Jesus Ascends to Heaven (Acts 1:8)

Today’s Readings: Acts 1:1-11

Here’s the knowledge you need: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be My witnesses, first here in Jerusalem, then beyond to Judea and Samaria, and finally to the farthest places on earth.

I once thought I needed lots of education to Christ with others. After all, not long after Constantine declared Christianity the religion of the realm, the church became the center of education for the kingdom. Churches held the knowledge of the ages. They produced the books used to teach children and set the standards, many of which we still use today in education.

I found most people aren’t really impressed with a lot of education when it comes to introducing them to Christ. People what genuine experience, not fancy words when it comes to knowing God. Theological terms that come from dusty tomes on the top shelves in the back corners of libraries don’t mean much to the average person. They want concrete evidence that God can help them out of the fix where they find themselves.

I hear from a lot of people they can’t share Christ with others because they don’t know how. They need training. They need someone to teach them the right formula to win others to Christ before they put themselves out there as soul winners. Of course, the last time I read my Bible (this morning) we can’t save anyone. Only God can do that. We don’t win anyone to Him. He wins us to Himself. And I really haven’t seen any magic formula for reaching out and sharing Christ with others. I think that’s why I like the way The Voice translates this verse as Jesus addresses His disciples at His ascension.

“Here’s the knowledge you need…” Jesus doesn’t follow with many words after that. He didn’t quote the Law or the Prophets. He didn’t give them any special process or procedure to follow. He didn’t share any mystical mantra with them. He just told them essentially two truths. First, you’ll receive power. And you’ll receive it to do one thing. You’ll receive that power to act as witnesses of what I do in your life.

That’s it! That’s the magic formula. That’s what He tells His disciples and followers to do. Wait prayerfully for the Holy Spirit to come on you, then witness what that’s like. Tell people what happened to you. Start at home, in Jerusalem. Then share with your neighbors, in Judea and Samaria. Then witness to the rest of the world.

So, I don’t have to be a scholar to prayer and diligently seek for God’s Holy spirit. I don’t have to earn degrees and line my wall with certificates to know God fully and let Him lead my life from within. Neither do I need degrees or fancy words to describe what God does in my life. I can just tell someone what He’s doing right now. That’s what a witness does. He tells in his own words what he sees, hears, feels, and knows is true.

I can do that. So can you. Let’s start!

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

We don’t need to go to foreign lands to share (Ezekiel 3:5-7)

 

Today’s Readings: Ezekiel 3-4; John 9

You are not being sent to a far away nation with an unintelligible language. I am sending you to the people of Israel. But if I had sent you to foreign peoples with unintelligible languages, surely they would listen to you. But the people of Israel will refuse to listen to you because they refuse to listen to Me. As I told you, the Israelites are a hard-headed, stubborn-hearted people.

Growing up in my church, missionaries would often come and talk about what they were doing in places like Africa, South America, Central America, and Asia. We would sit on the edge of our seats as they told stories of lions and tigers, spiders and huge lizards, natives and warrior tribes in all those exotic places. All of us kids, intrigued by the stories, wondered what it would be like to live on mission fields for God.

My sitting on the edge of my seat was always tempered somewhat by my experiences as a missionary’s kid, however. My dad served on the mission field for a couple of years when I was five and six years old. We lived in Panama City, Panama. Not exactly the jungle, although we drove through it from time to time going from one side of the isthmus to the other if we wanted to go from ocean to ocean. It’s the only place in the world where you can see the sun rise in the Pacific Ocean and set in the Atlantic Ocean while standing in the same country, by the way.

Most of our missionaries actually live in large cities, I discovered as I grew older. They, like my dad, took trips into the jungles, outback, or whatever the wilder areas of the country were called, but their place of residence usually had a metropolitan address. Lots of reasons for doing that. First, politically, it’s hard to keep all the documents current to remain in a foreign country as a missionary if you live away from government seats. It’s also hard to secure the equipment and material to help people if you live with the people who have no resources. The resources must come from those who have it. Communication with home is almost impossible in those remote areas and sometimes missionaries just need to get a letter home or a phone call to a friend to get through the next month. Mostly, though, missionaries live in large cities because that’s where the majority of people live! If you’re going to share God’s word, why not share it to as many as possible.

Something interesting happened in my denomination a few years ago. My international denomination officially declared the United States and Canada mission fields. We sent missionaries around the world for decades, but somehow forgot that we lived in a place with 300 million people who needed to hear the gospel just as much as those in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia. In fact, seeing the degradation of behavior in our country, several of our foreign churches had already sent missionaries back to the United States to spread the word among our people about what tremendous change God can make in the lives of those who will dare to follow Him.

