Life Project Blog

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

Way back in the first chapter, the theme of this book is found in the words of Jesus. So far, we have seen that this is exactly what took place, for Acts 1-7 contains the story of the church in Jerusalem, chapters 8-12 tells the story of the Gospel’s spread into the surrounding areas of Judea and Samaria, all the while giving us indications of how God’s plan was unfolding. We have looked at each of the steps involved in this process as we have journeyed on our way to this point and thus I must point out to you now that just as the Gospel was not only intended for the city of Jerusalem, it was also not intended just for its environs; it was not only for the Jews but it was also intended for the Gentiles, representative of all peoples everywhere on the globe.

With chapter 13, there is a major shift in the book of Acts, for the rest of the story is the story of the Gospel moving out of the Jewish homeland and into the far corners of the earth. Yes, it is found in Acts 13 through 28, but let’s be clear that it is a story that continues to this day, and you and I are living a part in that continuing tale.

The story begins as Saul and Barnabas are sent out from Antioch, along with our young friend John Mark. In this chapter we find a pattern that they will usually follow as they move from place to place in that they will almost always begin their preaching to the Jewish people in the synagogue, and then take the message to the general population, mirroring the theme Jesus set forth in 1:8.

We should also take notice that this, the first of three “missionary journeys” undertaken by Paul, wasn’t quite like what we might think of on a “missionary” trip today. There was no fixed agenda, no timeline or schedule that we would recognize. Rather they set out and stopped in the towns and cities they came across, stopping to share their message. They had no idea which ones would be more or less receptive. They had no hotel reservations, no maps or gps devices, and for the most part, they were at the mercy of the hospitality of strangers for shelter and sustenance, which is to say they were completely dependent on God. There were places they remained only a short time, and as the story unfolds, there are other places in which they might remain for a very long time. One thing is sure: When they left Antioch, no one knew whether or not they would ever return.

We will begin this far flung advent tomorrow morning, see you then!

Acts 12:1-19

Luke shifts scenes, this time we see Herod and his nefarious doings. He arrested some of the believers in Jerusalem to persecute them, and in the process James was murdered. With this act, Herod noticed his approval rating soaring amongst influential Jews, so he decided to kill Peter too; he was arrested and thrown into prison until Passover was over with, then he would face a show trial on trumped up charges and be killed, to the delight of the crowds.

It would seem that old Herod hadn’t cleared his devilish little plan with God, who had other ideas…

Luke goes to great pains to establish that Peter was very well guarded in the prison, since Herod was taking no chances, but in spite of that, Peter would escape. While Peter was sleeping soundly, chained up between two guards, an angel woke him up, told him to get dressed, and then they walked right past the guards and out of prison, and all the while, Peter thought he was dreaming. After a block or so, the angel left him and Peter realized this was no dream; he had been sprung from the big house.

He went to the home of Mary and her son Mark, yes, that Mark. He knocks at the door and a servant girl answers, recognizes Peter, and is so overjoyed that she forgets to let him in! I don’t know about you, but I think this is hilarious… Those inside the house who were praying fervently for Peter didn’t believe the girl, and Peter is still outside banging on the door until someone finally lets him in: Amazing, not to mention comical, but then how often do we expect the miracle we are praying for?

When Peter finally gets into the house, the people are so excited he has to tell them to be quiet so he can tell them what happened, and when he finishes, he asks them to get word to the others, and departs for an undisclosed location.

The next morning, those poor guards must face the wrath of Herod who is pretty much looking like a fool; he has them all killed.

For me, this story brings into sharp focus something that we sometimes forget in the day-to-day of this life, and that is that God and the gospel, are on the offensive in the spiritual battle we live in; not the other way around. Thus, Satan and his minions are playing defense, and despite all appearances, their position is desperate and hopeless; they are trying to hang on. Does anybody really think that Satan can go toe-to-toe with God and have any chance of success?

Well… he can’t.

His tactics are indirect, playing our weakness and frailty against us, but understanding this, we can take heart, for when we are weak, God is strong. From our point of view, and that of the people in Mary’s house that night, Peter’s jail break was an astonishing and almost unbelievable miracle, but from God’s point of view, it was just another day at the office− no biggie. After all, Peter still had work to do, so let’s get on with it.

Isn’t this a cool story?

In the last post I wrote on the book of Acts, I got into a bit of theology, but it might have been theology that didn’t seem like theology, so I thought I might say a few words on the subject now.

I often read and hear Christians say that they don’t like theology or that they don’t want to hear about it or study it; they just want to hear about… (fill in the rest). I also hear others who say they love theology and doctrine, and they want to hear more about doctrine…

I’m reaching for my old professor of theology hat for a minute, because I’m afraid that neither of these points of view really reflects an understanding of what “theology” actually is. Most Christians seem to think theology is “teaching”, but teaching, in this case Biblical teaching, is actually “doctrine” not theology; theology and doctrine (which simply means “teaching”) are not the same thing.

Does that surprise you?

