Down to the River to Pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way !

O sisters let's go down,
Let's go down, come on down,
O sisters let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.

That’s a pretty old song. Many of us were reminded of its beauty when we heard Alison Krauss sing it on the sound track of ”O Brother, Where Art Thou!”

I don’t think it is old enough that Lydia and the other women with her would have been singing it as they went down to the river near Philippi, but wouldn’t it be cool if they had. It is the perfect song for that!

There are actually five verses to the song. The first, the verse above, invites sisters to go to the river. The second invites brothers, the third invites fathers; the fourth, mothers; the fifth sinners. It’s interesting to me that the sisters are invited first. I wonder if that choice had anything to do with the story of Lydia’s conversion to Christ in Acts 16.

Paul with his companions, including Luke, went down to the river because they knew that other people went down to the river to pray. Read Luke’s eyewitness account in Luke 16:13-15

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. (NIV)

Did you notice that the people who came down to the river to pray were women? That is so typical! Women often lead the way, calling others to follow, in spiritual matters. Wives instruct their children, they encourage their husbands, and they grow themselves. And they do it without being prodded, preached at, and threatened with hell. Women are often more interested in the spiritual than men, very often.

Is there a woman in your life calling you “down to the river to pray.” Maybe it’s time to join the procession. That’s Life at Work!

God's Stories

I can tell you that I was born in the same town as Elvis; that I’m married to JeannaLynn; that Brad and Brittney are my kids; that I preach for the South Yukon Church of Christ; and that I like roast with carrots and potatoes. I can tell that I don’t get mad too easily, I’ve never had a drink of beer in my life; but I’ve got an addictive personality, and I talk to myself way too much. I can tell you all those things and you know me. Understand, that is some of the more significant personal information about me. If you know those things, you don’t just know about me – you know me on some level.

If I got a chance to tell you some of the stories about me, you would learn much more about me that can be revealed through a description of who I am. If you got to hear about some of my experiences from childhood to adulthood, you would know how I behave consistently and what values I hold. Stories are important. Our stories reveal us.

I could point you to passages like Nahum 1 where God reveals how he feels about his foes and his friends. You are aware that God is love and that the Lord God Almighty is holy, holy, holy. There is great value in learning these things. We know God by knowing those things about him. But God has consistently revealed himself in a fuller way; a more complete way. God has revealed himself through stories. He has inspired stories about creation and destruction; life and death; mercy and punishment; heaven and earth; and stories about bondage and deliverance.

These stories are for us to read and learn from. You can read them at home and that’s important. It is also important to read them in a community of other readers who are interested in knowing God. Come learn the stories and let’s know God together. That’s Life at Work.

Saints Exaggerate What the World Neglects

It’s interesting that this bit of poetic style would appear in the text of 1 John. In it, John transitions from the darkness of hatred to darkness in general. He compares that darkness exhibited in the priorities of most with the realities of the saints.

1 John 2:9-17
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

G. K. Chesterson commented, “A saint is one who exaggerates what the world neglects.” That is right on. Look at the John’s list of realities for those in the light: forgiveness, knowledge of God, triumph over the evil one, strength, indwelling of the word, and eternal life. On the other hand, those who are in darkness don’t know where they are going, and they their priorities are the cravings of their bodies, their lustful vision, and pride in temporary stuff. The way John puts it, I can’t help but think that he believes that these differences are more than obvious – they stand out. Saints exaggerate what he world neglects.

How does that happen? I think a spotlight in a theater is a good illustration of how the evil priorities of the world are set in contrast to the life of light. Like a spotlight shines on the stage object that needs to be clearly seen, Christians call attention to the godly things that people need to see. We draw attention in our conversations and sermons to forgiveness, mercy, compassion, justice, love, and righteousness. We say, “Look at these things! They are important! They are eternal values." Then people look more carefully at the heavenly objects to which we are pointing.

Sometimes, it is not the godliness to which we point like a spotlight that exaggerates what the world neglects. You’ve probably turned toward a spotlight and noticed from your dark seat the brightness at the source. Instead of pointing to good things and saying to the world, “Pay attention to that,” the world sees the saints from the darkness of the seats and the light is incredibly bright at its source.

