Acts 14-16

Acts 14
Acts 14 opens with Paul and Barnabas in the midst of their first missionary journey. In Acts 13 we find Paul having his first confrontation with Jews who refuse to listen to Jesus. In Acts 14 we find the Jews again refusing to listen, but they also go one step further: "[they] stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers." In the midst of their opposition Paul and Barnabas spend a considerable amount of time there teaching about the grace of God. The opposition didn't let up, however, and Paul and Barnabas had to leave to save their lives.

Acts 14 also shares an incredible story where the people believe Paul and Barnabas are Greek gods. They are dismayed and they use it as an opportunity to correct and teach them about God; unfortunately, Paul is stoned for his effort!

In the midst of all of the difficult circumstances that Paul and Barnabas encountered, here's how they respond when they return to their sending church in Antioch: "They gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (14:27)

Wow! I am amazed by their dedication, and I hope that I can respond in the same way in difficult circumstances.

Acts 15
The question that always faced the early church was who was in and who was out. In Acts 15 the Jew/Gentile conflict comes to a head. The Jewish Christians thought of Christianity as a sect of Judaism. Thus, converts to Christianity had to become Jewish (i.e. through circumcision) in order to be good followers of Christ.

Paul takes the issue up before the disciples in Jerusalem. Peter also speaks up on behalf of the Gentiles. Finally, James the brother of Jesus spoke, and the church decided there were only four requirements:

1. Abstain from food sacrificed to idols
2. Abstain from food with blood still in it: this was to allow Jewish background and Gentile background Christians to eat together. Jews let all of the blood out of their meat before they ate; the Gentiles would often cook the meat with all of the blood still in it.
3. Abstain from the meat of strangled animals: This really flows from the first two; Gentile sacrifices were then sold in the butcher shop. The way you sacrificed to the Greco-Roman gods was to twist the neck of the animal and then offer it as a sacrifice. Thus, this retains the blood in the animal. All of these are tied together.
4. Abstain from sexual immorality

Thus, they decided that Christians don't have to become Jews to be followers of Christ.

How does this apply to us today? Well, in some ways it doesn't. But I do think the IDEA applies today. So often we bind things on people that they must do: they must have their lives together to be a follower of Christ. They must not do anything wrong. They must look perfect. I think this tells us that we DON'T have to have it all together; we simply have to follow Christ and his commandments.

What are your thoughts?

Acts 16
I am always amazed by the role the Holy Spirit plays throughout the book of Acts. We find the Holy Spirit calling people to ministry (Acts 13), falling on the disciples and empowering them (Acts 2ff), falling on Gentiles before they were converted (Acts 10), etc. Now we find the Holy Spirit NOT allowing Paul to go into upper Asia Minor. Instead, the Holy Spirit directs Paul to Europe, to the area of Macedonia and Greece, where Paul makes his first European convert.

What we find is the story of two conversions:
First, Lydia is converted (and probably becomes a prominent member of the church that begins to meet.)

Second, Paul converts his jailer after God releases him from prison. (More on this tomorrow.) But here is his conversion story. The jailer is amazed by Paul and Silas, and asks them "What must I do to be saved?" Paul tells him to believe, then he immediately takes him and baptizes his whole household. Throughout the book of Acts salvation is tied to both faith and baptism.

We will discuss this story more later, but I love his humble response. God shakes up his world, and immediately he looks for salvation. I think that is the story of so many in our community. God is constantly working in their lives in amazing ways, and we must be on the lookout for those that God is touching.

What are your thoughts on these chapters?

Acts 11-13

Hey guys, sorry it has been so long. I am posting 11-13 here, and 14 and 15 tomorrow, then we will be caught up. Again, sorry about the delay. Hope you are keeping up with your reading.

Acts 11:
I love the story of Barnabas, "The Son of Encouragement." Barnabas seems to have the gift of discernment and encouragement; he always seems to know those who have the best hearts and those who are truly seeking to follow God. Here's what we know about him: "He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord." What an amazing thought! Barnabas was the one who spoke up for Paul before the disciples; he was the one sent to Antioch to encourage the new Christians and to teach them in their faith. And he was the one who brought Paul to Antioch to minister to the people there.

I hope I can be a Barnabas in the lives of other people.

Acts 12:
During this time we begin to see the church being truly persecuted. Herod gets in on the action, having the apostle James killed for his faith and jailing Peter. He surrounded him with soldiers, and yet God STILL managed to pull of a miraculous escape.

One of the things that always sticks out to me about this story is the actions of the church. Luke tells us that the church is gathered together praying for Peter's release. Yet when Peter shows up they are sure that he had died! Rather than believing their prayers worked, they instead think that the worst has happened!

Don't we sometimes pray like that too? I know I do. I pray that God will act, but then I try to explain it away when he actually does. It seems like I could have been an integral part of this church's ministry!