Strictly speaking, theology is the study of God, not the study of doctrine; doctrine is only the first phase of theology. Classically speaking, the pursuit of the academic discipline of theology meant the student identified and learned everything Scripture teaches about everything, arranging this information in a logical and systematic way (called a “systematic theology”) and then, in light of systematic theology, studying all other academic disciplines to discover and understand how God works in every area of investigation, and to this end such institutions of higher learning as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Princeton were established. As a result of this, theology was once considered the highest of all academic undertakings, not simply because it involved the things of God, but because it involved learning all of the sciences, rather than just one of them.

In the last post (Antioch) I mentioned stepping back and rather than getting caught up in the small details, seeing the big picture of what God was doing in those days, and then studying the secular history of the next 2,000 years and finding the Acts patterns repeating over and over, and then looking at current events and being able to discern what is really going on… that was basic classical (or “applied”) theology. It may be many things, but it is not boring, dusty or silly.

The problem today however, is that most of us never get beyond systematic theology, in fact most universities that teach theology only have systematic theology, as though systematics were the end game; but the end game isn’t doctrine, it’s understanding God’s workings in the world around us… and in our lives.

Some might still be confused: “Isn’t theology studying the Bible?”

The answer to that question is “Yes and no.” It is yes because there is a great deal of Bible study involved in learning what He has revealed to us in Scripture. It is no in that learning what He has reveled to us in Scripture is the point at which we then study other subjects. In many Bible Colleges, “Bible” is its own course of study, apart from theology.

“Don, why should I care about any of this?”

Now that’s the best question of all!

Because if all you want to do is learn doctrine, you’ll make a great teacher of the law, if all you want is to learn about one particular subject, say… Jesus, or love, or church for example, then you will be a walking book of knowledge on one thing. But if you want a real and vibrant relationship with the Lord, a relationship that is at the core of your being, and that is in alignment with God’s will and purpose for your life, it would behoove you to have a better understanding of theology so you can better discern what He is doing in and through your life.

That’s this reporter’s view, anyway.

Acts 11:19-30

Once again in these verses, we see the result of the persecution that forced so many believers to flee Jerusalem; they were dispersed a long way, and they took the gospel with them. Naturally, those who fled Jerusalem only shared the gospel with other Jews, since they all knew how filthy Gentiles were, but here we begin to see an interesting thing happen, for when they shared Christ with Jews in faraway places, such as Cyprus, they brought men into the faith who did not share their cultural and social disgust for Gentiles, and these new believers shared Jesus with Gentiles and thought nothing about it (11:20-21). These new Christians had grown up in Gentile lands; they had been accustomed to mixing with Gentiles, unlike their brethren back in Judea…

That’s how the city of Antioch comes into the story; these men took the gospel to Antioch. A modern day reader may not see why this is so important at first because Antioch which was in Syria in the first century is actually located in modern day Turkey. Tourists visit there today to see, among other things, the ruins of the ancient city. Yet in the first century it was one of the principle cities of the Roman Empire, the third largest, boasting a population of about 500,000. Because of its strategic location, it was the bridge between the Western and Eastern parts of the Empire; only Rome and Alexandria were bigger. It was a very cosmopolitan city, a crossroads, the key to all travel between Jerusalem and Rome. Thus, a strong church in Antioch was critical if the gospel was to spread to the West from Judea in that age, since the ships of the day could not cross the sea directly, because they had to stay much closer to shore or they couldn’t navigate.

Yep, Antioch was the key point on the map; the most strategic location of all for God’s eternal plan to move forward.

When I talk to people, they often express some frustration because they have a hard time discerning how God operates in the world today, in their lives today. This may sound odd to you, but most often I find that these good folks don’t much care for history, and in fact, most people today haven’t ever really studied history; it’s too boring, too dusty and of course completely irrelevant. The problem with this kind of thinking is this: With an understanding of God’s movements in Scriptural history, like our text here, His movements in the history of the past 2,000 years particularly as it relates to redemption and spiritual warfare, are fairly easy to see; they almost jump off of those dusty old pages and hit you in the face. Once you see enough of those, there is a pattern that develops, and that pattern begins to jump off the pages of the newspaper, and His workings today are discernible.

Notice I did not suggest that the newspaper or current events help us to discern the meaning of Scripture, but Scripture and history can help us understand the newspaper; this is very important to keep straight.

My point is simply this: If we look carefully at Acts, if we don’t allow ourselves to get caught up in small details, if we resist the temptation to be looking for little proof texts to support our favorite doctrinal hobby horses, we will actually begin to see the great chessboard, where God makes His moves and where the Deceiver makes his counter-moves, as God’s great eternal plans sweep across the known world and into our everyday lives.

Make no mistake; there really is nothing new under the sun.

So, the gospel moves into Antioch and many come to believe as Barnabas comes into the city from Jerusalem. The Gentiles there are quite receptive, and Barnabas has this brilliant idea…

“I wonder what old Saul is up to over in Tarsus.” Tarsus isn’t far from Antioch, and Barnabas decides to visit him, and persuades him to go to Antioch with him where they work together for a full year to build the church there, and with that, Saul, who had been called by Jesus Himself to be the Apostle to the Gentiles comes out of seclusion and into the forefront of building the church, largely made up of Gentiles, in the city that was the key to the spread of the gospel into the West.