Point out to the world around you what is being neglected. Call attention to those things as if you were a spotlight. Then, live powerfully what the world neglects so that when a backward glance is cast, the brightness of your godly life will shine incredibly bright in the darkness of the theater that is the world. That’s Life at Work!

Baptism

Down with the old man, up with the new
Raised to walk in the way of light and truth
I didn't see no angels, just a few saints on the shore
But I felt like a newborn baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord.

Kenny Chesney’s song "Baptism" reminds me of my own baptism in a creek in Alabama on March 26, 1977. My Dad was in the water with me because he baptized me. My mom and others from the church who made their way out to the Coil’s house were standing along the grassy shore or on the cement bridge. Everyone was all smiles and I got a ton of hugs when I stepped up out of that water. They were true saints!

The old man/new man imagery like you find in Ephesians was real to me. Raising to walk a new life, the picture from Romans 6 and Colossians 2, was my experience. There is good reason for him to sing about feeling like a newborn baby. Jesus said that baptism was a new birth – the unsaved has been immersed and has been reborn of the water and the Spirit (John 3). A new relationship with Jesus was mine.

I saw recently where a brother wrote that some others who had the same experience as me were not a part of the New Testament Church. Though they believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God; though they accept the Bible as God’s only word to the world; and though they were immersed to have their sins forgiven, they were not a part of the New Testament Church.

According to Acts 2:41 and 47, when people responded to the gospel they were added to the number of the saved, which is the church. That makes them a part of the New Testament Church, which by the way, in the way we use the term church, is the only kind of church.

Be very careful about judgments regarding differences in practice and the impact they have on whether one is in the church of God. If I make the judgment that only Christians who practice everything just right are going to go to heaven, then that same standard will be used for me. None of us measure up to that standard. None of us. That's Life at Work.

Keep It Simple

Pharisees: “The Gentiles must be circumcised and obey the law of Moses.”
James: “We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”

The council went with James – and with the Holy Spirit.

Yet, what they wrote to the Gentiles is one of the most puzzling letters that Christians have attempted to interpret. Modern day Christians at least. No doubt, the original readers knew exactly why the Jerusalem Church communicated what they did.

They distanced themselves from those who were demanding that Gentile Christians submit to circumcision and the Law of Moses. “We didn’t send them,” they said.
Then they said that all they wanted was for the Gentiles to:

1. Abstain from food polluted by idols
2. Abstain from sexual immorality
3. Abstain from the meat of strangled animals
4. Abstain from blood

Those four things are recorded by Luke in the conversation in Jerusalem, his reproduction of the letter sent with Paul and the others (15:29), and later in remarks by Jerusalem Christians about how Paul can be protected when he arrives in Jerusalem (21:25).

Why did they ask the Gentiles to abstain from these things? At least three arguments stand out (see: John Proctor, “Proselytes and Pressure Cookers: The Meaning and Application of Acts 15:20,” International Review of Mission, vol. 85). These things could have their origin in Leviticus 17-18 where sojourners in Israel (Gentile God-fearers) are given instructions about living in the Promised Land. Others have suggested that these are linked to the commands given after Noah’s flood. They suggest that these predate the covenant with the Hebrews and are, therefore, for all people and for all time. Still others, including me, suggest that eating food sacrificed to idols, sexual immorality, eating the meat of strangled animals, and eating blood were practices affiliated with idol worship that were particularly offensive to Jews. Abstention from these things was important, then, for the sake of continued fellowship with Jewish Christians. Secondly, abstention was important because while Jews were not to mix Christianity with the law of Moses, neither were Gentiles to mix Christianity with their idolatrous practices of life before Christ.

Jesus had said, “"No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old” (Luke 5:36; NIV). I think that helps us understand what James and the others intended with their abstentions. Basically, they were saying “We are not requiring that you mix Moses with your turn to God. Don’t mix your idol worship with it either. That will make it easy on all of us.”

Are you mixing any of your own preferences with your approach to God and expecting others to conform? Keep it simple for yourself and others. That’s Life at Work!

