The last place Jesus says we are to “be witnesses” is: “the farthest part of the earth.” The phrase here means to the most remote locations on earth.
We start sharing the gospel where we are. Where Christ first found us. With our family and close friends. We move on to our casual relationships. Our acquaintances. We then share the gospel with the people “we hate to love.”
Finally, we share the gospel to the farthest parts of the earth. The most remote locations on the planet. We should strive to share the gospel of Jesus with each one of these “places” in our life. we have the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to carry the message of Jesus Christ to our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest places on earth.
Let’s get started!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: acts 1:8, gospel, hate to love, samaria, samritans
The next place Jesus said to “be wintesses in” was Samaria. I have most often heard preachers say, “Jerusalem is your city, Judea is your state and Samaria is your country” or something to that effect. The problem with that analogy is that Jerusalem and Judea are not contained in Samaria. Samaria was the territory north of Judea.
Samaritans were hated by the Jews. Our Samaria is not the group we love to hate, but the group we hate to love. In fact, Jesus told his disciples to avoid Samaria (Matthew 10:5). Now, after He has died and risen again, Jesus commands the disciples to go to Samaria with the gospel.
I think part of what Jesus is trying to convey to them is that now that His mission is accomplished there is NO WHERE the gospel should not go.
Who is the group that you hate to love. Homosexuals? Democrats? Republicans? Black people? White people? Rich? Poor? Those are the people you should be sharing the gospel with. The people you have the hardest time talking to are the people you should be showing God’s love to.
THE GOSPEL IS NOT RESTRICTED ANYWHERE! Whatever time we spend preaching against the Samritans is time we could spend sharing the gospel with them.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Greg Boyd, jesus versus jehovah, non-violence of Jesus, old testament vilolence, violence of old testament, woodland hills
I really enjoy Greg Boyd’s teaching. I would highly recommend his podcast. He has challenged many of my “independent, fundamental, Bible-believing, King James Only, Baptist” beliefs; he has also helped me to draw closer to God and “find life” in Him only, as Greg often says.
Greg’s latest post has me excited about the new book he’s writing (he talks about it in the post). The post has intriqued me and seems to help me reconcile an issue I have often struggled with: The violence of God in the Old Testament and the peace of Christ in the New Testament. Click here to read it. It will get you thinking.
In the last post we talked about what “being witnesses…in Jerusalem” means to us in our context today. We said that it mostly means to “start where we are.” Start where we first encountered Jesus.
The verse also says to be “witnesses” in “Judea.” Jerusalem was the capital of Judea, which was a Roman occupied “state.” As with Jerusalem, Judea is a physical location.
So, how can we apply this to our context in 21st century America? Judea is the wider area in which Jerusalem is located. I think for us that means our larger area of relationships. It’s not our family and close friends, but it’s our coworkers, the grocery clerk, the people we run into on a regular basis but aren’t very close with.
We share Christ and live Christ first with those closest to us and then we move into our acquaintances, the public relationships we have around us.
It is important to identify who is in our “Judea” and what is the best way for us to reach them.
Jesus said to be witnesses in “Jerusalem.” Now, obviously Jerusalem was a physical place. In fact, it was the place where this event occurs. Jesus had spent forty days with the disciples and had told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came (Acts 1:4).
Although Jesus was literally speaking of the city they were in (and a place that was buzzing with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ), the principle applies to us. I think what “Jerusalem” means for us is to start where you are.
Jesus didn’t tell them to go on some long journey to get to a particular place to share the gospel. He told them to start being witnesses in the place where they received the command.
When we first encounter Christ, we don’t need to wait until we get to a certain place to witness. We can start right where we are. Start with your friends and relatives that need Christ. Start with you old drinking buddies who need hope. Start with the people you used to run with who need to know that Jesus loves them.
Start in your Jerusalem. Determine who is in your Jerusalem that needs to hear the message of Jesus crucifixion and ressurection.
Filed under: Uncategorized
“The type of evangelism that is concerned only about winning souls, while neglecting the needs of individual men, women, and children, is a contradiction of Scripture, which tells us that God made humans in his image and that salvation means wholeness as well as rescue.”
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: acts 1:8, great commission, holy spirit, receive power
I had the privilege of speaking in the Wednesday night service at my church last night. I thought I would share some of the thoughts from that message here. I will take a couple of days to post my notes and thoughts from the message.
I taught from Acts 1:8. Here are some thoughts I talked about:
* “You will receive power” – This implies that on our own we have no real power. The power that we have is only power that we have received. This SHOULD keep us from being prideful, but often does not work out that way.
* “After the Holy Spirit has come on you” – The Holy Spirit can also be translated “Sacred Breath” (which has some pretty cool implications). We don’t get the power until we receive God’s sacred breath. It is His breath alone that gives us any power. It is about HIM. Not us. Too many times in our lives we strive to find power through various different venues. The only sources to true power (the power of God), is the Sacred Breath of God – the Holy Spirit. Where are we trying to get power from besides the Holy Spirit?
*”You will be witnesses unto me” – The power is given to us so we can “witness” (Gk: martus) for Christ. We are to use this power to express Christ to others. We are to express Christ ONLY! Not our opinions, our denomination, our political party, our accomplishments or anything else. We are to express Christ alone. We are not even to express the Bible, but to express the Christ revealed in the Bible. We are not to express some generic “god”. We are to express the Father of Jesus Christ, the Yahweh God of the Bible. What is our life expressing?
* “In Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth”. These were obviously real places that Jesus was speaking of, but I think they have significant and profound principles for us today. We will discuss Jerusalem in the next post.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bush memos, gq, intelligence reports with scripture, rumsfeld reports
GQ magazine has posted some “Intelligence Report” documents from the Bush administration. These documents were prepared by Donald Rumsfeld for President Bush.
The disturbing thing about these memos is they have cover sheets that contain pictures of war captioned by Scripture. This is disturbing on a number of levels, including the fact that the verses are grossly proof-texted and give a strange feeling that Rumsfeld and Bush felt that God had ordained this war and America was doing God’s work.
You can see them for yourself here (WARNING: THIS IS GQ MAGAZINE AND IT IS DESIGNED FOR MEN SO THERE ARE ADS THAT ARE AIMED AT MEN.)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: allegiance, american bible, american flag, american patriot's bible, Greg Boyd, thomas nelson
Thomas Nelson has released “The American Patriot’s Bible.” I haven’t read it. I don’t plan on reading it. Greg Boyd reviewed it and you can find his very well written reviews here (part one) and here (part two). If this Bible contains what Boyd says it does (and I have no reason not to believe Boyd), then this is really sad.
For me, just the title is pretty ridiculous. The title is aiming at excluding people from reading it. As if someone from another country could not read this Bible.
This goes back to the whole allegiance thing. Do you pledge allegiance to the flag or to Christ? Because you really can’t swear allegiance to two things – that’s treason. To be a patriot (according to dictionary.com) means “a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.”
Are we supporting the interests of America or the interests of the Kingdom of God? There are certainly interests in America that we would support, but those interests should only be ones that cross over into the interests of the Kingdom. We do not support the interests of America and the Kingdom of God. We support the interests of the Kingdom of God regardless of whether or not they are American interests. If our interests in the Kingdom also happen to be American interests, that is fine. But the Kingdom ALWAYS trumps America. This is where I fear we tend to get off track. We support American interests (oil, greed, war, etc..) without any consideration for whether or not they are in the best interests of the Kingdom.
All Christ followers of every nation on earth should pursue the Kingdom regardless of their nation. Nationalism is idolatry.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: jesus wants the rose video, matt chandler video
This video is powerful and conveys an amazing truth. By Matt Chandler:
