Ayn Rand Christians

AYN RAND CHRISTIANS

One of the problems of being a follower of Jesus in today’s culture is trying to ascertain which of our ideas are from God and which are from various elements of society. This has always been a problem for the Christian, but it has gotten more difficult in an age of instant media bombardment. All too often Believers accept ideas as “Christian,” when in fact they are not. This is not only unfortunate, but it is also slothful, because we haven’t used the mind that God gave us to ascertain the truth.

The Bible teaches that we are to have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor.2:16). Likewise, we are to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor.10:5b). It would seem to be really important for believers in Christ to test their thoughts and worldviews against Scripture. To do this, it is necessary to filter the world through “spiritual spectacles,” a term coined in the 15th century by one of the early Swiss reformers. This means to view all of our thoughts through the lens of God’s Word. Consider the fact that most of us run our e-mail through a spam filter to get rid of junk and malware; we ought to do the same with our thoughts. This, of course, means studying the Word of God, in order to become, “a workman that need not be ashamed” (2 Tim.2:15). For instance, in 2000, the Christian pollster, George Barna found that 70% of U.S. adults believed the aphorism “God helps those who help themselves,” is found in the Bible. Naturally, if you don’t know the Bible, you won’t be able to ascertain the truth from “cleverly contrived stories.”

I say this, because a while ago my husband and I attended a “Christian” writer’s conference. During a break, we had an opportunity to talk to one of the conference leaders. At some stage in our discussion, my husband casually mentioned the influence that Ayn Rand’s ideas were having upon our culture and especially among Christian authors’. He wanted to hear this “Christian” author’s thoughts about Ms. Rand. The woman’s reaction astonished us. Responding in a very intense manner, she informed us that Ayn Rand was a wonderful inspiration to all writers. I retorted by asking her, “How can you, an Evangelical Christian, support a writer who is – by her own admission – a militant atheist, a shameless public adulterer, an advocate for selfishness and thinks that being altruistic is a crime against humanity? To which she replied, “Those things don’t matter, she was a great writer and had wonderful ideas!” They don’t matter? Indeed!

Ayn Rand has had a profound influence upon U.S. culture and upon American Christians. Over 13 million copies of her books have been sold – and they are still being sold. Additionally, the Ayn Rand Institute gives away hundreds of thousands of Rand’s books to students in High School Advanced Placement classes. Her ideas are cherished by many contemporary political and Christian leaders.



What are some of these ideas? To begin, Rand has definite ideas about the nature of society. In it there are “creator” types who allow society to exist. They are plagued by parasitic “second raters” (bureaucrats and middle-management people) who interfere with the work of the creative people. Below the second raters are the masses and they are below contempt. In her book, We the Living, her protagonist proclaims; “What are your masses…but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those who deserve it?” Rand calls the non –creative people, “parasites,” “looters,” “moochers” and other derogatory terms. This lesson has been well learned by many of her disciples, as our nation shows increasing contempt for those who are not the “creative” demi-gods she has championed. On the other hand, the Bible teaches followers of Christ to “not be respecters of persons” (Acts 10:34. Indeed, James 2:13, makes it clear that believers should not show favoritism toward the upper-classes.

Perhaps her most troubling thought centers on her insistence on selfish, radical individualism. In Journals of Ayn Rand, she says, “This point – no man exists for the sake of another man – must be established very early in my system. It is one of the main cornerstones – perhaps even the basic axiom” (p.266)





. In Atlas Shrugged, the hero, John Galt, is prone to make statements such as, “I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor will I ask another man to live for me.” Likewise, in The Fountainhead, the hero, Howard Roark, says, “I have come here to say That I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life….”

Rand truly hates altruism (unselfish sacrificial love): “Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice—which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction—which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good. Do not hide behind such superficialities as whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the issue. The issue is whether you do or do not have the right to exist without giving him that dime. The issue is whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence. The issue is whether man is to be regarded as a sacrificial animal. Any man of self-esteem will answer: “No.” Altruism says: “Yes” (Ayn Rand, Philosophy, who needs it? p.61).

Thus in Ms. Rand’s scheme of life, every man is an (selfish) island! Christians should recognize the heresy involved in this. First of all, Jesus calls us to His Body, the Church: we are not radical individuals. Secondly, Jesus calls us to help our neighbor; broadly meaning those in need. We are our bother’s keeper. Recall, that God was not pleased by Cain – the first murderer’s – arrogant reply to God about his missing brother (Gen 4:9). Of course, we also have the very strong warning in Matt.25:31-46; where King Jesus comes as Judge and sends those who didn’t care about “the least of these,” to Hell. This passage ought to make Christians at least pause as they consider their response to the needy.

Thirdly, altruistic love, in the form of agape love is the basis of the relationship of God to us. Jesus commands us to love – he says;” Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). Altruistic love is the basis of our faith! To act as Rand desires us to, would be antithetical to what that the Bible teaches and is an affront to Jesus Christ! Our thoughts determine our actions, and we will be held accountable for what we have done. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal.6:7-10).





On This Rock I Will Build My Church

On This Rock I Will Build My Church

Matthew 16:13-19

One day as the disciples were traveling near Caesarea Philippi with Jesus, He stopped and asked them what people were saying about Him and who they thought He was. “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Jesus asked them. (Matthew 16:13b) Several of the disciples answered back; “Some say You are John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say that You are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (Matthew 16:14) So the crowds who had watched Jesus heal the sick and listened to Him preach, still thought Jesus was just a prophet, (a superstar), and they still didn’t understand that He is Savior and Lord.



And then Jesus asked His disciples for their personal opinion about who He is. It is always important to Jesus that His own know who He is. “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked. (Matthew 16:15) And then Peter answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)



Jesus smiled and joyfully nodded his head. He was very pleased with Peters’ answer and He turned to Peter enthusiastically and pronounced: “Blessed are you, Peter, son of Jonah, for this truth was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:17-18)



Jesus has just said that His church would be built on the rock. And down through the last few centuries this statement that Jesus made has been the center of a controversy. The problem is, just what is the meaning of the rock that Jesus spoke of? Did Jesus mean that the rock refers to Peter himself or to Peter’s confession? Peter had just confessed that Jesus is “the Christ and the Son of the living God.”



Isn’t Peter’s powerful confession – that Jesus is Lord and Savior - the center (or rock) of our Christian faith? Isn’t it a supernatural (Holy Spirit) confession, since when we confess that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior we receive eternal life? Isn’t Jesus the Rock, the Cornerstone (rock) that we build upon?



In Hebrew there are three words for rock – sela, tsur, and keph. Each appears throughout the Hebrew Bible and each is used to refer to God. So Protestants believe that Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is Son of God and Savior is the solid rock that the church is built on. And Protestants believe that Jesus (who is God the Son) is the rock the church is built on.



But the Catholic Church believes that Peter is the rock and they take this scripture (Matthew 16:16) and use it in part to justify papal authority. Catholics believe that after Jesus ascended to heaven that Peter was the first leader of the first church, and thus Peter was the first pope. Scripture does tell us that the early church was run by apostles and elders and that Peter was one of them. When you listen to what Jesus said: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church…” it does sound like the rock could be Peter. So Catholics believe that the Catholic church is built on Peter, the first pope whose apostolic power has been passed down the line to each pope that has followed after him.



It is interesting to notice that Jesus said; “On this rock I will build My church.” Jesus didn’t say “On this rock you will build My church,” or “On this rock I will build your church.” We may think we are the builder and it is our church. But Jesus is the builder and it is His Church!