In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks wrote about patients that came through his office for psychological evaluation and help. One of the stories was about a musician and music teacher who, it was discovered, had a condition that hindered him from seeing the whole of an object. He would look at a face and see two eyes, a nose, a mouth, cheeks and chin, but could not on occasion tell who the person was even if it was a student in his class. He looked at a glove and could tell the color, that it was leather, that it had five appendages in varying lengths, but he could not tell that it was a glove. Sometimes we embrace the rules of Christianity as though they were the essence of discipleship. In doing so, we fail to see the whole picture. Christianity is more that a conglomeration of rules. It is a relationship. It is more than a religious system; it involves a Savior. It is more than a project with various parts; it is centered on a person - Jesus of Nazareth. Our obedience is our expression of faith in the person, the Savior, and the relationship. When we see the whole of Christianity instead of just parts, obedience will be what God intended it to be - a real blessing to our lives. That’s Life at Work!

(It is worth saying that I found the Sacks story in Leadership Journal a few years back)

Cold Water and Good News

“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land” (Proverbs 25:25). I love that. I live fourteen hours from my parents. Twelve hours from the small town where I grew up. Ten hours from my nearest sibling or from my wife’s siblings. Our family dynamics don’t call for a whole lot of communication with me, the fourth of four children. No animosity, just a lot of independence.

Bad news from my past has no trouble reaching me. I’ve got a good friend who is on his death bed. A couple of churches that I love have had major struggles. A college buddy left his wife. Sometimes I feel like I could say, “Like a desert wind to an already parched soul is bad news from distant land.”

It’s not that I don’t want to know the bad news. How can I pray if I don’t know the difficulties? But I want the good news to travel fast to my ears like the bad news seems to.

So what do I do with Proverbs 25:25 besides acknowledge its truth and remember some recent good news from far way? I’m going to take some time to let someone I love know about some good news that will be important to them. I’ll email some family and let them know about some of the good things happening in my life. I’ll call a friend and surprise him with encouraging news. And maybe I’ll do it often enough that they will actually long for contact from me, like a weary soul longs for cold water.

Dear Son, I know I ain’t written,
But sittin' here tonight, alone in the kitchen, it occurs to me,
I might not have said, so I’ll say it now
Son, you make me proud

I hold it up and show my buddies,
Like we ain’t scared and our boots ain’t muddy, but no one laughs,
'Cause there ain’t nothing funny when a soldier cries
An' I just wipe me eyes
I fold it up an' put it in my shirt,
Pick up my gun an' get back to work
An' it keeps me driving me on,
Waiting on letters from home.

(John Michael Montgomery, “Letters from Home”)

That’s Life at Work!

Blue Skies on the Inside

John was on his knees peering out the living room window. His mouth was drawn into a frown, his brow was wrinkled with anger, his eyes were dull with disappointment. “This rain is really making me mad! I hate the rain!” he said. “I want to be riding my bike, but now its raining and after a rain like this the grass will be too wet to ride in for the rest of the day. This rain is really making me mad!”

John’s mother was hearing him while she fixed his lunch. “Why don’t you get out your Lincoln logs and build a log house, John.”

“Because I want to ride my bike outside,” John answered. “All this rain is making me mad.”

“The anger is all in your own heart,” John’s mother said. “If there were blue skies on the inside then you wouldn’t be so angered by the rain on the outside.”

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:4-9; NIV).

Paul is in prison, yet he is encouraging the arguers, the worriers, the harsh, and the doubters. His reasons for them to be encouraged include the fact that their names are written in the book of life and that the unbelievable peace of God will guard them.

The path to happiness is prayer in the difficult times, thinking on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable things, and rejoicing in them. In other words, have blue skies on the inside.

Next time you find yourself with your mouth drawn into a frown, your brow wrinkled with anger, and your eyes dull with disappointment, getting really angry because you are focusing on the outside things, STOP IT! “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.” That’s Life at Work!

We're Not Worth! We're not Worthy!

