Acts, Chapter 3

In returning to Acts today we see the beginnings of the church after the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit had now been given to the disciples as well as the rest of the church, and as we saw in chapter 2, things were quickly happening. Three thousand people came to the faith that first day, so we can only imagine what the early church was going to accomplish with plenty of time to prepare, to worship, and to spread the gospel.

Perhaps the most marked change came in Peter, a man who was always so gung-ho for Christ yet still struggled with his messages. In Matthew 16 we see Peter, then known as Simon, getting praised and told that he would be the rock upon whom Christ would build his church. Just a few verses later Jesus rebukes him for showing a lack of faith in Christ's words. Peter was an up and down character, but here we begin to see the strength of leadership he was later known for.

"6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God." – Acts 3:6-8

Here the same man that lacked faith in Luke 5:5-8 now has the faith and ability to perform miracles in the name of the Lord. This is nothing short of astonishing, as in the verses mentioned in Luke Peter doubted that Christ could simply catch fish after failing to catch any all night. This is a powerful testament to the changing power of the Holy Spirit. We can experience this ourselves when we become emboldened by faith in trusting God.

I know a personal example of comes from the Advent Conspiracy, which I mentioned yesterday. Earlier this year during the summer I was facing a precarious work situation. There is no way we could have taken up this financial challenge then because of the circumstances of the time. We continued to tithe faithfully though, knowing that God has promised we would never miss it. Now just four months later my wife and I have been blessed so much that we can return this blessing through the Advent Conspiracy. It's not quite healing a crippled beggar in the sight of many, but it is the fulfillment of a faith promise.

"13The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this." – Acts 3:13-15

What God was able to do for my wife and I was a very minor miracle of smart financial planning. Raising Christ from the dead though is the greatest achievement ever witnessed by man, and as a result Peter was restored to the faith. Imagine what it must have been like for someone such as Peter, who had seen Christ dead, then He was living three days later. Millions if not billions have believed this miracle for centuries, but here is a man that actually saw the miracle and is testifying to it! How different is this from an eyewitness account of any event covered on CNN? Just because it was written down 2,000 years ago does not mean it didn't happen.

If Christ had lived today and was crucified only to rise again on the third day it would be the most covered event in history and no one would ever be able to deny He was the Son of Man. It would be on CNN with live reporting by Anderson Cooper from Jerusalem and beamed around the globe instantly. Because this was written down so long ago many dismiss it as a fairy tale instead of proof of the loving God. This is not the time or the place to get into how this will be counterfeited by the Antichrist during the end times, but what we see here at the end of Acts 3 is essentially an eyewitness account of the biggest news story in history.

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

1. Why did God work in such dramatic miracles then, but not now?
   
2. Why would Peter use such forceful, accusatory language with the onlookers?
   
3. Would Christ's death and resurrection have more impact today when it could be witnessed, or back then where we must act on faith it happened?

The Advent Conspiracy

I wanted to take a break today from Acts in order to promote something that has become very close to my heart. Those who know me know that I can be very cynical when it comes to the ways of the world, almost to the point of bitterness. This is especially true when it comes to the holiday of Christmas, which each year seems to depart further and further from its true roots all for the sake of not offending someone.

What I do believe in though is making a difference, and that is why I am here today. With the Christmas season nearly upon us my church here in Indianapolis has decided to take up a challenge that, if successful, could have world-altering after effects. We are calling it The Advent Conspiracy, and in effect it is simply a group of twenty and thirty-year olds sacrificing part of our own Christmas budgets in order to make a positive difference in the lives of thousands. As the message says, we are wanting to worship Christ through compassion, not consumption. This is not a crusade against the traditional Christmas asking you to give up everything entirely in order to support a cause. This is merely recognizing that we are blessed and giving part of that blessing back as the true spirit of Christmas. It is inspired by the story of Christmas in Matthew 2 where it is announced that Christ came to earth in order to change things dramatically. His coming was part of a conspiracy that had those in charge at the time (specifically Herod) shaking in fear at what was to come. We are not seeking fear, but we are seeking change from the typical consumption of the Christmas season.

The challenge is quite simple. We have an average congregation of 200 people. Our leadership estimated that if 200 people could give $200 at Christmas, roughly 25% of what the average person spends on Christmas, we could do something dramatic. Since there are those who like to think big though, we got another idea on top of it. What if each person of those 200 could inspire ten more people to give the same $200? That's 2000 giving $200, and is just a mind-blowing figure that only the Lord can truly accomplish.

