The Life And Ministry Of The Apostle Paul

Paul had received a lot of bad press over the last 2000 years. But he is quite possibly one of the most authentic Christian leaders the world has ever seen. The Apostle Paul: 1) Paul was born a Roman Citizen (from Tarsus, present day Turkey). 2) As a Roman Citizen, Paul had the right to speak in public, the right to travel throughout the Roman world. 3) Paul has the right to not be imprisoned without a trial. 4) Paul was born in Tarsus as a Jew and was raised in Jerusalem. 5) Paul was a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee. Pharisees were the people who were the strict religious followers who were very well educated on both traditional schooling and biblical backing. 6) Paul studied under Gamaliel who was one of the eminent Jewish teachers at the time. 7) Paul had been taught to hold his convictions with absolute passion. Paul was trained since a child to be zealous about God. "I persecuted the followers of this way (meaning Christianity) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison." Acts 22:4 Paul was at first passionate about persecuting the early Christians. "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them." Acts 26:9-10 So What Difference Does All This Make To Our Lives? Think about Winston Churchill for a minute. He stated, when looking on the experiences of WWII, that all of his previous life and experiences had merely been preparation for his service during the war. The Bible teaches that everything that happens in our lives is a preparation for what is to come. Look at the life of Joseph. He was thrown into prison, sold into slavery by his brothers, but then became 2nd in command over the nation of Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh himself. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28 KJV). This is one of the greatest verses in the Bible to be sure, one that is filled with hope and promise. There are countless people throughout history that have been prepared in interesting, strange or even downright confusing ways for what was to come. If your life is in pieces, looking like a jig-saw puzzle, the only way that God can piece it back together for you is when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. God knows what He's doing. There have been so many times in my life where I have looked around and just asked, "why?" But the Lord has always had a plan for the confusion and the heartache in my life, and he has turned it all to good, even when I didn't believe it would happen and the situation was bleak. God wants us to trust Him. He has a bigger plan going on than we can understand. God knows what He is doing in your life. If we really believe this, it will really change the way we see life. It can give us a sense of peace when we keep our eyes on this truth-that He has a plan for all He does. This understanding can quench our unbelief. When Joseph was talking to his brothers in Egypt, after going through all the mess, after 13 years in prison, and after total confusion for what had happened in his life, said, "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt." Genesis 45:8 You can pray and ask God for this peace about the situations and difficulties in your life. Lord please give me the strength, understanding and trust to know that you are working out your perfect will in my life. Please equip me with the wisdom and faith to trust you and your perfect will for my life. This article adapted from information from fantastic sermons by pastor Lon Solomon of McLean Bible Church: [http://www.McLeanBibleChurch.org].

A Portrait of Apostle Paul

The apostle Paul wasn't always a Christian advocate. He studied Hebrew Scriptures and traditional writings with his father in his childhood home in Tarsus. At age ten, he was sent to Jerusalem to study with Rabbi Gamaliel a respected Pharisee and grandson of Rabbi Hillel. Rabbi Hillel established the rabbinical school that believed that tradition was superior to the Law. The religious school of Gamaliel followed an oral interpretation of Scripture. Relying upon a system of Scriptural exegesis, learned men met to discuss Old Testament passages. Students were taught to question, doubt and contradict what they read by providing varying interpretations and presenting illustrations to support the differing interpretations. As a rabbinical student of Gamaliel, Saul was a first hand witness of the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58). Later, Saul embarked upon a journey to Damascus to persecute some early Christians. He was stopped on the road by a flash of light that blinded him. "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Jesus asked (Acts 9:3-4). This incident changed the direction of Saul's life and his name. He became a follower of Jesus instead of persecuting others for their belief in Jesus as the promised Messiah. After converting to Christianity and completing many years of training and fellowship with other Christians, Paul was now ready to begin his ministry. In Pisidian Antioch Paul began his Christian ministry with Barnabas at his side. He realized his primary ministry was to bring the Gentiles into the body of Christ after addressing a crowd in a synagogue. He witnessed to Jewish unbelievers first because his Jewish background increased his compassion for salvation for his Jewish brothers and sisters. Paul's missionary travels were extensive. Some of the places he visited included Galatia, Phrygia, Ephesus, Corinth in Macedonia, Caesarea, Jerusalem and Rome. Paul's education in Scripture helped him to learn and understand the doctrines of the early Christians and relate those ideas and concepts to the early biblical knowledge he received. Paul saw human history from a divine perspective acquired both as a student of Gamaliel and from his encounter with Jesus during his desert wanderings before he began his ministry to the Gentiles. Paul was extremely intelligent and this intelligence helped him debate philosophical and religious topics with the most educated scholars. As a Roman, Tarsian, Hebrew and cultural Greek, Paul understood that often society misunderstands the role and nature of God and the relationship that God hopes to have with man on earth. Paul's ministries are recorded in the book of Acts. This authoritative resource provides many accounts of how Paul served as a missionary to the Gentiles. Acts describes the events of Paul's three missionary journeys in the Roman Empire. The apostle planted churches, preached the gospel message and provided strength and encouragement to early Christians. God gave Paul strength, wisdom and endurance that would enable him to carry out the work entrusted to him by Jesus. God changed Paul so that he could embrace the power that God gave him to preach the Christian life to others. Although Paul was small in stature, he suffered physically during his travels. Many missionaries are inspired by his ability to persevere and minister to others during adversity. Paul is credited with saying "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," (Philippians 4:13).

