Follow-Up Appointments

“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.” (Acts 22:6-8)

During the revival services at Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene, we have spent some time in the book of Acts. Our guest minister, Dr. Deirdre Brower Latz, noted that the acts of the Holy Spirit have not stopped: what was real for the disciples of old is just as real for us today.

This week we have reflected on Saul, who had an encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus; Ananias, who was led by God to go to Saul; Cornelius, who had an angelic encounter; and Peter, whose vision paved the way for his ministry to Cornelius' household. (see Acts chapters 9 and 10)

Dr. Brower Latz encouraged us to be aware of the presence of the Lord in our everyday lives, and to recognize that the Spirit of God is not bound-- not even by a person's error or ignorance. The Lord spoke to both Saul and Cornelius while they were still unconverted men, and then He sent Ananias and Peter to follow up on the work He had already begun.

What would our evangelism look like if we were to approach ministry not as a thing we initiate, but as a thing God uses to supplement what He is already doing? Dr. Brower Latz shared an anecdote about a Christian who feared that she would lose her job because her supervisor overheard her praying with someone. Upon being called in to her boss's office, the woman was surprised to learn that her supervisor, too, longed for prayer. Instead of losing her job, the woman became God's instrument for bringing a new convert into the kingdom of God.

We serve the God who spoke to Ananias, and also to Saul.

We serve the God who spoke to Peter, and also to Cornelius.

Our God speaks to those who know Him, those who seek Him, and even those who persecute Him.

Lord, speak to us today.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

"God? At General Assembly?": The Sequel.

Friends,

This week I will not be blogging on this past Sunday's sermon. I am asking that all of us pray earnestly, every day this week and especially Saturday, for the presence and power of God to be evident at General Assembly (the international gathering of the Church of the Nazarene). I am also asking that we pray specifically for Pastor Sam.

As delegates from all over the world come together for worship, praise, prayer, services, and administrative sessions, let's ask God to show mercy and pour out His grace on the planners and participants in this event.

General Assembly and Conventions will be held from June 24 through July 3rd in Orlando, Florida.

Pastor Sam is scheduled to speak at the "All the Nations" multicultural service which will be held on Saturday June 27. The service begins at 9:00 a.m., and he is one of two featured speakers for the service.

There are TWENTY-ONE overlapping or conflicting events occurring at the same time that the All Nations service is scheduled to be in session. My prayer is that the power of God will be so manifest that His Spirit will engage everyone at the convention center, regardless of what room they are in (see Numbers 11:25-30). I am also praying specifically that He will manifest His power even before Pastor Sam finishes speaking, just as we read in Acts 10:44.

Thank you for your prayers!

Divine Directive.

"When God gives a directive, we are to obey regardless of our 'comfort level' with the task" (a quote from Pastor Benji, during the first service).

In Acts 10 we see that Simon Peter received a directive from God. In trance, he was challenged by a vision of things he considered unclean but God had pronounced them clean. As the vision ended, the Lord instructed Peter to go with the men who were sent from Cornelius' community. And in the home of Cornelius, Peter was faithful to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the salvation of the entire household.

Sometimes God shows up and destroys our old paradigm, our old belief system, our old way of thinking. Sometimes God has us travel to places where on our own we would not go. Sometimes He asks us to interact with people we would not normally be seen with. Sometimes He asks us to do things we are reluctant to do. Why? Because, in the process of His working, He calls us to participate with Him.

Some of you have been challenged as our church has gone through Back-to-Basics.
Some of you are being challenged during this weekend devoted to consecration through the disciplines of fasting and prayer.
Some of you are longing for the days where you could just come in to church, sit down for an hour or two, go home, and not be asked for anything by God nor by man.

But God is moving.

Peter said, as he saw the unclean animals in the vision, "Lord, I'm not having any of this. I've never eaten any of this stuff in my life- it's unclean" (Acts 10:14, my paraphrase). And what was the reply? Peter, that's your definition... but God has a different definition.