We have four tiers of giving, and they can be seen on the website mentioned above. Each tier will positively affect the lives of thousands of individuals that would otherwise not be affected without this challenge. Instead of saying you got this and that for Christmas, you can say that you got together with some friends to save a school, feed and help the homeless of Indianapolis, provide clean water for people in Rwanda who would otherwise die without it, and help stop such despicable acts such as forced prostitution and sex-trafficking.

I don't know about you, but this certainly makes my "want" of a Playstation 3 a little less important.

It is also a very easy challenge to complete. If accepted, one needs only agree to donate $25 a week over the next eight weeks of the advent season in order to fulfill the obligation. The $200 limit is just a goal, as one can always give more and even if you give less whatever is given will be greatly appreciated. Personally I am humbled that God has prepared my wife and I through an up and down year financially to give our portion merely from extra funds I would earn from something I love doing. By covering a mere six basketball games this upcoming season, money I would normally just store away for a rainy day, we can commit ourselves to this cause.

I am also humbled that God has put me in a position through this blog, my other blog, and the connections I have to inspire others. As I have said many times throughout the course of writing here, I don't know why I am supposed to do it, I am merely supposed to write this and let God work in people's hearts. I cannot make people take up this challenge, but I can put it out there and let God work on people's hearts. This is how I choose to make a difference this Christmas season.

http://www.adventconspiracyindy.com/

Acts, Chapter 2

We now come to the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in a dramatic show of God's power. While yesterday we saw the twelve do their best to hold things together after the physical departure of Christ, today we see what they were able to accomplish with the Holy Spirit. These had to be confusing times for these men. They had lost their leader. They had been commissioned with a monumental task, and they were still subject to persecution from their own people because of the way the Jews hated Christ and His followers.

"1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." – Acts 2:1-4

While I agree that the Holy Spirit is alive in all of us, I have never felt a violent wind from heaven or had a tongue of fire come to rest on me. This is quite a dramatic announcement for the coming of the Holy Spirit, but we must remember that this is the beginning of the church that would span centuries. In this very moment the commission that these men had been given became clear and they knew what they had to do. They were blessed with the power to carry the gospel to every nation and the ability to speak the language of the local people when they got there. Who else but God could bestow these gifts?

Perhaps the most dramatic change we see comes from Peter, whom was told by Christ in Matthew 16:18 that he would be the rock upon which Christ would build His church. Peter always was a leader who ran too far ahead during Christ's life on earth and often had to be disciplined. This discipline came from love though, as Christ knew the plans He had for Peter. Peter, of course, is also famous for denying Christ three times when he said he would stand strong before the crucifixion. Here we see him stepping forward and becoming that church leader he would be. There would still be some faults, as later we'll see his disagreement with Paul over the gospel, but it is in these moments that Peter truly begins to develop.

"38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." 40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." – Acts 2:38-41

Can you imagine three thousand believers coming to the faith from one message, in one place, in one day? This just shows the phenomenal power of the Holy Spirit and how the early church just exploded from such a small core group. This is one of those glorious, joyous times in the early church before persecution and struggle would set in. We'll see in future chapters how the very people who attempted to kill Christ and put an end to His radical movement would become alarmed at the growth of the church. Those that killed Him thought His followers would disperse once He was gone, but now we see the church growing exponentially mere weeks after His death and resurrection. There were many more than these 3,000 too, as that was simply a one day experience. This chapter ends with the mention that many more were coming to the faith daily. Imagine what would happen in the world if there were that much of an awakening today!

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

1. Though you may not have experienced tongues of fire, what was your experience when you first felt the Holy Spirit work in your life?
   
2. Why was such a dramatic show of God's power necessary?
   
3. How is God calling you to be a leader and spread His word?

Acts, Chapter 1

I was going to step into the Old Testament briefly, well, not so briefly when you consider the book, and do some work on Isaiah. This morning when I woke up and opened my Bible, however, I felt drawn to Acts because of the way it builds a base for what we have studied recently in Romans, Hebrews, and the rest of the New Testament. So on to Acts it is, where we begin with Jesus Himself and we are introduced to the person that is Paul.