Jesus and His Tests

Expert Author Craig Condon Have you ever had to prepare a meal for a large group of people with little or no advance notice? When you prepared that meal, did you ever stop to wonder how you would do it, especially if you realized that you did not have enough food and you did not have the time or money to go to the grocery store? If that is the case, perhaps you can sympathize with the disciples in the story of the feeding of the crowd. Jesus had been teaching the crowd all day, and it was almost time for the evening meal. The disciples wanted Jesus to dismiss the people so they could go and buy food in the neighbouring towns and villages. Jesus had other ideas. He told the disciples to feed the people. We see the reactions of two of the disciples to Jesus' instruction. Philip saw the need for a miracle and calculated the odds. He tried to prove that it could not be done. How many times are we like Philip? How often do we fail to see what God is doing because we are focused on our selfish desires and needs? Andrew, on the other hand, set out to try to solve the problem, and the solution he found is the key to the first part of this story. He searched for food among the people, but he found only one small boy with a small lunch that seemed inadequate for the task at hand. We have to give credit to Andrew for at least trying to find a solution to the problem. Barley was a staple part of the diet for the poor. The loaves were small, flat wafers. The fish were the size of sardines. The meal was barely enough for one little boy, let alone sufficient to satisfy the appetite of a grown man. When Jesus accepted the boy's gift, he blessed it, and in the blessing the small became great. There was suddenly enough bread because Jesus saw the people and wanted them to be fed, just like Jesus saw the fear in his disciples on the sea. He loved the disciples and the crowd and gave both groups the peace of his presence. This story shows the difference between two types of churches-missional and maintenance. Missional churches welcome all situations and see the potential while acknowledging the challenges these situations create. Maintenance churches focus on creating committees that make decisions and not disciples. Maintenance churches distance themselves from problems because they are too busy having committee meetings. Maintenance churches are filled with tension because the members don't know what's going to happen or how to respond. They do just enough to get by. Missional churches look for things to do, even when their members are already doing things. They believe that because God is in what they are doing, God will provide everything that they will need. Maintenance churches are paralyzed by the size and scope of the task before them, but missional churches break the task down into manageable parts. They do not try to do everything all at once because they know they can't be everything to everyone all of the time. Jesus accepts their limitations and only expects them to work with what we have and with the next people they meet. Which type of church would we prefer to be? Jesus can take anything we give him, no matter how big or how small, and multiply it to be used to do his work in the world. My own ministry and spiritual life are good examples. God has taken the talents and gifts I have (and have offered to him) and used them to spread the good news and do his work both locally and world-wide through the worship services I lead and the sermons I post on my blog. All life and all good gifts come from God. Jesus comes to open our hearts and our hands to those around us. We can do that only because he opens our eyes to his own presence as the grace-and-peace-filled "I" in the middle of the storm. When Jesus sets an impossible task before us, he knows what he is going to do, but he wants us to see how we will react. Will we react in fear, confusion or faith? Jesus tested the disciples. He wanted them to fail so that he might strengthen them. Jesus also tests us for the same reason. Failure gives us strength. We and the disciples should have learned a lesson from this story. We must never gauge the size of a challenge in terms of our capability. God calls us to commit whatever we have, and he will use it for his glory. When we give ourselves into God's hands, we become instruments in his service. We can then serve many people who are hungry physically and/or spiritually. When we come to the end of our resources, God comes in with his resources. In Jesus, there is more than enough for everyone. The miracle of giving is that it produces a ministry of giving. Money is a miracle because it increases when