“We’re not worthy. We’re not worthy.” It’s possible that when you think of those lines, you picture Wayne and Garth on their knees in front of Alice Cooper. They were sure that they did not deserve to be in his presence. There are better stories, though. Stories like Isaiah falling to his knees because he is before the throne of God. Then there is the story about the Centurion whose servant was sick. He sent messengers to Jesus with the words, “I am not worthy to have you in my house.” The great man of God, John the Baptist said that he was not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. Each of those stories reflects humility. The people in those stories believed that they had reason to be incredibly grateful to be in the presence of their heroes.

As Paul spoke at the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, the Jews got jealous in their hearts and abusive in their language. Paul told them he had to speak to them first, but because of their rejection of the Word, he was going to turn to the Gentiles. He said, “You don’t consider yourselves worthy of eternal life.” Did they not consider themselves worth saving? Were they having a self-esteem crisis? No, they weren’t. They were not about to expel Paul from town because they had too low a view of themselves. Their actions were not prompted by humility. What does it mean that they did not count themselves worthy of eternal life?

When Jesus was sending out the twelve to the lost sheep of Israel, he told them, “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town” (Matthew 10:11-15; NIV).

Later, Jesus told a parable about a man who hosted a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out messengers with invitations, but those he invited didn’t come. Some just went on with their own business; others actually killed the messengers. The man killed those who had harmed the messengers, burned their city, and then gave this explanation and command: “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find” (Matthew 22:8-9; NIV). According to the parable, the banquet was filled to capacity, with good and bad people.

The people who were originally invited didn’t deserve to come. But people good and bad, who were not originally invited, were worthy. Why is that? What made the home worthy for the apostles to stay in on their journey? Worthiness in these contexts is based entirely on willingness to listen to what is said, and willingness to accept the invitation that is offered. Neither those who would not listen, nor those who rejected the invitation were deserving. Understand, it isn’t that their lack of worthiness was discovered by their rejection. It was the rejection that made them unworthy.

Why didn’t the Jews consider themselves worthy of eternal life? It was more pride than humility, I promise. They were unworthy. They were unworthy because they would not believe.

Are you worthy? You are if you’ll listen, follow, and believe. That’s Life at Work?

What God Promised He Has Fulfilled

As we watched the video in the “Measure of a Man” class on Wednesday night, I considered my character. We listed some ways that we already know we may have harmed our reputation. We are supposed to think about things that we might do to have a better reputation – to be above reproach. I need to be sure that I follow-up on things that I say I’ll do. Sometimes I’ll say I’m going to do something – make a call, check on someone, perform some task, or complete some project – but when there is a glitch, or a slow beginning, I forget about what I was doing and get busy doing something else. The people to whom I said I would do something don’t know why I haven’t done what I said – they just know I haven’t done it. I need to get better at following up. I don’t want to be known as someone who doesn’t do what he says he’ll do.

Paul told the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles who had gathered to hear him, “What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us…” (Acts 13:32-33; NIV). God told Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed through his seed. From the time that he made that promise to the time that Paul preached at this synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, God had done a lot of other stuff and a lot of time had passed. God wasn’t lying when he made the promise, though, nor did God let all the other stuff he did cause him to forget the promise he made to Abraham.

God followed up with a loving sacrifice and a powerful resurrection. Because he is so thorough, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Paul says that is good news. He’s right. That’s Life at Work!

Do You Ever Scoff?

Do you ever scoff? I asked myself that question the other day when I read

“’Look, you scoffers,
wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe,
even if someone told you.’”
(Acts 13:41;NIV)

I scoff at weather reports. My family loves cold temperatures and snowy days. We used to get excited when the local weather forecasters would tell us snow was likely. Not anymore. I find myself saying, “They don’t know what they’re talking about. They won’t know what it is going to do on Friday until Friday.” I make fun of their confidence, and I laugh cynically when they get their forecasts wrong. It’s a weakness, I know.

Paul said to be sure that we are not the fulfillment of the prophecies that warned against scoffing. Something great has happened – something you wouldn’t believe. Jesus, a descendant of David is the Son of God. He resurrected from the dead because God would not let his body see decay. He is the fulfillment of the blessing that God promised would come to the world through Abraham’s descendants. Paul said Jesus brought forgiveness of sins and the way to be justified before God.

