conflict in missions

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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conflict in missions

Acts 21:15-25 (JDV)

Acts 21:15 After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.
Acts 21:17 When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.
Acts 21:18 The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
Acts 21:19 After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Acts 21:20 When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You observe, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
Acts 21:21 But they have been informed about you – that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.
Acts 21:22 So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.
Acts 21:23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.
Acts 21:24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about keeping the law.
Acts 21:25 With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

conflict in missions

The Christian leaders in Jerusalem were not trying to change Paul’s theology. They simply wanted to avoid conflict with those who thought Paul wanted to put an end to the Jewish culture. Their proposal could have worked, but it didn’t. The enemies of Paul attacked him anyway. The conflict was inevitable.

Wherever the gospel was taken by the missionaries, it conflicted with the local culture, and it still does. But it also brought light and truth that became a blessing to every land. Taking the gospel into a new place is a dangerous task. Even if we do all that we can do to blend in, we will still see conflict.

Lord, give us the courage to go, and the love to send missionaries, in spite of the risk.

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cultural straitjacket

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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Acts 21:1-14 (JDV)

cultural straitjacket

Acts 21:1 After we had withdrawn from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
Acts 21:2 Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.
Acts 21:3 After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.
Acts 21:4 We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Breath they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:5 When our days had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,
Acts 21:6 we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned to their own places.
Acts 21:7 When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.
Acts 21:8 The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
Acts 21:9 This man had four prophesying virgin daughters.
Acts 21:10 After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
Acts 21:11 He came to us, lifted up Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Sacred Breath says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.'”
Acts 21:12 When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:13 Then Paul reacted, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? You see, I am ready not only to be tied up but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:14 Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s desire be done.”

cultural straitjacket

On Paul’s way back to Jerusalem, he stopped off at a number of places, and wherever he stops, he finds a group of believers. Not only that, but these places have functioning churches. Not only that, but there are a number of those in ministry of all kinds — especially prophets. There is even a family (Philip’s) which has four single female prophets in it. Imagine that… a first century Christian home with four unmarried female ministers in it. Paul wrote to the Ephesians that prophets were among the Holy Spirit’s equipping ministry gifts.

The modern day church has fallen to a formal structure that tends to restrict what the Holy Spirit can do. He still calls a lot of people to ministry, but many of them cannot follow that calling. They are limited by a cultural straitjacket that predetermines what ministry is acceptable and who can function where. That is not God’s fault. He did not create the cultural straitjacket.

Lord, surprise us with those you call to work among us, equipping us for ministry and mission.

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not knowing

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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not knowing

Acts 20:13-38 (JDV)

Acts 20:13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to pick up Paul, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.
Acts 20:14 When he met us at Assos, we picked him up and went on to Mitylene.
Acts 20:15 Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.
Acts 20:16 You see, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to make it to Jerusalem, if he was capable, for the day of Pentecost.
Acts 20:17 Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the congregation.
Acts 20:18 When they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,
Acts 20:19 slaving for the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.
Acts 20:20 You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.
Acts 20:21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
Acts 20:22 “And now, notice – I am on my way to Jerusalem, tied up by the Breath, not knowing what I will encounter there,
Acts 20:23 except that in every town the Sacred Breath warns me that chains and troubles are waiting for me.
Acts 20:24 But I consider my throat of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.
Acts 20:25 “And now, notice – I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.
Acts 20:26 In view of the fact that I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,
Acts 20:27 because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.
Acts 20:28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Sacred Breath has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
Acts 20:29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:30 Men will get up even from your own number and distract from the truth to withdraw the disciples into following them.
Acts 20:31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
Acts 20:32 “And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
Acts 20:33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
Acts 20:34 You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.
Acts 20:35 In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”
Acts 20:36 After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.
Acts 20:37 There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him,
Acts 20:38 grieving most of all over his statement that they would never observe his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

not knowing

As confident as Paul was that he was serving God by proclaiming his word and strengthening his congregation, he still had a lot of things about his future that he did not know. He was honest about that not knowing when he said his farewell to the elders at Ephesus.

Loving the church leaders as he did, it would have been tempting to respond to their pleas by agreeing to stay on at Ephesus. He could have been assured of a successful ministry among people who loved him and had his best interest at heart. He could even have convinced himself that their needs required his prolonged ministry, because he knew that there were going to be problems in the churches after he departed (29-30). But he had unfinished business that was drawing him to Jerusalem. The different drummer to whom he marched forced him ever onward, in spite of the danger and uncertainty.

