change from the norm

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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change from the norm

Acts 18:1-17 (JDV)

Acts 18:1 After these things happened, he left Athens and went to Corinth,
Acts 18:2 and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,
Acts 18:3 and since they were of the same occupation, tent-makers by trade, he stayed with them and worked.
Acts 18:4 He made speeches in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 18:6 When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Acts 18:7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.
Acts 18:8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
Acts 18:9 The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.
Acts 18:10 In view of the fact that I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to abuse you, in view of the fact that I have many people in this city.”
Acts 18:11 He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.
Acts 18:12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made an attack with the same passion against Paul and brought him to the platform.
Acts 18:13 “This man,” they said, ” is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
Acts 18:14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of an evil crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews.
Acts 18:15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”
Acts 18:16 So he drove them from the platform.
Acts 18:17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the platform, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.

change from the norm

For Paul and his missionary team, Corinth represented a change from the norm. The norm was rapidly forming a church, and then equally as rapid fleeing the persecution backlash by going on to another field. But here in Corinth, the Lord opened the door for Paul to settle into a new Job, which allowed him to stay put for a while. Previous visions from the Lord had prepared Paul for the next place he was to go. But the vision in Corinth encouraged him to keep spreading the word there.

Paul and his team were learning some things about God. They learned that God was not afraid of the persecution they were facing — that God knew how to make that persecution backfire, so that it resulted in more believers.

They also learned that the same God who gave them power to do mighty things short-term is also able to empower them for a successful long-term ministry. If God has many people in the city, he will open the door for those people to be converted and discipled.

Lord, you are the God of the long-term. Empower us for ministry where you want us. Enable us to trust you for that.

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judge and rewarder

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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judge and rewarder

Acts 17:16-34 (JDV)

Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his breath was disturbed when he observed that the city was full of idols.
Acts 17:17 So he made speeches in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
Acts 17:18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What does this seed picker want to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”– because he was telling the good news about Jesus and Resurrection.
Acts 17:19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?
Acts 17:20 Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”
Acts 17:21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
Acts 17:22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I observe that you are extremely religious in every respect.
Acts 17:23 You see, as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it – he is Lord of the sky and land – does not reside in handmade shrines.
Acts 17:25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.
Acts 17:26 From one man he has made every nationality to reside over the whole land and has determined their appointed periods and the boundaries of where they live.
Acts 17:27 He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Acts 17:28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
Acts 17:29 Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t figure that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
Acts 17:30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to seriously change their minds,
Acts 17:31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by getting him up from the dead.”
Acts 17:32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.”
Acts 17:33 So Paul left their presence.
Acts 17:34 However, some people stuck with him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

judge and rewarder

Some have suggested that this passage in Acts 17 is the first major text of the Bible establishing human immortality. A closer look at the text shows that Paul was conceding human mortality, not rejecting it. If all humans are already immortal, then how can Jesus’ resurrection prove anything? If we have immortality by nature, why insist that life and breath are gifts from God?

No, this passage does not prove we have immortal souls. But it does explain how we can gain immortality. By trusting our destinies to the man who is appointed as our judge, we can see life again, even after we die. Our judge is coming, and he has our reward with him (Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 22:12). That reward is immortality: the gift of permanent life.

Lord Jesus, we will wait for you. You are our appointed judge and rewarder.

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For the full article, see:

The seed picker speaks | Acts 17

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missions requires flexibility

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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missions requires flexibility

Acts 17:10-15 (JDV)

Acts 17:10 As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Acts 17:11 The people here were more upper-class than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts 17:12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the respectable Greek women as well as men.
Acts 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds.
Acts 17:14 Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.
Acts 17:15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

missions requires flexibility

Penny and I were on the mission field from 1996 to 2017, and we never got bored. We were constantly going new places and doing new things, because the mission’s requirements were always changing. When we read about the constant change that took place as the first Christian missionaries did their work, we can understand that.

In today’s text, the missionaries were first proclaiming the gospel through formal teaching at the synagogue. Then, they had to deal with the opponents from Thessalonica who came to cause trouble. Then, they split up, Paul going on to Athens, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind in Berea to strengthen the new converts.

Lord, give our missionaries the flexibility they need to stay committed to you, and stay focused on sharing the gospel, no matter how much their daily work changes.