Jesus also tells Peter that he didn’t believe and confess this truth- that Jesus is Lord- on his own or by his own intellect or by human knowledge. (Matthew 16:17) But the truth that Jesus is Son of God and Savior is a spiritual truth that was supernaturally given to Peter (and to us) by God. We can not believe in Jesus on our own. Salvation (believing in Jesus) is a gift from God. We can only believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior when our hearts are open to allowing God to give us this faith.



When Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on the rock, He also added that the “gates of hell will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18) The “gates of hell” may mean “the powers of death” and perhaps Jesus was saying that His Church would not be at the mercy of physical death because the Lord’s resurrection would insure the resurrection of all believers. And also Scripture says that the Church (that’s us) at the end of the age will overcome every trouble through Jesus. (1 John 5:4-5) So Jesus will make His church victorious and the gates of hell will not overcome it. (1 Corinthians 15:57)



And Jesus said one more thing to Peter at this time. He said; “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19) I don’t know the full meaning of this verse, but I think that Jesus is giving power to Peter here, and to the disciples and to us as believers. Spiritual power to carry on His work. We have Holy Spirit power through intercessory prayer to bind evil and to loose healing and love and God’s will on others. We have been told that through Jesus whatever we ask in prayer believing, if it is God’s will, we shall receive. (Matt. 18:15-20)



Since we are given the keys of the kingdom I believe that they can be used in spiritual warfare. We can lock (bind) and unlock (loose) with a key. I think that the keys of the kingdom are to be used to spiritually bind and loose. These aren’t just any keys but they are powerful Holy Spirit keys. What a responsibility and a privilege to be given this spiritual gift.



We can pray that a family member be reconciled to the family – bind the spirits that keep the loved one angry and apart and loose on that one a freedom and love and forgiveness in the Holy Spirit. If we don’t know how to pray, or what is holding the family member back, we can pray in tongues – and count on the Holy Spirit to use the right words. “The Spirit also helps us, for we know not what we should pray for, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:25-26)



If we are praying for a sick person we can bind the spirit of sickness and loose on them a healing and a loosening of the disease. If we are bound up and can’t pray in the Spirit we can pray for more faith and more freedom and pray to be loosed from the many things that bind us up and keep us from being free to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. And we can continue praying in the Spirit and believing until we see the answer come to fruition.



Jesus is still building His church and He comes to each of us and asks the same question He asked Peter: “Who do say that I am?” It is the most important question that you will ever have to answer. What will you say? Who do you believe Jesus is? Is He your Savior and the Son of God? Or do you know? Are you asking the hard questions? Have you taken a moral inventory of yourself? Wrestled with your own faith? Or are you just repeating what other people are saying about Jesus?



If we say that Jesus is just another prophet or just a superstar we make Him a liar. Jesus said that He is the Son of God. He admitted that He is eternal – “before Abraham was, I Am”. (John 8:58) That is why the religious leaders crucified Him. They accused Jesus of blasphemy for saying, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6) We can never say that Jesus is just a special teacher. Jesus is either who He said He is or He is a liar.



Maybe you don’t want to know who Jesus is. You sense that He will change you if you know Him. A Door will open up in your heart when you confess that He is Lord. You don’t want to be changed,- to give up control. But you will never know who you are until you know who Jesus is.







Questions: What do you think Jesus meant by the “rock”?

What do you think the “keys of the kingdom” mean?

We Must Go Through Many Hardships to Enter the Kingdom

`We Must Go Through Many Hardships to Enter the Kingdom

Paul’s First Missionary Journey

The date was A.D. 46-48, about thirteen years after the resurrection of Christ, and a group of believers in Antioch felt that they should obey the Great Commission and go into the whole world making disciples for Jesus. Until now the church in Jerusalem had been the center for all of the early believers. But by now some believers had traveled to Antioch and a strong church had been formed there. It was in Antioch that believers in Jesus were first called “Christians”.



There were prophets and teachers in the Antioch church and they were praying about how they should go about spreading the gospel. One day while they were all together worshiping and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke to them, probably through one of the prophets in the group. “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them,” the Holy Spirit instructed. (Acts 13:2b) The group had waited for God to speak and give them direction. Now they were thankful for this word. They laid hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them off to the known world to spread the news that Jesus is Lord and Savior.



Barnabas and Saul left Antioch and walked to Seleucia, a seaport town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. John, Barnabas’ cousin, tagged along as their helper on the trip. The three men boarded a sailboat going to the island of Cypress and settled in. When their boat landed on the island, the first thing they did was to go to the nearest synagogue in the town of Salamis and preach. Because many Jews lived all over Asia and Southern Europe, there were synagogues in nearly every town. Saul felt that they should give the good news to the Jews first, so he wanted to preach about Jesus in the synagogues first.



Afterwards Saul and Barnabas and John walked all over Cypress preaching. Everywhere they went preaching the good news the people were believing in Jesus and being baptized. A man named Sergius Paulus heard about them and sent word asking them to come and tell him their message. Sergius Paulus was proconsul or governor of Cypress and his palace was in Paphos, a city at the other end of the island.



When Saul and Barnabas arrived at the governor’s palace and tried to tell Sergius Paulus about Jesus they were met with an obstacle. One of the palace staff was a man named Elymas, whose name means “false prophet” or “sorcerer”. Sergius Paulus listened to the Word and was beginning to believe in Jesus as Savior when Elymas rushed in and tried to persuade him against believing.



Saul (who was also called Paul) got angry and with Holy Spirit’s power looked straight at Elymas and said: “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are filled with all kinds of deceit and trickery….You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see …” (Acts 13:10-11a)“Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him …” (Acts 13:11b) When Sergius Paulus saw what had happened to Elymas he stopped doubting and he believed in Jesus as his Savior. As you can see, Paul and Barnabas not only preached, but signs and wonders often attended their preaching. You might call this “power evangelism.”



`From Paphos Paul, Barnabas and John Mark boarded a ship and sailed across the Mediterranean Sea to Perga. For some reason John left Paul and Barnabas at this point and returned home. I think Paul was a bit irritated with him for this.



Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to the town of Pisidian Antioch and visited the synagogue there on the Sabbath. As part of the religious service it was customary to invite any visitor to stand and discuss the Scriptures. So since Paul was visiting he was invited to speak. And of course he showed them how the Old Testament scriptures foretold the coming of Jesus as Savior. This topic raised a lot of interest and Paul and Barnabas were invited back to speak again the following Sabbath.



Word got around that Paul had an exciting message to share and “on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” (Acts 13:44) Many Gentiles crowded into the synagogue to hear about Jesus but then something went gravely wrong. “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.” (Acts 13:45)



Many Gentiles accepted Jesus as their Savior. “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” (Acts 13:49) But the Jews became even more angry as so many were turning to Christ. “The Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.” (Acts 13:50) Paul and Barnabas shook the dust from their feet and trudged on to the town of Iconium. And they were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:51-52)



They did their usual thing and first went to the synagogue in Iconium to teach about the Savior. And the people of Iconium were divided when they heard about Jesus. Many Jews and Gentiles listened and believed in Jesus but many more were angry and even tried to kill Paul and Barnabas. Listen as Scripture tells the story. “The people of the city were divided: some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the cities of Lystra and Derbe…” (Acts 14:4-7)



How many towns are Paul and Barnabas going to be thrown out of? This seemed to be happening too often. When they walked into the town of Lystra they saw a lame man sitting out on the street who was interested in hearing about Jesus. Paul through the power of the Holy Spirit realized that this lame man had faith to be healed so he told the lame man to stand up in Jesus’ Name. The lame man stood up and began walking and the crowds went wild. The people of Lystra had known the lame man and they knew that he couldn’t walk.



