Thanks for Engaging!

I'm back from vacation!

Thanks to all who participated in our Summer challenge to engage the Scriptures. I hope you all got as much out of it as I did.

With summer behind us, Community Groups will be restarting very soon. We will hold a Group.Link event on Sunday Sept. 21st to give all of you a chance to join in. I challenge all of you to be there that Sunday for lunch at Zion Christian School.

That's all for now.

I pray that you continue to engage the Scriptures!

PEACE,
Pastor Josh

Hanging with Gustav

I feel I have a responsibility to let my 'thousands' of readers know that I'll be taking a break from blogger so that Brianna and I can spend some quality time on vacation with our friend Gustav. Till then, happy reading. -Josh

Thurs. Aug. 28th :: Acts 25 :: Stay on Mission

Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought
to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know
very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death,
I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews
are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to
Caesar!"

(Acts 25.10-11)

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Some might wonder why in the world Paul would choose to appeal his case to Caesar. After-all, Caesar Nero was by all accounts a certifiably psychotic whack-job who would ultimately order the death of both Peter and Paul. In this way, Acts 25 is in some sense analogous to an American soldier who, after being captured, appeals for a hearing before Osama Bin Laden himself. It was suicide. So why appeal to Caesar?

A couple reasons perhaps.

1) Appealing to Caesar would guarantee Paul the opportunity he had longed for, to end his life proclaiming the message of King Jesus before the most powerful King of this world. By doing this, the gospel would have made its way from the tiny hick-town of Nazareth to the most powerful city in the world. Just as Jesus saw it as his destiny to die in Jerusalem, Paul seemed to see it as his destiny to die, bearing witness to Jesus, in Rome itself.

2) Second, the appeal to Caesar was almost sure to buy Paul some time to do the most important activity of his life. It would buy him time to write. 2 thirds of the NT was penned by Paul, and we would not have much of that had it not been for the time the apostle spent in prison—awaiting trial—with plenty of free hours to write what would become our Bible.


So why does this matter?

For me today, it strikes me as another example of how committed Paul was to his mission. If appealing to a despotic maniac helped Paul fulfill his calling, then it was an easy decision. He would appeal to Caesar, even if it meant certain death. The goal was always the same: “stay on mission, period.”

I don’t do as well at that as Paul does. Not even close. Yet it’s something worth striving for. As a pastor the mission of our church is to develop and deploy ‘non-religious’ followers of Jesus Christ. That means we want to dedicate all our resources and energy to discipling and sending out folks who look a little more like Jesus, and a little less like the dead and false ‘religion’ that sometimes pervades the church. That’s the mission, period.

Given that, here’s a question for today:

What would it look like for you this week to contribute in some way—through a conversation, or a commitment—to that singular mission?

Wed. Aug. 27th :: Acts 24 :: The Convenient List

Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent
for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul
talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was
afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it
convenient, I will send for you."

(Acts 24.24-26)

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Most of us have a list of things we do only when it is convenient.

For some of us the convenient list applies to exercise, housework, changing the oil, calling mom and dad, vacuuming the rug, etc… We all have a list, and the logic behind every item on it is the assumption that these things are worth doing, but only when they fit into the schedule of other MORE IMPORTANT things. And the scary thing is, our schedules (like our bank accounts) don't lie.

For the Roman governor in this passage, hearing the gospel was an activity placed firmly on the convenient list. He apparently sensed that he should listen to Paul, but when things got a bit too close to home, he backed off until it was 'convenient' to come back.

And if we're honest, we do the same.

For many of us, hearing God’s Word proclaimed (i.e. attending regular worship gatherings), spending time in the Scriptures, giving, serving, etc…are items we relegate to the convenient list. While other activities, you know, the really essential ones (for me that’s watching The Office, playing my guitar, getting my morning coffee) are placed on the priority list.

Yet it strikes me that the sign of Christian MATURITY is measured largely by the way in which we synchronize our priority list with God’s priority list. And that’s not easy for most of us.

So here’s my request today:

Take some time to think about what’s on your ‘convenient list’ and what’s on your ‘priority list’. Then ask yourself:

What’s good about this picture, and what’s not?
How do I need to reorder my priorities to pursue maturity?

Because as it was with Felix in Paul’s day, the cultural and monetary signs of success are often far different from the ones God uses to judge us by.

PEACE.

Tues. Aug. 26th :: Acts 23 :: Taming the Shrewd

Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees,
called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from
Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead."
When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection,
and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these
things.)