Did you scoff? Did you say, “Jesus wasn’t God’s Son”? Did you wrinkle your nose thinking that it is ridiculous to believe that Jesus resurrected? Do you think that God’s promises are nothing to bank on? Do you doubt that you can be forgiven – or that you need to be?

Don’t scoff. Though it’s too good to believe, it is all true. That’s Life at Work!

Keeping them from Faith

Elymas was not interested in following the way of faith. That’s not really a surprise, I don’t guess. I thought of a few things that might have turned Elymas off. For instance, he probably knew that the faith that Paul and Silas professed stood in opposition to his false prophecy and trickery. If, in fact, his relationship with Sergius Paulus was his way of lining his pockets, he had to choose between God and money. He wouldn’t have been the first to choose money. Maybe Elymas had some kind of warped idea that despite his false prophecies and his sorcery, he was still a Jew in good standing, and he opposed Paul in defense of the Old Law. Don’t laugh, there were several times in Jewish history that the Israelites had an “I’ll break it, but don’t you knock it” attitude. Maybe Elymas, whose father was named Jesus, had a crummy childhood and swore he would never follow anybody named Jesus again.

There are hundreds of reasons why some choose to avoid the Way. But Elymas didn’t just shun faith himself, he tried to keep Sergius Paulus from faith. The Pharisees tried to keep people from believing in Jesus, too. Jesus told a gathering of the hypocrites, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matt 23:13; NIV). Similarly, Jesus warned, “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come” (Matt 18:7; NIV)

Some of you have friends who have mentioned an interest in spiritual things, but you’ve deliberately changed the subject. Maybe your adult son told you he was going to take his family to church, and you asked him to go fishing with you on Sunday morning claiming it was the only time you could go. Has your daughter ever asked you to take her to Bible School on Sunday morning and you slept in instead? Have you ever tried to convince a buddy that laughing with the sinners is better than crying with the saints?

Twice Jesus gave a “woe warning” about influencing people away from faith and righteousness. Don’t ignore the warning. He knows people will reject him, but he has special plans for the hellbound who are hellbent on convincing others to go with them. That’s Life at Work.

The Sword and the Sorcerer

Elymas the Sorcerer lived in Paphos on the island of Cyprus. The word “sorcerer” is related to the words used to describe the men from the east who followed the star that led them to Jesus. Elymas’ name means magician, but it is his behavior, not his name, that distinguishes him from wise men. It is his behavior that identifies him as a sorcerer rather than a wiseman.

Elymas was a false prophet. He had gotten in with Sergius Paulus, a leader in Paphos. Most likely, the curiosity of the intelligent proconsul Paulus prompted him to surround himself with magicians of various backgrounds. Elymas falsely represented Yahweh, no doubt telling Paulus exactly what he wanted to hear.

He also tried to turn Paulus from the faith. Paulus, you see, asked to hear what a couple of visitors to Paphos were saying. Those visitors were Paul and Silas. They were spreading the word in Cyprus and had arrived in the city of Paphos. It is not clear in the text of Acts 13 whether Elymas actually tried to keep Paulus away, or if he attempted to discredit the message. It is clear that that the Sword, the Word of God, had power over Elymas, because Paul blinded Elymas, and Paulus believed the teaching about the Lord.

You would never play the role of keeping someone from the word, would you? Do you have people in your family who have asked to learn about Jesus, but you have kept them away or attempted to discredit the message? Have you fought the drive that you have within yourself to pursue knowledge about Christ? You can be closer to the life of a sorcerer than the life of a wiseman even without the name Elymas. It is your behavior that makes the difference. Are you pursuing Jesus? That’s Life at Work.

Holiday Rules

Remember that Jesus is always worthy of celebration! Despite the higher regard for church attendance, this time of year brings with it temptations that we must resist.

First, resist the temptation to be wild. Drunk driving arrests will go up in the next couple of weeks. Wild parties will increase, and the Christian is to avoid the works of the flesh prominent at such parties. Practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and especially, self-control.

Next, resist the temptation to argue, and determine to be kind. Family time is intended to be fun, but we often end up fighting and being harsh. Put away the hurt from years past and develop happy traditions for the future.

