t convince people to live by God’s will? Have we accomplished any good if we get abortion and homosexuality outlawed but our neighbors are still practicing them?

Let’s not wage the war according to the flesh today. Instead, let’s ask for opportunities to share God’s gospel with someone. 

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:21.

I was struck by 2 Corinthians 5:18. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Then 2 Corinthians 5:19 says God entrusted us with “the message of reconciliation.”

To hear some Christians today, you might get confused and think the Bible message is one of condemnation. But that wasn’t Paul’s focus. Paul’s focus was reconciliation. Certainly, the scripture condemns sin and says those who remain impenitently in sin will be condemned, but the message of the Gospel is not about all the sins for which we’ll be condemned. Rather, it is the message of Jesus through whom we can find forgiveness, reconciliation and the strength to overcome our sins.

I want to focus on that today. The message of the Old Covenant was condemnation. The Old Testament condemned everyone under sin (Galatians 3:22). Our message is that of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. The fact is most of us know we stand condemned. We need to hear how we can be reconciled.

Jesus is the way for that.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 4:1-5:13.

Continuing the theme started yesterday on preachers, I’m struck again by what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.”

I know Paul is telling the Corinthians how they should view preachers. I can’t help but realize this is how we ought to view ourselves (especially those who are preachers). We are not to view ourselves as great orators. We are not to view ourselves as stellar performers. We are not to view ourselves as the great leaders of men. We are not to view ourselves as the indispensable cogs of the wheel. Rather, there are two keys.

1. Servant of Christ.

Certainly, we are servants of the congregation. Surely, we are under the oversight of our shepherds. No doubt, we serve our brethren. But first and foremost, we answer to Jesus Christ. He is our Lord and Master. He determines what we speak. We must always remember that.

2. Steward of God’s mysteries.

“Chicken Soup for the Soul” is nice. I love to read self-help books. Maxwell, Blanchard, and Covey can easily become my trinity. There are numerous good things we can pass on from many sources. However, the one true source for us is God’s word. Others may give us perspective and teach us something about God’s word, but if we are passing on warmed-over, and sanctified pop culture instead of God’s word, if we are simply proof-texting to teach our favorite business manual, we had better step back and regroup. We are stewards of God’s mysteries, not popular management styles. As stewards, we must show ourselves trustworthy.

So then, the question for me today is what can I do to serve Christ as I work with this local congregation and what would a faithful steward do with God’s mysteries today? I need to go work on those things.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 2:1-3:23.

“I am of Paul,” some said. “I am of Apollos,” said others. Even others said, “I am of Cephas.” They all had their favorite preacher. This is not surprising. The common custom of the day in the secular world was to get behind one philosopher or another and compete against each other. “My teacher is better than your teacher.” The Corinthians were simply bringing their secular baggage into their spiritual community.

The problem is that is not the way it works in Jesus. Christ is in all, above all, and through all. That is who we are about, not one of his particular messengers. I guess because of our upcoming move, I’m hearing about more churches looking for preachers and more preachers looking for areas to work. I certainly recognize that a church can pick out a particular person because his gifts and abilities may fit well with the church’s goals and needs. Isn’t that what Barnabas did when he went to get Saul from Tarsus (Acts 11:25)?

The problem is we as Christians can get caught up in preacher competitions. “I like this guy.” “I like that guy.” “Not me, I like this other fellow.” Then we start fussing with each other about who we should really listen to. Instead of coming together in unity around God’s message, we are fighting over God’s messengers.

But what about those of us who preach? I notice that Paul did not get upset that someone liked Apollos more than him. He didn’t get upset that someone liked Peter more than him. He didn’t get excited because some folks liked him more than the others. He was upset because folks were not focusing on Jesus. Each of these men were simply servants of Jesus. We preachers must make sure we don’t give folks cause to fixate on us. Certainly, we must do the best we can and work as hard as we can because Jesus deserves our best. But we must not strive to be better than others or gain a following. There is no room for competition among us. We are all on the same team, striving for the same goal. Let us support one another and simply do the best work we can wherever God is giving us opportunity.

