kreilly
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Posts posted by kreilly
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Barnabas was Jewish so he had all of the knowledge of the Scriptures but he was from Cyprus so he was familiar with Gentile culture. Saul was from Tarsus so he, too, was familiar with Gentile culture but was trained in the Hebrew scriptures as a Pharisee. Almost immediately upon his conversion, he was going into the synagogues and proving that Jesus was the Christ. It may have taken Saul/Paul awhile to get started in ministry because he had a reputation as an enemy of Christians to overcome.
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The gospel followed the same route Jesus had said it would-Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. God had to prepare the hearts and minds of the Jews and Gentiles both. He showed both Peter and Cornelius a vision. Both were obedient to follow the Lord's instructions. The Lord demonstrated to the Jews and Gentiles that He accepted the Gentiles by anointing them with the Spirit. This news was sent back to Jerusalem and the Jews were obedient in accepting the Gentiles and filled with joy for them. Change doesn't happen overnight. These things had to happen-hearts, minds, and attitudes had to change before the people would start to truly realize the responsibility of sharing the gospel with everyone
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On 7/16/2021 at 5:46 AM, Katy said:
Q4.People don’t realise the urgency of telling others, we think there is plenty of time, but we don’t know how much time any one of us have.People are very involved with their own lives, work and families. Things that have kept me from being active mostly comes from not feeling confident about know just what to say to someone, how do I put all that God is into a few words and not put people off. I do realize this shows a lack of trust in God. I am afraid of letting Him down! I need to pray for the confidence I lack in this area.
I feel exactly the same way. I am always worried about letting God down by not being able to evangelize effectively, even though I know that He tells us not to worry and that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. Recently, I have been attending a church where the members are more vocal about their faith and witnessing to others. Seeing them has helped me have more confidence to feel more comfortable speaking about my faith more freely. I guess this goes back to the reason for putting disciples together in pairs.
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Sometimes when the New Testament refers to speaking in tongues, it is referring simply to other languages, as in Acts 2 when everyone heard the gospel in their own language. Can anyone clarify for me how to distinguish when the Scriptures are referring to foreign languages and when they are referring to spiritual tongues? Because I don't know the difference it is hard for me to answer the questions posed above.
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When I pray, I commune with God. It is spending time in relationship with Him. He created us to be in relationship with Him, for His good pleasure. So I guess it makes sense that He receives pleasure from our prayers. It is easy to see the reverse-we don't want to displease Him by ignoring Him and not praying to HIm.
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On 11/7/2021 at 10:42 AM, Debee said:
He was seeking God! God says; you will find me when you seek me with all your heart!
Amen! That's exactly what I was going to say.
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On 7/6/2021 at 10:10 AM, t-c said:
- What's wrong with the man wanting to say good-bye to his family first? (9:61)
Every time I have read this verse it makes me think of 1 Kings 19:19-21. Its a beautiful passage in which Elisha is called into service as Elijah's apprentice while he is actually plowing a field. Elijah throws his mantle over Elisha's shoulder, thus calling him to service and Elisha says, "Please let me kiss my Father and Mother, then I will follow you." Elijah says, "Go back again, for what have I done to you." Elisha' then sacrificed a pair of oxen using the the plow broken up (wood) to cook the sacrifice. Gave it to the people and they ate. He then arose and began to follow Elijah.
A few things really stand out in this passage as I think of Luke 9:61-62. First being that Elijah chose Elisha, calling him to service. Not like in Luke 9:61, where a man wants to follow Jesus, but the man hasn't yet considered the price of being a disciple of Christ. The second being that as Elisha is sacrificing the oxen to God, he uses the broken up plow to cook the sacrifice. I believe that this is symbolic to him saying, my life on the farm with my family is over and I will never return to it. I am through plowing. I am all in with Elijah as his disciple, knowing that later on he maybe be called to take his place as a Prophet of Israel.
