Paul the Scholar, Church Planter, and Teacher

We spent two weeks studying the fisherman Peter, and now, we have turned our attention to the passionate Paul.

He was introduced to us as Saul—a young man full of zeal and passion who loved the law God and sought to protect it from those villainous people of the “Way”. That is what they called the movement that was begun by a carpenter from Nazareth. What had started as a small movement with a powerful leader and twelve guys had grown into a revolution. Not a weapon wielding power struggle, but a spiritual warfare, nonetheless, that threatened everything Saul valued. It was safe to say that Saul hated everyone who followed Jesus. That is until that day he was traveling to Damascus.

With papers in hand that gave authority to arrest any follow of Jesus, Saul was intent on eliminating the threat on Judaism and moving the people of the “Way” out of the way. That is when it happened. On the road to Damascus, something tremendous happened that changed Saul’s life forever and also caused the alcoholic, country singer Hank Williams, Sr. to write a Christian song. He saw the light! (Saul did, not Hank Williams, at least not at that point in history.) A light so great that Saul’s eyes could not continue in their proper function. A light so strong it knocked him to the ground. Then a voice spoke forth through the light. Those with Saul heard the voice yet saw nothing—not a light nor a person.

That miraculous encounter left Saul blind and disoriented. His companions were nice enough to drop him off at a house on the street called Straight in Damascus before they continued their journey. Three days Saul was left in the dark, literally and figuratively speaking. He was in a place of helplessness. The control he wielded and the power he flaunted had been taken in an instant by a voice that claimed to be Jesus. There wasn’t a struggle or even a fight. Jesus showed up and Saul fell down. Jesus spoke up and Saul shut-up. During the three days of sightlessness, Saul realized that he had lived in darkness his whole life. His visions of grandeur were replaced with visions of suffering as God revealed to him what he would endure for promoting Jesus’ name. Saul did something that many of us are too afraid to do. He accepted his life of error and turned from it. He admitted that he was wrong and determined to live even more passionately for Jesus than he did for his selfish, religious past. That is when his story gets really good. We continue to look at this man named Saul who was also called Paul this week because as Jesus’ occupational namesake the Carpenters would remind us, “We’ve only just begun…”

 

The Life of Peter—Fisherman

We begin a new adventure in Sunday School this coming Sunday Morning. We will explore the lives of several people highlighted in the Bible. Beginning with the Life of Peter.

Peter was uneducated, extremely rough around the edges and, had he went to High School, would have probably been voted least likely to become the leader of a dynamic movement. Had we met Peter prior to his debut in the all time best-seller, we would have passed him over just like everyone else had done in his life. The truth is, we meet people just like Peter every day. They maybe hot-headed and passionate, stubborn and bullheaded, just as Peter was; yet, there is something greater inside of them waiting to come out. Maybe you are like Peter teetering on the edge of greatness needing only one person to believe in you. One person who will speak life into you.

Peter didn’t know that that was all he needed either. He didn’t know that a seemingly chance encounter with a carpenter turned preacher would drastically change everything he knew and believed. In that moment, he had no idea that the waters he fished on would become the waters he walked on. He didn’t know that one day his shadow would heal people. Nor did he know that his words would cause the highest rulers in the land to marvel and thousands of others to choose Christ.

No, Peter had no idea what would happen when Jesus stepped into his boat that day of their meeting, but Jesus did. Are you interested in seeing exactly what happened to Peter? I hope so. See you Sunday.

 

The Mirror of Truth

“Ignorance is bliss,” some have said. Yet, ignorance that leads to death would be lacking in the blissfulness category, wouldn’t you agree? Such was the case of man. Before the law of Moses, man had no tangible line to draw between right and wrong. He had no way of clearly seeing his faults as God saw them. He wandered aimlessly in deadly ignorance:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (New International Version, Rom. 5:12-14)

Enters the mercy of God through the truth of His law. It was as if a mirror was placed before all of humanity and for the first time since Adam, perhaps, one could clearly see himself the way that God saw him, a sinner. The same disgust that Adam must have felt when he heard God call his name and he realized that he was naked permeates the heart of him who looks deliberately into the mirror of truth of the Old Testament.