Acts 13:
How do you make decisions in your own life? How did you decide to go to KU? How did you decide what to major in? How do you know what God wants you to do in your life?

These are important questions to consider.

In Acts 13 we find the church in Antioch engaged in worship and fasting. It seems like this is a typical part of their practice. In the midst of their worship the Holy Spirit told them to send Paul and Barnabas out on a trip to spread the Gospel.

It doesn't seem like Paul and Barnabas are looking to leave; it doesn't even seem like the church is looking to send people out as missionaries. However, when the Holy Spirit speaks, they listen!

What do they do next? They continue to do what they were doing before! They continued to fast and pray about the Lord's decision, then they decided to obey. They blessed Paul and Barnabas and then sent them out to do the Lord's work.

I sometimes think that I refuse to listen to God's leading in my life. Sometimes I spend all of my time praying about the future and forget to listen for God to lead me!

Ultimately, however, I think God's guidance comes from a life of worship, fasting, and prayer. These practices don't seem to be new for the church; rather, they seem to be a part of their system of worship. I believe that our hearts become attuned to the heart of God as we worship him and seek to honor and glorify him.

What are your thoughts on our passages?

Acts 9-10

Imagine a complete transformation, where God totally makes a person turn 180 degrees from the way they were going.

Jeffrey Dahmer was a mass murderer, killing (and eating) 17 boys over 13 years. (Sorry to be graphic.) Dahmer was convicted and sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences (totaling over 900 years). While in prison God changed the heart of Dahmer; he began to read and study the Bible and came to faith in Christ. He repented of his sins and was baptized by a local Church of Christ minister in 1994. What an amazing story! God's transforming power is for ALL people, not just those who the world thinks of as "good." No one would have ever imagined that Dahmer would feel sorry for what he'd done, let alone become a follower of Christ. God truly works in amazing ways.

2000 years ago we would have encountered another murderer. This man took pride in dragging people out of their homes and throwing them in prison, even in having them killed! Yet on the road to Damascus God caused Saul to have a transformational experience. Jesus blinded Saul (aka Paul) in order that he might truly SEE God. Ananias baptized him into Christ three days later. From that moment on Paul becomes passionate about the Gospel of Jesus. God caused him to have a transformational experience that transformed not only HIS life, but the history of the entire world.

Isn't God good! What did you learn?
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Who's in and who's out? That's the real question in Acts 10. Before this most Christians had been former Jews or God-fearers (people who believe in God but didn't take the drastic circumcision step.) In Acts 10 God tells Peter to stop trying to decide who is in and who is out of the church. God sent Jesus to save everyone who believes and chooses him as their LORD and Savior. Peter sees the Holy Spirit poured out on these Gentiles and he baptizes them on the spot!

We so often decide who can and can't come to church based on their outward appearance or their background. Maybe we should trust that God's Spirit is at work in the world in the lives of those TOTALLY unlike us and look to see where God is moving. Just a thought.

What do you think about these two chapters?

Acts 7

One man is hauled in front of the Sanhedrin on trumped up charges. He is accused of blasphemy and wanting to destroy the Temple of the LORD. The religious leaders are afraid that he (and the movement he is a part of) will overthrow their power and bring about a new religious revolution.

Sound familiar? This sounds a lot like the story of Jesus, which played out this week two thousand years ago. Jesus is hauled up in front of the religious leaders, who have been looking for a way to kill him for years. They accuse him of blasphemy, present false witnesses (a breaking of the Ten Commandments), and then arrange to have him murdered (yet another break with the 10 Commandments.)

And the exact same thing happens to Stephen. Stephen is a man full of the Holy Spirit who serves the church in Jerusalem. The religious leaders are afraid of the miracles he is doing in the name of Christ, and they arrange to have him killed.

Stephen sums up the story of the Old Testament in his sermon. As he traces the history of the people of Israel, he talks about all of the times they were "hard-hearted," turning their backs on the LORD and his messengers.

What really riles them up, however, is the fact that he downplays the Temple. "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?' says the LORD. 'Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?'"

This totally ticks off the religious elite, who are holding Stephen based on his blasphemy of the Temple. Then Stephen attacks their stubbornness, and reminds them that the Jews killed most of their prophets, and now they've killed the Son of God. At this point, they have him killed.

One of the things that stands out to me in this passage, however, is who was there. Saul (later known as Paul) is standing there giving his approval. After his conversion, Paul comes to the city of Athens and looks up at the Parthenon, a temple to Athena (and the other gods of Greece.) As he speaks to the Areopagus in the shadow of the Parthenon, he tells them: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands." Wow, that sounds a lot like Stephen's statements in Acts 7. Isn't it amazing to think that Paul, the man who holds their coats while they stone Stephen, takes Stephen's words to heart in Acts 17 and uses them in a sermon of his own?

Isn't God good, that he can use tragic events to bring about amazing consequences.

What did you learn from this chapter?