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not always welcomed

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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not always welcomed

Acts 17:1-9 (JDV)

Acts 17:1 After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
Acts 17:2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days made speeches for them from the Scriptures,
Acts 17:3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to endure these things and to get up from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”
Acts 17:4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.
Acts 17:5 But the Jews became envious, and they brought together some evil men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.
Acts 17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,
Acts 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king– Jesus.”
Acts 17:8 The crowd and city officials who heard these things were agitated.
Acts 17:9 After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they let them go.

not always welcomed

A few years ago, our Bible College in the Philippines had gone into a distant village to share the gospel. We were invited to play a basketball game with the local village team, and the village graciously allowed one of our students to preach a message during half-time. We even had a few from the village who wanted to hear more after the game, and some who wanted to start a church. But there already was a Catholic church in the village, and the local priest was concerned about what we were doing. He asked to speak with the professors after the game.

This was a rather mild incident compared to what was experienced in Thessalonica. But it was a reminder for us of the cost of sharing the gospel — that it would not always be welcomed, no matter what our intentions.

Lord, give us the courage to share, regardless of the welcome we receive.

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aggravations

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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aggravations

Acts 16:16-40 (JDV)

Acts 16:16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a breath by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.
Acts 16:17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of rescue, are the slaves of the Most High God.”
Acts 16:18 She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the breath, he said, “I direct you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
Acts 16:19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
Acts 16:20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews
Acts 16:21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”
Acts 16:22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
Acts 16:23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, directing the jailer to guard them carefully.
Acts 16:24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying praise songs to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Acts 16:26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.
Acts 16:27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to take himself out, since he figured the prisoners had escaped.
Acts 16:28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”
Acts 16:29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:30 He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be rescued?”
Acts 16:31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be rescued – you and your household.”
Acts 16:32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house.
Acts 16:33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.
Acts 16:34 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and was glad because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.
Acts 16:35 When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Let those men go.”
Acts 16:36 The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be let go. So come out now and go in peace.”
Acts 16:37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us publicly without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”
Acts 16:38 The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
Acts 16:39 So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town.
Acts 16:40 After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.

aggravations

Luke’s account here reveals a very important emotion that Paul expresses. Paul is annoyed. You don’t hear a lot about this feeling on the mission field, but it is most certainly there.

  • Paul is annoyed by the constant distraction from this possessed slave girl.
  • Paul is annoyed by the injustice of being stripped and beaten and falsely imprisoned.
  • Paul is annoyed that the magistrates want the missionaries to leave quietly.

When we try to share the gospel in a new context, the devil will throw everything he has at us. This includes threats to our life, but it also includes thousands of mere annoyances than distract us from our mission.

Lord, give us the strength to endure all of the enemy’s attacks, from the full-on assaults to the petty aggravations.

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small beginnings

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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small beginnings

Acts 16:11-15 (JDV)

Acts 16:11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,
Acts 16:12 and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days.
Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we figured he would find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.
Acts 16:14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a purple goods merchant from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.
Acts 16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

small beginnings

If you are familiar with New Testament, you are already thinking that this city is going to be the one where Paul and Silas have their breakthrough. This is Philippi, where they are jailed and miraculously released, winning the jailer to Christ. But don’t go there so quickly. According today’s text, it was several days of nothing before they even got an audience. Then, it wasn’t a formal debate in a synagogue, but an informal gathering of women. Paul had to be wondering by this time if Philippi was going to be another miss.

There was no large group of influences outside the city gate by the river. Only one convert, a merchant woman. But the missionaries were right where God wanted them.

Lord, we are reminded today to never despise small beginnings.

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false starts

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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false starts

Acts 16:6-10 (JDV)

Acts 16:6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Sacred Breath to speak the word in Asia.
Acts 16:7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Breath of Jesus did not allow them.
Acts 16:8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas.
Acts 16:9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”
Acts 16:10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us for preaching the gospel to them.

false starts

Paul and Silar were sent by God, commissioned as missionaries, and empowered with amazing gifts. You would think that with qualifications likethat, they would always know what direction to go. But in today’s text we see these giants of the faith going from place to place,only to discover that God does not want them there.