I’m very thankful that most of the preachers I know are striving to do exactly that. I guess I’m noticing this today because of my present circumstance and knowing how easy it is to get proud when people like you or devastated when they say they don’t. This is not about being liked, it is about glorifying God with the opportunities He provides.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Revelation 13:1-14:20.

Perhaps because of my Granddad’s recent death, I’m struck by Revelation 14:13. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’”

For God’s child, meeting death is not frightening as it seems to most. Death is not a mystery. It is a door into eternity with the God we’ve been glorifying in our lives. It is the opportunity to be able to fully accomplish what we’ve been desperately striving to do in this life. We will be taken to paradise and then on to heaven at the judgment. In those arenas, we will gather around the throne of God and glorify Him with our incorruptible bodies, our new voices, and our perfect unity. 

I also can’t help but notice it says then we’ll rest from our labors. That means it is not time to rest from my labor today. Today, while I still have breath, I need to labor for the Lord. A rest is coming. It will be a glorious rest. But to prepare for that rest I need to labor now.

Let’s get to work for the Lord today.

***Question: What do you do to labor for the Lord each day?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Revelation 11:1-12:17.

Many who call themselves Christians today seem to be trying to figure out a way to be Christian but also have the world like them. I can’t help but remember Joel Osteen on Larry King Live trying to agree with a woman who claimed salvation was only in Jesus but still have Larry King (I believe he’s Jewish) and the “non-Christian” viewing population still like him by saying that even though he agreed with the caller who was he to say how God is going to save someone.

This is a losing proposition. Jesus told the truth and ended up on a cross. Do we think we can do much better? Do you think we can teach about Jesus and have the world like us?

Revelation 11:1-14 tells about two witnesses who teach the truth about Jesus. They end up being killed. But note specifically Revelation 11:9-10:

For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

No doubt, some will believe the message of those who testify of Jesus. For the rest, as amazing as it sounds, the message of Jesus will be a torment. There is no middle ground to avoid this. If we find some middle ground in which the world does not feel tormented by the truth of Jesus, then we aren’t really teaching the truth of Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying be vicious and hateful in your evangelism. I’m simply saying that no matter how we tell it, if we are telling the truth, those who don’t want to believe will be tormented by what we say. That may even cause them to attack us verbally, emotionally, and perhaps even physically.

But the glorious message of these two messengers is that even though it appeared that the world had defeated them, after three and a half days, God raised them up. They were victorious. That is the message of Revelation. God wins. We want to be on His side no matter how anyone else responds.

***Question: How do you maintain faith in the face of opposition?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Acts 17:1-18:28.

The Thessalonian Jews made an interesting accusation against the Christians in Acts 17:7. They claimed the Jews were rebelling against Caesar because they believed there was another king, Jesus. On the one hand this was true. The Christians did believe Jesus was their king. They did give their allegiance to Jesus over Caesar. However, we all know this charge is bogus because the Christians were not rebelling against Caesar. In fact, their king had claimed they should render to Caesar what was his due. 

The Christians were not fighting against Rome, rebelling against Rome, or even encouraging folks to break the laws of Rome. This accusation was pointless. The Christians were not taking up arms against Rome. They were not trying to overthrow Caesar. They were not even working to change the laws of Rome, at all. The most they did to impact their government was to pray (cf. I Timothy 2:1-2).

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say that individual Christians are not allowed to participate in the political process. I encourage you to vote. I encourage you, if you have a heart’s desire for it, to be political. But please, recognize that Christian is not a political party. God did not establish Christianity to impact national politics. Jesus did not die so nations could become Christian. Jesus died so we could carry the gospel message to one more person and let them be forgiven.

Can this message change the social and political world? Sure it can. As we get the message out to more and more people and more people become God’s children, that will impact what happens at every level of our government. But please, please recognize this very simple point. Voting is not your Christian duty. God does not have a candidate in any election. God does not have a side on any law. He wants us to surrender to Him no matter what our government does. He is not asking us to bring our government in line with Him.

Sadly, the world could probably bring an accusation against Christians and churches today that they are trying to change the political structure of nations. Let’s give that up and just get back to surrendering ourselves to God and carrying God’s message to others.

***Question: Why is it so easy for Christ’s church to lose sight of its real mission and get distracted with things like politics?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC