Month: November 2017

Sacred cows

Acts 22:17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance”

Paul recollects how he returns to Jerusalem after 3 years of being in Damascus and Arabia.

He had left Jerusalem with a murderous heart towards the Jesus followers.

He now returns a changed man.

Praying in the temple was not unusual for him. He did this before his transformation.

Transformation did not remove custom but it enhanced it. He obviously now knew he could pray anywhere. If he could talk to Jesus on a Damascus road then he knew he did not need to be in a building to do so. But he did not cut ties with the traditional custom of the Temple and what it stood for.

Sometimes in the pursuit of the modern we rubbish the ancient and then we lose the much needed narrative that will guide, shape and hold us in our new season.

Sometimes we shouldn’t remove the ‘sacred cow’ (for my international friends a ‘sacred cow’ is a western euphemism for a custom that is above criticism or change). Sacred cows have been removed in my lifetime and I am not sure we have gained anything by doing so:

The Sunday evening gospel service has been removed from the diary.

The Pastor visiting member’s homes now makes appointments for meetings in his office.

We used to dress up for church, now we dress down and dress up for work.

I shall stop before I offend and I am actually in favour of some of the much needed changes.

So back to the point, Paul returned to the temple to pray. It is the custom, the central point for the Jew, the untouchable. Paul didn’t need to but he did.

However, something new happened within the ancient place. Paul whilst praying in the temple had a visionary trance. Now that is new for the temple!

Do you see? I think this is the important key. This unlocks revelation to us.

The ancient isn’t in need of the modern. The modern doesn’t need to pull away.

The ancient is in need of the supernatural.

The Temple was experiencing a visionary trance. This was a move of God just like Isaiah had so many generations before.

‘Sacred cows’ do not necessarily need killing or holding with high honour, they just need the touch of God, the divine encounter of His supernatural presence.

For Paul, it came during prayer.

The prayer meeting is having a revival of its own in many churches. It was a sacred cow, but it was killed in favour of something else or was starved to death because there was no purpose. I remember visiting a church to preach and attended the before-service prayer meeting where the attendance was just 1 member! But I notice prayer meetings are on the rise in churches. It is an ancient ritual but maybe the Church is getting ready for heavenly visions. I hope so.

Let the sacred cows receive the breath of God on them. Let the ancient ways be revisited by the Ancient of Days. We change but our custom can and maybe at times should remain.

Why wait?

Acts 22:16   “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”

Paul was told he had been chosen and he was told what God had purposed for his life. Then comes the exciting question: what are you waiting for?

We have a picture of Paul just standing there waiting for some further instructions or more revelation, waiting for Ananias to tell him something else that he needed to know. He was waiting. Why?

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24: 5-6)

“Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

Maybe today you are found waiting. You think you are waiting for God to move but perhaps He is waiting for you to move?

It is so much easier to stay in bed and wait for destiny to knock at your door than it is to get up and do what you can do.

Without losing wisdom and being able to understand the times we live in, we must seize the opportunity of the moment. Cautiousness can be the plague of the Church. Deliberation can debilitate.  Behind me as I write this blog are shelves of books. They are the books of my life, various tools that have helped me in my journey, some that I purchased over 30 years ago. When I enter my office these books shout at me trying to get my attention. Amongst all the voices wanting to pull me back to a certain genre, there is one shouting the loudest. This is the voice that shouts from even the titles of the books and it is akin to the question today, “What are you waiting for?” You see these books were bought and read during chapters of my life when I was running the race fast, pursuing God eagerly, high expectations, huge faith, a passion to go, see and do. As I enter the last third of my working life, what will the next 15 years hold for me? More importantly how will I run the race?

My son will come home for Christmas and we are going to play squash, a sport that I really love to play. He is better at it than me, though there was a time when that was not the case. He is faster and has more energy. These days I have to use wisdom more than force, I have to play skilfully. But one thing will never change, though I might tire easier, when I go onto the court I am as determined and as passionate to win as I have ever been.

What are you waiting for?

