Yesterday's message at Revive was a lot to bite off. Chapter 29 in The Story covered a huge chunk of the NT writings and journeys by Paul and I knew getting through it all was a near impossibility.
For those who were not able to be with us yesterday the title of yesterday's message was 'The Beginning of Missions"as we looked into the life of the apostle Paul and his missionary effort through the church at Antioch. I had several hopes going into yesterday's teaching and only God knows if those hopes landed on good soil and developed into something more. But one of the big ones that I will mention again here as an outset to this post which effectively is functioning like the conclusion of the message yesterday is that we would have a stronger contextual framework for the entire NT by looking into the missionary journeys of Paul. I don't think its an overstatement to say that if one can grasp the journeys of Paul and major events on those journeys he or she has a much better ability to conceptualize how the entire NT works together. And as I stated yesterday for the day in age in which live this is desperately important because the faith is under fire. As a buddy of mine was once encouraged by one of his mentors "we need more Christians who know more, not more Christians who know less."
Without further commentary let me pick up where left off at about 11:45am yesterday. Pages 412 to about 420 in chapter 29 of The Story give us a little bit of what took place in the second Missionary Journey of Paul. On his first stop in Derbe/Lystra we are told in Acts 16:1-3 he gets this young guy named Timothy to join him. Funny thing is Paul has to circumcise him before he is a legit part of the second missionary journey along with him. Talk about paying the price to serve on mission. How many of us would just rather send out support letters right? But Timothy like Paul knew that serving God was an uncomfortable reality at times. I am grateful Timothy sucked it up and went ahead and kept on following. There is a lot of application for being an effective missionary in the first few lines of Acts 16. From Lystra Paul headed to Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia most likely encouraging the saints from what Luke tells us in Acts 16:4-5. It's refreshing to know Paul stays so connected through out his ministry with churches that he has helped start. In this is a principle for churches and missionaries to stay engaged with each other through the long haul as difficult as it is in this fast paced communication heavy thing we call life. I hope I can do this.
Acts 16:8 Paul leaves from most likely Antioch of Pisidia and heads north towards Troas. Receiving the Macedonian call there Paul departs for Phillipi in Acts 16:12-40. It is there he meets, teaches and baptizes Lydia of Thyatira, frees a trafficked slave girl, gets beaten, jailed, and rescued from prison. But not before he leads the suicide driven jailer to Jesus. Paul's google calendar was pretty nuts for those several weeks he was in Phillipi. But isn't that a pretty good example for us as modern missionaries? To be active in our service and not lazy? Going on from there Paul heads to Thessalonica in Acts 17 where intimidation and bail all come into play. The point: Missions can and probably will get messy at some point. After Thessalonica Paul travels to Berea in Acts 17:10, Athens in 17:16, Corinth in 18:1-11 where he most likely writes 1 and 2 Thessalonians to the folks he had just visited in Thessalonica. From Corinth Paul heads to Ephesus, then Ceasarea and back to Antioch of Syria.
Paul stays active and on mission for Jesus along with using his brilliant intellect of theology in the OT to stand up for Jesus. In Athens his theology and doctrine come into play in a big way. Check out Acts 17:16-18 if you want to see for yourself. Paul sets the bar high for missions and I am glad he provides such a sterling example.
I would love to go into more detail on what happens at each site and the third journey but I have to run. I will try to post again soon and finish up some of what we see on that trip.
For those interested Revive is planning her first mission trip to Nicaragua December 5 - 12 thru chosen children ministries. Anyone interested please contact me to find out more on how you can support, pray and be involved. Blessings.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
What I'm learning lately
Since my last post a whole lot of time has gone by and a lot more lessons have been learned. Being a young pastor comes with unique challenges and obstacles but it is worth it in so many ways. Like when I get to see things finally begin to click for people in the context of our Bible Fellowship ministry or when I see a dad who has been battling to get his family back finally start to gain headway. These are the moments and situations that make the headache of my youth and stupidity worth it. I am so thankful for a beautiful bride who challenges me to remember the moments God has used us in more than the moments where I am left wondering why things are not working better. Between Cassie and our elders God has placed multitudes of people around me that are a constant encouragement and reminder that I have a calling placed upon my life that I must trust and lean into. Below are several lessons I feel like God has been sharing with me that I would like to pass on to whoever is listening or reading this.
1. I need to do more of this.....I was having a conversation yesterday with one of the bright young guys God has blessed Revive with the past few months and we were talking about long range planning and communication efforts within our church. As we began to talk and discuss about the idea of an "active" blog that we could launch into our website he pointed out to me the benefit of creating an atmosphere of online community that currently we do not have in our church where open dialogue can happen more freely. I am excited about what is ahead and what God is getting ready to do in our local context.
2. Community really matters ... This sounds obvious and I think we all know it. But how intentional am I about leading our church in exercising healthy community has been one matter I have been challenged on greatly. Churches with good community and people with good relationships don't just get those by osmosis I am convinced. I believe there is a level of work and diligence that must be cultivated into the DNA to make good community.
3. My timing isn't the timing.....It's been a busy season of life for me with moving, church projects, events etc. and I have a bad habit of going from 0mph to 90mph in 2.2 sec. I don't like waiting and I always think my timing is the timing. God's been faithful to show me that some of my youthful exuberance is just plain folly.
4. Death will always suck..... Funerals are the worst part of the job. A pastor who says he enjoys funerals I think needs to do some spiritual examination. I understand if the deceased is a believer we can rejoice that they are in heaven and that death is a "gain" in Paul's words. But death is still painful and it was never God's original design.
5. There are seasons.....Growing up in the beauty of the midwest in Columbia Missouri I can really appreciate the 4 seasons God blessed us with. I love each season in a unique way. Whether it's the crisp of fall and the leaves crunching, deer hunting mornings and football afternoons or the gobble on a cool spring morning each season is awesome. And I am learning that in life there are seasons too. Seasons of struggle. Seasons of triumph. And just seasons. I think its critical for me to trust that seasons come and seasons go.
6. Emails are good but breaking bread is better.... Figuring out how to communicate effectively has been my biggest learning curve right now. Understanding that vision can't be cast in a paragraph and sent through a server is something I wish I could have learned sooner. Vision takes time, and continued work to get it into the marrow of those I'm leading.
7. God's provision is overwhelming... Recently God allowed Cassie and I to sell our first home and move into the mission field he has called us into. As that process has taken place we have seen in a dynamic way that God's provision is extravagant. I'm so thankful for what He has given and I constantly try to remind myself I am a steward not an owner.
1. I need to do more of this.....I was having a conversation yesterday with one of the bright young guys God has blessed Revive with the past few months and we were talking about long range planning and communication efforts within our church. As we began to talk and discuss about the idea of an "active" blog that we could launch into our website he pointed out to me the benefit of creating an atmosphere of online community that currently we do not have in our church where open dialogue can happen more freely. I am excited about what is ahead and what God is getting ready to do in our local context.
2. Community really matters ... This sounds obvious and I think we all know it. But how intentional am I about leading our church in exercising healthy community has been one matter I have been challenged on greatly. Churches with good community and people with good relationships don't just get those by osmosis I am convinced. I believe there is a level of work and diligence that must be cultivated into the DNA to make good community.
3. My timing isn't the timing.....It's been a busy season of life for me with moving, church projects, events etc. and I have a bad habit of going from 0mph to 90mph in 2.2 sec. I don't like waiting and I always think my timing is the timing. God's been faithful to show me that some of my youthful exuberance is just plain folly.
4. Death will always suck..... Funerals are the worst part of the job. A pastor who says he enjoys funerals I think needs to do some spiritual examination. I understand if the deceased is a believer we can rejoice that they are in heaven and that death is a "gain" in Paul's words. But death is still painful and it was never God's original design.
5. There are seasons.....Growing up in the beauty of the midwest in Columbia Missouri I can really appreciate the 4 seasons God blessed us with. I love each season in a unique way. Whether it's the crisp of fall and the leaves crunching, deer hunting mornings and football afternoons or the gobble on a cool spring morning each season is awesome. And I am learning that in life there are seasons too. Seasons of struggle. Seasons of triumph. And just seasons. I think its critical for me to trust that seasons come and seasons go.
6. Emails are good but breaking bread is better.... Figuring out how to communicate effectively has been my biggest learning curve right now. Understanding that vision can't be cast in a paragraph and sent through a server is something I wish I could have learned sooner. Vision takes time, and continued work to get it into the marrow of those I'm leading.
7. God's provision is overwhelming... Recently God allowed Cassie and I to sell our first home and move into the mission field he has called us into. As that process has taken place we have seen in a dynamic way that God's provision is extravagant. I'm so thankful for what He has given and I constantly try to remind myself I am a steward not an owner.
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