we give it away, especially when we give it away to God so he can use it to do his work in our world. Jesus gives us ample resources, but we have to receive them before we can share them with others. This story has to do with faith in Jesus rather than his compassion. It is also about God's ability to take too little and change it into more than enough. Jesus intended for his miracle to point people to God. That included his disciples and everyone he met. The people realized that the food they had eaten was a sign from God and that they might believe in Jesus, and they did. They realized he was the long-promised Messiah, but he wasn't the type of Messiah they were looking for. They were following Jesus for the spectacle, not because of who he was. They were enamoured with his words and what he might do for them. Coming to God on the mountain was a fearful experience, yet it was full of expectation at the same time. Why? Because God was seen at this time in history as a mighty and exalted God. Because he could work miracles, many people wanted to make Jesus a king. They thought that if he could feed them, he could free them from Roman rule. They wanted an earthly king who would protect them and provide for them. Instead, Jesus was a humble, servant king who would restore their relationship with God. They wanted a Messiah who would provide for their physical needs, but Jesus was the type of Messiah that would provide for their spiritual needs. He wanted their undivided attention, just like he wanted the disciples' undivided attention. Jesus got the disciples' attention thanks to the storm. He wanted them to make him their chief focus even when the storms of life take over. He also wants us to pay attention to him, especially when we face the storms of life. A colossal testing often follows a colossal success. The real proof of discipleship is how closely a person follows Christ when his/her needs are not met right away and the storms of life are raging. Jesus' walking on the water is a sign of his power over the living spirit of the sea-a living spirit that is dangerous and unpredictable. By telling his disciples, "It is I; do not be afraid," Jesus identified himself as the Great I AM. He comes to all of his followers in their storms and reminds them that he is the Great I AM. When Jesus walked on the water and told his disciples not to be afraid, he showed his power to rescue human inadequacy. The story focuses on how the disciples will respond to the tests Jesus gives them. We are also being tested as we apply this story to our own lives. The test for us is how we will do the work Jesus wants us to do, especially when the task seems impossible. We must not concentrate on what we lack. We must concentrate on what we have. Jesus gives us the resources we need, but if we want to get them, we have to get rid of our earthly habits. We must starve judging and feed on kindness. We must starve indifference and feed on compassion. We must starve isolation and feed on community. There will come a time when we will face a test that we declare to be impossible. When that happens, we need to take the following steps: 1. Acknowledge our inadequacy and the Lord's omnipotence. 2. Be certain the challenge before us glorifies the Lord, obeys one of his commands from Scripture, or helps to fulfill a spiritual mandate. 3. Give the challenge back to the Lord as a chance for him to accomplish it on our behalf and receive glory for the victory. 4. Do what we can, supply what we have, put forward our effort, then let God multiply it at his discretion. The two parts of this story are linked by Jesus' doing something totally unexpected, and it changes the lives of those around him. This story tells us that there are things in life that will catch us off guard, but nothing will catch God off guard. God sends the storms of life that we face. These storms have been engineered to strengthen us, teach us something and cause us to grow deeper in our faith. God knows what we are dealing with before it happens. He also knows how we are going to get out of the situation. He still allows the trial to happen because it will be for our benefit. When we face the storms of life, we must remember the words of the hymn, "Will Your Anchor Hold?" Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift, or firm remain? We have an anchor that keeps the soul Stedfast and sure while the billows roll, Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love. Our job is to involve Jesus in any problems we are facing and to count on his presence and power. Jesus is present and ready to help in any situation of need. All we have to do is come to him in faith.

