beauty for ashes

I am at a conference in San Jose, CA.  This morning I got up and did my usual routine, went to a coffee shop (they have a Peet’s here, which is really cool!).  I sat there and read my Bible and the book I am currently working through by one of my heroes Dan Allendar called To be Told.

In the book I had just read about God’s redeeming work amidst the chaos and challenges of life.  I sat there and pondered the story God had written in Mike Conan for a while.  Then one of the strangest things happened.  A woman came in she must have been 30 to 40.  She was wearing a rain-soaked oversized sweatshirt with sleeves warn dark from obvious lack of washing.  She had on baggy sweatpants that were also covered in dirt.  Her neck was filled with dirt, her hair had not been washed in so long that it looked almost like dread locks, she had obviously been living on the street for a long time.  She stood in the middle of Peet’s coffee house and just stared out the window for 15 minutes.

Yet, amidst the outer garmets that were worn and dirty and a skin filled with dirt and a hair covered in dirt was unbelievable beauty.  The kind of beauty that would attract all kinds, women and men were staring at the contrast.  Her eyes were beautiful blue, her face was nearly perfectly proportioned and even with her hair dirty she looked like she could be on the cover of a magazine. 

It made me wonder about her life.  What had happened to her that had caused her to be on the street.  Had her beauty been so attractive from an early age that someone had abused her?  Had her mom become jealous of her beauty and turned her back on her?  Had everyone assumed that because she was so beautiful that she didn’t need love and friendship?  What was the beginning of the chain of events that had landed her in this vulnerable position?

As I still think about it,  she is tiny view into all of us.  Each of us are made in God’s image, given unique beauty and passions from our creator that are powerfully unleashed through the gospel.  The core of the gospel is Jesus taking us in and cleaning us up and restoring our radiating beauty, by taking on our shame and ugliness.

I did not sit down with this woman, because I don’t feel that is the right ministry for a married man away from his family.  But, I did find my soul rejuvenated and restored to my core calling: to share the power of the gospel with broken and dirty people, like me, who desperately need the healing, cleansing and renewing that only Jesus can give.  It grieves my soul that I am serving in a denomination that instead of preaching the gospel to the broken and abused people of the world has declared that it is O.K. and good.   We have taken away the power of redemption when we declare things good that God says are broken.   

Daily Bible Reading Acts 12

Read Acts 12 on your own

The power of prayer: We read this passage as part of our Experiencing God study and I even used it as a sermon illustration on March 6.  It is a wonderful story, yet very sad and scary all at the same time.  In the story we learn that the early church is in crisis, serious crisis, their leader Peter has been taken with the intention of killing him.  The story ends with Peter released.  When you read Acts 12 pay close attention, because there is a turning point in the story that changes everything.  Look for it carefully…. 

I think this story is very real and very human too.  I love Rhonda!  She gets to the door and is so excited she forgets to let Peter in.  The people are so shocked they told her it must be an angel.  How funny is this?  In the early church they believed so much in the reality of angels they thought it was a better chance an angel was at the door than Peter!  It also is a reminder that God didn’t always do the miraculous, even the early church was surprised by God’s response to their prayers!  Sometimes we tend to think that they had a direct line to God and we are forced to be on hold for hours, months and years.  This is a reminder that the book of Acts is a collection of God’s greatest hits in the first century.  Though they saw many awesome and wonderful things, it may not be quite as often as we think.  If we were to write a book of Acts for today we would have to cut all of the God stories down to the greatest hits.  J

The end of this story tells of Herod’s response and his ultimate demise. 

As I was reading today one section has been really stuck in my mind:

 ²¹ On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. ²² They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Giving God all the glory is REALLY IMPORTANT TO HIM.  We as people (me at the top of the list) are prone to desire praises.  We want people to appreciate us, our gifts and what we do.  Yet, God’s desire is that we would turn those praises back to Him.  A visual image I received was when I receive a rose, may I immediately thank the person for it, remind them it was God who is really at work and then place those roses permanently on God’s throne.

Possibly the most powerful line of this section:

 ²⁴ But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading Acts 10 and 11

Acts 10

Right away a Gentile (non Jewish heritage) is converted.  The passage says Cornelius is a man who prays and gives money to the poor.  Two things close to God’s heart.  Sometimes we can forget how much helping those who are in need touches God’s heart.  There were a whole sect of “God fearing” Gentiles who were not in the blood line of the chosen people of God the Jews, but who were in the faith line/heart line as they embraced and followed the Jewish God.

Interesting how God was preparing hearts for Peter to touch before he even told Peter it was going to happen.  This story is another great reminder that God is at work before we even hear His call.

Visions

It is interesting that both Cornelius and Peter had a “vision” and knew it was God speaking to them.  It may have at the time seemed like a dream, but it was so powerful and real that both parties knew it was the Lord who had spoken to them.  Especially since the events that followed authenticated their experience.

Peter at Cornelius’s (the Gentiles) house

At this point in history the Jews kept themselves separate from those who were not from the Jewish nation.  They may overlap in daily living but for Cornelius to invite Peter to his house and for Peter to say yes were mini-miracles in and of themselves.

In this moment at Cornelius’s house Peter’s life changes, his eyes like the Apostle Paul’s have been opened through God speaking to him by His Spirit to see God’s wonderful plan.

34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵ but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

Peter then preaches the good news of Jesus to these people that were once far off.  His gospel message includes:

                -Jesus has unique power and authority
                -Was dead
                -Was resurrected
                -He is the one to judge the living (the quick) and the dead
                -He gives forgiveness of sins to everyone who believes

The Holy Spirit “came on” those who were there.  They ended up speaking in tongues and praising God.  I discussed tongues earlier, but isn’t it cool that part of the Spirit’s work is it leads us humans to PRAISE GOD…  If the Spirit of God is in you or has “come on” you, you will worship.

 

 

Acts 11

Peter catches some heat from the other apostles because his actions don’t coincide with what they normally do or experience!  Peter then explains the whole story and they realize that God is at work, to their credit they responded joyfully… THIS IS A HUGE SHIFT IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH, but the people trusted God and were willing to change as God led…  A good word.

 ¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

And God honored their willingness by working powerfully in their midst.

²¹ The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 9

Acts 9

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

POWERFUL and FAMOUS words of our Lord.  Jesus is so interconnected with us His body that when we are persecuted HE is persecuted! 

Ananias - I don’t think many of us would have liked Ananias’ job.  Here is a godly man whose response when he hears from the Lord is “Yes, Lord”.  Can I just say as a freebie, it is impossible to say NO LORD.  Yet Ananias questions God’s plans, wondering if perhaps the wiring on his Spiritual tuner was a bit off.  How could he possibly be speaking of this legendary Saul of Tarsus as a convert.  God reaffirms for him to go and he does.  I imagine that goodbye had to be a tough one as he left his home unsure if he would ever return.

Saul’s conversion – This story is a very tough one to understand if your life revolves around God not messing with your free will.  In this story probably more clearly than any other we see the way God works.  It wasn’t anything good in Paul that was going to warrant his conversion.  It was simply that Paul’s life and salvation were a part of God’s beautiful plan to take his gospel to the world!

A freebie: in my experience this is most often the pattern God uses for advancing his kingdom.  First HE RAISES up a leader and CALLS him or her.  Then he or she is trained and then he or she does what God calls him or her to do.  If God has called your name… look out!

Paul receives His own medicine, a lot of it.  Yet, he continues on fearlessly.

 ²³ After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him,

²⁸ So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,^[a] but they tried to kill him.

God sometimes takes us through wonderful times in the life of the church, a respite amidst all of the battles.  It would be wise for all of us to ponder living under the Lordship of God and being encouraged by the Spirit.  The only time we will ever need to be encouraged is if there is something we are afraid of, for who needs courage when life is easy?  Any old wimp can do that!

“Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.”

 

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 8

Acts 8

Chapters 7 and 8 set the background for something crazy and wonderful that only the God of the universe would purpose to do…. Wait until Chapter 9…. Hint…. 

And Saul approved of their killing him (Stephen) …But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

 

Whether God orchestrated the persecution of the church or used the persecution of the church for the good of the world and His own glory theologians can figure out.  But, as you read this section of scripture you can’t help but be struck by the perseverance of the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit in the people of God!

“Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

 

Evil Spirits:  Some have asks about the spiritual battle we see written of in these passages.  It reads like evil spirits shrieking and coming out of people was normative for the early church.  And Healings took place everywhere.  Some have said this was used to authenticate the Apostle’s message, and frankly it is hard to argue with this logic especially in this instance.  Some say miracles like this don’t happen anymore because the gospel has been established and the scriptures given.  We do not need to see these same things to believe.  I don’t have the answer to this one.  But, I will simply say that sometimes we don’t realize how powerful and real evil is, both evil inside us in our sinful nature and evil working in the world.  I also don’t think we see all that God does and all He has delivered us from and into…

On Receiving the Holy Spirit by the Apostles hands… I am thankful that today we don’t have to wait for the Apostles to come and touch us so that we might receive the Holy Spirit.  Some use this as a centerpiece in their theology for understanding a “second blessing” that comes after repentance and faith.  Though I can see how they would get it, I don’t see enough evidence in the rest of scripture for this view.

At this point the church is spreading to the Jews.  I love the Eunich/Philip story.  He needed someone to explain the gospel to him!!  As Christians EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US should be able to explain the gospel to someone who has questions, so that they will understand.  Even if they don’t believe, at least people should understand it!  Let God work through you as Philip did, just learn the good news, listen and look where God is working and preparing hearts and then respond!!

“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

 ³¹ “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”

…Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

 

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 7

Read Acts 7 on your own (I know it is long…)

Here we see a glimpse into one of the early deacons in the church.  These early deacons were not just nice people who served behind the scenes.  But, they were powerful people of God.  Stephen knew the scriptures very well and had courage and a heart to share them with the world. 

Background: Remember in Chapter 6 Stephen was falsely accused of speaking blasphemy against Moses and God.  So Stephen in this chapter is answering the question: Is this true?

Stephen then does something very interesting in his defense of himself and his testimony.  He gives the testimony again.  His story tracks God’s peoples story from Abraham to Jesus.  Along the way he covers many issues.  A few things that stand out as you read Stephen’s account of the history of God’s people

-He sees the story as God-centered
-Whatever humans do is in response to God’s initiative falls short of His greatness.
-He sees all of history pointing to Jesus’ coming to God’s people
-He pulls no punches about rejecting Jesus.

Stephen ends up paying the ultimate price for his bold claims. 

Stephen was “full of the Holy Spirit”. 

So, what does it mean to be full of the Spirit?

The Bible tells us that when we come to Christ we receive His Holy Spirit.  This Spirit does many powerful things in our lives.  The Holy Spirit of God always brings us back into God’s presence and into His truth.  He takes us out of the darkness and into the light.  He also brings us comfort. Jesus refers to him as our advocate/counselor meaning the one who comes alongside us through life.  The Holy Spirit also works in our lives to remind us that we have a Father in heaven who loves us.  The Holy Spirit speaks to us through the scriptures and the people of God.  The Holy Spirit is also changing our character to become more like God’s character. Every believer has this Spirit in them that pulls them in this direction.  (see John 14-16, Romans 8, Ephesians 1:13,14, Galatians 5:16-26)

God tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit.  But, instead to listen for and to Him and do what He tells us.

In the scriptures when someone is filled with the Spirit you can bet that they are going to have the courage to share the gospel and that someone else is going to be hearing about Jesus.  The filling is marked with a renewed God-centeredness in life and this renewed God-centeredness overflowing into the lives of others.  Though we all may have the Holy Spirit, we become filled with the Holy Spirit at God’s initiative as we pursue our relationship with Him.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 6

Read Acts 6 on your own.

This section of scripture is a centerpiece in my understanding of my call to minister of the word and sacrament.  In this moment the leaders of the church (the apostles) were struggling because there were too many things on their plates.  So, they wisely handed over the complementary aspects of their ministry to other well qualified believers.  In our Presbyterian heritage we see this as the birthplace of the office of deacon.  The term “deacon” comes from the Greek term diakonos, and simply means “minister” or “servant”.

I find this passage a wonderful reminder that we must do two things if each of us are to live out our calling.  First , we must do what God has uniquely called us to do, and put in the time and effort to do them to the best of our ability (with excellence),  God and the rest of the believers are counting on us to fulfill our responsibilities.  Second, we must be willing to leave the things that don’t belong to us alone and step aside and allow others to step in so that all the desires of God may be met in the church and community.  Moses learned a parallel lesson in Exodus 18.

Freebie:

In this passage is my pattern (as a leader in the church) for ministry. 

They devoted themselves to PRAYER and THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

1)      Prayer – Daily and moment by moment time with God.

2)      Ministry – Building relationships and equipping others to do God’s work.

3)      The word – Daily on my own and daily for the people of God to share

It is also worth noting that Stephen was certainly not a second class citizen in the kingdom.  He was full of grace and power, the face of an angel…  Like every deacon should be. 

Daily Reading – Acts 5

Read Acts 5 on your own

Ananias and Sapphira – At first glance this story is a little puzzling.  Honestly, more than puzzling, it is downright disturbing.  These two freely sold a piece of property and instead of giving nothing to God’s people, they gave a very large portion.  But, they didn’t give it all and acted like they did.  And then when they were questioned about it they still either hinted at or outright claimed that they gave it all.  Then they both instantly dropped dead!  Wow, were I comedian I would think this would be a great way to improve giving in the church!  J  Imagine if you cheated the offering for a week or two and didn’t pay the amount that you promised, but didn’t tell anyone that you had withheld a portion.  Imagine if God revealed to your pastor and the elders that you had deceived us.  Then you were struck dead.  Wow, this is really something.  In all seriousness this is a very good reminder of our need for transparent honesty with each other and God.  These two weren’t penalized because they held back funds, the passage is clear on that, they were penalized because they deceived their brothers and sisters.

11”Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”

 

Healing – The apostles through the power of Jesus were able to change the world.  They were able to heal in Jesus’ name.  Does God still heal?  Does He bring healing through the church?  Through the pastor?  Through the really Spiritual people?  I don’t know the answer to these difficult questions.  But, I do know that God’s Spirit is still alive and real in the church and though no one is healed by my shadow.

Arrested and Persecuted – The Apostles were not persecuted because they were Christians they were persecuted because they lived their faith.  They wouldn’t stop telling people about the new life that was offered in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  “the love of Christ compelled them.”  They went where God told them to go and did what God told them to do. 

¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

I will be the first to admit that their style was more than a little invasive and condemning… Wouldn’t last too long in our PC world.  To remind people over and over again that they had killed Jesus, but that God brought Him back to life puts people on the defensive…  see verse 28.

Gamaliel’s advice – If it is from God nothing you can do will stop it.  Sometimes all of us are too quick to condemn or dismiss something we don’t want to hear.  David had a similar circumstance In 2 Samuel 16 where Shimei was cursing him and throwing dirt at him!  David didn’t do anything because he thought it could be from the Lord.  I try hard when I receive criticism to prayerfully discern if it is from the Lord or from someone who is throwing dirt.  There are people who are prone to disagree with you and want things there way and will throw dirt if even you try to listen to them.  But, sometimes it is the Lord speaking and discerning which is which is important.  One of the tools I use to help me is knowing the person, do they have a life-giving relationship with the God of the universe, are they hearing His voice and sharing out of concern or do they seem to be people who are always negative and seem to only listen to their own voice or other “negative” type of people?  Though it is hard to know anyone’s heart one has took look at the source.

Joyful amidst persecution – The apostles saw persecution as a wonderful cross they could bear.  They saw it as a mark that proved their faithfulness.  I don’t know what it would look like in the modern American church, but it certainly is interesting to think about.

 

 ⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

Daily Bible Reading Acts 4

Read Acts 4 on your own. 

 

Acts 4 is another glimpse into the life of the early church.  They had seen the power of Jesus first hand and wanted the entire world to know that there was hope amidst all they were facing.  They relentlessly preached the gospel.  They also realized that on their own they struggled and they gathered together to ask God for strength to preach and boldly share God’s good news with the world.

 

The disciples suffered (even for doing good!):

“The jewish leaders were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”

“Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”

 

The line below is one of those powerful reminders in scripture that God will often use the weak to lead the strong, the humble to show the way to the proud.  And the simple to change the world while the complicated pontificate to no end.  When one has been in the presence of Jesus, whether an ordinary commoner or a powerful leader, the world will never be the same!

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

 

In this chapter we are given a glimpse into a pre-TV and entertainment centered world.  It was a time when people relied on each other and sought community and the presence of God for the purposes of God together.

A wonderful pattern for prayer: (Acts 4:23-31)

God-centered
        -worshipful
        -Thankful
        -Humbled
        -scriptural
        -Asking for God’s power to do what God wanted them to do

… heal and share the gospel

 

“They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”

Result of prayer:

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

Unity in everything, including finances!  People sold properties to help each other…  Crazy stuff

 

Daily Bible Reading Acts 1 and 2

Read Acts 1 & 2 for yourself

Jesus ascends into heaven and leaves his disciples to wait and pray, promising them that the Holy Spirit will come to them and bring them His presence and power.  God was purposing them to go into the world and share the good news of Jesus, but He knew this would be overwhelming and was going to send them the Holy Spirit to lead them and guide them.

The disciple do something very interesting here, they replace one of the apostles.  They don’t do it through a mystical experience with God, but instead use logic and reason and trust in God’s providence.  They chose two men who were with Jesus and the other apostles in His ministry.  I am not sure why they “had” to replace Judas, but Jesus had started with 12 and perhaps He had told them to keep an even number so they could go out two by two.  But in this moment Matthias’ life and Barsabbas’ life changed with the draw from a hat…    All told there ended up being 14 Apostles (the 11, plus Judas, Matthias andPaul) and 15 if you count Barnabus.

Acts 2

The Holy Spirit comes in power when the believers from around the world are gathering.  After spending days in prayer the apostles receive a powerful and wonderful gift.  It says that tongues of fire came down.  There are lots of different interpretations of what these were like, but I think the passage itself says that miraculously the Spirit was able to have everyone hear the message in their own native tongue.  It was such a crazy experience that people thought they were drunk!

Peter preaches to the crowd and explains that the scripture has been fulfilled in their midst.  The power promised in the Old Testament has been delivered through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  The centerpiece of Peter’s message was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  That people might repent, be baptized so that they might be saved, forgiven and receive the Holy Spirit.

One of the verse protestants appreciate in here is that this promise is not just for us, but for our children.  For anyone whom the Lord would call.  As Presbyterians we baptize our infants into this promise.

The end result thousands of people came to salvation.  As you read this sermon it really isn’t all that entertaining, just straight to the point.

Acts 2:42-47 is an incredible look at how the early believers understood their common calling and life as God’s people.  At CPC we are going to spend the next few weeks unpacking this life.

Jim Cymbala put it this way:  The more the disciples prayed, the more God did in and through them. They PRAYED for 10 days straight, then Peter preached for 10 minutes, and 3000 people were saved.