LORD, give us the courage to follow you, even if it means leaving a sure thing to face the unknown.

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new purpose — same power

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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new purpose — same power

Acts 20:7-12 (JDV)

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul made a speech for them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.
Acts 20:8 There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,
Acts 20:9 and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on making his speech. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was lifted up dead.
Acts 20:10 But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because his throat is with him.”
Acts 20:11 After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.
Acts 20:12 They brought the boy home alive and were encouraged without measure.

new purpose — same power

Paul’s last Sunday in Troas was the date of an extraordinary event — a miracle in which a young man is revived from death by an embrace. I suppose the usual take on this story is to say something about long-winded preachers. But I have been thinking about the change in focus of Paul’s team — how they are primarily focused on encouraging and equipping the saved instead of planting new churches. Seen from that perspective, this miracle takes on new significance. God’s power is with us no matter what our function. His presence brings life whether we are preaching to deliver, or preaching to encourage.

Thank you Holy Spirit, for your power available for us, no matter what we are doing in God’s service.

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team B

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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team B

Acts 20:1-6 (JDV)

Acts 20:1 After the uproar stopped, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.
Acts 20:2 And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece
Acts 20:3 and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
Acts 20:4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
Acts 20:5 These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,
Acts 20:6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the Day of the Unleavened. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

team B

The ministry of Paul and his team appears to have evolved from primarily church planting, to primarily establishing and equipping churches already planted. Also, the team has morphed into ostensibly two teams, which allows team B to stay behind to continue the equipping, and then to meet up with team A for reporting on the accomplishments of the mission, prayer and the next assignment. The text is not exactly clear who comprises team A, but it at least includes Paul and Luke.

If we want making disciples for Christ to be our primary focus as a church, we need to build flexibility into our ministry structures. This is difficult to do in most churches because we tend to adopt rigid leadership structures, even defending them against other structures. But the New Testament reflects a variety of leadership and ministry structures. If our eye is on the goal, we should be flexible enough to organize ourselves practically, in order to meet each objective toward that goal.

Lord, mold us into teams that accomplish your Great Commission.

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friends in high places

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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friends in high places

Acts 19:23-41 (JDV)

Acts 19:23 About that period there was a major disturbance about the Way.
Acts 19:24 You see, a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.
Acts 19:25 When he had brought them together, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.
Acts 19:26 You observe and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.
Acts 19:27 Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin – the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”
Acts 19:28 When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Acts 19:29 So the city was filled with uproar, and with the same passion they rushed into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.
Acts 19:30 Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him.
Acts 19:31 Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture into the amphitheater.
Acts 19:32 Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in uproar, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
Acts 19:33 Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people.
Acts 19:34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Acts 19:35 When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from the sky?
Acts 19:36 Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.
Acts 19:37 You see, you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess.
Acts 19:38 So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.
Acts 19:39 But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly.
Acts 19:40 In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this mob.”
Acts 19:41 After saying this, he let the assembly go.

friends in high places

The gospel had prevailed over the Jewish exorcists, and had led to the destruction of the books of magic. But that did not mean that the conflict was over. Now, the craftsmen who created the idols that littered the land took up the fight. This passage reveals that the Adversary — the devil — has more than one group of people that he can manipulate to cause conflict and seek to destroy the gospel. But it also shows that the gospel has friends in high places as well. Paul was warned not to go to the amphitheater both by the disciples and by some government officials who were his friends. The city clerk also pleaded for the unlawful assembly to disperse. He was apparently not a believer, but God did use him to prevent the injustice of a mob attack against Paul.

Lord, thank you for the friends of the gospel which you put in high places.

