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Archive for June, 2009

Have you ever thought about having to stand trial for your faith, for proclaiming the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus? So far in America, we as Christians have had the freedom to express our faith and openly communicate God’s love and grace.

It wasn’t that way during Paul’s day. Everywhere he went, threats and persecution followed. His enemies wanted him silenced. When their plans to have him killed failed, the Jewish leaders accused him of violating their law and had him arrested. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever been to a philosopher’s convention? Can’t say that I have either, and I am not sure that would top my list of things to do before I die. The fact of the matter is that a visit to the local diner would be just as good. Why? Because everyone has some explanation as to why things are the way they are, and they are very quick to share their beliefs. Some explain the world in simple terms, others are much more sophisticated. Regardless, there is something inside of all of us that compels us to find answers.

In Paul’s day, Athens was the center of philosophy. Daily, philosophers of all kinds gathered to discuss and debate the latest ideas. When Paul arrived in Athens, he naturally started telling people about Jesus and the resurrection. This piqued the curiosity of the philosophers. They invited Paul to share his “strange ideas” with them. Paul welcomed the opportunity, and as he stood in the middle of Mars Hill he delivered the one philosophy that matters. Here is what he said: Read the rest of this entry »

The Natural Born Legalist

Legalism. It is any effort on the part of man to earn God’s love and acceptance. Legalism has haunted the Church since its formation. This shouldn’t surprise us. We are all natural born legalists. We inherited this trait from Adam and Eve. It is part of our spiritual DNA. If it wasn’t, we would never fall prey to legalistic teaching.

Adam and Eve performed the very first legalistic act. After eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they realized they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together for a covering. The next verses reveal why: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself’ (Gen 3:8-10 ESV). They sewed fig leaves together and hid from God because they were afraid. Read the rest of this entry »

Since this section of Acts is so dense in content, rather than choosing just one story to write about, I will share what struck me as I read through these chapters.

The way Stephen marched his audience through Israel’s history has always impressed me. What stood out this time was his dramatic conclusion: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and easy, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.” Israel’s history is the unfolding of God’s plan to save mankind through Jesus Christ. Yet Stephen did not even mention Jesus by name. It was the heart of the people that concerned him, and it was that thread of the story that needed to be told that day. Every prophet God sent, Israel persecuted. And now they had betrayed and killed the “Righteous One” whom the prophets had announced beforehand. Stephen desperately wanted the people to see that in killing Jesus, they were in fact persecuting the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It didn’t have an impact that day. The Jewish leaders stoned Stephen to death. Perhaps Paul got the point on the road to Damascus when Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Read the rest of this entry »