Feb. 26th, 2010
Acts 21:34 Since he couldn’t find the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered Paul be taken to the fortress. Note, I’ve dubbed this the crazy chapter! From Paul disregarding his friend’s advice to my last post regarding Paul’s accusers accosting him for bringing Gentiles into the temple, to today…a riot breaks out across the whole city. Verse 30 mentions that the whole city was rocked by these accusations and a great riot followed. Seems like life in Jerusalem hasn’t changed much in the past 2000 years! A few years ago we were watching the news and Adam our then 15 year old remarked: “They’d have fewer wars and riots in Jerusalem if they didn’t have so many baseball sized rocks lying around.” True.
The point for me to day comes from the verse above. One of the great tragedies of craziness and conflict is the inability to find the truth in all the uproar. (And no, I’m not referencing yesterday’s political theatrics called Health Care Summit – though I think the point is well illustrated, from what I saw!) Paul is accused, and it seems almost immediately the whole city is thrust into a massive uproar. The constable comes and without even knowing who Paul was, or what he’d done, he arrests him and takes him off to jail. Interesting take on ‘guilty until proven innocent.’
And I wonder; how often do I allow the chaos of my life to cloud or distort, or even hide the truth that I so desperately need/seek? Or stated another way; how often does the truth get lost when the shouting and wrangling go unabated? Maybe I need more quiet in my life, less noise, less confusion, less conflict. Yes, I’m certain I do. I know that the truth is an essential element, not just for my profession, but for my life; and I need to minimize the uproar and confusion that blinds me to finding that truth.
Lord, help me listen and hear, follow and obey as you speak to me from the quiet places and times of my life today. Help me see truth more clearly, even when the chaos bubbles around me.

Feb. 24th, 2010
Acts 21:28 They grabbed him, yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple – and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles. This is a second muse from chapter 21. Note in yesterday’s brief that this is a crazy chapter. Paul is warned not to go to Jerusalem, but he goes anyway. He is confronted by the Jews in leadership, and submits to their authority to conduct some Jewish ritual to demonstrate to the people he is still a ‘real’ Jew, and has not abandoned the faith. He is about to finish the ritual, when all hell breaks loose.
Some other Jews from another province arrive in Jerusalem, and accuse Paul of; breaking their beloved Jewish laws, teaching others to disregard the law; teaching against the temple (meaning the leaders of the temple); and even defiles the temple by bringing in Gentiles! Now I think we’ve arrived at the heart of the matter.
As much as the Jewish leaders were willing to allow Paul to preach to Gentiles, to baptize and convert Gentiles, to relieve Gentiles from the burden of being circumcised, and probably to collect Gentile offerings…they were none to happy that he would desecrate their beloved temple by bringing in Gentiles. What is it about our ‘beloved’ temples that we have such a hard time making room for “gentiles”? The hypocrisy and phariseeism is not dead yet! Even we get bent out of shape when someone comes to our church who doesn’t look like “one of us”. When someone comes who isn’t “one of us”. When someone comes who isn’t dressed properly, or isn’t up on our groovy church “lingo”. Every church thinks they are friendly, and they are…TO EACH OTHER! It is so hard for new people to break in. It should not be so in our church!
Lord, I want to pray for the people who are seeking you this Lenten season. Not the ones who already know you, but the genuine seekers who are looking to find You in a more real way during this heightened Spiritual season. I pray for the ones who are trying to find you, but who are afraid of the church, afraid of being rejected or ignored if they attend our church. I pray they might have courage to come, and I pray that our people (me) would be on the look out for new faces, new people, new seekers, and go out of our way to make them feel welcome. How hard it must be to be seeking Jesus, and being afraid of those who claim to be his followers.

