Adventuresome?

And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him.... He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. (Acts 28:16, 30-31)

This last chapter of Acts concludes a truly amazing story. God used a man who was arrested in Jerusalem, imprisoned in Caesarea, shipwrecked on the island of Malta, and finally detained under house arrest with an armed guard for two years, to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. It's hard to imagine that God could have devised a more round about way of delivering the Gospel to the heart of the Roman Empire.

When I think about the life I've lived, it is about as round about as the story of Paul in Acts, although not nearly as dramatic. Growing up in Michigan the grandson of a wholesale florist, I was supposed to follow in my grandfather's footsteps and take over the family business. God had other plans, and I ended up being chosen by Him to share the good news of Jesus for the rest of my life. In the process God moved me and my family from Illinois, to Minnesota, to Washington state, and finally now to Texas. In every place God had new adventures planned for us, and opportunities I had never dreamed of to spread the gospel.

Paul was an even more unlikely candidate to be chosen by God than I was. He was a Pharisee, the strictest sect of the Jews who were determined to make themselves right with God by their own efforts at observing the Law. Paul persecuted Christians and threw them in prison, before he was blinded by Christ and then had his eyes opened at his baptism. But through Paul, God taught us about his grace, turned the world upside down, and spread the Gospel throughout the known world.

You may think you're nothing special or that your life is pretty ordinary, but if you will put yourself in God's hands you may be surprised how He will use you to spread the message of His love in Jesus. You may even have some adventures you never dreamed of. Being used by God to share the Gospel is not always easy or painless, but it is exciting and full of adventure. So why not say a prayer and ask God to put you to work, starting today!

That's Incredible! Or not.

Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? (Acts 26:8)

What is incredible to you? It all depends on your perspective. About 12 years ago when I first went out to California and drove the Pacific Coast Highway, I thought it was incredible that there were cyclists on that road, climbing those huge hills by the Pacific Ocean. Then, about six years later, I did it myself! When I moved to the Pacific Northwest and first saw Mt. Rainier I thought it was incredible, then in 2007 I rode my bike up Mt. Rainier. When I first started watching the Tour de France I thought it was incredible that those men could race their bikes for more than 100 miles a day for three weeks. Then in 2008 I rode my bike from Canada to Mexico in three weeks. What seems incredible to a person all depends on their perspective (although, I must confess, the Tour de France still seems incredible).

Paul found it incredible that any of the people he was speaking to when he appeared before King Agrippa would wonder if God could raise the dead. That sounds strange, when you first hear it, because it's usually the exact opposite. People are usually incredulous when they hear about the resurrection. That's why, even though the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the best documented event in all of ancient history, most people refuse to believe it.

But what you find incredible all depends on your perspective. When I first began to read about the huge quantities of complex specified information in the DNA of living cells I found it incredible. Then as I learned about the amazingly complex nano-machines inside of every single cell, I thought it was even more incredible. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these discoveries simply demonstrate that life could not have arisen "accidentally" on its own, but must have been designed by our Creator God.

Once you understand that there must be a Creator who gives life to every creature, a Creator to put the awesome galaxies of the universe into place, a Creator who fashioned a world perfectly suited to us to enjoy, then nothing else is incredible any longer. God raising the dead? What's so incredible about that? Breathing life back into a lifeless body is child's play compared to designing and executing the miracle of life in the first place.

Sometimes people will read the Bible and wonder about some of the stories in it. Like the time when God made the sun's shadow go backward ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz. There's nothing incredible about that. If gravity can bend light (which we know it can) surely God has the power to do so. Or what about the Virgin Birth. If God can write the genetic code into our DNA, surely he can create the exact genetic code of His own Son in the womb of Mary. What's incredible all depends on your perspective. Let's not be incredulous when God tells us of his marvelous works and ways. Instead, let's honor and glorify him He is the One who is truly incredible!

Public Faith

And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed. (Acts 21:5)

As I was watching the Tour de France last summer I watched Alberto Contador prepare for the individual time trial on the next to last day of the Tour. As he sat on his bike in the starting block he made the sign of the cross. At first I was surprised. Professional cyclists are not known to be an overly religious crowd. As I thought about it, however, I realized that being a Spaniard he was most likely raised in the Roman Catholic church. I have no way of knowing whether Alberto's act was simply superstitious, force of habit, or genuine devotion to God, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought about God and faith when Contador crossed himself.

I wonder what other people on the beach in Tyre might have thought when they saw Paul and his companions, along with fellow believers from Tyre kneel down to pray? What went through the sailors' minds, or the minds of other passengers on the ship? We have no way of knowing, but they probably thought about God.

Most of the time, our devotional acts take place inside the walls of our church, or inside our own homes. They are not generally seen by other people, unless they are fellow believers. I think Paul and his companions were setting a good example for us by kneeling down on the beach to pray before sailing away from Tyre.