Paul tried to tell the crowds that this man had been healed through Jesus but they wouldn’t listen to him. In frenzy the people began shouting: “The gods have come down in human form.” (Acts 14:11b) They tried to worship Paul and Barnabas, calling Paul “Hermes” and Barnabas “Zeus”. The priests brought bulls and wreaths to the city gate so that the crowds could offer sacrifices to them. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and finally were barely able to stop the people from worshiping them.



Paul stayed and preached to these idol worshipers telling them to worship the living God and not their useless idols. But some of the Jews from Iconium and Antioch who had thrown Paul and Barnabas out of their towns earlier came to Lystra and worked the crowds into a rage. This time the crowds that had tried to worship Paul now grabbed him and in a rage stoned him. How dare he preach about Jesus and try to take them away from their idols! When they thought he was dead they drug his limp bloody body outside the city and dumped it in the dirt.



But some of the believers snuck outside the city in the dark and found Paul broken body. They all circled around him and prayed over him and miraculously he recovered. He crept back into the city that night and the next day he and Barnabas left. They went on to the nearby city of Derbe and preached and many believed in Jesus there.



And then Paul and Barnabas turned around and retraced their steps back through the towns where they had just been, Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch. They were on their way home now but as they arrived in each town along the way they stayed awhile and tried to strengthen the new believers there and encourage them to be true to the faith. There were so many Gentiles who had believed in Jesus when Paul and Barnabas had preached in each town and now they needed help in growing in the faith. With prayer and fasting Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for each of the new churches in each of the towns they had traveled through.



And then they finally took a ship back to Antioch and back to the church group that had sent them out in the beginning. They had been gone maybe two years and now their first missionary journey was completed. They joyfully reported to the church in Antioch that God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And when Paul told the Antioch believers about all of the persecutions and troubles they had had along the way, he added, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom.” (Acts 14:22b)



What can we learn from this story from the Bible? Perhaps first we see that the believers of the church in Antioch arrived at decisions only after fasting and worship and prayer. While they all worshiped and waited on God, the Holy Spirit came and told them to set Barnabas and Paul apart to go on a missionary journey to the Gentiles. Do we need to learn to fast and pray and listen for God’s direction in our lives too?



Another lesson we take away from this story is that in every town where Paul and Barnabas preached about Jesus, they were either met with interested listeners and joyful converts or with angry threats, violence and persecution. And the same thing happens to Christians today who spread the gospel. Persecution is part of the territory. Jesus said that a person is either for Him or against Him. When we meet Jesus we can’t stay on the fence. We can either accept Him or deny Him.



Paul and Barnabas were rejected and thrown out of nearly every town they visited. And Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra after the lame man there had been healed. This was Paul’s very first missionary journey but he was already learning something. He was learning that a believer must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom.

An Angel Arranges for Cornelius to Hear About Jesus (Acts 10)

An Angel Arranges for Cornelius to Hear About Jesus

(Acts 10)

Cornelius was a Roman military officer, a Centurion, who was stationed in Israel around the same time the early Christians in Jerusalem were forming their first church. Roman centurions were usually disliked by the Jews. Cornelius and his family lived in Caesarea, a wealthy costal town on the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Herod had built a fancy palace on the beaches of Caesarea along with elegant gardens and an outdoor swimming pool.



Scripture says that Cornelius was a good man. “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” (Acts 10:2) Cornelius was kneeling in prayer one afternoon when suddenly a bright angel appeared in front of him and spoke his name. “Cornelius!” “What is it Lord?” Cornelius answered trembling in fear. The angel told Cornelius that his prayers and his gifts to the poor had pleased God. But he needed something more.



The angel told Cornelius that God had a special message for him that he needed to hear. A man named Peter was preaching nearby in Joppa and God wanted Cornelius to bring Peter to his house and listen to his message. Then the angel told Cornelius to send his men to Joppa (a town 30 miles away) and invite Peter to come back with them. The angel told him that his men would find Peter in Joppa at Simon the tanner’s house which was by the sea.



Cornelius was still trembling as he called three of his soldiers in and told them about the angels’ visit. He told them to go to Joppa and bring Peter back so they could hear what God had to say. His men set out the next morning for Joppa to find Peter.



The next day around noon in Joppa Peter stopped working and went up on the house roof top to pray. Houses back then had flat roofs and often families used the roof tops as an outdoor living area. While Peter was praying the Scriptures say that he went into a trance. “He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet was let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.



Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean..’ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything unclean that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and the sheet was taken back to heaven.” (Acts 10:11-16)



Peter woke up and lay there on the roof top wondering what in the world this vision could possibly mean. Why had God given it to him? But he didn’t have to wait long to find out! A minute later there was a knock at the gate downstairs and Peter could hear several men asking Simon if a man named Peter was there. Peter jumped up and ran downstairs and asked the men what they wanted. And of course Cornelius’ soldiers told Peter the whole story of how an angel had come to Cornelius and told him to invite Peter to come to his house and preach Gods’ message.



Slowly it began to dawn on Peter why God had just shown him the vision of the sheet of unclean animals! In the vision God had instructed Peter not to call anything unclean that God had made clean! Was God trying to teach him that no person was to be thought of as unclean any more? Did God actually want him to go to Cornelius’s house even though he was a Gentile?



Peter would never have gone back with the soldiers to Cornelius’s house if he hadn’t had the vision. Cornelius was an Roman; not a Jew, but an unclean Gentile! As a good Jew, Peter had never associated with a non-Jewish person. Peter had never eaten food that wasn’t kosher and he had never eaten a meal with a Gentile! Jewish religious laws forbid him to ever go inside the home of a non-Jew. Peter had never questioned his Jewish religion.



But times they were a changing! The vision with the sheet of unclean animals and reptiles and birds seemed to be God’s way of telling Peter that Jesus’ death and resurrection had changed everything. The old ways were gone and the new Way was here. With Jesus even those unclean Gentiles could be made clean. It was almost more than Peter could take in.



Peter invited the Roman soldiers in to rest from their travels and he agreed to go back to Cornelius’ house with them the next day. Peter asked several believers to join him on the trip and the next morning they all started back to Caesarea.



In the meantime, back in Caesarea, Cornelius had been running around telling his family and friends that a shining angel had just appeared to him and had commanded him to bring Peter to his house to preach a message. What could this special message be - just from God? They all wanted to know! A large excited group of family and friends and friends of friends all rushed over to Cornelius’ house and gathered in anxiously waiting for Peter to show up and tell them what God wanted them to know!



Cornelius’ noisy house was buzzing with anticipation when Peter finally arrived. Cornelius met Peter at the door and fell down at his feet to worship him. “Stand up,” Peter told him, “I am only a man myself.” (Acts 10:26)



Peter walked inside and the first thing he told the crowd that had gathered was that it was against the Jewish law for him to be there talking with them since they were the un-clean Gentiles. But then Peter told them that God had just taught him a new lesson. – That he should not be prejudiced or call any person un-clean. That through Jesus people are put together that wouldn’t have been together otherwise.