Elijah calls Elisha and gives him an opportunity to say goodbye to his family, knowing his character and devotion to God. That he is God's man for the job. This man in Luke 9:61 liked the idea of following Jesus, but hadn't considered the cost of discipleship: Luke 14:25-33
An interesting side note is, that Elisha performed more recorded miracles than anyone other then Jesus Christ.
Thank you for sharing your insight. I never would have put those two passages together, but it makes so much sense the way you explain it. Great mini-lesson!
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What does it mean to live your life as a sojourner? Why is a sojourner mentality required for disciples?
A sojourner is a traveler. In the same way, we are travelers in this world. We do not seek to make a comfortable home in this world because this world is not our home. We seek to bring glory to our Master. If we are focused on making a comfortable life in this world and seeking worldly achievements, we will not be about our master's business. To be a good disciple, we have to be single-minded with an undivided heart.
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After Aeneas and Dorcas' healings, many people came to faith because they recognized the truth and power of Christ through these miracles. It never occurred to me that I might have the gift of healing. I pray for people to be healed, but have never laid hands on a person and asked for a miraculous healing. I guess I have always been afraid I might weaken people's faith if God doesn't answer the prayer for healing. They may doubt God. I don't think I have the faith to heal others.
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On 11/3/2021 at 2:52 PM, Krissi said:
YES!! Debate!!
Debate has advantages other than bringing people to Christ. For one, debating non-believers hones your faith. It makes you stronger. Quicker on the uptake. Secondly, thinking aloud through issues that are contentious, even in the body of Christ, only makes the body of Christ stronger. It is my wee opinion that there's not enough of debate in the church today, that we're too timid and unwilling to correct or be corrected.
Am I prepared? I'll never be prepared enough, but yea, I'm prepared, so repeatedly God has put me in circumstances in which I'm the only Christian. Some Christians are called to serve within the body -- others stand on the threshold between Christianity and secularism, as emissaries more than missionaries. I need to do more.
Amen and amen! I can't think of anything to add. Krissi you hit the nail on the head!
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God used Ananias to heal Saul and baptize him into the faith. Acts 9:19 says that Paul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. I assume that Ananias introduced Paul to the other disciples in the area. Church is a community, not a one-man show. Paul needed a new family now that he would no longer belong to the traditional Jewish faith. Listening and obedience are very important. That was why God was so unhappy with the Israelites. He wanted obedience more than sacrifice, even when you don't understand. Most likely we won't understand because God's ways are not our ways and we cannot fathom His wisdom, so it is important just to be obedient and faithful. I don't feel prepared at all to minister to a high-profile person or anyone really. I just pray that the Spirit will speak through me as promised and that I won't mess things up by inserting my own thoughts/ideas.
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The church is Christ's body. When the church (Christ's body) is persecuted, it is as though Jesus himself is persecuted. When the church is cared for, it is as if Jesus himself is cared for. They are one and the same. The church is Christ's body on earth with His Spirit living in us. Therefore, we must remember to love the church as Christ does.
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God definitely speaks to us through His Spirit. That is a big part of the reason for Jesus' coming. He came not only to redeem us through His death on the cross, but also to equip us through the sending of the Spirit. It is how He is able to write His law on our hearts and minds. If we can't receive a message from the Spirit, are we spiritually dead? We have to set our fleshly desires aside and listen to discern what the Spirit is telling us to do or not to do. It is a difficult but important discipline in the life of a Christian.
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I think the root of Simon's sin is the desire for self-glorification. Simon is not worshiping idols, he wants to be idolized. He wants others to worship him. He is competing with God for worshipers. Glorifying anything other than God is wrong and is the opposite of God's way. In the modern church, sometimes leaders will seek their own glory under the guise of preaching the gospel. Also, anytime we set aside what God commands in order to do what we have decided is right or correct instead, we have put ourselves in His place. We need to humble ourselves, follow Him and worship Him, not try to get others to follow/worship us.
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On 10/25/2021 at 12:40 PM, Krissi said:
What was the short-term effect of Saul’s persecution? What was the longer-term effect?
