Paul and Barnabas moved into Iconium, what is known today as Konya, Turkey, and preached the Gospel following their established pattern of visiting the synagogues first. The good news is many, both Jews and Gentiles, came to believe the Gospel. The bad news is that Paul and Barnabas met much opposition. The unbelievers began to harass and poison the minds of the people against the missionaries. What was the reaction of the missionaries? They stayed for a long time!
Many a times, we think that opposition means that we have to give up and move on. But both Paul and Barnabas continued the work of the kingdom under the stressful circumstances of opposition. I should be more resilient in my kingdom work. I should not give up that easily my witness after meeting opposition. Opposition must be seen as part and parcel of the witnessing endeavor and I must learn to endure it. Moreover, Paul and Barnabas did not lose their boldness as a result of opposition, but continued to speak boldly for the Lord.
The Lord "bore witness to the word of his grace." In the midst of opposition, God placed his stamp of approval upon the work of the missionaries by "granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands." Signs and wonders were a demonstration of God's power in their midst. It was a way of telling the people that God was behind every word the missionaries spoke to them. There should be a sense of expectation in my life that God will make himself known to people backing up my witness. I must believe that God works in people's lives to affirm my witness to them. I must believe that opposition does not hinder my God from working among unbelievers.
A question worth pondering in kingdom work is: How much risk should we take for the kingdom? For sure, we see the apostles living in dangerous situations all the time, but it seems there is a limit. When the opposition amounted to a plot of abuse and murder, they decided to move on. We are called to give our lives for the cause of the Gospel, but we should not seek to be martyrs. Living in danger is one thing, but the apostles thought it wiser to flee to stay alive and be able to preach somewhere else. There is no shame in fleeing from death if given such an opportunity.
Father, grant me boldness and courage to be a witness for you even in the midst of opposition. Help me endure opposition to give glory to your name. May I have the expectation to see it at work in people's lives when I witness to them. Teach me to take risks for your kingdom. Amen.
Showing posts with label boldness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boldness. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Acts 6:1-7 Seven Chosen to Serve
One of the problems that the Early Church encountered was a lack of organization. The Apostles were trying to do everything including serving at tables to provide for the needs of the people. Pretty soon, they found they could not keep up trying to do everything. Frustration was setting in and complaints started to arise because some segment of the widows were being neglected. The effects of a lack of organization are felt throughout the whole body and something had to be done.
The body of Christ is certainly a living body, an organism, but it is also an organization. In order for the body of Christ to be effective in all its ministries and remain alive as a body, it is necessary to organize its functions properly to ensure proper execution. The Apostles were forced to set priorities in their ministry and they chose to do what they were called to do: to pray and to preach the Word of God. My priorities in ministry should not be any different - I must prioritize my call according to the gifts God has given. Understanding that serving at tables is very important, they decided to appoint capable people and delegated those functions that they couldn't do even if they tried.
Sometimes, it is not a matter of being able to do it, but able to do it well. The execution of the Apostles in the area of distribution brought criticism because they were not able to execute effectively. I'm sure that if they continued to try doing it, they would have lost many people in the shuffle. Sometimes, I neglect quality in the execution of ministry and the body suffers. One of the most important things in their efforts to organize is to establish the requirements for those people who are to execute the job. The Apostles came up with three requirements: have a good reputation, be full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom. The Church today needs to continue to enforce these requirements.
A good reputation is easy to enforce. A candidate's life and testimony should be an open book that speaks to the values and priorities of a person. But how do you enforce being filled with the Spirit??? My reading of Acts and the New Testament as a whole tells me that the essential "signs" of a person filled with the Spirit is boldness and courage to be a witness to unbelievers. This is the area of life that must be probed to determine fullness in the Spirit. Wisdom is also very evident in the life of a person. I must state clearly that it is not earthly wisdom we are looking for here, but heavenly wisdom. It is to make decisions according to godly principles in ones life and church sometimes at a great cost.
The final consideration for a proper organization is to know how many people you need for the job. In this case, the Apostles deemed it necessary to have seven men appointed for the task. I am sure that the number was the result of the need in the body of Christ. I wonder how would it have been if they had appointed only three persons. The number must be enough to cover the need.
