unknown

While Paul waited for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to find that the city was flooded with idols. He began to interact with the Jews and Gentile God-worshippers in the synagogue. He also addressed whoever happened to be in the marketplace each day. Certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged him in discussion too. Some said, “What an amateur! What’s he trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” (They said this because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) They took him into custody and brought him to the council on Mars Hill. “What is this new teaching? Can we learn what you are talking about? You’ve told us some strange things and we want to know what they mean.” (They said this because all Athenians as well as the foreigners who live in Athens used to spend their time doing nothing but talking about or listening to the newest thing.) Paul stood up in the middle of the council on Mars Hill and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. As I was walking through town and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown God.’ What you worship as unknown, I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples made with human hands. Nor is God served by human hands, as though he needed something, since he is the one who gives life, breath, and everything else. From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn’t far away from any of us. In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore, as God’s offspring, we have no need to imagine that the divine being is like a gold, silver, or stone image made by human skill and thought. God overlooks ignorance of these things in times past, but now directs everyone everywhere to change their hearts and lives. This is because God has set a day when he intends to judge the world justly by a man he has appointed. God has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:16-31, CEB)

To an unknown God…

There are many around us who claim God is not real or doesn’t exist. That everything fell into place by the big bang or chance. And the way those who believe in God act I can see why people don’t want to see God.

But as Paul says to the people of Athens, God is not unknown or unknowable. God created everything and put into motion the things that made this world and all that is in it. in spite of the followers of God that do not understand science and how things are and default to a book written to tell a story of our creation to a people that did not know what we know. And now must say that that is fact or else everything else in the book can be questioned too. My thought is, let it be questioned. God is big enough for that, and God is bigger than that. A story written for people that have no concept of what we known now should not be stated as fact.

My internship supervisor taught me, that science tells us how the world was created and the Bible tells us who created. They are not at odds with each other. One says who, and one says how.

I believe in God as the creator of everything because there is no way all of this happened by chance. There are too many intricate details that make it to be far beyond chance for me.

So I love the ones who disagree, as God taught me.

Love. It covers the differences.

Loving People. Loving God.

oneness

The Son is the image of the invisible God,
        the one who is first over all creation,
Because all things were created by him:
        both in the heavens and on the earth,
        the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
            Whether they are thrones or powers,
            or rulers or authorities,
        all things were created through him and for him.
He existed before all things,
        and all things are held together in him.
He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
        the one who is firstborn from among the dead
        so that he might occupy the first place in everything.
Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
        and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
        whether things on earth or in the heavens.
            He brought peace through the blood of his cross.

Once you were alienated from God and you were enemies with him in your minds, which was shown by your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death, to present you before God as a people who are holy, faultless, and without blame. But you need to remain well established and rooted in faith and not shift away from the hope given in the good news that you heard. This message has been preached throughout all creation under heaven. And I, Paul, became a servant of this good news. (Colossians 1:15-23, CEB)

Jesus is God.

Jesus was before time.

Jesus was a part of creation.

Jesus made a way for us to have a relationship with God.

Jesus taught us how to live and love beyond boundaries set by religion.

Jesus made us one with God.

Share that oneness with the world.

Loving People. Loving God.

See what?

“To what will I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace calling out to each other, ‘We played the flute for you and you didn’t dance. We sang a funeral song and you didn’t cry.’ John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ Yet the Human One came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved to be right by all her descendants.” (Luke 7:31-35, CEB)

People are quick to follow after someone who tells them what they already want to believe, or have always believed. We are not quick to change our understanding. As a people we hold to what we know or have learned and when we are told something different we will not understand it or fight to not have it be true.

John had a demon because he was different. Jesus was a glutton and a drunk because he associated with people the power people stayed away from.

Love shows us a different way. Do not be conformed to this world, but transform yourselves by renewing your minds and following after God. Paul wrote that wise line in Romans. Do not conform, be transformed by God and show love in everything you do.

Loving People. Loving God.

always with us

The next morning some Jewish leaders formulated a plot and solemnly promised that they wouldn’t eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty people were involved in the conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have solemnly promised to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. You and the council must explain to the commander that you need Paul brought down to you. Pretend that you want to examine his case more closely. We’re prepared to kill him before he arrives.” Paul’s sister had a son who heard about the ambush and he came to the military headquarters and reported it to Paul. Paul called for one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander because he has something to report to him.” He took him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” The commander took him by the hand and withdrew to a place where they could speak privately. He asked, “What do you have to report to me?” He replied, “The Jewish leaders have conspired to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow. They will pretend that they want to investigate his case more closely. Don’t fall for it! More than forty of them are waiting to ambush him. They have solemnly promised not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, awaiting your consent.” The commander dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Don’t tell anyone that you brought this to my attention.” The commander called two centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Have horses ready for Paul to ride, so they may take him safely to Governor Felix.” He wrote the following letter: Claudius Lysias, to the most honorable Governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was almost killed by them. I was nearby with a unit of soldiers, and I rescued him when I discovered that he was a Roman citizen. I wanted to find out why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their council. I discovered that they were accusing him about questions related to their Law. I found no charge deserving of death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a conspiracy against his life, I sent him to you at once and ordered his accusers to bring their case against him before you. Following their orders, the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris. The following day they let the horsemen continue on with Paul while they returned to the military headquarters in Jerusalem. The horsemen entered Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and brought Paul before him. After he read the letter, he asked Paul about his home province. When he learned that he was from Cilicia, the governor said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept in custody in Herod’s palace. (Acts 23:12-35, CEB)

People plotted against Paul, but God was with him.