"7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." – Acts 1:7-9

One would think that the final words Jesus had for his disciples on earth would be important, and what could be more important than the blessing of the Holy Spirit? His message here is one of faith. We must wait faithfully for the Father to work and deliver what He has promised. Next we see the promise of the Holy Spirit, which lives in all of us and allows for the message of Christ to be carried to the ends of the earth. After He was taken up to heaven Christ wanted His disciples to get right to work, as they were told to begin spreading the good news almost immediately after he had faded from sight. There would be no waiting for His return as promised because there was work to do.

This left the church at a key crossroads, and when you think of things strictly from a secular perspective it is amazing that the church has come has far as it has. We see in verse 15 that there was a core group of about 120 believers. Sure there were more, but this is the core group. They had just had the object of their faith physically leave them, and they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. How easily could the whole message died right there? Yet we know through Scripture that this group spread the message like wildfire across centuries of war, persecution, and disbelief to what we have today. We know so little about the first century world yet this message has been the most enduring across the ages from that time. Is this mere coincidence? I don't think so.

20"For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, 'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, 'May another take his place of leadership.' 21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." – Acts 1:20-22

The first order of business was to replace Judas. As much as the church would grow over the next several years there was still a strong need for leadership and continuity among the twelve. The early church had come to rely on 12 solid leaders to function, therefore Judas needed to be replaced. Though we hear little of Matthias in Scripture beyond his selection here in Acts, we can rest assured that he served a role similar to the other apostles. It is not known if he suffered a martyr's death like everyone else but John suffered, but surely he spread the message of Christ far and wide because he was called.

Much of what we see here at the end of chapter one is merely window dressing for the events of chapter two, where the Holy Spirit is given to the early church. I won't spoil the message for tomorrow, but the anointing in the Holy Spirit may be the most important gift to mankind short of the actual birth, life, and sacrifice of Christ.

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

1. What did Christ mean when he said they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit?
   
2. How has the faith of His return endured through nearly 2,000 years of waiting?
   
3. Why was it important for Matthias to replace Judas?

Romans, Chapter 16

We've reached the end of our journey in Romans, and while Paul has his typical greetings and prayers for his cronies of the day as he prepared to go to Rome there is still plenty of good news to take from this chapter. The first 16 verses of chapter 16 are nothing more than greetings and encouragement sent to other believers of the day that may go down as footnotes to history, but they were probably doing incredible work at the time for the kingdom of God. What we see is that though Paul received much of the glory of the New Testament through his writing, there were literally hundreds if not thousands of others who were encouraged by his preaching and took up their own crosses to serve. Paul himself reminds us in Romans 1:12 to mutually encourage others in our faith and he achieves that here.

So what benefit does this have? Well, much like working out at the gym, we often cannot do this alone. Think of the encouragement that we give other believers as kind of a spiritual spotting during a particularly strenuous workout. There is nothing harder in this world than the feeling that you are going at something totally alone. When we gather and encourage each other our spirits are lifted and we can be refreshed to go out and continue the work God has placed upon us. Paul shows this by encouraging many of the early believers that he ran into here at the end of Romans, and this carries over to the present day. On Tuesday nights my wife and I attend a Bible study sponsored by our church here in Indianapolis. Each week we walk away encouraged and refreshed by spending some midweek time in fellowship with our friends and with Christ. Though our group is small, we encourage each other to go out and live as we have been called to live. Because of this encouragement it makes things like this blog I have been called to do much easier.

"17I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." – Romans 16:17-18

This is another area in which encouragement between believers comes through as a form of assistance. This can sometimes be an act of spiritual warfare as we have talked about earlier, or it can simply be people who have their own agenda contrary to what we believe. In either case we are confronted with something that can trip us up and cause us to lose our way. It's hard to keep away from them too because sometimes this division comes from friends and family that we love and want to reach for the benefit of the kingdom. It is important to remember we don't want to avoid the person though, but the obstacles put forth by that person that may trip us up. Unity will always triumph over division, as years and years of playing sports for fragmented teams have taught me that much. We must be unified in Christ through encouragement to win the day.

"25Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen." – Romans 16:25-27

Paul ends Romans by giving the glory to Christ, as we should do in everything. Many scholars view Romans as one of the most important books in the Bible because of the way it outlines the plan for salvation. Though Paul could take credit for this and glorify himself he chose instead to glorify God for His work. We can apply this lesson simply by glorifying God each day for the work we have done since He is the one who provides for that strength.