Then Peter began preaching to the group in Cornelius’s house. This was the first time that Peter had ever preached to Gentiles. He told them how he had been a disciple of Jesus’ and had watched Him heal the sick. He told them about Jesus’ death and resurrection and how God had appointed Him to be judge of the living and the dead. But when Peter told them that those who believe in Jesus receive forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, everyone in the house was listening intently and every person there believed in Jesus as their Savior all at the very same time! Scripture says that “faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) And when this group heard God’s Word about Jesus, they all had faith!



Right then the Holy Spirit fell on all the people in the house who believed, and immediately they all began speaking in tongues together and praising God. (Acts 10:46) It must have been something to see! The Jewish believers that had come along with Peter were astonished that the Holy Spirit had been given to this group of Gentiles. The Holy Spirit had fallen on them and their fellow Jewish believers the same way with tongues when they had believed so they knew that God was accepting these Gentiles too! They had thought that God’s salvation was only reserved for the Jews. God was breaking down the barriers and prejudices between Jew and Gentile. It was almost more than they could take in!



“Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water?” Peter asked. “They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” (Acts 10:47) So Cornelius and his family and friends were all baptized in the name of Jesus by Peter. And they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days and give them more teachings. What an electric party it must have been!



The word got back to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem that Peter had visited in a Gentile house and preached to non-Jews. The apostles and believers were angry and called him in for questioning. “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them!” (Acts 11:2b) So Peter explained to them how God had sent him the vision of the unclean animals and how the Holy Spirit had fallen on the Gentiles when they first opened their hearts to Jesus. The Jewish believers were amazed at this and tried to be open to where God was leading them. “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life,” they said. (Acts 11:18b) Until now all of the believers in Jesus had been Jewish. But the Jews were learning that God wanted everyone to have eternal life!



What can we learn from this story from the Bible? First we learn that when we are Christians the Holy Spirit teaches us to live differently. The Jewish believers learned that God didn’t want them to call any person “un-clean” or leave anyone out. The Holy Spirit opens us up to love other people who aren’t like ourselves. Are we open to follow where God is leading us?



We also learn that believing in Jesus is all important. Those in Cornelius’ house received the Holy Spirit the moment they believed in Jesus. We receive the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus too. Do we wonder why the Holy Spirit doesn’t fall on us and set us aflame with tongues like He did for those at Cornelius’ house? We do receive the Holy Spirit when we believe and He does guide us and change us even if we don’t have tongues. Just as God makes us all different, He gives the Holy Spirit to us in different ways. To some the Holy Spirit comes quietly as a Dove and to others the Holy Spirit comes as wind and fire and with fanfare.



Perhaps Peter and the other Jews would never have believed that these un-clean Gentiles were really believers in Jesus if they hadn’t had this evidence of tongues! The Jewish believers knew that Jesus’ death and resurrection brought salvation, but perhaps they needed a sign to fully understand that this salvation was for everyone and not just for the Jews. And these tongues might have been that sign to help them accept these “un-clean” Gentiles who weren’t like themselves.



Also Cornelius and Peter would never have gotten together if an angel hadn’t visited Cornelius and Peter hadn’t had a vision from God. Do we feel left out if we haven’t had visions or visits by angels? Perhaps God works in other ways to lead us where He wants us to go. Sometimes He puts ideas in our minds and perhaps we have seen angels unawares.



Scripture says that God sent an angel to Cornelius because he “prayed and gave to the poor.” (Acts 10:4b) Do we care about the poor? Are we open to hear God’s will in our lives? Are we trying to listen? If we hear God’s voice or read His Word are we willing to obey?



The angel came to arrange for Cornelius to hear about Jesus. Even with his good deeds and open heart, Cornelius needed something more. He wasn’t good enough without Jesus. And neither are we.

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

A Great Cloud of Witnesses (Heb. 12:1)

The Bible tells us that we are surrounded by a large group of onlookers as we live out our lives as Christians. Scripture also says that we are running a race, the race of faith, and that those who have gotten to the finish line ahead of us are watching our race, waiting for us to finish and perhaps even cheering us on. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that slows us down and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)



A long list of saints – Noah, Abraham, Job, and others- who had already lived out their lives faithfully for God, had just been named in Scripture (Heb.11) before we read this passage about being surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses.(Heb12:1) Did this mean that Noah, Abraham and Job along with others were among the witnesses? This passage, I believe, was a reminder to those early Christians – and to us too- that many others have gone before us on this faith journey. That we are not alone in our joys and sorrows but we are part of a bigger story!



Can you think of a person, maybe several people, who have deeply influenced your life? People who have helped make you the person that you are today? Maybe your parents, a grandparent, or a teacher? People who are no longer with you – who have finished their race. You see, those people who cared about you, who passed their values on to you and loved you, they have a stake in how you live your life – how you run the race. You aren’t in this alone. You aren’t a self made person. You are part of much larger family.



The Christian life is often likened to a race. (1 Cor. 9:24, 2 Tim. 4:7) And in our race (our Christian life) we are instructed to “throw off everything that slows us down and the sin that so easily entangles us,” (Heb.12:1) so that we can run faster. Right now I can think of several sins that I allow myself to become entangled in: petty resentments, anxieties and fears. And those sins mess up my race and slow me down. I must throw them off so I won’t be sidelined. Can you think of things that impede your running too? Do you need to do housecleaning along with me? We are told to “throw off” these weights and concentrate on running. The saints who have already finished the race had the same kinds of problems we are having now and they ran their race and finished well. So we can do it too.



This verse, Hebrews 12:1, tells us many things. But it ends with, “let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us.” Do you notice that this isn’t just any race we personally choose to make it? That this faith race of ours has been “marked out for us!” We aren’t in charge of the twists and turns in the path, just in how we maneuver those twists and turns. Scripture says, “The steps of a Godly person are ordered by the Lord.” (Psalms 37:23) Our path has been personally set up and “ordered” for us to run! So how can we lose?



Also we are told to run with perseverance. To not become discouraged and give up. To keep on keeping on. It’s easy to be a Christian in the short run. But what about the long run? Faith is all about endurance. What good is loyalty if it doesn’t last? God hates quitters. (Zechariah 7:11-12) We are to finish the race. And it matters how we finish it. Having done all to stand, we are to stand. (Ephesians 6:13) Remember these balcony people are watching.



While we are running we are commanded to keep our eyes on Jesus. Let’s listen: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3) As we run, Jesus is the supreme or ultimate example of running a good race. Jesus endured more persecution and suffering than we ever will. He is with us now and praying for us during our race.



So if you are discouraged with the way other Christians act, or you’re suffering and feel out of control, or you wonder why God allows the world to be so messed up, just put your head down and keep on running. Just always keep your eyes on Jesus. He lived with all of your sorrows and many more. And all the witnesses who ran the race before you had similar problems as you have, but they kept on running anyway. They have all crossed the finish line now and have passed the baton on to you. So now it’s your turn.

Prayer Changes Things - How an Angel Sprung Peter from Prison

Prayer Changes Things

How an Angel Sprung Peter from Prison (Acts 12)

Herod was on a rampage. He hated the early church and attacked its’ members whenever he could. James, the brother of John had been the leader of the church in Jerusalem and Herod arrested him and had him killed with the sword. James, who wrote the Epistle of James in the Bible, was probably the first of Jesus’ disciples to be martyred. Jesus had warned his disciples of their coming persecutions, (Mt. 20:23) but it still came as a shock. The Jewish religious leaders were pleased with Herod for killing James, so Herod was encouraged to go ahead and kill more disciples. (Acts 12:2-3) He had his soldiers seize Peter with plans to have him killed as well.