I am not going to live my life in fear of what might happen. I will not back down or slow down in my mind or wait for everything to be perfect. The time I have on this earth is less than I had when I started collecting books and playing squash. I will pursue, move, think, speak, dream and act with the same passion that I have ever had. I am not going to slow down because people cannot keep up. I am going out onto the court of life to win. That is my commitment. I don’t care what it looks like. It might be like my second marathon when the last 3 miles I ran to the finishing line incredibly fast but for those who were watching me it looked like I was walking. However, I will know that inside I was determined, I was passionate and I gave my all for Jesus.

And now what are you waiting for? Nothing …. Here I come!

 

A witness

Acts 12: 15 “You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.”

It is a joy, privilege but equally a huge challenge to be ‘his witness’.

Paul belonged to God. His witness. Why God chose someone so unqualified for this task we cannot fathom other than if we look in the mirror ourselves! God chooses transformed broken and sinful people who are totally reliant on His grace to confuse and even offend the masses.

Paul represented God and in this context more importantly, Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament God chose prophets, priests and kings to represent Him. Then God came in the form of a man, the Son of Man and witnessed to the world who He was. Jesus said to the apostles what He said to Paul, “you will be my witnesses” and now for the best bit …. He has chosen you and me to witness for Him.

The word witness is so much more than speaking. It is living your life so that God can be seen and for the apostles, for Paul and for many in the world today it is being prepared to die for what you have seen and heard.

May you enter today with a willing heart to live for Christ and witness for Him and a readiness to even surrender and die during that witness.

 

 

 

 

 

Building bridges

Acts 22:14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.”

Paul is defending himself and says Annanias, a devout Jew, told him it was the God of our fathers who chose him. Again Paul is trying to build bridges with the crowd. ‘Our fathers’ meaning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What a great lesson Paul is giving us. Let us always try to find ways to build bridges first.

Let’s not major on what divides but what unites us.

When speaking to Jews or Muslims let’s not isolate or antagonise them, but let us build bridges. We can similarly say, “The God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ….” that’s what we share together. Of course Jesus is what separates us from them and them from a personal relationship with God, but He is still their God.

But this can be applied to anyone and everyone. Find what brings you closer not what tears you apart.

In your marriage, what do we share? Not what we disagree with?

In your church, focus on the history you have had there before leaving because you see no future.

We will never have a 100% success rate and some won’t want to walk over the bridge and you may have genuine justifiable reasons not to build one.

But in the main much can be accomplished by bridge building.

Stand by me

Acts 22:13 “He stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” And at that very moment I was able to see him.”

The focus is definitely on the fact that Saul received his sight back and it was Ananias who God used. However, I have not been able to move from the words, ‘He stood beside me’.

Maybe today like me you are thankful for those who stood beside you even for a season. They may not be here anymore but you remember with fondness when it just seemed like God sent them to you to stand beside you. Much was achieved as you were strengthened by their presence.

Luke only uses these words in his gospel when 2 angels stand beside the women outside the tomb, to announce Jesus was not there (24:4) and at the ascension when they stand beside the disciples and announce Jesus will return (Acts 1:10) and finally when an angel stood beside Paul in a dream and said he would survive the storm in order to stand trial before Caesar (Acts 27:23). On each of these occasions other than Ananias it was angels standing beside God’s people. The wording is Luke’s only, it is not used elsewhere.

Ananias stood beside Saul and did what the angels had done, he announced good news, ‘receive your sight’. Healing was coming from God and the announcement was also an instruction to receive this gift.

I pray today we will stand beside someone and that we will be able to announce good news to someone.

The art of storytelling

Acts 22:12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.”

Paul doesn’t give the full version, that Ananias was in fact a disciple of Jesus. Stories must be told to illuminate a message and to convince the listener. Stories don’t need the whole story. The aspects of the story most relevant to the listener must be told. The rest can be put to one side. In fact if everything is told then it could prevent the listener hearing because aspects may offend. If Paul had said Ananias was a disciple then the Jewish crowd would not have listened.

The key is to focus primarily on those who are listening and not the story itself. What do you need the people to hear? Tell them that aspect of the story and leave the rest.

We all tell stories in some arena of life. But we all need the wisdom to know what part of the story to tell.

