Acts 27: Perfect Storm

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip…” Try to get that tune out of your head now… go ahead, I’ll wait. 

The “fateful trip” that Paul sails on during today’s chapter makes Gilligan’s trip look like a cakewalk by comparison. Over and over again, we read Luke describing this trip as being very dangerous and very difficult. How bad was it? Read verse 20 again:

“When neither the sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved” (20).

This storm was about as bad as it gets. Everyone on board was “in the same boat” (pardon the pun!) – they were hopeless and helpless. But all hope was not lost. God tells Paul that not one single man on board the ship will lose his life. Look again at verses 25 & 26:

“So keep up your courage men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

That is some “nevertheless!” God is with us, God will take care of us, God will save us, NEVERTHELESS, we are going to crash into some island. I am sure that some of the men on this ship may have wondered, if God can supernaturally save us from this storm, couldn’t he bring us gently and calmly into a nice, quiet port somewhere?

We all have some "nevertheless" moments in our lives as we pursue God. Paul did not allow his circumstances to cause him to question God’s sovereignty or goodness. The next time we hit a rough patch and wonder where God is in the midst of struggles we may face, remember Paul’s unwavering faith in God in the face of this perfect storm.

Ken Jackson

Acts 26 – Unexpected Passage

The organization I worked with while living in Mexico would host short-term missions teams throughout the year. We’d set up a variety of ministry for groups to be involved in and then spend our weeks doing evangelism, food distribution in poor neighborhoods, various church services, construction projects, orphanage visits, etc.

My first summer on staff, I was often used as a translator for our English speaking teams. As they stumbled through our gringo lingo book to invite a family to a service or tell them about Jesus, they looked to me for help. I dreaded the evangelism days the most. I was afraid that the people we encountered would ask me a question about God that I wouldn’t be able to answer, much less translate into Spanish!

One afternoon I had tried really hard to get out of going with a group to hand out Bibles, but much to my chagrin we were short on Spanish speakers and I was needed. I remember praying before we knocked on the first door that God would use me even though I had no idea what to say. As we began talking with the woman at the door, I was reminded that while I didn’t have all the answers I did have a story. And sure it was nothing like Paul’s Damascus road experience, but Jesus had done things in my life and he could use that. The woman at the door came to know Christ that day – a beautiful moment that I’ll never forget!

“…to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.” –Acts 26:18 (NLT)

How has Jesus changed your life? With whom can you share that?

-Gina G.

Romans 12 - Down to Earth Problems

I literally could write a book about this chapter. If I could pick just one chapter to read over and over this would be it. So, since I don't have enough room to write a book in the context of this blog, here are my high points.


Guide to pleasing God by John Gist


Step 1) read verses 1 and 2 over and over. 


Step 2) When your done reading vs 1-2 read them again. 


Step 3) Put verses into action. How do you do that? 


Step 4) Read the rest of the chapter over and over.


Step 5) When your done reading the rest of the chapter, read it again.


Step 6) Repeat steps 1-5 the rest of your life. 


John 

Romans 8: Spirit Life

You could spend your life studying Romans 8 and never exhaust its depths.  People have tried.  It is rich.  Mark this down as a chapter to return to – again and again.  It will serve you well.  My grandmother’s favorite verse is here – Romans 8:28.  My dad often signed off with these words as well. 

There are deep theological waters here.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined . . . and whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

There is practical instruction and encouragement for life.

You have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.  If you live by its dictates, you will die.  But if through the power of the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.

There are words of comfort for times of hardship and struggle.

When words fail us in prayer . . . the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And my grandmother’s favorite, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.

Like I said, rich.

But what echoes deep in the heart long after the book is closed is the poetry.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

– Paul Abbott

Romans 7 – Limits of the Law

Does God wear brown robes?
How many people are there in the Bible?
Will I get a puppy?