But Peter just happened to be arrested during the Days of Unleavened Bread (the seven days after the Passover), which was an awkward time to perform an execution. It would not have been correct procedure for a prisoner to be tried and executed on a religious holy day. Herod figured he would make a better impression on his religious friends if he waited until after the holidays to bring Peter out. So Peter was thrown into prison under a heavy guard consisting of four squads, (sixteen soldiers) to await his execution. Herod didn’t want to take any chances that his valuable prisoner might get away.



The night before Peter was to die, he was sleeping on the dirty prison floor between two guards and chained to both. There were also several sentries guarding the locked gates inside the dark prison. (Acts 12:6) Things were looking pretty bleak for Peter. As Scripture records these details, just one little passage stands out as a glimmer of hope! It reads: “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” (Acts 12:5) Could a house full of believers holding a prayer meeting all week really make any difference in this grim situation?



But back at the prison in the darkness of night while Peter was chained and asleep, everything changed! Let’s read what happened. “Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. The angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and sandals.’ And Peter did so. ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,’ the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening: he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the Iron Gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left Peter.” (Acts 12:7-10)



All the while Peter had been chained in the dungeon waiting to die, the believers had been together on their knees before God begging for his release. And God had heard their prayers. He had sent an angel to Peter in prison who had anesthetized the guards and removed Peters’ chains. The Iron Gate had opened by itself and no one could stop them as Peter escaped. It was so miraculous that at first Peter couldn’t believe that the angel was real. And when the angel left, Peter finally came to himself and the true significance of what had happened came home to him. God had delivered him from death.

Peter quickly walked away from the jail and through the dark streets of Jerusalem to Mary’s house. Even though it was the middle of the night Peter knew that the believers would be there praying. Let’s listen to what happens next. “Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’ ‘You’re out of your mind,’ they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, ‘It must be his angel.’ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.” (Acts 12:13-16) Peter told the excited believers all about how the angel had sprung him out of prison and how their prayers had been answered. And then he left and went into hiding so that Herod’s soldiers wouldn’t find him again.



This story of Peter’s dramatic deliverance from prison by a bright angel occurred about ten years after Jesus ascended back to heaven. The early believers at that time were extremely enthusiastic in their love for God. You might say that they were all “hot” or “on fire” for the Lord. They took care of one another, believed the Word of God, gave to the poor and spent much time together in prayer. Their hearts were right before God. I believe that this is why the Holy Spirit moved so powerfully among them. Why their prayers brought down angels to shake things up. I also believe this is why the early believers experienced so many miracles and healings in their gatherings. And why so many thousands were converted to Christ through their ministry.



Everywhere in Scripture we are told to pray often and to pray in groups. Prayer changes things. Here are just a couple of the many Bible passages instructing us to pray. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16) And: “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)



Prayer is not a formula for getting things out of God. I think prayer is a heart thing-our hearts need to be humble and open to God when we pray. The passage in James says that the prayer of a RIGHTEOUS man is powerful and effective. To be righteous doesn’t mean to be perfect. It means that we are confessing our sins and trying to obey His will. We will be imperfect and sinful but we need to be willing to be willing. We need to open the door enough so God can move us. He won’t bash down the door of our heart. God sees our hearts – whether they are right or not. If we come to pray and haven’t forgiven someone, we need to first go and forgive that person. Our hearts are not right as long as we refuse to forgive another person. We have to be willing to be willing to let God help us forgive, even if we aren’t there yet.



This short Bible story of Peter and the angel leaves us with some important lessons, doesn’t it? For one, we should pray often and prayer should have a central place in our church life. If it doesn’t, could we start a prayer group or prayer meeting at our church? Perhaps we could pray that our fellow church members love God and one another the way those early believers loved God and each other. And we need to learn to pray the way that early church prayed. Maybe our prayers, like theirs, can bring down an angel to open up the prison doors in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.

Noah and the Flood

Noah and the Great Flood

God is brokenhearted. Grieved and discouraged, He continues on in pain. He had loved His children so much but now He is sorry that He ever created them. The Bible tells it this way: “The Lord was grieved that He had made humans on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said …I am grieved and sorry that I made human beings.” (Genesis 6:6,7b) As any good parent grieves over a son or daughter who rebels and chooses evil, so God also grieves when His children rebel and chose evil. And God is grieving over His rebellious children at the time our story takes place – the story about Noah and the great flood.



The date of our story is back near the dawn of history. The flood occurred approximately 1,675 years after God created Adam and Eve in the Garden. All of the people on earth back then were the descendents of Adam and Eve. And Adam and Eve’s descendents weren’t doing well at all.



Scripture tells us that in those prehistoric times there were giants on the earth. “There were giants on the earth in those days, …There were mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4) And the lifespan of Adam and his offspring seemed to be much longer back at the dawn of history than our lifespan is now. We can only guess what this means but perhaps the earth was different in some ways back then than it is now.



Let’s listen to how the Bible describes the people who lived on earth during Noah’s lifetime. “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5) And, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.” (Genesis 6:11) This is one of the Bible’s most vivid descriptions of total depravity. It says that ALL of the people on the earth had corrupted their ways and that ALL the thoughts of their hearts were evil continually! No wonder God was brokenhearted.



Scripture first says that all the people on earth were corrupt. But then Scripture corrects that statement and says that all the people on earth were corrupt except one. There was just one person in the whole earth before the flood that wasn’t corrupt, and that person was Noah. The Bible says it this way: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Genesis 6:8-9) Noah’s Godly life was a powerful contrast to the wicked lives of his contemporaries. This description of Noah doesn’t mean that he was sinless or perfect. I believe that Noah was called “righteous” in Scripture because he trusted God and tried to obey Him.



So God came to Noah and told him that He was thinking about ending the lives of everyone on earth by bringing a flood. “So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.” (Genesis 6:13)



God continued by instructing Noah to build an ark, - an ark made of cypress wood and coated inside and out with pitch. And God didn’t leave Noah on his own to figure out how to build this ark. But God, the Master Planner, gave Noah detailed plans for building the ark, from the exact measurements of the ark and a pattern of a three deck configuration with just one door, to instructions as to what supplies and food to pack, and even how many animals and birds should be gathered into the ark.



God promised Noah that He would establish His covenant with him- the first mention of a covenant between God and humans in the Bible. I believe that God was promising to protect Noah and his family through the impending flood.



And Scripture says: “Thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Genesis 6:22) Noah built the ark exactly the way he had been told, with every detail exactly as God had specified. God was looking for a person who would work with Him to establishing His purposes on earth. And God had found that person in Noah.



It might have been difficult sometimes for Noah to follow God. Remember that he was the ONLY person on earth who trusted God. All of Noah’s friends and relatives had rebelled against Gods’ ways. So Noah didn’t get any support from anyone when he tried to do the right thing. He must have warned his relatives and friends about the flood that was coming. But no one listened to him. It might have been lonely following God when the rest of the world was going in the opposite direction. And don’t you imagine that he was laughed at by his neighbors and relatives when he spent years building his enormous ship in a location that probably wasn’t even near any body of water? Can’t you just hear the jokes that were being passed around?



Finally the ark was finished and the time was drawing near. The Bible tells it like this: “And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds an of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.” (Genesis 7:7-9) I had always pictured Noah and his family running through the woods catching animals. But it sounds like God caused the animals and birds and reptiles to come on their own to Noah and to the ark.