Finally, put away self-indulgence and put on generosity. It is so easy to be jealous of the gifts of others. It is easy to think mostly of yourself. I want ... I want ... I want.... That is the theme of the day for so many. Is it what you are teaching your children? Be diligent to turn your thoughts away from yourself, and be generous to others. That’s Life at Work!

Play it Again, Luke!

Grammar rules don’t change much. There was a time that in a formal article like this, using a contraction like I did in that first sentence would’ve been taboo, but it isn’t anymore. The need for subject/verb agreement, the proper use of pronouns, the form of an infinitive, are all the same. When we were in school, we reviewed them year after year! That was most obvious in high school for me when we spent half the year reading literature we had never read, then half the year in grammar studies reviewing what we had always reviewed.

In Acts, Luke does some repeating. I suggest he repeats for the same reason we repeat: to reinforce something that is important. After Luke told the story of the conversions of Peter (to be willing to go the Gentiles with the gospel) and Cornelius (to the Way), he used the report of Peter to the critical, circumcised believers in Jerusalem to repeat the message to the readers of Acts. What message did Luke want his readers to get? He wanted them to know that God intended for the gospel to be preached to non-Jews. He wanted them to know that God wanted to save all of the lost.

Notice the effectiveness of Peter’s explanation: “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’”

Praise from their lips was not all they offered, though. Luke tells us that those who had scattered in connection with the stoning of Stephen only told the message to the Jews. Now, however, “Men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord."

Be careful not to read Acts simply from an historical perspective. If you read this as simply an historical account, you will conclude, “The gospel really began to be preached to the Gentiles here.” If you read it like you need to, you will conclude, “I need to be telling the message to all the lost.”

Luke will play this same song again. Look for it. But don’t just look for the message - do what you see! The poor and the rich, the majority and the minority, the regular and the not-so-regular people need the gospel that you’ve received.

Don't Weary God

I’ve seen the look of weariness in the face of people that I’ve disappointed – again. I’ve seen the look of weariness as I’ve looked in the mirror after someone disappointed me – again. I’m not talking about weariness that comes from a ten mile uphill walk to school in the snow. I’m talking about the weariness that you feel when the physical and emotional investment that you’ve made in the life of someone else seemingly fails. When you are this kind of weary, the energy scale in your heart, your mind, and your muscles registers zero. Your shoulders stoop and the brightness in your eyes fades like it has been overcome by spiritual cataracts. Most of us have experienced that kind of weariness. Did you know that God has, too?

God’s people spent seventy years in captivity as punishment for their idol worship and immoral lives. Yet when they returned home through the intervention of God in national affairs, they married people in the land who were idol worshippers, the priests practiced corruption, and the general population followed sinful paths. God sent Malachi to call the people back to God. He told them that they had wearied God.

“How have we wearied him?” they asked.

“By saying, ‘All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’” (Malachi 2:17).

You don’t want to weary God, do you? You don’t want him to feel like his investment in you – which is huge, by the way – is lost. Don’t close your eyes, then, to what God wants so that you call good evil and evil good. God has told us what is good, and now he has shown us what is good through Jesus. Don’t confuse evil with good. Second, don’t question whether God is just or fair when you experience some difficulty in your life knowing that self-evaluation would reveal that you haven’t had a mindset for doing his will. It wearies God when those who are supposed to follow him, don’t; and then criticize him because they experience the pain of their path. That’s Life at Work!

Don't Reduce God

I heard a guy on the radio say that OU and USC uniforms are “universally known across the country.” Then he listed something else and said that was “universally known across the country.” Now, I’ve messed up plenty of sentences in radio work myself, and I’m confident that I’ve inadvertently made some boneheaded phrase faux pas in my sermons. This comment, though, “universally known across the country” hit me funny. The universe became the United States! I realized that we reduce our God to something smaller than what he is. In fact, we do that a lot.

1. He can save the world, but my sins are too many to forgive.
2. He can cause nations to rise and fall, but he can’t rescue me from my distress.
3. He can give “life abundant” and he can “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…,” but he can’t use me for very much in the kingdom.
4. He can raise the dead, but he can’t revitalize my marriage.
5. He can be the Father of the faithful, but he can’t offer anything to help me bring up my children.

