daily java

Daily Java: 

Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:4-6)

There are people you want to reach for Jesus and it hurts that you cannot. Some of them are people you were acquainted with and maybe even loved, who had been a part of your church, but turned away. It could even be hat they became adversarial in their relationship with your church and begin to try to tear it up. And it hurts you when that happens.

What can you do?

Many times, you can do nothing. You have told them you love them and have reached out to them. But they are not going to come back and they continue in their destructive ways.

All you can do in this instance is say okay. If that is how you want it, then that is how it will be.

It is not your fault they are doing what they are doing and you have honestly tried to reach out to them. They have decided to be this way and there is nothing you can do.

You finally, and it may be in tears and sorrow, have to shake their “dust” off your feet.

The apostle Paul loved his fellow countrymen, the Jews. That was natural. He was raised Jewish, he had all his education in the Jewish faith, he was Jewish. But they had repudiated the gospel of Jesus Christ to the point of physically hurting him badly. They had followed him around, trying to undo what he had done and had even tried to kill him.

What could he do? He could do nothing. So he told them okay. That is the way you want it and I will have to allow it to be that way. After all, he could do nothing to change it.

You may love someone, and they may have loved you in the past. They may have been a vital part of the church where you are. But something happened. You may not even know what it was. But it changed them. And now they have placed themselves in the position of enemies.

You did nothing to put them there and you can do nothing to change them.

There comes a time when you have to say that is the way it is going to be and accept it. Paul did, and had done everything he knew how to do, accomplishing nothing. As far as Jesus was concerned, the Jews were rabidly against him. He brought fundamental change that they did not want.

Since the change had to be, there was nothing Paul could do short of compromising his ethic to make them come over to his side and he had to accept it. It hurt, but he did. He even said, in Romans 9, that he would accept eternal punishment himself if he could change his people.

But he couldn’t.

You cannot change some denominations, you cannot change some groups, you cannot change some people no matter how hard you try. And all you usually get is hurt in the process.

If you didn’t cause it by some action of yours – and sometimes even if you did – you cannot change their attitude. If you caused it and asked forgiveness and they refused, then you are not bound. If you didn’t cause it, you have no reason to be held guilty.

Sometimes you grow in a direction they do not like, or change your mind and it makes them mad, or try something new and they do not want anything new. Sometimes the reason they are mad is small and petty. Sometimes it is large. But whatever it is, you cannot change it.

What you can do is, as Paul said, Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us (Philippians 3:13-14).

You have to move on, whether they do or not. Even though it hurts.

daily java

Daily Java:

When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:32-34)

I was disappointed when I went back to college at the age of 35.

I have always loved open and honest discussion with intelligent people. It is a joy. people have divergent ideas and they sit and discuss them.

When I went back to school, I could see that atmosphere in my mind. We would discuss and talk and argue and laugh and all the things you always thought of college as being. We would discuss literature with well-informed people and in general, have a great time.

The reality was totally different. And extremely disappointing.

When I went back to school, I went to a conservative Christian college. In my mind, I figured I would get a good education. I already had a non-accredited degree and wanted a “real one” to go with it.

However, the school turned out to be so closed minded that it was hard to talk about anything. I found out quickly that, in many ways, I was better read than the English teachers, I had a broader knowledge of history than the history professors, I had preached far longer than the preaching professors, and so on.

It was not that I was smarter, and I don’t mean to say that, but somehow, I had gained a much broader viewpoint than those whose job it was to have a broad viewpoint.

And it was not that I didn’t learn anything. I learned Hebrew, and a few higher critical things that about the Bible I didn’t know. Some other stuff.

But in general, the college experience and the large amount of money I went into debt for was not worth it. I suppose that for a young person just leaving home, it might have been good. Maybe. But as a 35 year old father of two who been a pastor for eleven years, it was worthless.

For one thing, there were no great discussions. There was listening, taking notes and giving back what had been said. There were no open minds, there was no interplay and indeed it was not all that welcomed. Since I was of an age with all the professors, I turned out to be the oddball.

Again, it is not that I was all that smart, it was that it turned out to be nothing like I expected. I left disappointed and in debt.