God Is Agape Love

Relationships are everything...simply because they are all that exist. Nothing has meaning until you decide how it relates to you or how you relate to it. It is the process of making these associations that will determine the outcome of our experiences in life. We are creatures of love that have thrust ourselves into what appears to be a world of hate. We once knew there was only one form of love, but now the influence of fear and separation has provided us with the perception that love can exist on several levels. The current levels of love are: EROS LOVE - known as 'erotic love', is based on strong romantic feelings towards another. PHILOS LOVE - a love based on friendship between two people who share a mutual, 'give-and take' relationship. AGAPE LOVE - unconditional love that is always giving and impossible to take or be a taker. It devotes total commitment to seek your highest best no matter how anyone may respond. This form of love is totally selfless and does not change whether the love given is returned or not. This is the original and only true form of love. The description of 'Agape Love' that is accepted by most beliefs as the love that God provides, is identical to how his love is described throughout "A Course in Miracles", which is founded upon the primary principle that God's love for us has never allowed him to even begin to see us differently, regardless of what we may have done or believe we have done. The Course is repeatedly clear how God never takes and only gives, which is how creation works since God creates by extending himself...as he also extended himself into what has come to be known as us, the Son of God. God never takes...and since we are created in his likeness...with his same method of thinking and being, our true selves (not these ego shrouded human shells) also know this is true. We inherently know that it is never better to take or require that somebody give. Giving is natural and never includes loss of any kind. True giving is like creation in that you do not lose what you give, but you extend that thing and it grows larger as you give it, or share it...like sharing a story or experience. True giving is rarely experienced on a physical level since we perceive the thing as missing once it is given. On a physical level, you believe you have less after you give or that you have more when you receive. As you can see, this physical world has nothing to do with agape love since this world is based upon taking and having more or upon losing and having less. Agape love is based upon giving through sharing and knowing you already have everything and have nothing to lose. Agape love acknowledges that we are all connected and can only move that thing amongst ourselves, but never outside, so we never lose it. Everything is simply shared. In a spiritual reality, only thoughts of agape love exist. Nothing else can exist there since everything is in harmony. There is no thought of less or loss or sacrifice since all needs are met before they even exist. This is where the mind of our God exists and it is from here where he teaches us and speaks to us. Every thought or idea that has truly originated from the mind of God, originated from his center of Agape Love. Since we are no longer centered in agape love, the issue we have while forming relationships is that we tend to severely limit the capacity of the relationship to what we can get from the other or what we think the other wants to take from us. This form of relationship stems from "philos" love which indicates you share a like mindedness (eg. if you agree with me, I will love you). A philos love relationship is a mutual, "give-and take" relationship which ends the moment one side either does not get what they want or is asked for something they do not wish to give. Our confusion on the purpose of love relationships is often then applied to how we think God relates to us, where we imagine that God only loves us when we please him, or that God will only walk with us if we acknowledge him, or that God will only extend his hand and carry us back to him in heaven if we agree with what we think he demands from us. In doing this, we have created a philos love relationship with God which is totally at odds with his agape love since agape love only gives and never takes and is void of any necessary condition. Agape love asks for nothing and gives everything....simply because we are the children of agape love. Having built walls between ourselves and our creator, we have distanced ourselves from sensing God's love and the world we see around us is a reflection of living without real love. This environment breeds calamity and destruction since that is the result of life based upon fear instead of love. If accepting perfect love can cast out fear, then likewise, accepting fear removes our ability to sense perfect love. Fortunately, our creator views any problem or tragic moment as an opportunity to reach into our hearts and provide reason for change. No matter what loss appears to have occurred, he is not angry or upset at who we think is at fault because he knows nothing has been lost. Since material things have no eternal value, they do not matter at all to him. In addition, any person you believe has died, is still safe in spirit form, and since God exists spiritually, he does not sense the loss of this being and therefore has no reason to be upset at anyone. His only thought is to help us see that life can be happier... life can be fuller... it is better to be kind... it is better to be loving, and then our time down here will become a focus on preparing ourselves to return to our creator. Regardless of what happens here, He has not and never will lose one of us because we are created eternal spirits, just like him. Jesus proved when he rose again that you can kill the body, but the spirit remains, untouched and unaffected by anything that happens while here in this physical world. Agape love is seeing the answer and sharing that with whoever is seeing or experiencing the problem. Agape love is never judgmental and is eternally patient with any thing that must be learned. Agape love is totally without demands or requirements. Agape love is total truth in that it does not change, no matter what appears to change around it. Agape love knows not of time since time does not exist in heaven. Agape love is unconditional forgiveness for any event because agape love transcends the concept of needing forgiveness in that it knows we are simply misguided and therefore our actions are not held against us in the first place. Like frightened children running through a dark forest, we act irrationally and do things out of fear and panic. Agape love knows this and seeks only to help us resolve our fears so that we can see clearly once again and return to full communication with our creator. Nothing physical matters. Nothing can be lost. Nothing can be taken. Nothing needs to be given. In our true form, we know this, but right now we can only recite the words...but we don't really believe them...and that's why we are here. We are in a place where we believe we have been removed from agape love and have written books about a god who does not behave as though he is agape love, but this is not so. The closest our reality can be described here is to think of this as a collective dream on a universal scale. We, the Son of God, attempted to perform something separate from our creator and this is not possible, so instead, this action created a place... a dream, where Gods agape love does not seem to exist...and this is a horrific thought and thus our lives have been horrific. God has sent the Holy Spirit to help awaken us and to help us see that this world is upside down and totally backwards in thinking. This world teaches taking. God teaches giving. This world teaches sacrifice and guilt. God teaches you have nothing to lose so there is nothing to sacrifice and therefore nothing to make others feel guilty about. This world teaches that fear is necessary to survive, but God teaches that love casts out fear and that we will only truly live when we cast out our fear and embrace agape love once again. Every lesson, teaching or guideline that ever truly came from God, can only originate from the unchangeable spirit of his unconditional love and endless patience, and his truths, or love, can speak of nothing else. We do know the truth when we hear it because God created us in his image, therefore, we too are agape love. Once we learn to really embrace this, we will remember who we really are and then we'll wake up to see our creator right where he always has been....everywhere...above us, beside us, below us, within us. Everywhere. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/826716