The short-term effect of persecution was the suffering, persecution, torture and murder of First Century Christians. The long-term effect was the diaspora as well as the conversion of Paul who became the greatest of disciples.
I am troubled by the people who suffered or died while caught up in God's desire to witness to the ends of the earth. It's easy for me to look at the wonderful results and see God's hand in them, but if I were Stephen or any of the unnamed, unremarked individuals who were martyred, I'm not sure I'd be proclaiming God as love. It seems to me that individuals are often "sacrificed" to the flow of divine history. Generations of Jews BORN in captivity, for example, were not culpable or responsible for the sins of their fathers, yet they suffered the consequences of those sins. In the case of the persecution of the early church, the Christians who were murdered were not the worst of the lot, deserving of a death worse than their peers.
To be honest, the brutality endured by the early Christians makes me question not so much God's goodness, but his concern for the individual believer. I know I shouldn't write this, but this is my true worry.
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Given this, I'm not sure why I should give thanks in all circumstances. If I were a Hebrew slave, born into captivity, would I give thanks FOR the circumstances in which I suffer? Exactly what am I supposed to thank God for, if a brutalized slave? If God can save some, He can save all, and from my perspective, as a slave, I've been passed over by God. God did not save me out of my circumstances, in other words. I understand the distinction between NOT praising God for evil, but in spite of circumstances, but I question why God would permit those circumstances in the first place.
I happen to be in dire, horrible circumstances right now. I am not at all sure why God has me here. I pray hourly to be "released." Can I praise Him through my suffering? Yes, but it's a muted praise, one of despair and defeat, not joy and optimism. I may be the 21st century equivalent of one of those slaves that never get sprung, or one of the First Century believers who were stoned to death.
Frankly, this is not comforting. God MAY take stumbling blocks and turn them into stepping stones ... or He may not. It's His choice. But for us, here, wondering if we'll be the ones who get to step, it's a horrible feeling to know that God may look the other way.
For Stephen, the blocks of stones were not those from which he could walk away.
He simply died in a brutal and painful manner. Stones crushed him. Yes, God's will in human history was preserved, but at the cost of the death this godly man.
Krissi, I sure do appreciate your level of honesty. You don't try to give the "right" answer, you honestly share your heart and struggles, which can help all of us grow deeper in our faith as we wrestle with these questions. I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through horrible circumstances right now. I am adding you to my prayer list. I would like to encourage you to keep your eye on the prize. Jesus never promised a pain free life. He didn't live one and in fact, promised that we would suffer as He did. Sin entered this world at The Fall and the devil continues to tempt, harass, and attack us daily. We are in a spiritual battle. Deliverance does not necessarily occur this side of heaven. We have a hope that is not of this world. We know He loves us, not because He rescues us from the evil we encounter daily, but because He sacrificed His Son so that we could partake in this hope and perfect future with Him.
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In every sense, Jesus is the one and only Righteous One. He is perfect and no sin is in Him. When we want to justify our sin by comparing ourselves to others who we think sin worse than us, we have to remember to compare ourselves to Jesus, the ultimate standard of righteousness, instead. He is able to advocate for us because He understands the struggles we go through and carried our sin to the cross. He took our sin upon Him and exchanged His righteousness for our sin. Thank you, Jesus!
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I definitely struggle with stubborness, hard-heartedness, and resistance. I always want to do things my own way and for God to go along with it and make it all good. This makes my life hard. I am trying to learn to better listen to and yield to the Holy Spirit. It does not come naturally for me.
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Stephen was a man of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom. We know this because it says that he was a man full of God's grace and power and did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. This earned him a good reputation among the faithful, but a bad reputation among God's enemies. These men argued with Stephen but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. When Luke describes Stephen, he uses the same words to describe Stephen that are the criteria for a deacon-male, reputable, full of the Holy Spirit, and wise.