I love it when I am in a restaurant and a couple or a family will join hands and say grace before their meal. I think it's neat when a football player who has scored a touchdown kneels down and points to heaven to give God the glory. It's very moving to me to see players from both teams kneel in a circle after a game to pray.

When private acts of devotion to the Lord go public, it's a good thing. We should not be ashamed of our faith. We should be eager to have others see that we love the Lord because He first loved us. So the next time you're out in public and have reason to pray, or thank God, or praise Him, don't hesitate. Go for it! God will be pleased and glorified.

Allegations Removed

It's not unusual to hear of allegations of wrongdoing against someone without ever hearing of their ultimate resolution. Recently, the media reported that 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador had tested positive for clenbuterol. The banned substance showed up in a blood sample taken on the second rest day of the Tour de France. If all you ever heard was that allegation, it would be easy to think, "One more doping cyclist down the tubes." You had to read beyond the headlines to learn that the trace amount of the drug in his blood was consistent with eating beef that had been injected with the drug, something Contador claims he did that day. Most likely, unless Contador is ultimately found gulty of doping, these allegations are the last we will ever hear of the matter, because if the UCI (the agency that monitors drug use among cyclists) clears him, no one in the media will even bother to report it.

Something similar happened to Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They were stripped and beaten with rods and thrown into jail without any formal charges being placed against them by the magistrates of Philippi. These things were done to them based only on the allegation of some angry slave owners after Paul cast out a demon that enabled the slave girl to make money for her owners by fortune-telling.

God intervened, however, and Paul and Silas were miraculously freed from jail in the middle of the night when an earthquake threw open the jail doors and their bonds fell off. Upon hearing of this incident, the magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be released quietly. Clearly they had not done anything deserving of the beating and imprisonment they received.

Paul, however, would not hear of it. In Acts 16:37 Paul told the officers representing the magistrates: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out." Paul wasn't going to let the allegations against him to be removed quietly.

Why? Was Paul too proud to allow himself to be falsely accused? It wasn't a matter of pride. Rather, Paul did not want the name of Jesus Christ to be disgraced by the false allegations against himself and Silas. He insisted that they be escorted out of prison by the magistrates to publicly demonstrate their innocence.

Sometimes we may be tempted to let false allegations against ourselves or other Christians go unchecked. We may conclude that it's better to simply suffer quietly. Paul's actions remind us of the importance of standing up for the name of Jesus. When we are falsely accused of wrongdoing because we follow Jesus, we need to be concerned not just about our own reputation. We need to be concerned about the truth of the Gospel and the good name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ask God for wisdom about when you should speak up to defend the name of Jesus and the truth of God's Word.

United for a Cause - or Not

Sometimes it seems easy to get people together for a cause. This weekend I saw a picture of the crowds of cyclists at Levi's Grand Fondo in Santa Rosa, California. It reminded me of the scene in Honolulu in September 2007 when I rode the Honolulu Century to raise funds for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Bikes and helmets and jerseys as far as the eye could see. Of course, it's never hard to get a group of cyclists together for something like the Grand Fondo. Just throw a big enough challenge at them, like 103 miles of riding with 8500 feet of climbing and they're in!

You would think that the easiest group to bring together would be a group of Christians. After all, they share the loftiest goal, to save souls, and the biggest challenge, to win the world for Christ. So getting Christians together should be a breeze. Or not.

In Acts 15 we see two examples that illlustrate both success and failure at bringing Christains together. The first example involved a dispute over whether Gentiles had to be circumcised and observe the law of Moses in order to be saved. The apostles and other church leaders convened in Jerusalem and "after much discussion" reached an agreement that faith alone saves and thay "should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." Now something tells me it was not as easy as a cursory reading of Acts 15 might make it seem. My guess is that some of that "much discussion" was pretty heated. Nevertheless, an agreement was reached and the Gospel continued to spread.

In the same chapter however, we hear of Paul and Barnabas planning a trip to visit and encourage the churches that were founded on their first missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark. Paul, however, remembered how he had deserted them in Pamphylia and would hear nothing of it. Their disagreement became so sharp that the two men when their separate ways. In this case, getting Christians together was not so easy.

If you are a member of a Christian congregation, you may have some experience with how easy it is to get Christians together, or not. Most churches have had their disagreements along the way. Some of those may have even resulted in divisions. If you've had this kind of experience, you may be a little discouraged with the Body of Christ. But Acts 15 demonstrates that Christians have always had these kinds of problems. That's because Christians are sinners. Sometimes they manage to settle their differences and get together, and sometimes they don't. But that shouldn't cause us to give up on the church. Paul and Barnabas' disagreement led to two missionary journeys instead of one, so God brought good out of their disagreement, even though the disagreement itself was not good.

So please, don't quit your church just because there are some disagreements. There is no perfect church. There wasn't one in the days of the apostles. As much as possible, seek peace on your part and continue to work together with fellow believers for the sake of Gospel. In the end, God will be glorified.