The Bible tells us that when Noah and his family and all the animals and birds and creatures that crawl on the ground had finally gone inside the ark, that God closed the door of the ark. Noah didn’t shut the door, God did. “Then the Lord shut them in.” (Genesis 7:16b) There was only one door to the ark and Bible scholars have suggested that this door could be a picture of Jesus Christ. One of the names for Jesus is the “door” (John 10:7) because He is the Door to Everlasting Life. And there is only one door to eternal life – Jesus. God’s judgment was coming on the earth in the form of the flood, but God was shutting Noah’s family in and keeping them safe from death. And when God’s final judgment comes, all those who have gone through the one Door (Jesus) will be safely shut in by God and protected from death.



When the flood finally came, the Bible describes it this way: “…on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” (Genesis 7:11b) “as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth” (Genesis 7:18) “…all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the tops of the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Every living thing that moved on the earth perished…” (Genesis 7:19-20a) “Only Noah was left and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” (Genesis 7:23b-24) It was a terrible time.



“Finally the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed and the rains stopped falling from the sky.” (Genesis 8:2) God sent a wind over the earth to dry things out and the waters slowly receded. The flood began during the second month of the year and it was during the tenth month of that same year that the waters from the flood had receded enough that the tops of the mountains became visible. (Genesis 8:5)



Forty days after the mountain tops became visible; Noah opened the window of the ark and sent a raven out. But the raven just flew back and forth. Then he let a dove out of the window of the ark. But the dove couldn’t find any place to land so it flew back to Noah. Then he waited seven days and let another dove out the window and this time the dove came back with an olive leaf in its’ beak.



Noah and his family and the animals and birds were inside the ark for a year before the earth dried enough for them to come out. God told them when it was time. The ark had landed on Mt. Ararat (in Armenia or Turkey) and the first thing that Noah did when he came out of the ark was to build an altar and make a sacrifice to God. Noah and his family worshiped God and thanked Him for saving their lives. And God blessed them.



Then God came to Noah and made a covenant or a promise to him and to us too that He would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. Let’s listen: “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood: never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Thus I establish My covenant with you: (Genesis 9:11) “And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I will set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:12-130 So when we see a rainbow in the sky we can remember that it is a sign of God’s promise to us that He will never again destroy the whole earth with a flood.



I have heard that anthropologists have discovered stories of the flood in the histories of almost every culture and tribe. Such a sad story – sad that except for Noah’s family, every man woman and child on earth perished. God was able to save Noah and use him because he trusted God, but no one else did. In a world that had broken His heart, God found joy in this one man who believed in Him. God still cares about His children and He is still looking for people today who will trust Him. Like Noah, let’s put our trust in God and bring joy to His heart.

The Tower of Babel - Why It Was Never Finished

The Tower of Babel - Why It Was Never Finished!

The Bible tells us that Noah was a man of faith and a man of God. After the flood the first thing he did when he came out of the arc was to worship God there on Mt. Ararat. Noah and his wife had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Scripture says that Noah’s three sons were all married without children at the time of the flood. And so there were eight people who entered the arc when the flood occurred, Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives. After the flood, Noah’s family was the only family left alive on earth. Must have been lonely! So Noah’s three sons and their wives started having babies! “These three were the sons of Noah, and from these sons the whole earth was populated.” (Genesis 9:19) The whole tenth chapter of Genesis records long lists of Noah’s’ family tree: naming his sons, grandsons, and even on down to Abraham, nine generations and 300 + years later. (The women’s names aren’t recorded here in this genealogy!)



Noah and his descendents probably lived in the area that today is modern Iraq- the cradle of civilization. They were all one big extended family – brothers, sisters, grandparents and cousins and they all spoke the same language. Scripture tells that these early primeval peoples were hunter-gatherers and farmers. And we are even told how many years passed between each generation.



By the time we get down to Noah’s great great grandchildren, we read the story about the tower of Babel. It had been about 175 years since the flood and Noah’s family had grown into a big group by now. Some of the group had traveled to the plain of Shinar and they wanted to settle there. We don’t know exactly where Shinar was, but Biblical scholars believe that it was probably in the vicinity of the Euphrates River.



This group talked among themselves about building a tower there in Shinar. “And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens: let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the earth.’” (Genesis 11:4)



We don’t know what was in the hearts of Noah’s great great grandchildren, the builders of this tower, but their motives must not have pleased God. Let’s listen: “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do: now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come let Us go down there and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’” (Genesis 11: 5-7)



This short story in Genesis ends quickly after telling us that the name of the tower was called “Babel” meaning “confusion”, because the Lord confused the peoples’ language. Just how this confusion occurred we don’t know. Perhaps over time if each small group began speaking a different language, the workers might not have been able to understand one another and coordinate their work, and thus complete the tower.



When Scripture says, ‘Come let Us go down there and confuse their language,…’ I believe that the “Us” here refers to the triune God,- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There are other Biblical passages that also refer to the Godhead as plural.



The story of the tower of Babel ends this way: “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth: and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:9) Does this story from antiquity give us the answers as to why there are so many languages on the earth and why the human race spread so rapidly across the earth after the flood?



What can we take away from this Bible story? We can only guess at why God stopped Noah’s decedents from finishing their tower. Perhaps these tower builders wanted to impress future generations with a majestic tower that reached to the sky. They would achieve might and power by staying together around their tower. Perhaps the creative work of their hands would be more important in their lives than God would be! And the city and the tower would hopefully keep them all in one place. Together they could become famous and make a name for themselves. It might be that they forgot to include God in their tower building plans or to ask Him for His direction in their lives. The sins of self-sufficiency and pride might have been reasons that God was not pleased with their tower. They might have wanted to build a monument to their own strength and might and in their prideful rush just left God out of their plans.



God never likes to be left out of our plans or our lives. He doesn’t like us building our towers without Him. Scripture says that God is jealous when His children forget Him. (Exodus 34:14) The story of the Prodigal Son reminds us that the Father missed His oldest son so much and waited and watched anxiously for his return. (Luke 15:11-32) And God waits for us too. He so wants us to open our hearts and our lives to Him. Let’s make sure we do that.

Jesus Promises Peace, But Do We Have It?

Jesus Promises Peace, But Do We Have It?

God has promised many good things to His children. And one of those things is peace. Shortly before Jesus went back to heaven he gave His peace to His disciples and also promised it to all who believe in Him. This is His promise to His disciples and to us:



“My peace I leave with you, My peace I give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:2)



Everywhere in Scripture the believer is promised peace and is told not to worry. This special peace is part of our inheritance as Gods’ children. It’s a wonderful gift we have been given – a life free from anxiety and fighting and fear. But have we all received it? And if we have received it, do we know how to hold on to it? I love the peace and joy I have in Jesus, but I don’t always hang onto it. When trouble comes around, my heart often pounds with fear? Jesus has promised that He will overcome our troubles for us. But I so quickly forget. Jesus reminds us:



“…In Me you have peace. In the world you will have troubles, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b) Scripture tells us that Jesus will over come every evil and through Jesus we will be over comers too!



We don’t understand how, but God can take our biggest troubles and our nastiest problems and work them around for good. “All things work together for good to those who believe, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God promises to be with us and get us through our troubles. “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalms 91:15) and “Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not afraid for I am thy God, I will strengthen you, yes I will help you, yes I will uphold you with the right hand of My Righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)



With God promising to take care of us, we can relax and be at peace. We never need to be afraid when troubles come. We may not understand how this promised victory will be accomplished. Sometimes we may not see it until after we die. But we are promised victory through Jesus and we can be sure that He will deliver. Since God has us covered we can practice trusting Him through our hassles and continue resting in our peace.



