A Powerful Testimony

November 7

(Acts 21:37-40 NIV) ““As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?" "Do you speak Greek?" he replied. {38} "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?" {39} Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people." {40} Having received the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic:””

(Acts 22:1-5 NIV) ““Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." {2} When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: {3} "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel, I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. {4} I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, {5} as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.””

Once again, under difficult circumstances, Paul shares his personal testimony. Paul’s testimony serves as a model for us. A powerful testimony speaks in a language people can understand -- a language that quiets people and causes them to listen. It’s ironic, but the longer we are in the church, the greater is the danger that we will begin to speak a language which is foreign to the lost. We can begin to speak “Church-ese”, a language laced with big words that the unsaved ear cannot comprehend. Work at keeping it simple. A powerful testimony also deals honestly with our past. Paul didn’t whitewash his past, but neither did he come across as the worst sinner ever to live. He didn’t boast of his badness. He shared the truth, without all the dirty details. People don’t need to hear every page in your diary to know that you were a sinner. Be honest, but get to the good news as soon as possible. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day    

What Goes Around

November 6

(Acts 21:31-36 NIV) ““While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. {32} He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. {33} The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. {34} Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.” {35} When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. {36} The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!””

(Acts 7:51-58 NIV) ““You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! {52} Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- {53} you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." {54} When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. {55} But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. {56} "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." {57} At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, {58} dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.””

(Mark 15:9-15 NIV) ““Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, {10} knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. {11} But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. {12} "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them. {13} "Crucify him!" they shouted. {14} "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" {15} Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.””

“What goes around comes around.” seemed to be playing itself out in Paul’s life. He had been a persecutor, and supervised the mob action that took Stephen’s life. Now his life was in danger for his faith in Christ. But rather than being “bad karma”, this incident simply illustrates how far some religions will go to eliminate the competition. It happened to Jesus as the mob shouted, “Crucify Him!” It happened to Paul as the crowd yelled, “Away with him!” And we see it happening today as people are shot, hung, drowned, and burned alive for not believing the same way that those in power believe. It’s an age old problem and symptomatic of a religious cancer that plagues mankind. There are those who really believe their religion can be furthered by hating and killing those who don’t believe like them. This is not the Jesus way. Love, not hate, is Christ’s way of changing the world. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day 

Religious Chaos

November 5

(Acts 21:30-31 NIV) “The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple and immediately the gates were shut. {31} While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.”

(Acts 19:24-32 NIV) ““A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. {25} He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. {26} And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. {27} There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty." {28} When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" {29} Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. {30} Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. {31} Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. {32} The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.””

(Matthew 27:17-26 NIV) ““So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" {18} For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. {19} While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." {20} But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. {21} "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. {22} "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" {23} "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" {24} When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" {25} All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" {26} Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.””

Religion promises order, but generally ends up delivering chaos. The Jews in the days of Christ and the early church were some of the most religious people in the history of the world, but they were continually at the center of chaos and disorder. Religion often divides more than it unites. It can bring the illusion of peace and order through coercion and intimidation, but it is actually not that much different than the Pax Romana which the Jewish people lived under in the days of Christ. Religion cannot bring peace any more than Roman rule brought peace. They offered a semblance of order, but ruled with an iron fist. It was a peace enforced by the sword and spear. It was a fear-induced peace, not the peace of God. Only Jesus can bring true peace and order as God’s Holy Spirit works from the inside out. Seek God’s peace, not the peace promised by world governments. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Unfit for the Kingdom

November 4

(Acts 21:28-29 NIV) “… he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." {29} (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)”

(Matthew 9:10-13 NIV) "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. {11} When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" {12} On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {13} But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.""

(Matthew 21:28-32 NIV) ""What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' {29} "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. {30} "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. {31} "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. {32} For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him."

Paul was accused of defiling the temple area by bringing a Greek there. Greeks were considered unfit to enter the holy places of the Jews. This is another negative aspect of religion -- it declares certain people to be unfit for the Kingdom. The Jews didn’t think Greeks were fit to be near God. Jesus was also criticized for hanging around with hookers, lepers, and tax collectors, all of whom the religionists had declared unfit for God. The Lord would never come near or speak to people like these. This is what religion does -- it categorizes, separates, and judges. It declares some people unfit for the church. We must guard against adopting these same religious attitudes. Jesus came to save sinners. No one is unfit for the Kingdom until God pronounces judgment on the last day. Do not partner with a religion that declares some to be unfit for God’s mercy. That mindset is not of Christ. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day