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

1. How does encouragement between you and fellow believers help you serve?
   
2. What types of divisions and obstacles do you face in your spiritual walk?
   
3. How do you give glory to God each day?

Romans, Chapter 15

Yesterday we saw that there are differences in the amount of faith people have. We were warned against condemning those with less faith or a different type of faith than we have as long as Christ is the author and perfector of that faith. Today we see the result of our own faith is to build others up regardless of what happens. We are here on earth not to merely grow and be selfish with the message we have been given. We are here to build others up and spread the gospel.

"1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." – Romans 15:1-4

Look at the example Christ set before us. As the only person who was ever both fully God and fully man he could have easily become the most powerful leader in the history of the world. The Jews were upset with Him because He did not become the conquering hero they expected. Instead he establish and an attitude and a pattern of servanthood. He lowered Himself not only to our level, but one further by becoming a servant for all mankind. Though He was given all the power in the universe He chose not to abuse this power, but to serve as we see based on the promises pointed out later in the chapter.

This is how we must live our lives as we offer encouragement and spread the message of God's faithfulness. Each day we are tested against our own selfish nature to live to this example. God has set up numerous ways for us to serve just in His requests upon on our Christian lives. We are tested to serve through tithing, through spreading the message, and through boldly and unashamedly living in faith. We are asked to do each of these regularly as a similar form of servanthood. Sometime we succeed and come through for God, while other times our faith is weak and we fail.

"14I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." – Romans 15:14-16

This right here points out Paul's mission as he sought to break down the barriers of the day between the Jews and Gentiles. Even though he was born a Jew Paul knew he was commissioned to take the message of Christ to the Gentiles at any cost. As we see later in the chapter, he longed to preach where no one had preached before, but he also knew he had to get to the center of gentile civilization in order to have the most effect. This is why he later went to Rome. Rome at the times was the center of the known world and from there Paul knew his message of Christ's love would have its largest effect. He was tireless in this mission, and we have him to thank for what we believe in today because of his efforts.

"17Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation." – Romans 15:17-20

We must always encourage and serve one another, but at the same time we are called to take the message where it is not known. In that we become part of a new foundation, and we serve our purpose as well.

 

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

1. Do you feel you are strong or weak in your faith?
   
2. How do you Share your faith with others?
   
3. Do the classifications of Jew or Gentile really matter in Christ's eye?

Romans, Chapter 14

My apologies to my regular readers for missing Thursday and Friday of last week, but I was feeling incredibly under the weather and was really out of commission for a few days. My strength has returned though and I feel refocused again on my task at hand.

As we know, our walk with Christ is based solely on faith. We do not have physical proof He exists. Any first hand account of His life and sacrifice is so old that we simply must trust that it really happened. In Romans 14 we see that there are differing levels of faith for each person. For some, their faith is large and they feel they can accomplish anything. I know I have long prayed to have the faith of my father, who has always been a pillar of my faith in the way he conducts his life. As we see in this chapter though, our faith grows throughout our walk with Christ, and each person's walk is different.

"1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." – Romans 12:1-4

Those who know me know that I am more results oriented than details oriented. To me, it is more important that a task is accomplished rather than how it was accomplished. This, of course, got me into some trouble in some college math classes whent hey wanted a certain method on exams, but here we see that the destination is more important than the journey because the journey is different for everyone. The passage here refers to those who were afraid to eat meat in the first century because it may have been sacrificed to idols. Others held the view that it was fine to eat meat, but Paul tells us not to condemn others for their views on the subject.

This is where we see that each person's walk is different, but the goal is the same. Our lives must be centered in Christ, but beyond that we will have wildly different beliefs and views of spiritual matters. This is why we see so many different denominations of churches. You have the Catholics, who allow pretty much everything as long as you confess, and then more restrictive denominations like the Mormons or Amish. We can agree that Christ and His sacrifice are still the central focus, but the structures of those systems are vastly different.

"13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." – Romans 14:13-18

We see here that it is more important to grow in our own walk than do something that may prevent someone else from growing. If we believe something is good we must hold to it, and we also must not condemn what someone else thinks is good. Christ allows our faith to patiently develop over time so we must allow the same in others. Each person's walk is their own, and what works for you may not necessarily work for them. We are still to share our faith so others may grow, but they are responsible for their own growth.

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

1. How do you see your method of faith is different than others?
   
2. Where is the line between what is essential for everyone's faith and what is personal for your own walk?
   
3. What are some stumbling blocks in your life?