Paul's Imprisonment...Not so Bad

I was surprised at what I found on this topic of Paul’s experience while in prison. According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, “Roman criminal law did not recognize the imprisonment of free persons as a form of punishment.” Unlike our culture today, Roman imprisonment was simply a way of holding the prisoner until a trial could be performed. There was no such thing as habeas corpus (right to a speedy trial) under Roman law which meant that the time of imprisonment could have been quite lengthy before a trial was given.

During this holding time friends and family were, in most cases, allowed access to the prisoners. Albert A. Bell Jr. writes in his book Exploring the New Testament World, “Some magistrates did gain reputations for treating prisoners cruelly, but this was a matter of individual personalities, not of Roman policy.” The prison systems of today in our culture would be more regulated and be used for holding for trial as well as punishment. The sentence of a 1^st century criminal would never be imprisonment. The closest punishment similar to imprisonment would be exile, but as far as we know Paul was never exiled.

Acts 28:16 tells us that Paul was living by himself, most likely in a house, with a soldier guarding him. This description would give more of an idea of house arrest as opposed to imprisonment that we would think of. In Acts 28:20 Paul talks about being in chains, but this was most likely referring to his transport. Prisoners were usually only chained while being transported from one city to another. Acts 20:23 says, “…they came to his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.”

Paul was still able to do ministry work even though he was imprisoned. As a result of these points Bell seems to conclude, “Being ‘in prison’ in ancient Rome begins to sound more like a minor inconvenience than a fate to be dreaded.” I would have to agree with Bell's statement. I'm not sure what the application is for knowing this, but it is always helpful to have as much information as possible when reading the scriptures in order to come to the most accurate interpretation.

Is it Enough?

Is salvation enough? This is the question that bears down on my heart today. Christine and I have been struggling with infertility for over 4 years now. We are in a church full of babies and everyone around us seems to have them at will. We, on the other hand have been to two different doctors and have spent close to $5000 out of pocket between MRI's, HSG's, Fertility Medicine, Fertlity Tests, and finally surgery this past December. Thank God for teacher insurance. After all of this we have yet to have success in this area.

We were riding home tonight from our friend's house after another month of disappointment. As I was driving down the road I was pretty bummed out and I could tell Christine was as well. I started to ask the question of "why?" when I felt God say to me, "If all I did is save you, wouldn't that be more than enough?" The answer, of course, is a resounding YES!

God saved me. He really saved me. He called me out of darkness, gave me his righteousness, gave me all the inheritance as an heir the throne of grace, and adopted me into His family. He set His love upon me, came off of His throne and paid the punishment that I deserve for my sin all in the name of love. He not only saved me from sin and hell, but he loves me. He loves me with a love that surpasses knowledge; a love that will never be fully comprehended this side of eternity. Because of this he works everything my good. All of the circumstances of my life have been foreordained before the foundations of the earth to bless me and glorify Him. Not only that but God commands that I be happy and gives me all the capacity to have unending joy in Him. This is a joy and pleasure that is unmatched by anything this world has to offer (including the joy of having a baby).

So, the answer is yes. I chose to believe God's promises and deny my flesh, my emotions and Satan, who all want to drag me through the mud of discouragement and despair. I am free of that.

There are many different stories in the bible that speak on this subject. Right now I am reminded of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar tells these three men that He will burn them in the furnace if they do not bow down and worship the gold statue. This is how they replied.

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

This is were I stand right now with the infertility issue. I believe, without a doubt, that God will one day bless us with a child that is our own. But even if He doesn't, I want to make it clear to you, reader, that His salvation is enough.