Famous phrases of those who are "stuck" in routine is, "We've never done that before"; "That is not how our people do things"; "I don't need this".

But guess what? Although Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He is also the LORD who says, "Behold! I am doing a new thing". And those of us who hear His directive must obey.

Bronx Bethany, it's time! The feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD are at the edge of the Jordan (see Joshua 3).

Will you cross over, or will you stay behind?

Descriptors.

Today we'll do a quick recap of Simon Peter's sermon, as explained by Pastor Benji during service. I'd recommend that you read Peter's words for yourself: they can be found in Acts 10.

In introducing the household of Cornelius to the gospel of Jesus Christ, Peter described the following:

The Sovreignty of Jesus (Acts 10:34-36);
The Servanthood of Jesus (Acts 10:37-38);
The Suffering of Jesus (Acts 10:39);
The Saving from Sin through Jesus (Acts 10:43).

And, as Cornelius and his family and friends heard the message and believed the message, the Holy Spirit showed up. Perhaps we can make that a fifth alliteration:

The Supernatural manifested by the Spirit of Jesus.

At the end of Acts 10 we see that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit was given to Cornelius' household while Peter was still preaching. Pastor Benji noted that there was no opportunity for Peter to "coach" Cornelius on what to expect. In fact, the event seemed to have taken Peter and his colleagues by surprise... but they recognized that it was only attributable to the work of God.

This weekend Bronx Bethany will be in fasting and prayer. Who knows? Perhaps God might show up in a way that surprises us, in a way that can only be attributed to Him.

Hear the word of the Lord.
Believe the message He brings through His faithful servants.
And watch God work wonders.

Defense Mechanism.

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers contended with him, saying,"You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." So Peter proceeded to explain to them...(see Acts 11:1-4)

Sometimes our obedience to God creates conflict not with unbelievers, but with "our own": those who are fellow servants of God, born again and filled with the Spirit, but who in some areas of life are still bound to tradition and culture.

The opposition to Peter's obedience was rooted in a cultural conflict: in the Jewish law it was not appropriate for a Jew to enter the house of a Gentile. Yet as Peter explained the work of God's Spirit in the house of Cornelius, his opposers came to an understanding that God had indeed granted salvation, and His Spirit, to the Gentile community.

So, when you are walking around in the city (where headquarters is housed) and people start intimating that you have violated policy, how do you respond?

Peter did not get self-defensive or self-protective. He simply shared exactly what had happened, from beginning to end. And that humble response made room for God to act as defender and verifier of the truth of Peter's witness.

Perhaps that's what we should do, too.

Diamond-esque.

Let's continue reflecting on the life of Cornelius. As Pastor Benji shared on Sunday, and as we mentioned yesterday, Cornelius (prior to his encounter with Simon Peter) was sort of the poster child for the fake Christian. Everything looked great from the outside, but the Spirit of Jesus was not resident in him. And, in spite of his goodness, Cornelius needed intervention from God to transform his household.

As we learned last year in the parable of the wheat and the tares, often we have no idea who is authentically Christian and who is counterfeit. And, Jesus tells us it's not our job to pull up the tares: He will send an angel to do that at the appropriate time (see the blogs from September 23 through 27, 2008 for more on the subject).

Today's title recalls for me a concept used by some retail outlets. Instead of using the true name for the product, a fancy name is presented to entice the consumer. It's like a diamond, but not exactly... it's diamond-esque. It smells like an apple, but it's not really an apple... it's apple essence.

Well, that doesn't work for a community of believers. "Christ-esque" will not be a satisfatory answer on the day of God's judgement.

Have you received Jesus as your Savior?
Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?

Decoy.

This week we will be reflecting on the sermon from this past Sunday, in which Pastor Benji continued the topic of salvation for the entire household.

A key point of the sermon was that the message of salvation must be preached: in other words, it is not something that people acquire by osmosis. Proximity to Christians is not sufficient to bring a person to conversion. God has given us preaching and teaching as the means by which we present our risen Christ to a dying world.