Along with our gift of supernatural peace, Jesus has also given us a new commandment. “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, as I have loved you; that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)



It looks like we don’t just passively receive Jesus’ gift of peace, but we are commanded to actively live out our lives keeping that peace by loving others. In order to keep the peace gift, we have to live the life! Wouldn’t you know it? We can’t gossip and criticize and hate folks in our church and expect to hang onto our gift of peace! Forgiveness and love and peace all go together.



Along with this commandment, there are many Scripture passages showing us the part we can play in order to keep this peace from slipping away. We are commanded to forgive the people that hurt us and to love and live in peace as much as we can. Let’s listen to just a few of these commands from the Bible. “Pursue peace with all people, …looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14a-15) This passage tells us that we can’t allow bitterness into our lives and hang onto our peace. Peace and bitterness won’t stay in the same room together. So you will have to decide which one you want to keep around.



Another Bible passage tells us: “When angry, do not sin: do not let your anger last until the sun goes down.” (Ephesians 4:26) This passage is telling us not to hang onto our anger but to move on and forgive quickly. We can’t hold on to our anger and hang on to our peace at the same time. If we want to keep Gods’ peace we will have to obey Gods’ commands to love and forgive.



Another passage tells us to make up with any person that you are having an argument with before coming into church with your gift. “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift on the altar, and go and first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24) It is more important to God that first we keep the peace with our brother before we give our gift to Him.



It sounds like we have to try to get along with everyone doesn’t it? And if the other person refuses to get along with us we are told to forgive them and pray for them and love them anyway! There is one person who presently hates me that I am trying not to hate back– but instead to pray for and love this one. I make it and love them sometimes and unfortunately sometimes I don’t. It’s a challenge. But if I return the bad feelings I will lose the peace God gave me!



Every time we pray the Lords’ prayer, we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Matthew 6:12) Guess we better start learning to forgive others if we are going to pray the Lords’ prayer in church and mean it! Since God has forgiven us for all of our sins, He expects us to forgive other people when they sin against us. Refusing to forgive will cost us our peace. So even though Gods’ peace is a free gift, there is a price we have to pay to keep it.



Along this same line, Jesus tells the parable of the king who forgives one of his servants of an enormous debt he owes, only to find the same servant turning around and throwing another person in prison for owing him a small debt. The king hears about this and gets angry. He calls his servant back and makes him pay his huge debt after all. (Matthew 18:23-25) Jesus’ point in this story is that we are expected to forgive others since God has forgiven us. It isn’t an option. Christians are commanded to forgive and to try to live in peace. It’s all tied together.



Scripture tells believers not to go to court and sue one another. Let’s listen: “But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?” (1 Corinthians 6:6-7) You see, sometimes we may have to be cheated in order to follow Jesus and keep the peace.



We read in Scripture about how powerfully the Holy Spirit worked through the early Christian church. The early Christian church was blessed constantly with healings and miracles and thousands of people came to Christ through their witness. Don’t we sometimes wonder why we don’t have the same dramatic conversions and healings today in our churches that they had? Scripture also records that they were all united and in agreement with one another and constantly cared for one another. They always kept the peace. (Acts 2:44-47) Could it be that Gods’ powerful anointing was with the early church because they were united and demonstrated love? They kept the peace and were all of one accord. Was that their secret?



The Lord not only commands peace to be our inheritance but He also commands us to keep that peace by forgiving those who hurt us and by loving and serving others. Many of us don’t hold onto our peace because we don’t obey His commands to forgive and love others. We are tempted to get angry and hold grudges. We become critical and unforgiving and tell ourselves that we have that right. But as Christians we don’t have that right. Love isn’t just a feeling, it is a decision. Forgiving and loving is a way of behaving.



As we travel through life we will have many opportunities to practice Jesus’ command to love and forgive. We can consider each offensive situation we encounter where we feel like responding with anger, as a challenge instead to respond with love and forgiveness. We are not really fighting against irritating people but we are fighting against the powers and principalities of the devil. The Bible says that we will be tested by God (1 Thessalonians 2:4), so we can use each test as a learning experience in this school of life. Life is sometimes described in Scripture as a battle and God has given us armor to put on to fight in the battle. (Ephesians 6:11) And the armor God has given us to put on our feet are the shoes of peace. (Ephesians 6:15)



So let’s walk through this life wearing our shoes of peace ---the ones God has given us. Let’s not ever take those walking peace shoes off - even for a minute. Not let hate the person who hates us. Surprise them with love and keep our peace. Might not be so bad after all –a life resting in Jesus’ peace - a life free from resentment and hate and anxiety! Jesus has left us this gift of peace, so let’s enjoy it – hang on to it. Do whatever it takes!

Born Again - Paul Before and After

Born Again - Paul Before and After

Saul was a Jewish religious leader- a Pharisee- and he hated Christians! The Christians were preaching that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died to take away sins. And Saul was threatened by this dangerous doctrine! As a Pharisee, he and his fellow priests controlled the Jewish people with the Law. The religious leaders might have to give up some of their money, power and influence if too many Jews started believing in this Jesus. And Saul couldn’t let this happen!



As a zealot, Saul constantly fasted and tithed and prayed and spent his life studying the religious Law with the other Pharisees. He was proud that he obeyed the Torah, kept all of the ordinances and sacrificed daily in the temple. He was so much better than the ordinary Jew. God must be pleased with his diligence. But those evil Christians! Saul needed to kill as many Christians as he could to protect God’s laws and to keep Judaism pure.



So getting rid of Christians became Saul’s main passion in life. He would frantically rush from house to house in Jerusalem searching out Christians to arrest and put in chains. Hundreds of Christian men and women were dragged off to prison by Saul, causing many believers to run away and hide in towns outside of Jerusalem. Saul was there when the mob stoned Stephen and he tirelessly plotted to have other Christians executed as well. By getting rid of Christians he believed he was doing God’s work and he was proud of it. Soon with all of his intense ambitious efforts, praise God, these believers in Jesus would be a thing of the past.



Saul wasn’t satisfied to just kill the Christians in Jerusalem. He needed to stamp them all out, so he turned his energies to catching the believers who had been scattered to the towns outside of Jerusalem. We read in Scripture that he obtained letters of permission to arrest any Christians he could find in Damascus (150 miles away) and bring them back in chains. “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2)



So as Saul was traveling with his men along the road to Damascus, and looking forward soon to be dragging more Christians away to prison; an amazing thing happened. It was nearly noon and suddenly a light from heaven blazed down around Saul. Saul fell to the ground terrified and then he heard a voice speaking to him. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4) Trembling and astonished, Saul asked: “Who are you, Lord?” And then the voice from heaven answered: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” (Acts 9:5b) Shaking with fear Saul asked: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” And Jesus answered: “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:6b)



The men traveling with Saul stood on the road speechless since they also heard the voice from heaven. Saul got up but the bright light from heaven had blinded him and he couldn’t see. The men with him led him by the hand into Damascus and for three days Saul sat alone in a house not being able to see and refusing to eat or drink.



Ananias was one of the Christians who lived in Damascus. The Lord came to Ananias in a vision and gave him the address of the house where Saul was staying. Then God told him to go to Saul and lay hands on him and pray for him to get his sight back. Ananias was afraid and reminded the Lord that Saul had harmed many Christians. But the Lord answered him: “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16)



Ananias obeyed God and went to the house where Saul was staying and laid hands on Saul and prayed for him. He said: “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17b)



When Ananias prayed for him, Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit. Something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. And then Saul began worshiping with the other Christians in Damascus and immediately began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Some of the Christians were still frightened of him and all the believers were totally amazed that the man who had hated them so much now loved them and was one of them. But Saul was so excited about his new love for Jesus that he didn’t waste any time going about preaching and bringing as many people to Christ as he could. The Church’s worst human enemy had become her greatest friend.



