Tag: Good News

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Paul’s discipleship plan.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.” So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!” Acts ‭26‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Saul, then becoming the Apostle Paul, is a favorite of New Testament characters that God used to get to declare the message of the gospel of Jesus. Paul’s discipleship methods, his evangelism plans are so clever.

One, because Paul had a secular job as a tent maker and repair, he setup his shop in most of the cities he traveled to. In these open-air malls or city marketplaces he would talk shop and Jesus with other shop owners. This was very effective in leading Gentiles to Christ. The other method was not only unique, it was dangerous and painful.

Paul saw his arrests by the Jewish leaders as an opportunity to share his testimony, which is key in sharing the gospel. And Paul had a riveting story to share! The Bible records three official arrests of Paul. However, other accounts and Paul’s own words suggest he was imprisoned more frequently, possibly seven times. As a Roman citizen, Paul knew he had rights and eventually he exercised one of those rights to appeal to Caesar himself – Acts 25:11: “But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!

As we see here with Agrippa, Paul had a method to his incarceration madness. It’s a perfect outline for us to use to easily and humbly share the gospel to everyone that God would open a door to listen.

One: Paul shares his past, who he was before Jesus transformed his life. He writes that he was thoroughly Jewish, even becoming a part of the elite Sanhedrin as a Pharisee, “the strictest sect of our religion.” He told of his obsession, ridding the world of any mention of the name of Jesus the Nazarene. He had ordered the arrest and imprisonment of many believers in Jesus, having them beaten to get them to curse Jesus. He personally chased them down city by city.

Two: Paul shared the moment he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. A blinding light from heaven forced his entourage to fall face down in the dirt. Paul heard a voice in Aramaic – ”We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.” ‭‭Acts 26‬:‭14‬-‭15‬. Paul was directly and personally confronted by Jesus!

Three: Paul shared his purpose: Jesus gave him his calling, his true purpose in life – an Apostle to the Gentiles! Jesus told him, “And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles…” And Paul told Agrippa he said yes, “I obeyed that vision from heaven.” Paul even shared his strategy of gaining access to high officials and invites King Agrippa to surrender his life to Christ – ”Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest.”

Four: Paul directly pops the question to Agrippa- because at some point, this is what we are called to do! “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”

Finally, Luke records a key verse letting us know that Paul understood what was ahead of him and that the plan was working. “Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left. As they went out, they talked it over and agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.” And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.” Acts 26‬:‭30‬-‭32‬. Now you see, as Paul already knew! Oh, but he was set free by Jesus and imprisonment was just part of the plan!

Prayer

Dad,
Paul clearly understood that suffering, riots, arrests and imprisonment was simply a part of the plan you had for him. It’s not everyone’s purpose, but you were glorified through his life. I am amazed because Paul was resolute, even content with this! Can I be content, even in suffering, and still be in Your will? It is apparent the answer should be YES! Am I willing to see and be fully aware that You are in control and that I can yield rather than struggle or complain? I want the answer to be YES. Thank you for Paul’s plan (and yours), sharing the gospel. It’s a great template to use.

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Think Different.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

”Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”“ Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Mark’s gospel quickly references Jesus being baptized, then a brief sentence about Jesus going out into the wilderness to be tempted, saying nothing about fasting for forty days. Mark gets right to it.

When Jesus came into Galilee, a favorite location on the shore of the lake, he immediately announces the Kingdom of God was near, it’s coming, he says! The four gospels are called gospels because of what Jesus said. Jesus preached the good news. He says he brings “euaggélion: – the Gospel – literally, “God’s good news.”” This amazing Greek word that comes from the root word, “euaggelizó,” meaning a messenger of goodness or wellness. It’s where we get the word “evangelist,” or “evangelize” or “evangelical” – those words have some powerful, cultural connotations! How far we have fallen when “evangelical” has been redefined as a political, social group instead of the real meaning of bringing a good message?

Jesus came on the scene announcing that the fulfillment of God’s plan was here at last. And, if we think about it, a longtime promise fulfilled is a joyous occasion, right? Proverbs reminds me, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” (13:12). Jesus was saying the time had finally arrived, the earth itself and all nature groaned in anticipation of that day – and so did the Jewish people (Romans 8:22).

Jesus told us what to do when this good news of God’s Kingdom became a reality. Repent of our sins and believe. What does repentance have to do with receiving and believing this fulfillment of a very long promise? We’ve always seen “repentance” as a religious word, a spiritually powerful word, laden with stereotyped-stories and pictures of wearing gunnysacks and whipping ourselves. At least that’s what comes to mind for me. If you’ve been a churched person, in a protestant expression, you know that repentance has not been taught that way. But even in the protestant tradition, repentance is still seen as a physically humbling act of emotional tears and deep sorrow. I get it, that’s not a bad response for realizing what a turd I’ve been and the awful destructive things I’ve done.

Jesus was joyfully announcing another picture. It’s more like the picture of someone who has driven several miles past their exit on the freeway and realized they were not paying attention and are heading the wrong direction! Have you ever done that? If you’re alone, you just angrily beat yourself up for being so unaware. But what do we do then? We exit, we figure out how to get back on the freeway, going the opposite direction. We’ve have turned around to get to our intended destination. This is what the original Greek word, “metanoéō” means. It’s two words, “after-effects” and “thinking,” – think differently afterwords. It’s been described as a 180° turn around because it’s easy to understand, but it really means “the effects of changing our minds.”

Of course we have to change our minds if we are going to even begin to understand what God has really done for us! We absolutely better think and behave DIFFERENTLY after we see our sin and the consequences of what it has done in us and others. Steve Jobs, in 1997, came out with Apple’s grand-slam marketing slogan, “Think Different,” but that wasn’t really his idea. It was Jesus who said, think different and believe the good news. Salvation, rescue, exoneration has come to save us from ourselves and free us from prison of pursing whatever we feel like doing, no matter the consequences. This was and still is explosive, headline news! Think different and believe. Hmmm, sounds catchy.

Prayer

Dad,
Sometimes I hardly recognize myself! I’ve got a long ways to go in looking like Jesus, but I have come so far since I first believed. I am not who I was, but still not completely who I want to be. I find it interesting that I’ve had many times I still need to repent. Not just of sin, but realizing that I wasn’t going in a godly direction and had to think different to change that. I am so thankful for your amazing good news. It has definitely changed me, my life, and those around me. This whole experience of repentance and belief has been the greatest thing ever to happen to me.

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Blinded by lies, not light.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Good news, God has a rescue plan for all. Bad news, Satan has a terrorist’s intent to thwart it. God has plans, Satan has lies. Satan doesn’t need a plan to damn humanity, just lies to keep us believing one of two things: we don’t need to be rescued or we can rescue ourselves!

The blinders that keep people from seeing this glorious light is simply self sufficiency; thinking there’s nothing wrong with me and I can create my own truth, my own destiny. These blinders are only effective because we crave this autonomy of choice to run our own life, host our own awards shows, and pursue anything and everything that our minds can imagine.

What’s wrong with that? Our dark hearts are bent and determined to choose only selfish, self-satisfying desires. And, very much like those who are blind, it leads away from God and towards evil and death. And in our “enlightened” state of darkness, we harm and destroy those around us eventually finding ourselves alone. Satan’s job is to steal, kill and destroy, but does so non-confrontationally through lies. We let Satan in by believing them and lock God out by our own choices. The message of Christ is truth. He is all good and has no lies, no tricks to con us. Christ is life itself. Believe Christ and live, or believe the lies and die.This is the hidden message.

Prayer

Dad,
I would not have found my own way. But you found me. You illuminated that foyer at Oak Knoll Lodge in Big Bear, California and showed me right from wrong, death and life. You offered me a deal that I could not pass up. And as that small space under a table lit up with truth I saw everything clearly for the first time. It was my time, my chance to choose and I will forever be grateful for that moment. Help me continue to live in that light, that truth and to continue to walk away from lies and darkness. Thank You!