These are actual questions I’ve received from children in Promiseland.  Now and again, I will put out a fish bowl and invite kids to put in questions they have about God, or the Bible or their life.  Sometimes, I’ve drawn out cards and spent our Large Group time discussing them; other times I’ve responded to each question by writing letters to the kids to help them find the answers.

Many of the questions are hilariously obscure or cut-to-the-chase honest (“Will I get a puppy?” – I mean, how great is THAT?)  Still, very often, they are surprisingly profound and earnest.  Like the one I got from one little boy lamenting over why God doesn’t heal us when we ask Him, when I knew this boy had been suffering from recurring headaches.  Or this one from a kid trying to understand salvation:

"Why doesn't God change us more obviously when we ask Jesus to take our sin out of us?"

This is essentially the same question Paul wrestles with here at the end of Romans, Chapter 7.  The Bible is clear that when a person gives his or her life to Christ, a profound transaction takes place; that person has crossed from death into life.  We may have reconnected to the Vine and changed our eternal destinies, but we have not experienced any change in location.  We are still tenants in a fallen world, still souls housed in fragile jars of clay, surrounded by the sin-soaked influences of those around us, or of our own making.  Our lungs may be filled with Christ’s Spirit, but there are other toxins in this air.

“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” (vs. 21-23)

Thankfully, as we’ve seen before, Paul doesn’t stop here.  If you’re looking for answers, you’d better read on!  Chapter 8 is one of the richest hope-filled chapters you’ll find in all of scripture… all about life, glory, and becoming more than conquerors. 

How great is THAT?


Reuben Smith

Romans 3: The Remedy

THE BAD NEWS:
On our own....we don't shape up very well.  Verses 11-18 does not paint a pretty picture.  Not even one of us could be considered righteous, we don't seek God, we have all turned away and become Worthless (ouch!)  It doesn't get any better.  We don't do any good, our throats are graves and tongues are not much better and don't even talk about our poison lips.  Good things don't come out of our mouth and don't even get started about our feet.

THE GOOD NEWS:
-The righteousness of God has been made known
-This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus to all who believe
-All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus
-God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement
-He did it to demonstrate his righteousness


I am going out on a limb here and saying the good news far out weighs the bad news.
Thank you Jesus for the righteousness you have given to us!!

PS...enjoy the song

Mathew McCabe

2 Corinthians 12: Boasting of Weakness

I am not a huge fan of my personal weaknesses and limitations. I know they are there. I just don’t like to acknowledge them or deal with them if I can avoid it. Which of course, I cannot. They are present with me every day whether I ignore them or not. I would give you a detailed list of all of my deficiencies, but I am not sure that the server that hosts this blog has the memory capacity to handle it!

The apostle Paul was a pretty self-sufficient guy. He was a real “Type A" person, driven and passionate, a brilliant thinker and a gifted leader. To put it mildly, he was a guy who got things done. It is not a stretch to imagine a guy wired like Paul being tempted to do God’s work on his own – depending on his skills, knowledge, and resources – instead of leaning on God.

Enter his “thorn in the flesh.” We really cannot be dogmatic about what this thorn was (although there are no shortage of opinions about the possibilities). Whatever it was, it really was a problem for Paul. It hindered him from doing the very work God had called him to do. So, he did what we would do – he asked God to remove it – to fix him, to get him past this personal struggle once and for all, so that he could more effectively serve God and others. A reasonable request, don’t you think? God said no – three different times!

Why? Because God knew that this thorn in Paul’s flesh would continually prompt him to come back to God again and again and again for strength and for grace. Paul knew that he could not be the person he needed to be (loving, kind, patient…) or do the work he needed to do (lead, care, teach…) without God’s strength and grace making up for his weakness. And if his weakness opened the door for God’s grace and strength to be displayed to others in and through him, he was happy to have weaknesses – even willing to boast about them.

What personal weaknesses are you dealing with over and over again that you wish God would just take away once and for all? Step back and think: how might God want to use this in your life to pull you towards greater dependence on him?

Ken Jackson