When Paul came into Athens, he thought that this would be great. He was an educated man in a city of educated people. In 17:21, it says in a parenthetical expression:

It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.

In other words, they were lovers of fads, pretended to have open minds, but when it came down to it, their minds were closed to all but what they themselves wanted to think.

So, after a brilliant discussion of the Unknown God and a lot of back and forth and talking, contemptuous laughter was all he got. Yes there were some who joined him, but not many.

Athens was a place like many universities. They thought of themselves as open-minded, but when it came down to it, they wanted to hear nothing that really mattered. What they really liked was the argument, not the knowledge.

And nobody can be more closed-minded than an educated person who thinks they know it all.

I believe it surprised Paul. This was not what he expected. The town was so smart, it was dumb. Romans 1:21-22:

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

He came away with few if any real followers of the Way.

I also think that is why he said, in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25:

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

No more would he come in and engage in academic discussions, in great discourse, in intellectual debate. From now on, he would bring the cross of Jesus and talk only of it.

After all, it is God who saves, who draws, who moves the heart – not our own intellectual ability. After all, it is God who saves, who draws, who moves the heart – not our own intellectual ability. As Jesus said in John 6:44:

For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me,

If we could talk people into the kingdom, there would be no reason for the cross.

But the cross defies logic. And that is the way God wanted it. Where is the logic of a man dying? Where is the logic of God coming down as a man anyway? And on top of it, where is the logic of God’s son coming down to this world to only spend three years talking in one little tiny country to one small group of people with only twelve main followers and then being killed? What is the point of that? There is no logic in that.

And the point? The point, of course, is that it is God who saves, not our intellect and our ideas of logic.

To his surprise and his sadness, Paul found that out. Just because people are educated, doesn’t mean they are smart.

A hard lesson to learn.

daily java

Daily Java:

That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. (Acts 17:10-12)

Some people will believe anything you tell them. It is not that they are stupid or anything, it is just that sometimes they are lazy.

In the Middle Ages, illiteracy was common. Because of this, no one read the Bible. In fact, there was usually only one Bible in the entire town. And to make matters even worse, it was in Latin, which no one but Catholic Church priests read or spoke and it was chained to the pulpit.

As a result, people pretty well had to take the word of the clergy as to what God said. The clergy had their own special interpretation of the Bible which was many times just plain wrong.

So most people held wrong views of the Bible and, consequently, of God. All because they couldn’t read.

Of course, I believe the Spirit worked in his church anyway. But not being able to see what God had said hurt them.

Today, most people can read. But  wrong views still predominate. Why? Because, just like in the Middle Ages, they do not read for themselves.

In the town of Berea, when Paul and Silas preached, people checked them out to make sure they preached what God had said and not just their own opinions.

It was not that they viewed them as untrustworthy, it was that they felt their relationship with God was more important than giving some men their absolute trust.

Nothing makes me happier when I preach than to see people looking up what I quoted for themselves. I know and I believe that I am preaching the truth. But they need to know and believe that they are hearing the truth.

Our relationship is with God. When we listen to people and take them at face value, unless we have a long and trusted relationship with them, we court danger. I have heard people that everyone told me were great in the scriptures. But when I heard them, with just my own knowledge, I knew they were wrong.

Others, on the other hand, listened to them and bought into the error they were preaching. All because they did not check it out themselves.

I am not advocating suspicion or disrespect. But we are responsible to God ourselves for what we do.

Check it out yourself.

obvious

This is amazing.

daily java

Daily Java:

The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!” So the jailer told Paul, “The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.” But Paul replied, “They have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison—and we are Roman citizens. So now they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves to release us!” When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. So they came to the jail and apologized to them. Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city. When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town.  (Acts 16:35-40)

In 1971, I was in Germany in the army. I was driving through a group of people who were milling in the road celebrating some festival, most of whom were half drunk. As they finally parted for me to drive my Volkswagen through, a boy darted out and I hit him, hard enough to bounce up an land on my hood and dent it. he jumped up and ran to the side of the street.

I was afraid. I had less than two weeks left in Germany in my tour of duty in the army and I figured I would go to jail.

The Polizei came and we tried to talk with my limited German. Finally, the MPs came. They took me away from the Polizei and I finally went home.

As it turned out, the boy was not hurt and he got a ticket. Germany is different. But I was glad to see the MPs. And I made full use of them and the government.

As an American citizen, I am only nominally subject to the laws of other countries. I obey their traffic laws and other stuff, but when it comes down to it, I am a citizen of America. And I do not mind using that citizenship.

In the first century, a Roman citizen carried weight. He was, as it is mentioned a lot today except for real, a “citizen of the world.” Since the Roman Empire was the world empire, to be a citizen of it meant that you were due special privileges. And one of these special privileges was that you were not to be beaten. You were always treated with respect.

When they were released from jail, Paul brought up the fact of his Roman citizenship and that he had been beaten illegally. This meant that the city officials were subject to a lot of problems, including imprisonment themselves.

Paul said that if they want us to leave, let them come and ask us themselves. So they came and apologized and asked, in fact, it says they begged them to leave town.

Paul and Silas decided they didn’t want to yet. They had been busy when arrested and decided they would finish what they had started. So in spite of the fact that they city officials wanted them to leave, they stayed around for a while.

You can bet the police didn’t  bother them one bit.

There is nothing wrong with asserting your citizenship and your rights. That is why we have them. The great apostle Paul did so without being bashful in the least.

We are, of course, citizens of heaven. Philippians 3:20 says: But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. Hebrews 11:16 calls us foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Because of that, we realize our citizenship, our very allegiance lies somewhere else. I lies with God.

sunday night pie suppers in freeport, tx

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. (Acts 2:46-47)

When I was a little boy in Freeport, TX, going to the Freeport Church of Christ, we had what we called Pie Suppers after church on Sunday nights. I don’t really know why that term came to be applied because it was mostly sandwiches and desserts.

But there were a lot of them. I was on a lot closer level to the table at that time, of course, being young. And I would stand and look at all the stuff. It was great. There were sandwiches galore, probably thousands of them (at least to my eight year old mind) and pies and cakes by the hundreds.

A lot of food for a church of about 150 people. But it sure seemed that way.

The best thing was, it meant that I could eat all I wanted and there would still be a lot left over. And I tried my level best to do that very thing.

Pimiento sandwiches, tuna salad, chicken salad sandwiches. Ham and cheese, baloney and cheese, deviled ham, ham salad. some with lettuce and tomato, all on white bread (no weird brown breads in the 1950’s) – it was great.

Pies, cakes, cookies, toll house bars, fruit salad, jellos – all for dessert. Tea and coffee for drinking.

The kids would run around afterwards and play under the Community Center where we met. It was up on stilts, this being Freeport and right by the levee that separated us from the Gulf of Mexico. We ran around, had a good time, as I got older, we would stand leaning on cars and talk, trying to impress the girls.

In retrospect, it was an almost idyllic time.

Of course, this was the time of the Cuban missile crisis, the bomb drills in the schools (a desk was guaranteed to protect you from a nuclear bomb), the world falling apart over there.

But over here, it was great. No real crime, no drugs yet, the Beatles hadn’t even come to America yet, rock and roll was still suspicious.

And on Sunday nights, once a month, all the sandwiches and pie you could put into your little eight year old mouth.

That was a happy church, as I remember, one that liked getting together, for any reason.

A church that plays together stays together, to augment an old phrase. But it is true.

We are on a journey to Heaven and we help each other on the journey. And one way we help each other is to eat together and just in general learn to like each other. Life is hard alone. But together we will make it.

daily java

Daily Java:

One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. (Acts 16:16-24)

Sometimes things you think are good backfire on you.

This woman was following along behind Paul and Silas proclaiming them to be from God. The only problem was, she was demon-possessed and she was the last person they wanted to have advertising for her.

It would be the same as having convicted felons handing out advertisements for you as you ran for office. They are not the people you want to be identified with.

It makes you wonder why she did this. The demon side of her would not want the gospel of Jesus to be preached. Maybe that was why she did it: just to spite the apostles, knowing how they would hate it, having a demon advertise for them.

Maybe the human side came out and she thought that if she would make enough fuss, maybe the apostles could do something to free her. She would, of course, not want to have this thing in her.

Whatever the reason behind what she did, two things were accomplished. One was that the woman was set free from her demonic tormentor and two, Paul and Silas fell into a world of hurt.

The smallest thing can lead to ramifications like you wouldn’t believe. You help a stranded motorist on a lonely road and they end up robbing you. You give some money to a street person and then you get in a real emergency and need it. You give away an extra guitar and then yours breaks and you need it.

Paul did something that was a combination help thing/get off my back thing when he delivered this woman of her demon possession. He helped her and he got her to shut up about him.

But it backfired. Her owners/keepers/masters made a lot of money off her fortune telling abilities that came with that demon possession. When Paul healed her, he took that money – a lot of money the text says – away from them and they were mad. They trumped up some charges against him and had them whipped and jailed.

You wonder what Paul thought the next time something like this happened. That deliverance from demon possession was the catalyst that caused him to be whipped and jailed. A favor gone bad.

But ultimately, he probably – it doesn’t say so, but I would imagine – brought this girl to Jesus. And later on, he also brought the jailer and his family to Jesus. Good things came of this.

But that is a rough way to evangelize.

daily java

Daily Java:

After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.  (Acts 15:36-41)

Both Paul and Barnabas were men full of the Spirit of God. They were both holy men. They both had a command of scriptures that was amazing and both were great teachers. And they both were dominant personalities.

John Mark had come along with them in Acts 13 as an assistant, and then evidently got homesick or something and went home. When Paul and Barnabas were ready to go again in Acts 15, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark again. However, Paul didn’t. He viewed John Mark as an unreliable helper.

The argument got so strong that they split up. Barnabas took John Mark and Paul took a man named Silas. This great dynamic duo of godly men had an argument and split up their partnership.

This did two things.

First, it says that no matter how great the men, no matter how full of the Spirit and the grace of God, people are still people. They have arguments and problems and they deal with them in ways that are sometimes not the best.

Paul was the kind of guy that you either went full bore or you went by yourself. If you were not as fixated as he was, he had no time for you. That is not to say he didn’t love those he preached to. But when he had an assistant, he wanted one he could depend on and he had no time for undependable people.

Rather than take an undependable person with him, he split up a great evangelistic team.

Barnabas, on the other hand, was willing to take the gamble. After all, it was he who went and got the unknown Saul and brought him along. They were Barnabas and Saul, then Barnabas and Paul, now Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas evidently didn’t mind his pupil becoming the leader. He was a good man who tried to help others. And because of him, Paul the apostle was a perful teacher.

Nobody is perfect, not even the great apostle Paul. He figured it out later, though. In 2 Timothy 4:11, he says: Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. I don’t know who grew, Paul or Mark. But whatever went on, sooner or later, Paul recognized John Mark’s value.

Second, sometimes God works through odd ways. Instead of one group going one place, now there were two groups of dynamic evangelists.

When Paul and Barnabas split up, each going his own way, it made two groups preaching the gospel. And twice as much was getting done.

Good things can come from bad things if God is at work in them.

daily java

Daily Java:

I will answer you and all your friends, too. (Job 35:4)

Job was in distress, his family was gone, his possessions and his position in the community were all gone and he had a bunch of “friends” come to him to tell him what was wrong with his life. After everybody has spoken about all of the inadequacies of Job’s life and the reasons God is punishing him, then Elihu, the youngest, speaks up.

He is going to give Job and his friends that definitive answer, the ultimate response. After he is through, generations will marvel at his brilliance.

It is interesting that when Elihu finishes with his brilliant reply, God speaks. He and Job and all the others completely ignore Elihu and what he said.

I hate it when someone, man or woman, comes up with “the answer.” Everyone is supposed to listen to it, receive it and be glad to share in this person’s wisdom. It is a curious arrogance.

Sometimes it is good, sometimes not, but the bearer of the “great intellect” is always under the impression that he or she will answer you and all your friends, as Elihu was certain he would do.

I remember a woman, a couple of years back, who would do this. After she had solved all our problems for us, she stood one day telling me what a burden it was to always be the smartest person in the room. Needless to say, she turned out not to be.

On Facebook, there is always one who will interject a comment that is designed to answer the question and give the ultimate answer. If someone comes on with something after the great person has spoken, they are irritated that their answer wasn’t accepted as the final solution.

The problem is, however, only God has the final answers. Ours may be good – and every once in a while I come up with a good one – he still is the only one who can truly answer a question definitively.

And the problem is, sometimes he decides not to. In Job’s case, in spite of the blathering of these four men and Elihu’s assertion that he had the ultimate answer, God never told them what the answer was.

Sometimes there is no answer.

In Bible class one night, we were talking about something that was a tough theological question. Finally one man looked at me and said, okay, tell us the answer. I said, no, that is not my job. My job is to help you find he answers, not give you all the answers. He got irritated and ended up leaving.

But the reason I do not give the answers are primarily because of two things. First, sometimes I am wrong or do not know. I have known pastors who couldn’t stand to not know the answers and felt the need to say something, anything, just to reassert their knowledge and position. I am not like that.

And second, a pastor who tells everybody what all the answers are every time they feel the need, breeds lazy and ignorant people. They have never had to look for something themselves and begin to feel the Christian life is full of easy answers.

It isn’t. I wish it were, because there are some things that have plagued me for years and I would like to know why.

But in spite of having ultra-smart friends and acquaintances who are more than willing to answer me and all my friends, I still look for the answers.

And I probably will until I die.

hebrews 5:11-6:12: spiritual immaturity

Here is the latest installment of our Hebrews lessons. Look back over the posts and  you will see the rest. Use it to his will and glory.

Hebrews: A New Day Coming
Hebrews 5:11-6:12: Spiritual Immaturity

It is always sad to see mentally challenged people. Somewhere back down the line, they stopped their intellectual growth and are, for all practical purposes, babies or young children. They grow older in body, yet never catch up in mind. They always need someone to watch over them and help them, sometimes with the most basic activities. They are not normal.

In the church there are people like this too. They accepted Jesus, became Christians, yet years later are no more mature than they were at the time they became Christians. They never became able to teach or function as an independent Christian that can live on their own. They still need rules and regulations and have never grown up.

They still need to learn basic principles, the milk of the word, because they have never become able to be mature Christians, believers with strength.

They remain spiritual babies.

Two people take up the guitar. One becomes proficient in a short time and become a professional musician. The other remains a rank amateur barely able to do much beyond the simplest chords.

Why? Because one of them takes it seriously and the other doesn’t. The one who doesn’t views it as a hobby that isn’t important and never learns and practices. The other approaches it as something important and practices becomes professional.

The writer of Hebrews says that we need to leave behind elementary teachings and move on to other things. It is not that the elementary things are not important, it is just that they are exactly what they say: elementary. Just like a child goes up in the grade structure and learns more and more until they are able to go to graduate school, so the Christian learns more.

The problem comes when the Christian begins to learn and then decides that it is not worth it and quits. The writer says that it is impossible for them to come back. After all, what will they come back to? The very thing they left.

This scripture doesn’t mean that one cannot come back to Jesus after they have fallen away, but it does mean that it is very difficult to get people to accept once more what they have rejected.

God wants us to be productive in his kingdom, producing both learning and understanding in our own hearts, but also bringing others into that kingdom.

He says that this will only happen when we grow in him. And we only grow in him when we study his word and allow him to live in our hearts.

QUESTIONS:
1. Why are some people slow to learn?
2. What is milk? How does it differ from solid food?
3. 5:13 How do you train yourself to distinguish good from evil?
4. Is it good to study elementary teachings? How is it that some do not go on to maturity? What is maturity? Is it knowing the Bible?
5. 6:4 What does it mean impossible? Does that mean you cannot come back to God if you fall away?
6. 6:9 What do you think are the better things?
6:12 How do you think we come lazy?