This is illustrated in Acts 10, where we find Simon Peter sharing the gospel with Cornelius, his family, and his friends. Those of you who remember my blog "The Open Show: Cornelius Caught In The Act" (January 3, 2009) will recall that I commended Cornelius for being a devout man with a clear influence on his family. But, as we learned Sunday, the devout nature of Cornelius was not sufficient to save him.

We perhaps should take some time today to reflect on this for ourselves. Often when Christians are described, the following items are mentioned: they pray; they give; they treat others with dignity and respect; they are honest in business and at home; they demonstrate a heart of compassion toward the needy. Well, that was the same description of Cornelius in Acts 10, and Scripture makes it clear that he was doing these things before having received Jesus Christ as His Savior.

Let's be honest. The Cornelius of Acts 10:31, if he were alive today, would certainly look like a Christian in terms of his consistent prayer life, his generous giving, and his impeccable character... perhaps he would appear more Christian than us. But, for all his apparent goodness, he was destined for hell until God sent Peter with the word that could save him.

Perhaps a re-read of Acts 10 and 11 might be helpful, as we consider our own standing before God. Have we truly encountered Christ? Have we received the gift of the Holy Spirit? Or are we just nice church-attending, giving, praying, loving people with no measure of the Spirit of Jesus in us?

Are you authentic, or just a decoy? And how do you know what you are? We'll pick up on this thought tomorrow.

The Open Show: Cornelius Caught In The Act.

"Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea" (Acts 10:4-6).

Cornelius was caught doing good things for God. In the Acts 10 passage we read that he was a God-fearing man. He set the tone and the standard for his family: "He and all his family were devout and God-fearing" (v. 2). Additionally, he was known in both Roman and Jewish communities as a man who gave, and as a man who prayed. Though he was not a follower of Jesus Christ, and was not even Jewish, Cornelius established a standard for himself and his home that was pleasing to Jesus.

Cornelius' track record of praying regularly and giving generously was noticed and commended by God. In the midst of the new wave of God's mighty power being manifested in the early church, we see God sending an angel to the one man who does not fit the profile of the followers of "The Way". Cornelius was a Roman. Cornelius was a centurion, a soldier in charge of other soldiers. Cornelius' job was dependent on his loyalty to the state. If you met Cornelius in the street, his greeting to you would be "Hail Caesar!" And in the face of the profile, God sends an angel with a word...

God was doing things for Cornelius. In response to Cornelius' praying and giving, an angel shows up with clear statements and detailed instructions:

Cornelius, God knows what you have been doing.
Cornelius, God is so pleased with you!
Cornelius, you're a man with the authority to move men. Send some of your men over to Joppa to get Simon Peter and bring him to Caesarea.
Oh, and Cornelius, Simon Peter is staying at Simon Tanner's house by the sea. Your men will find him there.

Cornelius' giving and praying paved for way for Simon Peter to get an education on how God regards the people of the world. After Simon Peter realized that God was sending him to Gentiles, he said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism" (v. 34). Walls of prejudice were broken down as God arranged this encounter between Cornelius and Simon Peter.

Cornelius' giving and praying paved the way for salvation to come to his household. In his actions we see a reflection of the promise of Jesus recorded in Matthew 6: a public reward for private activities. (Psalm 50 also echoes the correlation between giving to God and receiving His salvation.)

Cornelius' giving and praying paved the way for a multicultural church. Prior to his conversion, the earlier chapters of Acts present a picture of a church largely confined to those who were Jews. But God sent Peter from Caesarea to Joppa, to speak to a house packed with Gentiles. In the moment the Holy Spirit manifested His presence in that little community, the face of Christianity was changed forever (see Acts 10:21-46).

Wouldn't it be wonderful, Bronx Bethany, if your private giving and praying were so generous and consistent as to be recognized by God? It's a great way to destroy prejudice, to bring salvation to your household, and to become a multicultural community of faith where everyone has access to the presence and power of God.

Today, I pray that God catches you doing the right thing. Take care, my friends. See you Monday.