Saul was as intense and anxious to spread the good news that Jesus is Lord and Savior as he had been in earlier days to stop the spread of the good news of Jesus. Soon the religious leaders were trying to kill Saul because he was making disciples for Christ everywhere he went. When Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he accepted Jesus and was “born again”. He became a new person. He even got a new name.



We all know the old Saul as the new “Paul” - the one who tirelessly spread the Christian faith to the Gentiles. Over the years Paul had to suffer and pay the price for his faith in Jesus. He suffered whippings and shipwrecks and he was thrown in prison on many occasions. And tradition has it that he was hung upside down on a cross and martyred in Rome. But during his lifetime he planted new churches everywhere he traveled, and we have all been blessed by the letters the Holy Spirit wrote through Paul to those new churches. He wrote letters of instruction to the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, the Thessalonians, and the Romans. And Paul’s letters in the New Testament are written for us too.



Paul changed and became a new person with a new direction after he met Jesus there on the road to Damascus. And we also become new persons with new directions after we meet Jesus. Jesus comes to give us His Holy Spirit and change us. Jesus describes this change as being “born again”. (John 3:3) Jesus says that without being born again we cannot enter the kingdom of God.



Jesus came for Paul on the road in a blaze of heavenly light but Jesus comes for us too. He may not come for us in as dramatic a way as He did for Paul. I think Paul was a special case and Jesus met him where he was. But Jesus meets us where we are too. When Paul realized that Jesus was God and Savior, he gave his life (his will, his plans, his energies, etc.) to Jesus and Jesus baptized him with the Holy Spirit and came to live in his heart. That is what it means to be “born again”. A “born again” person doesn’t belong to himself anymore. He is under new management and belongs to Jesus. Paul later bragged: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20b)



Paul said “yes” to Jesus when he met Him on the Damascus road and he was “born again”. And we need to say “yes” to Jesus too and be “born again”. It will be the most important thing that we will ever do.

An Angel Tells Philip Where to Go

An Angel Tells Philip Where to Go

The Bible story begins with an angel giving instructions. “Now an angel of the Lord told Philip, ‘Go south to the road –the desert road -that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” (Acts 8:26) We don’t know if Philip actually saw the angel or if the angels’ message was delivered to him in a dream. But right away Philip obeyed the angels’ command and started walking down the road through the desert to Gaza. Gaza was about fifty miles from Jerusalem.



As Philip was on his way he passed an important Ethiopian official riding along in a chariot and reading the book of Isaiah as he was traveling. Scripture says that this Ethiopian was a eunuch (a man who had been altered sexually) who worked for Candace, queen of Ethiopia. He probably had been sexually altered so that he could be trusted to work closely with the queen. Eunuchs back then were used in Oriental courts to fill positions of high authority. We aren’t told his name, but he was in charge of all the queens’ treasury. This Ethiopian had gone to Jerusalem to worship and now he was on his way back home.



And as Philip was passing the Ethiopian on the road he got a second message from the Lord. This time his instructions didn’t come from an angel but from the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go over to that chariot and stay near it.’”. (Acts 8:29) And again Philip heard and obeyed the Spirits’ instructions! “Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading from Isaiah the prophet.” (Acts 8:30a) The Ethiopian was sitting in his chariot reading aloud as he traveled down the road.



“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. (Acts 8:30b)



“How can I unless someone explains it to me?” the Ethiopian answered. (Acts 8:31)



So Philip got up in the chariot and sat with the Ethiopian and the two continued traveling down the desert road together. The Ethiopian was reading a passage of Scripture from Isaiah 53:7-8.



“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

And as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Who can speak of his descendants?

For his life was taken from the earth.”



“Tell me, please, who is Isaiah talking about, himself or someone else?” the Ethiopian asked Philip. (Acts 8:34) He really wanted to know the Scriptures and have a deeper relationship with God.



So Philip explained that in the passage where Isaiah was describing the sheep that was led to the slaughter and the lamb that was silent before the shearer, that he was describing Jesus. And the Suffering Servant, pictured in the book of Isaiah, is also a picture of Jesus Christ, Son of God, and Savior. Philip went through the scriptures with the Ethiopian and shared the good news that Jesus had died to take away our sin. And the Ethiopian kept nodding and smiling and asking more questions.



After the two men had been talking and traveling together for a good long time, they came upon a pool of water beside the road. The Ethiopian said, “Look, here is some water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” (Acts 8: 36) And Philip answered, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And the Ethiopian answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts 8:37)



So they stopped the chariot and the two men got out and went down into the water. And with great joy, Philip baptized the Ethiopian. As soon as they came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit carried Philip away out of the Ethiopians’ sight. And thus the story ends with the Ethiopian getting back into his chariot and traveling on down the road rejoicing that he has found Jesus as his Lord and Savior.



This short story from the Bible perhaps leaves us with some questions. For one, the curtain is pulled back and we see that angels sometimes serve as messengers to Gods’ people. Not only in this story but throughout the Bible there are stories of angels coming to the aid of believers. Angels have also been known to protect believers, feed them, and assist them when they are in need. All of these angelic actions and more have been recorded in Scripture.



We may be questioning why we don’t get directions from an angel like Philip did. Or could there be occasions in our lives when there have been messages delivered to us or angelic intervention taken on our behalf and we didn’t even recognize it? Indeed we read from Hebrews 13:2: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels unawares.”



We can not get away from the fact that, in this story, Philip would not have been able to meet the Ethiopian and bring him to faith in Jesus, if he had not on several occasions received supernatural guidance. After the angel told him to walk down the Gaza road, Philip still received more guidance with the Holy Spirit telling him to walk over to the Ethiopians’ chariot and to stay near it. Philip was a great evangelist. Many thousands of people came to Christ through his preaching. But we can see that he didn’t lead people to Christ in his own strength. He must have been open and listening for the Holy Spirits’ voice to show him what to do.



But the question may still linger. Why don’t we get instructions from a visible angel like Philip did? I don’t know all of the reasons, but in reading the book of Acts we do notice that the twelve apostles seem to have received more of the charismatic gifts - like the power to heal and prophesy and evangelize. These dramatic gifts perhaps made the apostles more visible to the public, and angelic intervention might have been recorded more often when it occurred with these public figures that were in the limelight. The rest of the believers often seemed to be given gifts like serving or teaching or helping. Since every believer is a part of the body of Christ, we are each given different gifts by the same Holy Spirit. We can not all be an eye or an elbow. We function differently in the body. But all the gifts are useful and important.



Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you and watch over you.” We have Gods’ promises here and everywhere in Scripture that He will always be with us. But do we sometimes forget His promise that He is present with us? He promises to continually teach us how to live. But do we take time to listen for His teaching?



Perhaps the Holy Spirit has tried to speak to us again and again but we have been too busy to listen. Could it be that we can’t hear His quiet voice over the noise of our games and shows and the stuff that clutters our lives? When the angel told Philip to walk down the road to Gaza, he heard and obeyed right away. He had a listening heart and he didn’t let anything get in the way. God was able to do great things through Philip because Philip’s whole life was about loving God. If we have a listening heart and our whole life is about loving God then He will be able to do great things through us too.