Audience of One

As I continue to read through "A Work of Heart" by Reggie McNeal I am challenged once again by a vary important question to a Christian and especially a Christian leader. He asks, "Who is your audience?" In our performance based culture we so often get trapped in the snare of man pleasing in our Christian lives. Whether it's parents, pastor, mentor, friend, wife or husband we aim to perform well for the approval of those we look up to. This in turn leads to finding your identity in something other than the finished work of Christ. I know I must remind myself constantly that there will only be one being in this universe who will say, "Well done my good and faithful servant." No one else will utter those words except our audience of One who is our Father. McNeal puts it this way:

"Moses' One gave him a private burial. David's One secured his kingdom forever. Paul's One awarded him a victor's crown. Jesus' One sat Him down again at His right hand."

As we walk out our Christian lives we must only seek the approval of One, and He is our God, our King and our Deliverer.

Saul's Transformation

I was thinking about Saul's conversion earlier as I was continuing to read through "A Work of Heart". Saul is a Pharisee. A big part of the Pharisaic theology was the eager awaiting of a Messiah. In acts 9 the Messiah meets Saul in a striking way.

3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
5 "Who are You, Lord?" he said.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied. 6 "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

So Jesus, the Messiah, shows up to a man whose colleagues were the ones who crucified Jesus. Not only that, but Saul himself was overseeing the persecution and martyrdom of the followers of Jesus. I can't imagine what was going through Paul's head at this time. He has just realized that the one he has been waiting for his entire life was the one he was persecuting. The perspective here that I did not see before is what Jesus leaves him with for three days. He says, "Get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do." That's it. So now we have Saul who has not only realized he was persecuting the Messiah, but now he is left blind with no words of comfort. With Saul's view of God at this time he probably thought that God was going to kill him when he got to the city. I can't imagine the agony and the realization of the sinfulness of his sin over these three days. This Godly sorrow that Saul felt was not the end. Three days later he met the God of mercy and grace.

9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.
17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

This perspective on Saul's transformation definitely helps me understand why Saul spent so much of his epistles reminding the churches of the amazing grace of God. Saul had experienced God's forgiveness in a way that propelled him to live a life completely abandoned to Jesus Christ and the spreading of the gospel!

Self-confidence is not Pride

An excerpt from "A Work of Heart" by Reggie McNeal

"Contrast David's personal perception of self-confidence to that of Saul's sense of inferiority. Saul's lack of ego strength bred paranoid and schizophrenic behavior. Saul never saw himself as king. He told Samuel the prophet that he had chosen the wrong man because Saul was from a small tribe and an undistinguished family. When Saul anointed Samuel as king, Saul did not tell anyone about it. He had to be coaxed out of hiding on the day of his presentation. This action should not be mistaken for humility. It revealed a self image problem that eventuated in Saul's incapacity to establish solid relationships. Saul's public failures were perfectly consonant with his internal view of himself.
David's security in himself did not lead him into believing more about himself than he should. He did not ever fully believe his press. He knew where his real source of strength resided. His confidence grew out of the security of his own relationship with his King."

So as you can see, in this situation David's self-confidence was not pride. It was rooted in something much deeper than that. Self-confidence in the life of a believer is supremely important in the fulfillment of God's mission for our lives. God commands us to love one another and love our enemies. If we are to truly follow the example of our savior in this area then we must not only love people in our minds but also in our actions. Without believers who are self-confident it makes this part very difficult. We must be confident enough to walk up to a guest on Sunday morning, shake their hand, hear about their lives and ask, "How can I pray for you?" We must be confident enough to do the right thing in a situation where everyone around us is doing the wrong thing. We must be confident enough to sit down with a complete stranger and tell them the gospel with a heart of love.

As Christians we should be more confident in ourselves than anyone else. This is not based out of pride, arrogance, naiveness, or presumption. It is based on the fact that we are sons and daughters of the King of Kings. Jesus emphasizes this while giving us our great commission. He gives us an impossible task of making disciples of all the nations of the Earth. Then he says in Mat 28:20 "Behold, I am with you always until the end of the age." If God is with us, who can be against us?

Regimented Relationship

Lord, you are the awesome king. I love you so much. Thank you for your mercies, thank you for a wonderful wife who loves me, and thank you for the joy I receive in communing with you.

I was challenged yesterday by a teaching by John Lanferman. He was talking about personal devotional time and how so many of us treat it like a regiment instead of a relationship. The question we should ask ourselves is this; if we treated our relationship with our friends, family, or spouse like we did with God, would they be described as healthy relationships? I know if I related to my wife in a regimented way just fulfilling my "husbandly duties" we certainly wouldn't have a very happy or healthy marriage. We do this with God when we regiment our devotional lives.

In the past, I have tended to give myself a prescription of sorts. "I'll read one chapter in the old, one in the new, fifteen minutes of reading off the list of people who need prayer, and that should give me a good day and keep the devil away." This is not a relationship. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with spiritual disciplines, but we must guard our hearts from regimenting our relationship with our Father. For example, I have date night with my wife every week. I would see this as a discipline of ours. Most of the time we go out to dinner, come back home and spend the evening together watching a movie, playing cards or doing something we enjoy. But the conversation is always different. Sometimes it's more serious than others and sometimes we're just goofing off and having fun. The food and restaurants vary from week to week. Sometimes we go out to coffee afterwards and sometimes we don't. My point is that date night is a discipline but not a regiment. This is how we should meet with God.

Open yourself up to him. Be honest with your heart in your prayers (He knows what's in there anyways). View your bible reading as if God is speaking directly to you, take in his word and meditate on it. Take time remember the promises he has made to you, and reestablish them in your heart.

In conclusion, we must keep watch. A regimented relationship is no relationship at all. It becomes a set of legalistic items on a list that we check off everyday. Once again I ask this question, if you treated your relationship with your family, friends, or spouse the way you did with God, how healthy would that relationship be?

The Prerequisite for the Release of God's Power

(1/16/2011)

Well, it's 11:58 pm and we are on our way back from Mobilise. We've had some great conversation about what we have taken from the conference and how we are going to apply it. The main theme seems to be that we are encouraged to peruse a passionate devotional life. I pray that God would empower us by his spirit to be truly changed from this weekend. I also pray that our witness for Christ would be more apparent and abundant.
I was also encouraged again as I continue to read through acts. I read time and time again where God moves on behalf of the prayers lifted up by the saints. The first instance that I noticed was the conversion of Paul. Jesus blinded him for three days and Ananias was sent by God to Paul and was told that he would find a man praying.

And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

This begs me to ask the question; If Saul had not been praying, would God had sent someone to remove the scales from his eyes and fill him with the spirit?
Second was the story of Peter raising tabitha from the dead in acts 10

But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

If Peter had not prayed, would Tabitha had come back to life? It's also interesting to point out that it seems as though Peter prayed to God personally and grew in communion with Him which built up his faith enough to look at her with confidence and say, "arise!" He didn't lay hands on her right away and pray the same thing seven different ways and say "in Jesus' name" seven times. He simply communed with his Father and with boldness, trusted God to raise her from the dead.
Next is Cornelius in acts 11

And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

After this he is told to send for Peter. If he had not prayed, would he had not received this direction?
Next was for Peter in while he was in prison in acts 12

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

If people had not prayed for Peter, would he have died in prison?
My conclusions to all these questions is a resounding YES! John Piper once said, "Things happen that otherwise would not have happened, had we not prayed." This is ringing true in my heart and truly motivating me to be more intentional about prayer. "Prayer is the vital prerequisite to the release of God's power!" I want to believe this and live in light of this truth in all aspects of my life. Lord, make me a man who will move quickly to my knees first and then to my feet. I do not go if your hand is not with me. Guide me and grow me in this area!

Mobilise 2011 and Boldness in Evangelism

(1/15/2011)
Yesterday was great here at Mobilise 2011. Tope brought an awesome word about living a God centered life. It was a great breakdown of reminders of how to live your life to the glory of God. He presented a great illustration of what it is like to suffer with condemnation. I am so glad God is continuing to deliver me from that.