What do you think, dear reader; had God planned it this way, or was it mere happenstance?

By the way − I might have forgotten to mention that secular historians often call Antioch “the cradle of Christianity”.

Acts 11:1-18

Having grown up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, I learned firsthand of the old Jewish attitudes about associating with Gentiles. Most of my friends were Jewish; they didn’t see any problem with us, and for most part, their parents were fine with us, but the grandparents were a different story. From time-to-time, I would be invited into their homes for a meal, and when a grandparent was present, the experience could be a bit awkward. My friends used quite a few Yiddish expressions, as their parents did, and as time went by, I picked up quite a bit and by the time I was learning to drive a car, I spoke Yiddish as well as some of my friends did; I learned that this would get the attention of a grandparent who didn’t think a goy should be at the dinner table.

I would simply speak to them in (imperfect) Yiddish, and they would invariably decide that I was OK for a Gentile, and I became an “honorary Jew” in several families.

When the believers back in Jerusalem heard about Peter’s visit to Cornelius, they wanted an explanation: How could he even consider sitting down with goyim (not so nice term for Gentiles i.e. ‘dogs’)?

Peter gave his answer in 11:4-11, telling them about the vision God had given, about how they were not to call anything unclean that God has made clean. Then, he recounts his visit to Cornelius:

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” (11:15-17)

What could they say to that?

When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (11:18)

Luke doesn’t actually say so, and I could be wrong, but I think I detect a little bit of astonishment in their reaction, for it is clear enough that not even Peter had previously considered that Jesus had saved all Mankind on the cross, that He had intended the Good News to be for all people, if “all people” included Gentiles. Yet to his enduring credit, when the time came for God to make this clear, Peter didn’t hesitate to accept God’s plans.

And so, the Jewish believers of Jerusalem accepted the Gentiles… well, sort of. This issue would remain controversial throughout the first century, and even into future centuries, and would become manifest in a variety of rather unattractive ways on both sides of the divide.

Acts 10:23-48

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”

Peter and some other believers left the morning after the vision, along with the messenger sent to him, for a visit to Cornelius. When they arrived, Cornelius had made arrangements for a big meal; all of his relatives had been invited, and Cornelius asked Peter to share everything with them that God had given to Peter to share.

Peter acknowledged that it was improper for a Jew to associate with Gentiles, and how God had sent him a vision to show him that He had declared them to be considered unclean no more, after which Peter began to tell them all about Jesus (10:36-43).

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. (10:44)

The significance of this sentence would be almost impossible to over-emphasize, for now, just as the Holy Spirit had come upon the apostles at Pentecost, He had come upon Gentiles for the very first time, for truly the Kingdom of heaven had come to Cornelius’ house. The Jewish believers who had made the trip with Peter were “astonished” for they actually heard the Gentiles speaking in tongues, just as the apostles had done, and to the Jewish mindset, this was unthinkable. Peter spoke to his cohorts:

“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” (10:47)

All of those Gentiles were baptized; oh yes dear reader, this was the dawn of a whole new age.

Yet when Peter returned to Jerusalem, he would have some explaining to do.

Acts 9:32-43

In the beginning, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached in Jerusalem, and as it was preached thousands came to believe the Gospel and followed the Way. Yet, this was not to be a local thing, and God forced the message out of the city and into the surrounding region by means of persecution, and many more came to hear and believe the message of salvation in Christ. When the right time came, Jesus personally met the instigator of this persecution, Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus, where Saul intended to continue his persecution. As a result of this meeting, Saul believed, and turned to Christ, ending the persecution. This section gives us two very vivid examples of what was going on in the region where the Gospel was preached, examples that remind us of what happened when Jesus Himself took His message of the Kingdom of heaven to the people.

The first of these examples falls within Acts 9:32-38 and involves a man named Aeneas who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Peter found him and healed him by the authority of Jesus Christ, with the result that many more came to believe his message.

The second involved a woman named Tabitha who lived in a nearby community (9:39-43). She was widely known as a good and godly woman who served the needs of others in a way that endeared her to her community; sadly, she had fallen sick and died. Having heard that Peter was in the vicinity, messengers were dispatched to ask him to come at once, which he did.  Upon his arrival, Peter found Tabitha laid out in a room full of mourners who told him about all the generous and kind things she had done in their midst.

Peter asked that the room be cleared and began to pray over Tabitha; she awoke, and Peter led her, very much alive, out to greet the others. Needless to say, the news of this was electric throughout the town…

During the ministry of Jesus, He took the message of the Kingdom to the common people, and wherever He went, the Kingdom was preached, the sick made well, the lame were healed, sight was restored to the blind, and impure spirits were driven out. Jesus was the very embodiment of the Kingdom, and He prepared His disciples to take His place when their time came, and in our story, their time had indeed come; now, they were the embodiments of the Kingdom, and where they went, the results were the same as when Jesus had gone before them.

Yet as amazing as this was, God was only just in the beginning phases of executing His eternal plans, and as we will soon see, a whole new chapter was about to begin…