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It seems to me the root problem is disunity. The believers are seeing themselves first as Greek or Hebrew, and secondly as Christians. The apostles, realizing they are spread too thin to do a good job with the food distribution, wisely delegate this job to men of good standing. They also allow the community to be part of the selection process so in order to promote unity. I think leaders sometimes avoid dealing with problems because problems are not being brought to them directly but complaints are shared among the congregants behind the leaders backs. This makes it difficult to attack problems head on. It is better to be honest and take your problems to the leadership rather than gossiping behind their backs.
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On 10/14/2021 at 10:56 AM, Krissi said:
The church will prevail, however. We more witness, sometimes boldly, just as in the First Century. As persecution intensifies, the gospel will be spread more, not less.
Krissi, I completely agree that persecution is increasing. I also agree that as persecution increases, spreading of the gospel will increase, as well. People who call themselves Christians (self included) will have to get off the fence and decide if they are willing to follow Christ through real suffering. When we do that, we have a powerful witness, that is why God allows us to suffer. That kind of witness strengthens other believers to be more bold and witnesses to unbelievers that our faith is real and true and not just something we talk about.
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On 6/18/2021 at 5:58 AM, Katy said:
Q3. I think in general my response to rebuke has been to feel defensive and I have tried to explain why I did or did not do something. I have often felt hurt and felt the rebuke unjustified. However I have learnt over the years that I am not as perfect or good as I at times seem to think I am! I now go to God and ask His help to show me what I need to learn from the rebuke and what action, if any I need to take. I do make sure that a rebuke or criticism does not interfere with my relationship with the person who rebuked me. Sometimes this may be hard , if I feel the rebuke unwarranted but I remind myself that others don’t necessarily see my deeds or actions or words as I may see them. My Lord always helps in these situations!
I also tend to respond defensively, Katy. I think it is the natural reaction of the flesh to tell us we are right and not wrong. So true that we need to take a step back, humble ourselves, and ask God to show us any truth in the rebuke. Then, yes, we need to repent when we are guilty. God is good--He does always help these situations!
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On 6/2/2021 at 2:22 AM, Irmela said:
2. We can't be other-worldly and still be able to communicate to our generation. How can we be "with" them but not "of" them? How can we both identify with our generation and still live differently?
When we work in and among the community, we experience the same hardships, privileges, poverty, lack etc., which they do. In this way we are with them. The difference comes in how we react to the circumstances. That is where we are not of them. We do not need to live like they do. We can still be joyful but don't need alcohol to be the center of party.
Well said, Irmela!
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Who are we naturally inclined to share our possessions with? Our family. The hallmark of the early Christians is that they were truly a family. Jesus referred to this when He said His followers were His mother, brother, sisters...When you give up everything to follow Jesus, you gain a new family of believers in addition to salvation. Modern day Christians in the persecuted church are forced to leave everything behind when they decide to follow Christ and be grafted into a new family-the church. However, the modern church in the Western hemisphere falls short of this in that we are accustomed to simply meeting on Sunday or maybe a bit more often for Bible study and other activities, but generally leading separate lives from the other brethren. Also, since we aren't forced to leave everything behind when we decide to follow Christ, we often stay stuck in a tug-of-war between the world and Christ, which keeps us stuck in an immature state. I know I struggle with this.
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The disciples needed boldness because the Sanhedrin was trying to shut them up. They knew that when they are in need, they are to ask, in Jesus name, for God to provide and it will be provided. This demonstrates their faith in God's provision and Jesus' salvation. Their character has been developed by their faith.
Q3. Charity
in 9. Revival in Antioch, Persecution in Jerusalem (Acts 11:19-12:25)
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Jesus taught that the money given to us is not ours, but God's, to be used for His glory. We are simply His stewards and must act accordingly. In this case, the money was needed for the believers in Judea and the believers in Antioch were obedient to send it there, to God's glory. When ministry to the poor and needy becomes an end in itself, without having God's glory at the center, it loses its purpose. When we horde up money, we are disobedient, thereby detracting from God's glory.