(Acts 23.6-8)

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For the second time in the book of Acts we witness the apostle Paul utilizing his cunning to extricate himself from a sticky situation. In the first instance he waited until being stretched out for flogging before mentioning: “Oh by the way…you know I’m a Roman citizen right? No?”

Now in the second instance Paul takes advantage of a longstanding family feud between the Sadducees and the Pharisees to avoid being strung up. Just as it seemed the two groups were ready to have Paul convicted, the apostle brings up the thorny issue that is sure to garner him support from the Pharisees (who up until now want to kill him). Knowing that the Pharisees believe in a resurrection while the Sadd’s do not, he shrewdly brings the issue up as the reason for his arrest.

“You wanna know why I’m here?” Paul asks in essence; “It’s because I believe in the resurrection.” Unlike these stinking Sadducees, is the unspoken corollary.

So what does any of this have to do with us?

Well for one, it seems that cunning is often looked down upon as a somewhat ‘less than Christian’ virtue. Being overly shrewd is rarely considered something to be proud of.

And yet Jesus commands us to “be as shrewd as vipers, and as innocent of doves.”

I often focus on the second part of the verse. But there is another half. Paul knew this, and he used his cunning in specific instances for the glory of God. He wasn’t opposed to leveraging his Roman citizenship (or an ancient disagreement betweens Pharisees and Sadducees) if it furthered God’s purposes.

He never veered into deceit. But he proudly used his shrewdness. Because he knew there was a difference.


So here’s what I’m thinking about today:

How can I be both shrewd and innocent in seeing God’s purposes fulfilled?

How about you?

Is it possible to hold these two parts of Jesus’ command in tension?

Mon. Aug. 25th :: Acts 22 :: Your Story

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city.
I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law
of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are
today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death,
arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison…

(Acts 22.3-4)

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When we left Paul he was standing in front of an angry mob preparing to give an account for why he was proclaiming the message of Jesus. And it was the way he did this that I find intriguing.

I find Paul’s speech intriguing because despite the fact that he was an expert lawyer/theologian, when it came time to give his account, Paul simply told his story. When it came time for Paul to speak he didn’t launch into a detailed theological argument (though he was certainly capable), and he didn’t enter into a historical narrative like Peter did in Acts 2. He simply told his story. He gave his testimony.

1) Here’s how I was before Jesus
2) Here’s what happened
3) Here’s what I’m up to now


Of all the methods of evangelism, I suspect this one is still the most effective.

No pamphlets.

No magic questions or one-liners.

No emotional buildup toward an altar call.


Just a regular person telling their regular story of how God changed them.



So here’s a question for you and I:

When was the last time we did that?

When was the last time we simply told our story and asked God to do the rest? It doesn't always result in mass conversions of course. It didn't in this chapter. Yet I suspect God was pleased with Paul nonetheless.

Fri. Aug. 22nd :: Acts 21 :: Sometimes it’s Never Enough

When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see,
brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are
zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews
who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to
circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do?
They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There
are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their
purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads
shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you,
but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile
believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from
food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and
from sexual immorality." The next day Paul took the men and purified himself
along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when
the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of
them.

(Acts 21.20-26)

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If you didn’t read through all of this, here are the cliff notes:

Some fellow Christians come to Paul and tell him that he needs to reassure the Jewish believers that he is still authentically Jewish. (In political terms, he needs to firm up his ‘base’). He needs to show off his Jewishness by going to the temple, taking a Nazarite vow, and (what’s more!) footing the bill for some other dudes to do the same.

So in an effort to bring unity, Paul does all this. Or at least he tries.

What happens after vs. 26 is interesting to me. After jumping through the religious hoops to bring unity, Paul is attacked at the temple by an angry Jewish mob and beaten so badly that only a group of Roman soldiers step in to spare his life.

End of cliff notes.

Now in the past I’ve heard this passage preached—somewhat out of context—to prove that it’s a good thing for Christians to take vows and go through special spiritual rituals to dedicate themselves to God. And indeed there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not the point of the passage.

One of points of the passage—in its context—seems to be that sometimes (no matter what you do to bring unity) conflict will come. Sometimes it's never enough. You can try to make everyone happy (at work, at church, in your family, etc…) but sooner or later reality is going to kick you in the face like it did to Paul in the temple courts. Conflict comes for all of us. And when it does, the important thing is how we deal with it. We shouldn’t go looking for conflict, but we shouldn’t expect to entirely avoid it either. It’s coming. And anyone who asserts that the absence of conflict denotes good leadership never read the book of Acts. It’s that simple.

So how did Paul handle this conflict?

The answer comes in the way Paul responds to the angry mob. But we don’t get that till chapter 22.

To be continued…