You get the point, don’t you? God is bigger than you. God is bigger than your abilities. God is bigger than your trouble. God is bigger than your sin. God is bigger than the United States. God is bigger than the universe. No one – nothing – is bigger than God. Yet, he cares for you. That’s Life at Work.

Everyone Needs

Paul had the incredibly religious background, but in ignorance he attempted to destroy God’s work. Because of his blasphemous and violent past, he considered himself the chief of sinners. The beginning of his story just precedes the story of Cornelius.

Cornelius was a Gentile – a race of people whom Paul described as “separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Cornelius was all that, but he was devout and generous.

So there are people with strict religious backgrounds and those without them. There are those who are so interested in the way of God that God sends someone to them knowing they will hear. There are others so opposed to the way of God that God has to blind them to make them see the error of their ways.

What people need, regardless of their past or present, is Jesus. What if your upbringing was far from godly like Cornelius’ likely was, and you are now blasphemous and violent like Paul definitely was? What if you had a strict religious background like Paul, but are devout and generous like Cornelius was? You need Jesus.

When you tell a doctor your health history, he listens carefully, evaluates, and then prescribes the medicine he believes will work. When God examines you, he prescribes what he prescribes to every other person – oneness with Christ. For your sin sickness, which all of us has – or had – there is one cure, the precious blood of Christ. No evaluation. No questions about potency. No consideration of other cures. Jesus is the Life.

Where you’ve been doesn’t change what you need. Where you are doesn’t change what you need. What decision will you make today about life with Jesus?

Consumed With Consumerism

Once there was a man, or a woman, or a child who made a long, long Christmas list! I want …, I need…, I saw…, My friends have … began the lines of desire that filled the college-ruled notebook sheet. When Christmas morning came, it was all there! Every request, regardless of value, was under the tree, waiting for its turn to be unwrapped and used! Everything!

The man, or woman, or child said, “Cool! I got everything I wanted! I’m going to have to clear out some closet space for all my new stuff! I might even have a garage sale to see if any poor people want the toys/tools/trinkets that I got last year! Now I can eat, drink and, finally, I can be happy!

What if, on the day after Christmas, we hear this the trumpet call of God, and the voice of the archangel announces that the return of Jesus has come? What will he say to us about how we’ve spent the weeks between Thanksgiving and December 25? What will he say you about what you thought about the things that were or were not under your tree? We certainly don’t want him to call us fools!

If you don’t want to come across as foolish, keep in mind what Jesus said before he told the Parable of the Rich Fool, “Life is not about the things that you possess” (Luke 12:15). Maybe those words will help us resist the temptation to become consumed with consumerism. Maybe this year we won’t spend ourselves into the slavery of debt. Maybe this year our families and friends will see real life at work in us, and Jesus will say, “Good, job you faithful and wise servant!” That’s Life at Work!

Give Thanks in All Circumstances

“Give Thanks In All Circumstances, For This Is God’s Will For You” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

This Thanksgiving season, be attentive to the need to express and share an attitude of gratitude. You’ll have to be vigilant. Thanksgiving certainly hasn’t been commercialized like some of the other holidays, but the theme is often neglected. Maybe the theme has been neglected when the paramedics who have been called because you are lethargic find that you have a “gravy blood level” of eighty percent. It is a good thing to be grateful for overflowing food, football, and early bird specials at the Thanksgiving sales, but there are many other things for which we should express our thanks. Here are two things I really want to encourage you to do in Thanksgiving: (1) Pray a lot - more often than before the major meal. Seriously, commit to praying when you first are up and around; before you go to bed; when you find that you are all in the same room; when you’ve heard someone express a concern about something. Go ahead and pray alone if you are by yourself or together if you are with family. (2) Tell other people some of the stories you have that give reason to be thankful. The people around you, especially the children around you, need to know the stories about God blessing you so that they are more aware of the array of blessings they have.

Can you do those things for the remainder of the week? Pray more than you’ve ever prayed in a four day period. Tell the stories that build an attitude of gratitude in the people who spend some time with you this Thanksgiving. That’s Life at Work!