They arranged a way to kill Paul, yet the plan was thwarted and Paul was able to live.

God works in and through circumstances and is always with us so we can be bearers of God’s love.

Know you are never alone and God is always with you.

Loving People. Loving God.

Mob mentality

When the seven days of purification were almost over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple. Grabbing him, they threw the whole crowd into confusion by shouting, “Fellow Israelites! Help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, the Law, and this place. Not only that, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” (They said this because they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him earlier, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the temple.) The entire city was stirred up. The people came rushing, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the gates were closed. While they were trying to kill him, a report reached the commander of a company of soldiers that all Jerusalem was in a state of confusion. Without a moment’s hesitation, he took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the mob. When the mob saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. When the commander arrived, he arrested Paul and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Only then did he begin to ask who Paul was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others shouted something else. Because of the commotion, he couldn’t learn the truth, so he ordered that Paul be taken to the military headquarters. When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers in order to protect him from the violence of the crowd. The mob that followed kept screaming, “Away with him!” As Paul was about to be taken into the military headquarters, he asked the commander, “May I speak with you?” He answered, “Do you know Greek? Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists into the desert some time ago?” Paul replied, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please, let me speak to the people.” (Acts 21:27-39, CEB)

This crowd was doing what they wanted regardless of whether it was right or not until the law showed up.

Crowd mentality is what makes the crowd scream Hosanna to Jesus on Sunday and Crucify him on Thursday.

When we get in the crowd and follow what they are doing sometimes we will get drawn into a place we do not want to be doing things we do not want to do.

Even the Roman soldiers arrested Paul before they knew who he was or what he had done. The mentality of the crowd clouded their jobs.

Keep a clear head and follow Jesus, not the crowd.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

follow who?

Herod the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had become well-known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and this is why miraculous powers are at work through him.” Others were saying, “He is Elijah.” Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the ancient prophets.” But when Herod heard these rumors, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised to life.” He said this because Herod himself had arranged to have John arrested and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. Herod had married her, but John told Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry your brother’s wife!” So Herodias had it in for John. She wanted to kill him, but she couldn’t. This was because Herod respected John. He regarded him as a righteous and holy person, so he protected him. John’s words greatly confused Herod, yet he enjoyed listening to him. Finally, the time was right. It was on one of Herod’s birthdays, when he had prepared a feast for his high-ranking officials and military officers and Galilee’s leading residents. Herod’s daughter Herodias came in and danced, thrilling Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the young woman, “Ask me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” Then he swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will give to you, even as much as half of my kingdom.” She left the banquet hall and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” “John the Baptist’s head,” Herodias replied. Hurrying back to the ruler, she made her request: “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a plate, right this minute.” Although the king was upset, because of his solemn pledge and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her. So he ordered a guard to bring John’s head. The guard went to the prison, cut off John’s head, brought his head on a plate, and gave it to the young woman, and she gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came and took his dead body and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:14-29, CEB)

Herodias had it in for John because he was saying you can’t marry your brother’s wife. Which really why would you want to marry your brother’s wife? But Herodias didn’t like John and so when an opportunity came she got John killed.

Why? Because Herod listened to what his wife wanted rather than what he knew he should do.

When we follow society or the crowd, we sometimes miss the mark.

Stay true to yourself and where God is leading you. Do not conform to this world and follow out of pressure.

Follow where God is leading even when others don’t understand.

Loving People. Loving God.

We have never done it that way before…

When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a boy. Her neighbors and relatives celebrated with her because they had heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy. On the eighth day, it came time to circumcise the child. They wanted to name him Zechariah because that was his father’s name. But his mother replied, “No, his name will be John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives have that name.” Then they began gesturing to his father to see what he wanted to call him. After asking for a tablet, he surprised everyone by writing, “His name is John.” At that moment, Zechariah was able to speak again, and he began praising God. All their neighbors were filled with awe, and everyone throughout the Judean highlands talked about what had happened. All who heard about this considered it carefully. They said, “What then will this child be?” Indeed, the Lord’s power was with him. John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,

“Bless the Lord God of Israel
    because he has come to help and has delivered his people.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
    just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.
He has brought salvation from our enemies
    and from the power of all those who hate us.
He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
    and remembered his holy covenant,
        the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted that we would be rescued
        from the power of our enemies
    so that we could serve him without fear,
        in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
            for as long as we live.
You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people how to be saved
    through the forgiveness of their sins.
Because of our God’s deep compassion,
    the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
    to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
        to guide us on the path of peace.”