Paul knew for a fact that God had called him to missionary work when he had a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. So, it wasn’t until he had a similar vision at Troas that Paul understood clearly that Macedonia was the next place to preach the gospel.

Lord, give us the patience to keep going until your direction is clear, no matter how many false starts we have to endure.

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today’s miracle

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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today’s miracle

Acts 16:1-5 (JDV)

Acts 16:1 Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek.
Acts 16:2 The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium testified about him.
Acts 16:3 Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.
Acts 16:4 As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the missionaries and elders at Jerusalem for the people to keep.
Acts 16:5 So the congregations were strengthened in the faith and increased daily in numbers.

today’s miracle

We know that Timothy’s mother and grandmother were believers, but the only thing we know about his father is that he was a Greek. His father apparently had no influence on his upbringing, at least on his religion. Here Timothy is at a major crossroads in his life, and another man — Paul — steps in to mentor him. But, what a man, and what a mentor.

Timothy might have had a reason to complain about his past, but it made this glorious adventure possible. He was going to have the opportunity to do missions work alongside Paul. He would benefit from training and fellowship that could not have happened anywhere else.

Timothy could have felt unworthy of this blessing because of his past, and walked away from it. But he grabbed the bull by both horns and hung on. He had learned to accept the blessing of the present, and be grateful.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity we have to live today, to serve you today, and to experience today’s miracle.

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why Paul chose Silas

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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why Paul chose Silas

Acts 15:36-41 (JDV)

Acts 15:36 After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers and sisters in every town where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they’re doing.”
Acts 15:37 Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark.
Acts 15:38 But Paul insisted that they should not take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.
Acts 15:39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus.
Acts 15:40 But Paul chose Silas and departed, after being commended by the brothers and sisters to the grace of the Lord.
Acts 15:41 He traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the congregations.

why Paul chose Silas

This story is often approached from the standpoint that Paul made a mistake in not trusting God to use Mark, even though he had bailed on a previous mission. The idea is that Paul should have forgiven Mark his past, and trusted God to use him no matter what. It is often pointed out that Paul later wanted Mark to join him (2 Timothy 4:11).

Paul was human, and he could certainly make mistakes. But I’m not sure Luke is as interested in teaching us that here. I rather think that he is explaining how Silas joined Paul’s team. The previous story (yesterday’s text) had introduced Silas, explaining that he was a leading man among the brothers in Jerusalem and a prophet. He had proven himself a capable traveler and teacher. He also had a heart to encourage new believers, and correct error. That sounds like a person capable of withstanding the rigors of missions work!

Lord, thank you for the capable missionaries you provide for your work.

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unteaching

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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unteaching

Acts 15:22-35 (JDV)

Acts 15:22 Then the missionaries and the elders, with the whole congregation, decided to select men who were among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.
Acts 15:23 They wrote: “From the missionaries and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers and sisters among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
Acts 15:24 Since we have heard that some without our authorization went out from us and agitated you with their words and unsettled your throats,
Acts 15:25 we have decided with the same passion to select men and send them to you along with our dearly loved Barnabas and Paul,
Acts 15:26 who have risked their throats for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 15:27 Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who will personally report the same things by word of mouth.
Acts 15:28 You see, it was the Sacred Breath’s decision – and ours – not to place further burdens on you beyond these requirements:
Acts 15:29 that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things. Farewell.”
Acts 15:30 So they were let go and went down to Antioch, and after gathering the assembly, they delivered the letter.
Acts 15:31 When they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
Acts 15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were also prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers and sisters and strengthened them with a long message.
Acts 15:33 After spending some time there, they were let go in peace by the brothers and sisters to those who had sent them.
Acts 15:34
Acts 15:35 But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord.

unteaching

Luke does not record the message that Judas and Silas gave that day. He was probably not present for it. But he did learn that the Christians in Antioch had been encouraged and strengthened by it. They had been agitated and unsettled by some unauthorized teachers from Jerusalem, so now God sent two prophets from the same place to correct the error.

As much as our generation likes to downplay the importance of doctrine, we need to understand how dangerous false doctrine can be, and we need to make every effort to correct it. Everyone has questions, and wrong answers to those questions can agitate and unsettle us. We need people with the courage to unteach, and the wisdom to unlearn.

Lord, raise up among us people with a heart for your truth, and give us ears to listen to them.

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