Thus our deadly, blissful ignorance is removed through a reflection of disgraceful humanity. Our self righteousness shatters with a single glance, and we are left broken before an impossible, unbelievable truth—we have failed God. The forbidden fruit has stained our lips and no amount of scrubbing will remove it. Our names fill the air as we hear Him call us and dread fills our hearts for the first time. “He can’t see me like this,” we say as we frantically search for a place to hide only to realize there is nowhere. There is nothing to cover our shame.

Grace Added to Truth

Such is the sad state of every man, woman, boy and girl who has ever walked the earth. Our sins have left us naked and ashamed, trembling before Almighty God. Anxiously we await His response to our disgusting presence. Yet, miraculously He responds not in hatred or disgust, but in love. He sends His Son to embody His grace and truth. The law is swallowed up in Him and fulfilled through Him. In everything we failed to do He succeeded. As our righteousness stinks like filthy, disgraceful rags, His shines forth like the morning sun, pure and holy.

Just like God removed Adam’s hand-made garment replacing it with a better garment made by Himself, Jesus removed the filthy rags of our righteousness and clothed us in His very own righteousness. Taking our punishment, he restored us to our place in the Kingdom. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). By adding grace to truth, He subtracted our sins and we are now equal to the righteousness of God.

Mercy That Extends From Mercy

When we truly look in that mirror of truth and taste the undeserved grace of God, how could we keep from showing that mercy to others? How could we receive such priceless gifts that we could never afford and not give what we have to help those in need? Mercy is the heart of God. It’s the heart of the Gospel, and it should be our heart as receivers of God’s great mercy.

 

Let’s Live What We Say We Believe

It is evident to the unbeliever that we as Christians do not truly believe our own words. We claim that Jesus is the Great Reconciler yet as His followers we are divided and separated on every minute detail of life. The Great Commission is plastered on many church walls, and the Great Irony is that we stare at it constantly while we wait for people to come to us. He told us to “go and make” but we prefer to “stay and take” and as such we miss the opportunity to change ourselves and the world where we live.

My solution? Obedience. Let us live what we say we believe and let our beliefs be solely founded in Christ. We cannot allow our “church culture” to become the gospel message. Let us not try to “compete” for peoples’ attention by wrapping our message in glitter and empty promises. Programs will fill an auditorium but not a heart. Personalities will appeal to the masses but not change their circumstances. Clever words can create excitement but only truth will bring substance.

How do we reach America with the gospel? We give our lives to it. The word that Jesus used for “witness” is the Greek word martus. This is the same word from which we get the term martyr. What this shows us is that a witness for Christ is one who gives everything to promote the Kingdom of God. “Count the cost,” Jesus warned many times, “Count the cost of becoming my disciple.” If we truly want to make a difference then we, the witnesses—the martyrs of Christ—must be willing to give everything to do it.

I step down from my soapbox now.

 

Follow Me!

1 Corinthians 11:1
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Is this a prideful statement from the Apostle Paul? That’s debatable, I guess, but I would say no. If you think that it is prideful, let me point out that this is really the statement that we all make when we say, “I am a Christian.” That proclamation should mean nothing less than: “If you do what I do, you will please God.” That’s pretty scary isn’t it? It should be a sobering thought at the very least. Now, I’m not suggesting that we all have the same “ministry” calling, but the way we live our lives should not only point people to Jesus, it should lead them to Him.

Jesus made disciples who would make disciples. Many of them were uneducated. Many were of bad reputation. They had every excuse that you are thinking of right now and more. Yet, they did not allow their excuses to destroy God’s calling. They allowed God’s calling to destroy their excuses. If His Holy Spirit is inside of you, then you have everything that you need to be the example to others that God wants you to be. The truth is that people are already following you. Where are you leading them? Choose today to be His example and make disciples.