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public demonstration of the victory

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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public demonstration of the victory

Acts 19:8-22 (JDV)

Acts 19:8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke openly over a period of three months, making speeches and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
Acts 19:9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and making speeches every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
Acts 19:10 This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
Acts 19:11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,
Acts 19:12 so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil breaths came out of them.
Acts 19:13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil breaths, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”
Acts 19:14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.
Acts 19:15 The evil breath reacted to them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul – but who are you?”
Acts 19:16 Then the man who had the evil breath jumped on them, overpowered them all, and outstrengthened them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:17 When this became known to everyone who resided in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.
Acts 19:18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,
Acts 19:19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver coins.
Acts 19:20 In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.
Acts 19:21 After these events, Paul resolved by the Breath to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”
Acts 19:22 After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

public demonstration of the victory

Another long term ministry is described here. Its results were that the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed. It flourished in that it both took root in people’s hearts, and produced fruit in the form of healthy disciples. It prevailed in the sense that its opponents (for example, the seven sons of Sceva) were shone to be impostors, without the power to heal or deliver from demons. The bonfire of the vanities that took place at Ephesus was a public demonstration of the victory of the gospel over the superstition that had prevailed before the gospel came.

When we are about the task of winning people to Christ, we cannot neglect those who are deeply committed to another belief system. God’s design is for his word to prevail, which means that we can expect conflict with those who are committed to another word. God wants his word to have the victory.

Lord, we welcome the conflict that will come when we dare proclaim your truth, because it must prevail.

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graduation in Ephesus

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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graduation in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-7 (JDV)

Acts 19:1 It so happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples
Acts 19:2 and asked them, “Did you take the Sacred Breath when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Sacred Breath.”
Acts 19:3 “Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them. “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.
Acts 19:4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism signifying repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
Acts 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Sacred Breath came on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to prophesy.
Acts 19:7 Now there were about twelve men in all.

graduation in Ephesus

Were these twelve men missing out because they didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit? I don’t think so. They had simply failed to appropriate a gift they had already been given. They had not yet taken (λαμβάνω) the power behind their belief, just as the disciples of Christ had at one point not yet taken up (λαμβάνω) their cross and followed him (Matthew 10:38). There was a graduation that happened on the day these twelve believers in Ephesus were re-baptized into the name of Christ, and began their missionary work for him. They began to speak in other languages — not the languages of angels, but the languages of the people of Ephesus who God was calling them to reach with the gospel. Like Apollos in yesterday’s text, these men were almost ready for a fantastic ministry. They just needed one gentle nudge from another believer — a challenge to graduate to ministry in Christ’s name.

Lord, make us aware of those around us who are ready to serve you.

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adjustable Apollos

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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adjustable Apollos

Acts 18:24-28 (JDV)

Acts 18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, a rhetorically skilled man who was competent in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.
Acts 18:25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in breath, he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John’s baptism.
Acts 18:26 He began to speak openly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.
Acts 18:27 When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers and sisters wrote to the disciples to welcome him. After he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.
Acts 18:28 You see, he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

adjustable Apollos

How I wish I had been there for that conversation, in which Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. He didn’t need more skill, and he knew the scriptures, and he was empowered and enthusiastic. But his explanation of the way of God just needed a touch more accuracy. Lots of us who preach long for that kind of something extra. Many are convinced they know what it is. I do not know what these two shared that day.

What I do know is this: if Apollos had not been willing to change, he would not have made the difference in Achaia that he did. If you want to be a competent discipler, you have to be willing to be discipled further, no matter what you already know. For every step in your journey, there will be appropriate training available.

Lord, give us a willingness to adjust so that we can be suited for our next mission.

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following God into the darkness

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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following God into the darkness

Acts 18:18-23 (JDV)

Acts 18:18 After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.
Acts 18:19 When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and made speeches for the Jews.
Acts 18:20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined,
Acts 18:21 but he said farewell and added, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wants me to.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Acts 18:22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the congregation, then went down to Antioch.
Acts 18:23 After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

following God into the darkness

Paul’s ministry at Corinth was a wonderful experience, but after his few years there, he found himself following God into the darkness again. He made brief visits to a number of places, but couldn’t commit to a long term ministry in any of them, even when invited. Why? He had to be certain that another long-term ministry was what God wanted. He had always relied on visions from God to plan his ministry. So, this phase of his life was going to be spent “traveling through one place after another.”

I have to admit, this word on this day is a very hard one for me. I find myself looking back on years in search of a new ministry, and longing for an invitation “to stay for a longer time.” God has been very good to me during this phase of my life. But I cannot really relate to Paul’s attitude here. It takes a certain strength to say no to such an invitation. I’m sure in Paul’s case that strength came from assurance that when the time is right, God would open the next door, and he would be sure.

Lord, build in us a confidence in you that supersedes our need for others.

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