Interestingly enough, the results of such a reorganization brought an increase in the Word of God and the number of disciples multiplied greatly. I am very quick to look at the number of disciples, but I don't think I've ever thought of the Word of God increasing as a result that I must measure. What is an increase in the Word of God? It is to saturate all of church life with the preaching and teaching of the Word. It is to have more preaching points to communicate the Gospel. It is to have more people trained to witness the good news of the Gospel. I must seek to increase the Word of God by prioritizing my work in the kingdom and organizing the efforts of the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is certainly a living body, an organism, but it is also an organization. In order for the body of Christ to be effective in all its ministries and remain alive as a body, it is necessary to organize its functions properly to ensure proper execution. The Apostles were forced to set priorities in their ministry and they chose to do what they were called to do: to pray and to preach the Word of God. My priorities in ministry should not be any different - I must prioritize my call according to the gifts God has given. Understanding that serving at tables is very important, they decided to appoint capable people and delegated those functions that they couldn't do even if they tried.
Sometimes, it is not a matter of being able to do it, but able to do it well. The execution of the Apostles in the area of distribution brought criticism because they were not able to execute effectively. I'm sure that if they continued to try doing it, they would have lost many people in the shuffle. Sometimes, I neglect quality in the execution of ministry and the body suffers. One of the most important things in their efforts to organize is to establish the requirements for those people who are to execute the job. The Apostles came up with three requirements: have a good reputation, be full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom. The Church today needs to continue to enforce these requirements.
A good reputation is easy to enforce. A candidate's life and testimony should be an open book that speaks to the values and priorities of a person. But how do you enforce being filled with the Spirit??? My reading of Acts and the New Testament as a whole tells me that the essential "signs" of a person filled with the Spirit is boldness and courage to be a witness to unbelievers. This is the area of life that must be probed to determine fullness in the Spirit. Wisdom is also very evident in the life of a person. I must state clearly that it is not earthly wisdom we are looking for here, but heavenly wisdom. It is to make decisions according to godly principles in ones life and church sometimes at a great cost.
The final consideration for a proper organization is to know how many people you need for the job. In this case, the Apostles deemed it necessary to have seven men appointed for the task. I am sure that the number was the result of the need in the body of Christ. I wonder how would it have been if they had appointed only three persons. The number must be enough to cover the need.
Interestingly enough, the results of such a reorganization brought an increase in the Word of God and the number of disciples multiplied greatly. I am very quick to look at the number of disciples, but I don't think I've ever thought of the Word of God increasing as a result that I must measure. What is an increase in the Word of God? It is to saturate all of church life with the preaching and teaching of the Word. It is to have more preaching points to communicate the Gospel. It is to have more people trained to witness the good news of the Gospel. I must seek to increase the Word of God by prioritizing my work in the kingdom and organizing the efforts of the body of Christ.
Thank you Lord for your Church, your body on earth. Help me respond to your call and prioritize my tasks according to that call and do not allow me to be swallowed up by the urgent. Help me facilitate the reorganization of your local body on earth for maximum effectiveness for the kingdom. Amen
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Acts 4:23-31 The Believers Pray for Boldness
What will Peter and John do after being threatened and released? Will they pout? Will they plot? Will they play? None of the above! They reported what happened to their friends - better translation is to their own, referring to other believers and they PRAYED. Complaining about the situation was not going to make it better. Trying to exact revenge was not going to make it better. Ignoring the situation and going back to business as usual was not going to help either.
What did they pray about? They could have complained to God in their prayer, but they didn't. They could have asked God to rain fire and brimstone upon the priests and Pharisees, but they didn't. They could have prayed for a hiding place, but they did not. Instead, their prayer acknowledged God as the Sovereign Creator of all things as an opening. Then they acknowledged that God had spoken through David, referring to Psalm 2, explaining that the Gentiles, peoples, rulers, and kings would come against the Christ. After quoting the Scripture, they acknowledged its fulfillment in their day through the Gentiles, Israel, Pontius Pilate, and Herod. Again, this prayer shows that predestination and human responsibility are completely compatible with one another.
What did they pray about? They asked God to look upon their threats. It is an expression to bring something to his attention. Given the threats, they asked: "grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness." Awesome! In the midst of opposition, they viewed their circumstances in light of the Scriptures and asked for what they needed most. Considering that the mission was already clearly stated by Jesus before his ascension: Make disciples wherever you go or be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, there is no question that the greatest need is boldness to speak the word given the threats.
The focus of my prayer in similar circumstances would've been on protection. For God to protect me from the threats, but I don't think I would've asked for boldness to do exactly what the leaders prohibited me to do. This is evidence that my prayer life is too self-centered. I need to be more Christ-centered, more Kingdom-centered. I have to realize that I am called to be a witness upon this earth and nothing should deter me from being one. A true disciple follows Jesus no matter the circumstances. A true disciple makes kingdom business the priority of his life.