As I started reading for The Life and Ministry of Paul, I was reminded of this story in acts
And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." acts 8:29

The spirit put Phillip in the right place at the right time to win a soul to Christ. As I read this story of the Ethiopian Eunuch it excites me about evangelism. It reminds me of the confidence and boldness that I am free to walk in as I meet people, build relationships, and share the gospel. I pray that I would be more attentive to the spirit of the Lord and hearing his guidance on who to talk to and what to say. Lord, make me effective at sharing the good news and advancing your kingdom on this earth!

Devotion and Discipline without Condemnation

(1/14/2011)

I am really excited about a much needed revamp to my devotional life. For so long I have been struggling with legalism in this area. I was using a fear of condemnation be my motivation for my devotional life. I kept hearing Satan tell me in my head, "A 'true believer' would read his bible this amount a day and pray this amount per day. If you don't do that you are a nominal Christian." I even fell into the trap of comparing my devotional life with my fellow Christians, especially well known pastors and preachers of the past and present. Since then grace has entered my life. I am seeking to repent from these ungodly things and step into the unconditional love of God that surpasses knowledge. For a while I have struggled with how to approach my devotional life for a fear of falling back into legalism and the condemnation that comes with it. Lately it has become a 'do it when I have time' kind of thing. I don't feel like my walk with God has been severely hurt by this because I have been focusing on remembering and trusting God's promises as much as I can. But I definitely have not grown as much as I could have if I had been more disciplined. Regardless of what happened or what could have happened is irrelevant. The point is that today is a new day and his mercies are new today. My prayer is, as I go through these next four weeks, that God would help me walk in grace and discipline and show me how to avoid legalism when seeking a consistent devotional life.
God, please help me in this area. I love you so much Lord and You know I want to spend time with you. Please cause me walk in your statutes in this area. I can't do it without you Lord. Please help me in my devotional time with my wife as well. I want to know how to encourage her to seek you without being overbearing, and also pray and seek you together on a daily basis. Above all of this Lord, please protect my zeal from causing legalism. I would rather have a sporadic devotional life than fall back into those chains. Also help me to trust you that you will answer that prayer and to not be fearful of legalism. All things aside, I just want to know you more God. I want to be so enamored with you God that people would see your love through me and be saved. I want to be equipped for this impossible mission that is only made possible by you and your Holy Spirit. Fill me with your spirit, fill my wife, and fill church in the boro for your glory God. Thank you for all you provide and revealing yourself to me. Take my life Lord, take my life! Thank you Father! Amen

Constrained by the Spirit

So, yesterday Johnathan, Troy, and I went out on campus to share the gospel. It was the first time in a couple of months that I had done this, and it was a lot of fun. For the first five or ten minutes I was just walking around the student union and trying to hear from the Holy Spirit. There have been times where I would go out and talk to the first person that passed by. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, but I was trying to be real intentional with my time out there and listen to the Holy Spirit. I reminded of Acts 16:6 which talks about the Holy Spirit forbidding the disciples to speak the word in Asia. This tells me that if you hear from Him he will tell you who to talk to, but also who to leave alone. Anyways, it was pretty fruitful. I met some great people and had two conversations with two groups of two people for about thirty minutes each. No one committed to Christ right there, but seeds were planted and maybe brothers and sisters were encouraged. His word does not return void.

This morning I find myself fascinated with Acts 20:22

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there.

I don't know what the original Greek for constrained is here, but if the ESV is anything close to the translation that's what I want. Lord, I pray that you would take my life and constrain me by the spirit. Control me with the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. I want the type of obedience that is not begrudging, but full of joy in knowing that the Holy Spirit of God controls and constrains me in every action I take. Amen

Here I go

I don't know how long this journey of blogging will last, but I have decided to give it a shot. I hope you are all edified and encouraged!