A Devoted Christian Love Relationship

Expert Author Kenneth Dockins Where does one start to find peace and happiness mutually coupled with sincere love in our world today? Times are changing ever so much. And, people all too quickly learn that they can individually demand self-satisfaction and get it, by putting down one's foot firmly on the ground and refusing to settle for anything less than the picture, image, or pre-supposed character we have in mind for our mates. With that, love life often becomes a hard box in which to try and fit oneself. But before a devoted Christian love relationship can ever take place, surely there must be a basic friendship. Online resources for finding intimate Christian friendships are few. And, this is doubly true when you sincerely seek a quality companion via the various offers that the Internet presents. Also, there is an additional challenge that potential Christian lovers will face... the psychology of love is changing. Having and maintaining a balanced relationship can now be a complicated matter for you, as well. With the need to communicate especially with one's spouse or intended future intended companion, where do you go for help when he or she is not able to speak resolutely? You see, modern psychology too easily fails to understand the nuances of newly devoted Christian love relationship behavior. The causes for this are deep-rooted and perplexing, to say the least. Actually, some believe that many Christian counselors and psychology practitioners themselves still struggle with the changing nature of a modern Christian love. Thus, these experts may have a difficult time helping others to solve marital or partnership problems, particularly when addressing their own clients. You probably already know that giving the wrong advice to someone about how to handle the complex and sensitive issues of love can only make the original issue worse. Further, it is important to be able to see, hear, and feel the inner emotional desires of others when they come to you for advice or guidance. In devoted Christian love relationships, demands are different now, plus the expected or traditional role that each person plays in a partnership requires attention and discussion... followed by mutual agreement on courses of action to take, plus the general expectations we might hope to receive. On the other hand, there always exists a ray of hope in these regards - if and when you are willing to more deeply examine and explore the words contained in biblical passages, for example. And, when you are fortunate enough to find a loving Christian companion, or even to speak to a caring Christian professional about what you are seeking... your possibilities become more plausible. However, regarding your very own devoted Christian love relationship, do you want to be absolutely sure your feet lie on solid ground? If so, then use God's number one recommendation - that is, to love thy neighbor as thyself. Another loving law that helps guide our relationship decisions is, "I am the lord thy god; thou shall not put strange things before me." As you already know, this statement originally pertained to the making and idolization of material images. Yet, in one's quest for romance within present-day society, there is often a similar idolization placed upon our new mates. When we first meet them, surely they appear to be walking on water:-) Nonetheless, it takes very little time to easily see that we and our mates are fully human and subject to many common errors. To make love the grand celebration it has the ability to be, as it pertains to each devoted Christian love relationship, a gentle heart is needed. Yet, this heart must also carry wisdom along with it. This is true because wise lovers and friends can most successfully transform into long-term devoted love relationship participants. Most likely, time can never change the fact that a much deeper overall understanding of ourselves and of our mates is the key to everlasting bliss.