Their prayer also acknowledged that God would continue to work among them with healings, signs and wonders through the name of Jesus. Evidence that God listened to this prayer was that immediately, the place was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and in the long term, they continued to speak the word with boldness. The results are in the hands of God!
Father, fill me with your Spirit and grant me boldness to speak your word in season and out of season. May I be a Christ-centered disciple. May my business be your kingdom above all other things. Amen.
What did they pray about? They could have complained to God in their prayer, but they didn't. They could have asked God to rain fire and brimstone upon the priests and Pharisees, but they didn't. They could have prayed for a hiding place, but they did not. Instead, their prayer acknowledged God as the Sovereign Creator of all things as an opening. Then they acknowledged that God had spoken through David, referring to Psalm 2, explaining that the Gentiles, peoples, rulers, and kings would come against the Christ. After quoting the Scripture, they acknowledged its fulfillment in their day through the Gentiles, Israel, Pontius Pilate, and Herod. Again, this prayer shows that predestination and human responsibility are completely compatible with one another.
What did they pray about? They asked God to look upon their threats. It is an expression to bring something to his attention. Given the threats, they asked: "grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness." Awesome! In the midst of opposition, they viewed their circumstances in light of the Scriptures and asked for what they needed most. Considering that the mission was already clearly stated by Jesus before his ascension: Make disciples wherever you go or be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, there is no question that the greatest need is boldness to speak the word given the threats.
The focus of my prayer in similar circumstances would've been on protection. For God to protect me from the threats, but I don't think I would've asked for boldness to do exactly what the leaders prohibited me to do. This is evidence that my prayer life is too self-centered. I need to be more Christ-centered, more Kingdom-centered. I have to realize that I am called to be a witness upon this earth and nothing should deter me from being one. A true disciple follows Jesus no matter the circumstances. A true disciple makes kingdom business the priority of his life.
Their prayer also acknowledged that God would continue to work among them with healings, signs and wonders through the name of Jesus. Evidence that God listened to this prayer was that immediately, the place was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and in the long term, they continued to speak the word with boldness. The results are in the hands of God!
Father, fill me with your Spirit and grant me boldness to speak your word in season and out of season. May I be a Christ-centered disciple. May my business be your kingdom above all other things. Amen.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Acts 4:1-22 Peter and John Before the Council
The healing of the lame beggar was an indisputable sign from God. There were people who witnessed the healing. There were people who knew firsthand the beggar, who was over forty years old, and his condition. Though many people came to Christ as a result of the miracle (estimated 5,000), some still opposed the message. The priests and the Sadducees were annoyed with the preaching for different reasons. The priests opposed it because they didn't believe in Jesus as the Son of God. The Sadducees opposed it because they did not believe in the resurrection and did not like the proclamation that Jesus had resurrected from the dead. No matter how powerful a sign God may perform in our midst, there will be opposition.
Peter and John, after being arrested, were questioned about their good deed. The officials asked by what power they had performed it. Peter, filled with the Spirit answers that it was in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom they crucified, whom God raised from the dead. Now, this is what I call courage and boldness! Knowing that he was arrested by people who hate Jesus and the resurrection, Peter still pounds, without fear, the truth in their faces. This is the kind of courage and boldness I need in this world to make known the message of the kingdom of God.
The message of the kingdom is clear. Jesus Christ is the one killed and resurrected; the stone they rejected and God made him the cornerstone; the salvation of the world. For there is no other name in which we must be saved. Peter not only demonstrated courage and boldness in preaching Jesus' name and his resurrection, but he makes the claim that Jesus is the exclusive savior - there is no other. We think that a message of exclusivity is not accepted today, but in those days, there were many religions and some pagan religions had many gods. To make a claim of exclusivity was counter-cultural, even daring. The gospel of the kingdom does not have room for polytheism (many gods) or syncretism (mix of religions). I need to make a decision about Jesus: Is he or is he not the Savior of the world? If he is, I must proclaim him as the exclusive savior with resolve and unapologetically.
The Spirit of God takes uneducated, common people and transforms them into true witnesses to the world. People who are determined to speak the name of Jesus no matter the cost. Even under threat to speak to no one, they were more concerned with God's perspective - "whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you." What they had witnessed was so life-changing that they could not be silent - "for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." Have I truly experienced the saving power of Jesus in my life? If I have, what is holding me back from sharing the greatest thing that has happened in my life? If I fear something, it means I am not filled of the Holy Spirit. I need his fullness today, every day!
Father, send your Spirit and fill me up. May I boldly proclaim the name of your Son Jesus no matter the opposition. Grant me courage and boldness. Amen.
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