God gave Ezekiel the same assignment. Missionary assignments to foreign lands may sound exciting and often we might worry that God will call us to go across the seas to some place we can’t even pronounce the name of the country. But more often than not, like Ezekiel, He will ask us to just share His word with the people around us. He asks for missionaries at home, witnesses to His amazing grace.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

 

What Does It Mean? (Acts 2:12)

Today’s Readings: Jeremiah 15-17; Acts 1:15-2:13

Sounds, flames, different languages, bold preaching from uneducated men. What does this mean? It’s Pentecost! Pilgrims from all across the Roman Empire gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate this important day, the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai to Moses. Something extraordinary happens in the room where Jesus’ disciples gathered to pray. They obeyed His command to stay until they “received power from above.” They didn’t understand how it would come. They didn’t know what it would be. They didn’t really know what it meant. But when it came, there was no mistaking it.

The sound of a mighty, rushing wind…with no wind blowing. A flame pouring into the room then splitting apart and resting on each person’s head. And each person speaking a language they didn’t know, but languages others would understand as they left the room and share the message of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection to the crowd in the street. Luke lists at least thirteen different languages in his narrative. Thirteen languages these uneducated fishermen, tax collectors, farmers, shopkeepers, and everyday men and women should not know. Yet as they spoke, those who heard them understood every word.

Does this kind of miracle still happen today? I think it does…if we allow God to use us as He wants. He hasn’t changed since the beginning of time. I think what has changed is our willingness to really commit everything to Him in full obedience to His will. We say the right words. We use the right language and dress up nice, but do we really give ourselves to Him lock, stock, and barrel? Too often, the answer is no. Too often, we say a little prayer, cry a few tears, then pick up where we left off and go about our lives as if nothing happened.

The disciples, 120 of them, spent ten days together in intense prayer and fasting. Luke says they came together “in one accord.” I think that means they got over themselves. They ironed out every disagreement between them. All the trivial junk that seems to plague our relationships, they figured out just that, trivial junk and they put it all behind them. They got down to business with God and decided that whatever He wanted, they were willing to give up everything for Him…everything.

Only then did the Holy Spirit come on the scene in such a miraculous way. Yes He came in a way that could never be forgotten partly as a celebration of this new era, this new dispensation…the birth of the church. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Advocate would now live in us as Jesus promised. But that empowerment, that extraordinary presence, that ability to do things like we read in Acts, is it still around today? Yep, I think so. But are we willing to pay the price? Are we, like the apostles and those early disciples, willing to give everything to God and say yes to Him in every circumstance? That’s what it means!

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Why Are You Here (1 Tim 2:6-7)

“The testimony was given to me at just the right time. This is exactly what I was appointed to do – tell everyone His story – as a herald, an emissary, a teacher of the outsiders in faith and the truth. (Listen, I promise it’s all true. I’m not lying.)” – The Voice

Interesting words from Paul to Timothy. I got stuck on the first sentence for a while. Why was I born into this particular time, at this particular place, with the particular talents and skills God entrusted to me? He could just as easily put me in Peru or the Congo or Iceland, but for some reason I was born in Tennessee and through a series of events made my way to Texas. Why?

1. God’s timing is always perfect. I’m always amazed at God’s timing. I don’t know why every time He comes through a just the right time it seems to amaze me, but it does. He is never early and He is never late. Sometimes I feel like He won’t make it in time, but He always does. Sometimes I don’t understand His timing, but in hindsight, it is always perfect. And for whatever reason, you are where you are right now, as I am. We are surrounded by particular people. We have influence over particular individuals whether we think we do or not. Someone is always watching us. Maybe it’s our kids or grandkids, a neighbor, a co-worker, or a friend. Maybe it’s a stranger who sees us at the store once a week interact with the staff. But for whatever reason God has put you where you are…right now!
2. We are witnesses. The common denominator command that Jesus gave to every one of us was to witness. I think about that word often. That doesn’t mean to tell something you heard someone else say. It’s not third party stuff.      Witness means first-hand knowledge. I can’t talk about how Jesus comforts  me and gives me joy unless I experience it. I can’t talk about His miracles and the power of prayer unless I see it and use His power and become part of it. I must live the life. I must walk the walk to witness for Him. Third party is not admissible!
3. We are appointed to tell His story. Finally, like Paul, I am appointed to tell HIS story, not mine. I am thrilled to do that because it’s His story that changed my story. His story changed me forever. Mine is worthless and shameful and then He came into the picture. But His story reached out in grace and mercy to an underserving sinner and lifted me up. He is the one that can give hope and joy and comfort and peace when there seems to be none from any corner. His story is the one worth telling. And people will listen to His story because it contains not just a grain of truth, but THE truth.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard