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Denver and snow

December 31, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Our day started this morning at 3:30am. We have been in Denver since about 11:45am and now sitting in our hotel room and resting. There is snow everywhere.

 Our flights were uneventful. We had a layover in KC. Ledt me just say this…the set up at the KC airport is not very flyer friendly. After getting off a plane walking into the concourse, you have to go get in line to go back through security. I don’t think the set up is the best. I mean, you have already gone through security, so it is a little weird to me that you have to go back through. It just doesn’t add up.

Finally when we arrived in Denver, we had to rent a push cart for the mountain of luggage that we brought with us. I am a bad driver, I ran the cart off the curb, spilled luggage everywhere in the middle of the road and people everywhere watching me. It was not one of the best moments in my life.

But, now we are resting getting ready for dinner and watching some football.

Categories: Helpful Places

off to NCYM

December 31, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

We are headed today to Colorado, actually we are supposed to fly into Denver today. Please keep us in prayer. Our flight leaves around 8am today from Tulsa, we have a layover in KC and then on to the snowy city.

This will be our 4th trek to the National Conference on Youth Ministries. It is a church of Christ youth minister conference. I went to the Youth Specialites youth workers convention this year in Austin, TX. There is no comparison between what YS does and can do and NCYM. However, NCYM has more of a family feel. It is nice to get away nonetheless, and get recharged. 2006 has taken its toll on us emtionally, physically and spiritually. Headed to the mountains for a week will be great to get refreshed and recharged for another year in minstry.

“Father, I thank you for your greatness. You are holy and have called us to follow in your footsteps. Help me to walk in your footsteps. I stumble and trip alot. I can’t always see where your leading me. I worry about what I don’t often have control of. Teach me to surrender moment by moment to your reign over me. Help me to rest in you and your care. Father, as we make our way today to Denver, please allow us to have a safe trip. You have parted seas, and delivered your servants from lions, from firey furnaces, from giants and from the sword, please make a path through the snow for all of the guys and gals who will be traveling these next few days to Colorado. Some of them are on the verge of throwing in the towel. Some are so beat up that they come because they don’t know what else to do. Father, make a way for all who are weary and bruised to come and find you in the mountains. In the name of Jesus I pray.”

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 22:22-30

December 30, 2006 Jason Retherford 1 comment

Read: Acts 22:22-30

 

When the crowd hears that Paul was sent to the Gentiles they have had it. Dirt, angry words, and clothing fly. They are ready to have Paul killed. Enough is enough. Once again the Roman soldiers offer protection from death once again, but Paul is not out of the woods. The commander of the soldiers orders Paul to be flogged and then questioned. And just before the flagellum rips into Paul’s back, he asks   the solider with the whip “is it legal for you flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty” (Acts 22:25). This caused quite a stir, for Roman citizens were protected by Roman Law from an illegal beating especially without a trial. The commander of the soldiers is summoned and questions Paul about the validity of his citizenship. Maybe Paul had with him some sort of document that stated his citizenship. Whatever the case maybe, Paul was born a Roman citizen (22:28). In those days in the Roman Empire a subject could obtain citizenship through several various means, it could be awarded to a non-citizen for some outstanding service to the Empire, someone could be born into citizenship or it could be purchased for a high price. The commander of the Roman soldiers, had purchased his citizenship, and realizing the danger he was in if he were to continue to with the order to flog Paul, he relents and Paul is unchained for now.

 

I want you to realize that up to this point in Acts we are shown three different sides of Paul. When we first are introduced to him, he is the persecutor on a mission to wipe the Christian movement off the face of the earth. After his Damascus Road encounter of the resurrected king Jesus, Paul will become the preacher to the Gentiles traveling the Roman Empire proclaiming the message of the gospel to both Jew and Greek. But near the end of his life, chains will take on a special meaning for him, for he will spend a large part of his later years in chains for Christ. Thus we are introduced to Paul the prisoner. Paul uses his various imprisonments to communicate the truth of the gospel and sees his chains in a Roman prison as actually being chained to the plan of God to share the gospel. Nothing would deter Paul from sharing the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, nothing short of death. But, I might add that even after Paul goes home to be with the Lord, his message still shapes our thinking today. His legacy lives on because he was sold out completely to Jesus Christ. Even though Paul talked of his Roman citizenship, his greatest joy came from his heavenly citizenship. Paul knew that his home was above, not this old earth.

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 22:11-21

December 30, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Read: Acts 22:11-21

 

As Paul concludes his address to his Jewish brothers, he is careful to craft his speech in a way favorable to his Jewish brothers. Notice at the beginning of the address he is sure to mention his Jewish birth, his upbringing and training in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. Paul recounts his zeal for God and persecution of the church. Even when he mentions Ananias he calls him a “devout observer of the law” and goes on to say that he was “highly respected by all Jews living there.” When Ananias addresses Paul, the message that Paul shares that Ananias was given connects Paul’s new mission with the plan of God. So far so good.

 

So, why the coming rage from the crowd? We mentioned a little bit yesterday about the barriers that were hard for some to get over concerning who is in and who is out. It appears that these Jews were looking at things through the us vs. them lens, whereas Paul and those that worked with him, didn’t see this division. Sure, Paul had enemies and would write quite a lot about them in his epistles, but when it came to the message of the gospel and who was in and out, Paul didn’t make racial or ethnic distinctions. If a Jew accepted Christ, that was great. And, if a Gentile accepted Christ, that was great too. The only thing that Paul was concerned with was sharing the message of Christ. This was his mission and Paul wanted to follow God’s plan wherever they sent him, even if it meant having to abandon the Jews and work primarily among the Gentiles. So, what would you if you were in similar shoes? Let’s say that here at church you felt called to reach out to certain group of people outside of the church. These people were really different from the good, well dressed people that grace our hallways week after week. Let’s say your ministry was so effective that this group of people you had been working with began to flock our congregation in droves. Let’s pretend that the regulars were so upset all these different kinds of folks were present. And after church a special meeting was called and you were on trail so to speak for flooding the church with different people. How would you respond? Would you handle things with grace, would you react with anger? What would you do?

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 22:1-10

December 28, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Read: Acts 22:1-10

 

Paul, bound in chains asks for permission to address his Jewish brethren. He speaks to his brothers in Aramaic, a very old language. It was the language of the Jews. As a sign of solidarity with them, he uses their language and begins to tell them of his upbringing and training to love the Law and his commitment to the ancient faith. He mentions his zeal for the Law that lead him to seek permission from the high priest and council to stamp out the Christian movement by asking for letters to confirm his persecution of the Way. Paul tells them that he headed for Damascus to begin squashing this movement that was viewed as opposition and blasphemous to the faith of the Jews. We’ve read of Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus back in chapter nine. Paul’s experience of Jesus on his way to Damascus had to live on his mind as the most important moment of his life. For the persecutor known as Saul, would begin to be transformed into Paul the missionary to the Gentiles. This Damascus Road experience for Paul is life shaping, life changing and life giving. Something so powerful happened to Paul that day he made his way to Damascus that he would never forget it.

 

Here in Jerusalem many years later, an aging, beaten preacher addresses his brothers and this story of his encounter with the resurrected Lord is center stage. Paul is not ashamed of his experience. As you will see in your reading for tomorrow, no one discounted his experience of the resurrected Jesus. No questions, no objections until Paul says that Jesus had commissioned him to go to the Gentiles. Apparently to this mob of Jewish believers they had no room in their hearts for the Gentile mission. We’ve mentioned already the importance in Acts of Luke’s emphasis on the Gentile mission. First, Luke himself was a Gentile, secondly through his time with Paul, Luke was aware that God’s plan had been to reconcile Jews and Gentiles and make them family in Christ. We’ve read of the Council’s decision in Acts 15 not forcing observation of the Law on Gentiles. We’ve read of the church at Antioch raising money for their Jewish brothers in Jerusalem. But, apparently some of these Jewish brothers were not that excited about the Gentiles being added to the kingdom and through their violent treatment of Paul it shows that they were narrow focused. It seems to me that these men and women in the mob angry with Paul so the kingdom as having walls, and they only wanted their own kind within its borders. But, Paul was the proclaimer of God’s grace and knew firsthand the Kingdom has no national boundaries. Paul knew that in Christ there were no walls, no barriers. Paul knew that the Gospel was for all men. This message got him into trouble.

 

What if we were bold enough to believe that this same message that Paul proclaimed is still as dangerous today as was in Paul’s day? What if we dared to believe like Paul that no matter what, this gospel which we have based all of our hope was more precious than any earthly thing? We would do well to view the gospel in such a light.

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 21:27-40

December 27, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Read: Acts 21:27-40

 

Paul is no stranger to angry mobs or even beatings or imprisonment. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that things turn ugly for Paul even before the week of his purification was over. Luke tells us some Jews from the Roman province of Asia stir up trouble for Paul. Their accusations were that Paul brought a Gentile into the temple courts and was teaching against their law and customs. You get a lot of people together in a hurry and feed their emotion with propaganda violence is not far off. Murder is brewing. These Jews are so worked up and angry that they have one goal and that is to rid the earth of the apostle. When it looks like the end for Paul, Luke tells us of Paul’s unlikely rescue from the commander of the Roman troops comes to his rescue. Assuming that Paul was a radical Jewish rabble rouser, he is chained and about to be put into the barracks when Paul asks for permission to address the angry mob.

 

I want to draw a comparison here between Jesus and Paul. Both told their followers that they were going to go to Jerusalem. Both knew the pending danger. Both received warmly at first on the first arrival in Jerusalem. Both were accused falsely. Both were arrested before the end of week. Both were beaten. Both were bound. Both were handed over to Gentiles. I am sure Paul was aware of the similarity that existed as he stood in Jerusalem, bloodied and bruised. I am even more sure that the whole time that Paul was being beaten and falsely accused that he was praying and focusing on Jesus. In those moments of such overwhelming circumstances where we have our focus and where we place our trust are of vital importance.

 

How do you typically handle painful trials? Do you endure them with your focus on Christ or do you sour and gripe and grumble about your miserable condition. There is a real temptation in the midst of a storm to complain. But, in the midst of that storm there is also an opportunity for growth and grace if you would just focus on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. His name is Immanuel, He is God with us. Don’t forget that when you are facing a giant of some kind. The God that tumbles giants hasn’t changed.

Categories: Helpful Places

the day after Christmas

December 26, 2006 Jason Retherford 1 comment

There is nothing quite like a Christmas morning at home. As a little kid, the night before Christmas morn was always the longest night of the year. I confess, I still get a little anxious. But, with two little girls who love presents my anxiousness is getting to see them open their gifts.

Growing up, my brother and I were always up early on Christmas morning. Yesterday, my daughters didn’t get up till like 10am. It was kind of nice sleeping in. I wish you could have seen the look on Rachel’s face when we told her that Santa had come and left gifts for her and Kenzie. She was so excited.

We had a good time watching the little ones open gifts. We opened a few gifts as well and then ate an excellent breakfast. After breakfast, it was a lazy day. Followed by more laying around an extended nap, Christmas dinner and more laying around. It was a good day.

One of the funnier things that happened yesterday, my brother opened up a new DVD player, and well when he opened it someone had stuffed an old CD drive, a remote control to a television and some funky adapter that didn’t go with anything. So, this morning we braved the return crowds and went to Target and exchanged the junk for the real thing.

I have been thinking a little about Christmas and the season. I have made a couple of observations. I am sure, none of which are new observations:

1. It seems that allure of stuff blurs the view of the manger.

2. The Christmas season really begins way back in October and runs through the end of December.

3. Shopping puts a lot of people in a grouchy mood.

4. Long lines are not the end of the world.

5. Christmas is anymore, more about Santa, gift giving, and egg nog than it is about celebrating the arrival of the king.

6. After the last present is unwrapped, and the decorations are taken down, the real message of Christmas doesn’t have to end either.

With the in-breaking of the kingdom of God into our world, the baby wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger is the most dangerous baby ever born. The news of one born king of the Jews is a threat to all earthly allegiance, all empires and kingdoms. For this little babe will be the salvation of all and the bane of many. No one that I can think of in history has attacted more attention, had more written about than him. No one has been hated more than him. Shepherds welcomed him and this Shepherd still welcomes all of us. The most dangerous baby indeed, even as a man he is still a threat to all earthly rule and dominion and offers all who come a chance to taste life the way it was meant to be lived. The one born king of the Jews is still King. Only his kingship is universal and the wise still seek him.

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 21:17-26

December 26, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Read: Acts 21:17-26

His reception in Jerusalem is warm and friendly at first. The elders and James were glad to hear about Paul’s ministry among the Gentiles, but they also want Paul to be aware that many of the Jews who had come to the faith as well had been informed through erroneous sources that Paul was teaching others to turn away from Moses and to leave many of the cultural markers that were apart of their Jewish way of life. But, James and the elders knowing the pulse of the Jewish crowd, devise a plan to help Paul return to the good graces of his Jewish Christian brethren. This plan was to accompany four men to the temple, pay for the temple sacrifices and undergo a week long purification ceremony. Before any of you go wait a minute, I thought Paul was free in Christ and didn’t have to observe the Law. Let us be clear, that for Gentiles this business about circumcision and obeying the Law of Moses was a hindrance to salvation by grace. But, for Jews, the Law was a way of life. Paul was raised a Jew, trained under a very educated Jewish teacher, became a follower of the Jewish Messiah, and so therefore was not completely free of his Jewish roots. When Paul ministered to the Gentiles, he would have been more laid back in various Jewish scruples due to the Gentiles difference in upbringing and cultural experience. Paul himself would say in 1 Corinthians 9: 19-23, “19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” Paul’s purpose in all of this was to win as many people to Christ as possible. Paul was not living a duplicitous life. Paul was not pretending to be Jewish one day and then a Gentile the next. Paul was a Christian saved by grace wanting all men to come to the same realization of the love of God that he had.  

So, today think about how you are living? I know I have asked that question before of you, but we would do well to take inventory of our lives every so often. What do other people see when they observe us. For Paul, it was clear what he wanted portrayed to Jews or Greeks, nothing but Jesus Christ. Can you say the same?

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 21:1-16

December 25, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Read: Acts 21:1-16

 

For those who were disciples and knew Paul they loved him. Remember in your reading last week you saw how emotional a meeting Paul’s farewell was to the Ephesian elders. This sort of intimacy, this sense of family is what being a follower of Christ is all about. As a matter of fact, Jesus said that the world would we were his, by our love for one another (Jn. 13:34). As Paul continues his travels, this time determined to reach Jerusalem to deliver another collection made for the church in Judea. This would be the second gift Paul had brought to the church there, it was a collection made primarily from Gentiles as a gesture of solidarity to their Jewish brothers. I love the portrayal Luke gives us of Paul and the disciples of Tyre gathered on the beach kneeling in prayer together. I have written over and over again that the early church was a praying church, and certainly we would do well to take note of the many references to prayer dispersed throughout the book of Acts. This leads me to ask today, who do you prayer for? When you are with other believers do you spend time in prayer? I don’t think you have to prayer the whole time you are with a group of believers, but think of your relationships to your parents, or other members of the youth group, think what would happen if you loved these people so much that you regularly prayed with them and for them.

 

Because the disciples that knew Paul loved him so, they were fearful of his trip to Jerusalem, they were afraid Paul would be killed. Once Paul and his team arrive in Caesarea, they go to stay with the evangelist Philip (Acts 6, 8), the prophet Agabus comes from Judea to warn Paul of the hardships that awaits him in the Holy city. You have to love Paul’s resolve. He tells the group of worried disciples that he was ready to even die for the name of Jesus. Sometimes, our convictions and calling is so sure that we are determined to carry out whatever plans the Lord has for us, even if no one else goes with us. It is no doubt a hard thing to stand by your convictions in the face of questions and with the lack of support. But, through Paul’s resolve once doubting disciples now turn to trusting friends and commit Paul to sovereign plan of God. I close with v. 14 today, “When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’” This is not resignation from the disciples, when they were finally convinced that Paul knew what he was talking about, they were ready to let God do what He does best. How hard is for you to let go of your life? We wrestle with God daily for the reins don’t we, but we often forget who Reigns.

Categories: Helpful Places

Acts 20:13-38

December 23, 2006 Jason Retherford Leave a comment

Read: Acts 20:13-38

We are shown a little of the heart of Paul here in this last section of text from chapter 20. As Paul felt compelled to travel back to Jerusalem, he wanted to avoid stopping in Ephesus he was able to contact the elders of the church there and they met Paul for one last meeting. It was an emotional meeting, as Paul recounts his time there and then instructs them to care for the church under their care. He reminds them that their leadership of the church was dictated by the Holy Spirit and his words to shepherd the flock are full of his loving concern for the church that he had spent three years helping to nurture.

While Paul addresses the elders of Ephesus I think there are some applicable things here for all of us in church leadership. Paul first tells them to keep watch over themselves and the flock of which the Holy Spirit made them overseers (20:28). People in positions of leadership have to keep a watch over their lives. Our spiritual growth and integrity is vital to leadership. As leaders in any spiritual capacity, Paul also reminds us to keep watch over the flock. I think it is important to note the importance of the Holy Spirit in this process. Number one, he is the one that gives the flock, or in other words, he is the one that calls those into leadership positions. Number two, part of our responsibility as leaders is to watch over those we lead. Paul calls this shepherding, and in the ancient world this metaphor would have impacted his fist hearers in a real and relevant way. See, Shepherds looked after their flock, they protected their flock, they feed their flock, they spent time with their flock, as a matter of fact they spent so much time with them they even began to smell like them, so for Paul to tell leaders to shepherd the flock what he is saying is to know those you lead. In other words, he is calling leaders to be involved in the lives of those you lead. He then issues a warning about the real possibility of attacks from outsiders as well as those from inside the group. This warning to guard the flock from attacks is just as real today, for so much in our world today is hostile to the church and many straying Christians get wounded when they wander off from the safety of the flock. So, we mustn’t think that we are ever okay to venture off on this Christian journey with out the safety of a flock, to do so is a tragic affair, one that Paul wants us as well as those in Ephesus to avoid.