The child grew up, becoming strong in character. He was in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel. (Luke 1:57-80, CEB)

Things I hated hearing as a leader in a congregation:

People are saying… (we never really know who these people are and usually it is the person speaking to you that doesn’t have the fortitude to say I don’t like this…)

We have never done it that way before…

Here we see that John was not a family name and nobody understood why they would not name him Zechariah after his dad and keep a family name.

Sometimes we need to step outside the comfort and do what we are called to do.

God is always with us. Even when we can’t see or feel God, we are never alone.

Know you are loved and do not let others keep you from going where God is leading you to go.

Loving People. Loving God.

open a door

Keep on praying and guard your prayers with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray for us also. Pray that God would open a door for the word so we can preach the secret plan of Christ—which is why I’m in chains. Pray that I might be able to make it as clear as I ought to when I preach. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Your speech should always be gracious and sprinkled with insight so that you may know how to respond to every person. Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave in the Lord, will inform you about everything that has happened to me. This is why I sent him to you, so that you’ll know all about us and so he can encourage your hearts. I sent him with Onesimus, our faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will let you know about everything here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, says hello to you. So does Mark, Barnabas’ cousin (you received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him). Jesus, called Justus, also says hello. These are my only fellow workers for God’s kingdom who are Jewish converts. They have been an encouragement to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, says hello. He’s a slave of Christ Jesus who always wrestles for you in prayers so that you will stand firm and be fully mature and complete in the entire will of God. I can vouch for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas say hello. Say hello to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, along with Nympha and the church that meets in her house. After this letter has been read to you publicly, make sure that the church in Laodicea reads it and that you read the one from Laodicea. And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry that you received in the Lord.” I, Paul, am writing this greeting personally. Remember that I’m in prison. Grace be with you. (Colossians 4:2-18, CEB)

Pray always for the world and for your brothers and sisters.

Pray that God will make a way for the world to see love and respond in love.

Pray that a door would be opened so all will hear and receive the word of God and live the way that Jesus taught us.

The other day I was scrolling through my Facebook memories to share memes and about 6 years ago I shared a meme of a child holding a Bible that read, “Teach your children about Jesus before someone else teaches them about Jesus that isn’t truth.” Or something to that manner. And I thought I would need to put a disclaimer on that picture, I am sure that I would share it and people would read it as conservative and Jesus not wanting anyone who wasn’t white, male, and powerful to be included. But then I also thought that if people thought that about something I shared do they really follow my posts. But people have an understanding of what the Bible says and what is accepted by God, and I think we will all be surprised when we actually stand before the throne.

Love is the answer. I pray that all of our hearts are open to love and know it is not about us, but about God.

I pray that we all share love, and show each other God loves us all as we are.

Love like Christ.

Loving People. Loving God.

united

I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who haven’t known me personally. My goal is that their hearts would be encouraged and united together in love so that they might have all the riches of assurance that come with understanding, so that they might have the knowledge of the secret plan of God, namely Christ. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. I’m telling you this so that no one deceives you with convincing arguments, because even though I am absent physically, I’m with you in spirit. I’m happy to see the discipline and stability of your faith in Christ. (Colossians 2:1-5, CEB)

The author of Colossians wrote: “My goal is that their hearts would be encouraged and united together in love”

So that:

they might have riches of assurance that come with understanding…

they might have knowledge of God’s plan…

The goal is our hearts are encouraged and united in love.

Know every day:

You are enough.

You are loved.

You matter in this world.

You are a gift and treasure to the world around you just as you are.

Be united with all humanity in love.

Share love and encourage others.

Loving People. Loving God.

Be hated.

After this Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish authorities wanted to kill him. When it was almost time for the Jewish Festival of Booths, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee. Go to Judea so that your disciples can see the amazing works that you do. Those who want to be known publicly don’t do things secretly. Since you can do these things, show yourself to the world.” His brothers said this because even they didn’t believe in him. Jesus replied, “For you, anytime is fine. But my time hasn’t come yet. The world can’t hate you. It hates me, though, because I testify that its works are evil. You go up to the festival. I’m not going to this one because my time hasn’t yet come.” Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. (John 7:1-9, CEB)

The world can’t hate you…

It hates Jesus. Why does the world hate Jesus?

Because Jesus shows love to all and accepts all as they were made. This lifts the lowly and brings down the haughty. It puts us all on an even playing field and those in power don’t like that.

We need to maintain the balance of power and keep the downtrodden down.

Jesus said all of us are equal in the eyes of God and that doesn’t play well with power systems.

Be like Jesus and show we are all the same and equal to God.

We are all God’s beloved children.

We are all worthy, and no one is better than anyone else.

Love like Jesus. Be hated.

Loving People. Loving God.