From The Inside Out

Apostle of the Gentiles

Paul found himself standing in the "great" city of Athens. Admittedly, this wasn't his first day here, but even so he couldn't help but take things in anew. He knew that most would stand in awe of the marble architecture that surrounded him. In fact, he would have had to agree that to the earthly eye - it was indeed a marvelous sight to behold. But he also saw another level of things that the inhabitants of this city seemed to have missed. God, his Lord, the Christ had no place in this place. Especially here at Mars Hill, the local amphitheater.

He had felt the frustration building up inside of him all morning, as he tried reasoning with the the local Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. He had spent his time in the marketplace for the last two days, and the synagogue all of this one...still it seemed few were willing to hear the Gospel, the good news of the risen Messiah.

But now, Paul the Apostle, found himself standing in front of a crowd of philosophers, both Epicureans and Stoics. Now he found himself standing in front of a crowd of doubters, both Jew and Gentile. Now he found himself standing in front of a crowd of worshipers, of both idols and self. Now was the time to speak. He felt God's Spirit come over him, calming and preparing.




So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them:

“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”



When the crowd had finished hearing what he had to say about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said to him, “We want to hear more about this later.”

Paul knew that his discussion with them was over, but was encouraged nonetheless - for some came up to him afterwards - ready to become believers. Among them was a man who had seemed quite intrigued earlier, Dionysius(a member of the council), a woman named Damaris, and others with them. "Thank You Lord!" he prayed. He knew not to fear what he couldn't control, he had done the planting - perhaps, in time, an even larger harvest would take place from this crowd of pleasure seekers and deniers.

He still remembered the remarks being made about him as he had spoken. "What is the babbling fool trying to say?" Others stating, "Is he a believer in other foreign gods?" But he knew the truth. He, the persecutor of the Christians, was now a part of Christ's body and was God's representative to the gentiles. The apostle of the the gentiles, that was his label - one that he'd bear willingly for God's Kingdom. He knew it was time to prepare for his trip to Corinth, but he understood that his charge to make disciples meant that at least some time would be spent with Dionysius and the others - preparing them for the rough, but meaningful and beautiful road of giving everything in this life to the One who gave life all meaning anyway - Jesus Christ - Savior, King, and Lord of All.

These are the Days of Elijah

1 Kings chapters 18 and 19 have just spoken volumes to me about...well God's faithfulness.

From God's power being revealed by the sarcastic and confident Prophet....

From the decision to flee when things got rough....

From the voice of God only being heard in the stillness of life....

From Elijah's false belief that he was the only one left of God's faithful....

In all these things, lessons can be learned in my life and yours. Elijah, a man who saw God's power in ways we can't even begin to fathom - but in ways that we rarely fathom - though God is still the same God, was able to hit the full spectrum of "human" emotions...and still be used by God in his doubts, fears, and lack of understanding. We don't always see it, just like Elijah, but as God pointed out in chapter 19...we're not in it alone. God is being followed. And we are being supported...we must never forget that God is bigger than our perspective. His is the only perspective that matters anyways! :D Thank you Lord for reminding me about Elijah!

Satan,

I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing those that I care about believing that they aren't - *fill in the blank with whatever word they need to believe about themselves*.

Get out of their thoughts, dreams, decisions, and lives. And that goes for your flunkies too. In the name of Jesus Christ. Get away from my Father's family. Now.