Acts 21: 1-6

Verses 4-5: “And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.”

Our previous pastor had been at our church for about 17 years; he was much beloved and respected. Once, he thought he felt God’s call to take a pastor position at another church way out of town. He wasn’t sure, so he coveted our prayers and he put some “fleeces” before God to answer. We didn’t want him to go, but we didn’t want him acting contrary to God’s will either. He was a man of God who wouldn’t ignore God’s calling. I personally wrote him a letter to read on the trip up that I tried to encourage him through. I also humorously asked in the letter “what side of the road do you want the burning bushes on, to tell you to come back?” 🙂 As it turned out, that wasn’t the move God wanted him to make, and he stayed with us a while longer. God eventually did call him back near his childhood home in north Georgia, and this time, there was no denying God’s signs. He is there now, leading that church in following the Lord.

Paul knew where he had to go; his road lead to Jerusalem. His friends and fellow believers didn’t want him to go; they feared for his life. As already mentioned previously, Paul would not be dissuaded. He answered God’s call, knowing whether he lived or died, he would be serving the cause of Jesus. He was a man of God who wouldn’t ignore God’s calling.

How about you, fellow believer? Are you listening for God’s call in your life today…no matter where it may lead?

Something to think about.

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Acts 20: 32-38

Verse 35: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

The Lone Ranger.
Robin Hood.
Zorro.
The Lorax.

Now, at first glance, you might look at this list and think “one of these things is not like the other.” Not true. The first 3 literary heroes did defend the weak, the poor, and the defenseless. The Lorax did, too: remember what he always told the Once-ler? “I speak for the trees!” He was their vocal defender to a guy who was only determined to make a fast buck off the luxurious Truffula trees. The Lorax spoke for those who couldn’t speak for themselves. (Thank you, Dr. Seuss!)

In early church times, it was supposed to be the church that supported the weak. It was supposed to the be the church’s duty to care for those that society forgets. Nowadays, everyone would argue it should be some form of governmental department or independent charity that should do it. This is incorrect; the church should be the ones to do it. Large buildings to hold Sunday worship services are nice, but that’s not the church’s main priority. Besides spreading the Gospel, it was to help and to minister…and it still is the church’s mission to do that. Paul was reminding the church elders of this.

For those who grew up watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol, I always smiled knowingly when Scrooge tells Bob Cratchit “what’s this world coming to, Cratchit? You work all your life to get money! And people want you to give it away!” How much fun it is after the visits of the 3 spirits and Scrooge’s change to see the old miser happily stuffing the pockets of the charity seekers whom he chased out of his office before! Jesus said it best in the verse: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.

Everyone has something to give.

Something to think about.

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Acts 20: 29-31

Verses 29-31: “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.”

“The concept behind Airwolf was a supersonic armed helicopter that could be disguised as a civilian vehicle — “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Andrew Probert designed the Airwolf uniform insignia patch worn by the flight crew members, a snarling bat-winged wolf’s head wearing a sheepskin.” This statement is taken from the Wikipedia page on the TV series Airwolf (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airwolf). On the TV show, the Airwolf super-copter looked like civilian aircraft, but it was nothing of the sort. Armed with offensive and defensive weaponry, incredible speed and maneuverability, Airwolf was more than a match for anything in the air. Part of its attack capability was the look of it; it didn’t look threatening (well, not with its weapons systems housed), thus it could blend in and attack with devastating effectiveness.

Paul spoke of equal ferocity of attack against the church, both within and without. He spoke of those who would attack the church like “savage wolves” trying to tear down what the Lord had built up through the apostle. He also spoke of men from within “will rise up, speaking perverse things”. You would have to be an isolated hermit not to see how pervasive perversion has infiltrated our media and communications nowadays in this century. You can’t even turn on any telecommunications device without being almost bombarded by it.

The apostle gave two commands: watch and remember. The church’s work on earth is not done; I’d almost scarce say it’s only begun, and time grows short.

Something to think about.

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