It will seem strange at first, especially if you have to leave out the parts of the story that matter the most to you. However, the listener is always more important than the communicator and the story. You may feel that you haven’t done the story justice enough. You may think that the people have not benefited from everything. Yet have they heard what God wanted them to hear? If so, then the story has worked.

You may be able to take a story and tell it in a different way in a number of settings. May God give you the wisdom to use the experiences He has given you in this life.

God blinds

Acts 22:11 “My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.”

The devil didn’t do it, God did it!

He who opens blind eyes also can blind them too.

The light didn’t blind Saul’s companions, good job really otherwise it would have been the blind leading the blind!

They all looked into the brilliance of the light. But only one was blinded.

The presence of God can heal you and harm you. The determining of that is His will for your life.

If God has blinded you then it is for His higher purpose.

Perhaps if Saul hadn’t been blinded then he may have shrugged off the experience.

I do think that Saul who was riding into Damascus thinking he was Gods representative on earth to kill and imprison Christians is now humbled in such a way that he could never recover to being the arrogant self-obsessed Pharisee that he was. The murderer coming into Damascus is now a blind man being led into Damascus. God is greater!

And yet in this humiliating situation there is a sense that God is there and He was. Those who fall often fall into the arms of judgment but they experience the arms of grace. If you are going to fall, then fall into His arms. Fall knowing this is His will and purpose. This is His process of transformation for your life.

There is no place I’d rather be than in God’s place for my life whatever that looks like.

 

 

The right question comes from the right place

Acts 22:10 “What shall I do, Lord?” I asked. ‘“Get up,” the Lord said, “and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.”

There are so many prayers: This is what I want to do, Lord! Please make this happen for me, Lord! Bless my vision, Lord!

One of the most important questions we can ever ask God is the one that Saul asked.

The question comes as a direct result of being in the place of surrender, caught and brought low into submission, where God is greater and mightier than us and we dare not move, we can hardly whisper a prayer: What do you want from me, Lord? What shall I do, Lord?

What is the response from God?

Get up.

Go.

You will be told your assignment once you have done the first 2 things.

This is the missionary call: Get up, leave where you are, Go and as you do those 2 things along the way you will know what I have called you to do.

The missionary call can only come from the surrendered place.

The missionary call comes from a desire to do what God wants not what our desire is.

Get to the right place and ask the right question.

Spectators

Acts 22:9 “My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.”

Acts 9:7 Luke wrote, “ The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.”

So …

• The men accompanying Saul/Paul saw the brightness of the light but couldn’t see the person of Christ.
• The men heard the voice of Christ but they did not understand it.
• The men saw the effect upon Saul/Paul but they themselves do not fall to the ground.

They were there in the thick of the action but they could not see, they did not understand and they were not affected.

The reason being is this is Saul’s experience. The call was not to “men, men” it was “Saul, Saul”. Everyone needs their own personal experience of God. You cannot ride on the back of someone else. Sadly there will always be spectators of the moves of God.

God moves small.

Acts 22: 8 “Who are you, Lord?” I asked. “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Why did the voice not say, “I am Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, but the Son of the Living God”?

Why was it simply, “Jesus of Nazareth”?

I believe it shows hat Christ demonstrates his divinity in the lowliest and most ordinary despised places of this world.

1. Paul has no doubt been using the title ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ in a slanderous way. He is now on the floor stunned by the brightness of the light of the One he slandered.
2. Nothing good came out of Nazareth, apparently (John 1:46). It was a very small village. It typifies the many places in the world that are forgotten, unimportant and struggling. Paul is now hearing a heavenly voice who says he is from an earthly place that is so small it is never mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures.
3. After Jesus had been put to death Paul had continued to threaten and then imprison and kill any followers of this Nazarene. He has now been stripped of his authority and power and realises that persecuting the followers was futile because Jesus cannot be stopped.

It is better to find divinity in the ordinary, heaven on earth and the true power within persecution that sustains.

Not everyone finds this. But on this Damascus Road Paul was one who did. He would never be the same again.

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.

God moves small, don’t miss Him.