Feb. 23rd, 2010
Acts 21:13 But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem, but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”
This is a crazy chapter. It begins with Paul finishing his third missionary journey as he travels back to Jerusalem. He is warned at least twice by a number of different people that he should not go back to Jerusalem because he will be arrested, and possibly even killed. He seems totally disinterested in what his friends and colleagues have to say.
It made me wonder how I receive ‘wisdom’ from my spiritual advisors, or even just people in general. I’ve always been leery of people who’ve come to me and said: “God told me to tell you to do this.” Or, “I have a message/vision/prophecy from God for you.” I always wonder, and sometimes have said…”why didn’t God just tell me?” I’ve held in suspended suspicion any word from God that comes from another. I try to take to heart what God might be saying, but I’m not making any life altering decisions based on what some one might think God is saying to me!
That being said, what am I to learn from Paul in this chapter? He seems to totally disregard what his concerned friends offer him. He seems completely oblivious to any message regarding his future, except what he personally has heard from God. I know there are times in my life when God has given me clear vision to do something, and I have to ignore or graciously disregard naysayers, or detractors, and follow that vision. (The 2009 Legacy UMC Christmas Challenge would be a recent example.) There have been many more, other occasions when I’ve been corrected by peers and supervisors, and even just concerned friends from running off on some crazy wild goose chase. Sometimes it’s hard to know which approach to take. But here, Paul seems to wholly and completely disregard the cautionary words from his prophet/friends.
There are times in all our lives when we have to follow God…no matter what others think or say. It is hard to know sometimes, and we better do the best we can to discern God’s will in those instances. Lord, help me today, as we face some rather tough decisions about the future of this church, and our future personally, to really hear your voice, and listen obediently, and follow faithfully where and what YOU are saying to me. May my resolve match that of Paul…I’m ready to not only be jailed, but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus. Help me to hear your voice, and obediently, faithfully follow.

Feb. 22nd, 2010
Acts 20:24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. I am so grateful to share with Paul this same life work. Maybe it is everyone’s work! Being employed in spreading the Good News is not always easy, but it is rewarding. Watching people “get it” makes the difficult times more tolerable.
What struck me today was Paul’s apparent disregard for any other part of his life, except telling others the Good News. I would like to agree that my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it to finish the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus; and I am giving much of myself and my life to do just that. But there is more to my life than just what I do! There are the parts of my life I enjoy that enable me to share more effectively the Good News. If I couldn’t golf or hunt or fish or spend time with my beloved and disengage from my work occasionally, I would soon be exhausted, and empty. It sometimes seems to me reading the gospels and the accounts that Jesus and the disciples never took a day off. I hope they did.
Lord, I want to recommit myself to finishing the word you’ve assigned me. I want my life to count for nothing more than to be used by you. I want to tell others with my voice and by the way I live about the Good News of God’s wonderful grace…but I also need a day off. Lent is a tough stretch, more preps, more people, more pressure. So make me equal to the task you’ve laid before me, and help me finish well. Empower me with the spirit from on high. Enable me to draw from your rich, deep, storehouse of mercy and share what I receive with those who need what you have. And help me appropriately look forward to spring, and golf, and hunting…those are my ‘Sabbath’s’ and I long for them.

Feb. 19th, 2010
Acts 19:11 God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled. My first thought as I read this was; sounds like some ancient version of some modern “hucksterism’s” I’ve seen and heard about. “Send me your money and I’ll send you a prayed over piece of cloth you can use to heal your ailments, or fix your car.” “Lay your hands on the radio as I pray, and God will heal you, or anyone who knows you.” “Use these exact words, and God has to do as you command”. I’m leery.
To be clear…isn’t every miracle, by definition, unusual? The suspension of natural laws by supernatural forces for special needs and occasions is how I’d define a miracle. And I’ve seen some. I’ve seen evil spirits delivered from an individual as I prayed for him. I’ve seen some folks healed of the specific disease or ailment I’ve asked God to heal. I’ve witnessed more than one life changed as individuals confess their sins, and begin living for Jesus. I’ve seen people risk injury and bodily harm to answer God’s call on their lives; and that too is a miracle.
But I’ve also seen God remain mysteriously silent at the end of my (and others) faithful, spiritual, humble, obedient, unassuming prayers. I’ve seen many more occasions that God doesn’t act in ways that I or others think would be helpful, or necessary; than I have seen God heal or deliver. I’ve seen God answer “no” way more often than I’ve seen God answer “yes”. And I wonder sometimes how cool it would be to have the power to wave a handkerchief or apron (really, a dirty kitchen apron) over some individual or some need, and know that God was going to heal their sickness or deliver them from some demon. But alas, God has not given to me such power…at least not on a regular basis.
And really, truth be told, I don’t want that power…at least not on a regular basis. I know God knows I’m not trustworthy enough to manage such power. I’d soon, I mean soon, forget whose power it really was. I’d soon be off tooting my own horn; I’d soon be selling my miracles to the highest bidder or deepest despairing. I’d manage some way to screw up God’s good gift. So I’ll just keep what I’ve got and do the best with what God has so graciously already given me; the rare occasion to act as an agent to glimpse a miracle; the awesome privilege to humbly pray for God’s will to be done; the amazing honor to labor with others who find God’s ways as mysterious as I do; and the ample opportunities to learn and grow and trust and wait, while God seems silent…but really isn’t!