31st August 2010

Acts 8:9-25 – Simon the Sorcerer.

• “Process versus Purchase”.
• Simon was either just a magician who liked to control people or he may have been the leader of the Gnostics. We are unsure.
• The Gnostics were keen to emphasize different levels of spirituality and hidden spiritual secrets.
• Simon was ‘the man’ in both senses of the word.
• He was ‘the man’ in the sense of being famous and popular.
• He was ‘the man’ in the sense of a kind of spiritual authority in some people minds. Particularly so if he was indeed the leader of the Gnostics.
• Then these new upstarts come into town and do things in God’s power that he could only dream of.
• Simon does what so many other leaders think they can do… he attempts to purchase the Gift of God.
• He sees something others have, and perhaps in order to compete and secure his spiritual position in the community, he offers money for the gift.
• But the disciples did not purchase the gift of God themselves; they had been Jesus’ Talmidim for three years.
• They had gone through a process.
• I see this often in Christian leadership; We see a program in another church or organization and want to hire someone to come and create the same program for our own ministry.
• I see so few leaders really investing into others and committing to the slow, laborious task of taking others through the process in order to create a new leader.
• We just transfer leaders from one place to another.
• This principle applies to many areas of our lives; We must go through the process rather than be tempted to purchase the gift of God.
• Praying I will stay committed to the process and not look for shortcuts.
• Thanking God for Harry Letson who took me through the process.

30th August 2010

Acts 8:1-8 – The Church persecuted and scattered plus Philip in Samaria.

• “Why God shakes the tree”.
• Sometimes God shakes the tree to see what falls out.
• Little is sacred to him, including our local church.
• More important to Him is His kingdom. If that means persecuting a church or destroying a iconic temple so be it.
• In this case when he shakes the tree, some very encouraging things fall out.
• Philip – not the disciple but a Grecian Jew – shares his faith wherever he goes.
• God will often strip away our comfy systems when there is a danger of us relying on them too much.
• For many followers of Jesus, our local church although the world’s greatest invention, can become that comfy system.
• Reliance on the system means we ignore the Spirit.
• Jesus had told them to reach to four corners of the earth and had given them His Spirit to empower them. Until this point however, they had not it seems took Him seriously.
• I wonder why the Apostles were not scattered. Could it be they served the Kingdom better by staying in Jerusalem? Not sure.
• Will pray today that I will not rely on my systems. 
• I would rather be supple than broken.

27th August 2010

Acts 7:54-60 – The Stoning of Stephen.

• “A surprising culture key”.
• It has been said that the second highest factor in establishing culture is how a leader responds when things go wrong.
• That came to mind when I read this passage.
• Things seems to go terribly wrong for Stephen. The court he is speaking to literally ‘lose their rag’ and skip the verdict going straight to the punishment.
• During this Stephen focuses very clearly on Jesus.
• Again there is a connection here that Luke is making to Moses. Moses saw the Shekinah glory of God and his face shone. So it is with Stephen.
• During stoning the Mishna and the Talmud give us clear background information on the ‘etiquette’ of stoning’ and with this context we learn something more about Paul the Apostles situation.
• They would first drop someone to their knees. Then a large stone would be dropped on them – if these things did not kill them then ‘all Israel’ would stone them – meaning a crowd [m. Sanhedrin 6:4]
• After the verdict was pronounced at least one official would hold onto the sudarin [or sudar] essentially this was a signaling flag – either a scarf, sweater or possibly coat.
• The Sudar was not used to say ‘go’ but ‘stop’ – it would be waved if anyone was to say that had something else to say in the man’s defense. If it was waved the criminal would be brought back into the court to hear the extra evidence in his defense. Sometimes this would happen 3 or 4 times before he was finally stoned. [m. Sanhedrin 42b]
• There are no fyi’s in the Bible.
• The fact that they laid their coats at Saul’s [Paul’s] feet has something to teach me.
• It could be that these people were not simply freeing themselves to throw stones more freely as I had presumed. Instead they may well have been making a statement – putting down their coats they may have been stating “there will be no more defense for this man” – there was no turning back.
• One Jewish commentator gives a different perspective. Noting that the Sudar had to be provided by the Court not the convict – he suggests that the potential sudar was being provided to Paul because Paul himself was the official who was being given the role to hold it.
• In either situation it is obvious that Paul was very much invoked in what was going on.
• Paul would have felt the contrast between the fury of the crowd and the peace of the victim.
• How much did Stephen’s reaction affect Paul?
• What might Paul have thought or read into Stephen’s reaction.
• Things seem to go wrong, but again as with Jesus, it is our reactions to bad things that make the best speeches.
• It is the way we handle conflict that helps others see the truth of the matter.
• It is better to win over an enemy that to beat them.
• Praying that God will give me the wisdom to react well.

26th August 2010

Acts 7:1-53 – Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin.

• “The best form of defense is…”.
• In the previous chapter Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin and he is attacked by those out to get him by accusing him of speaking out against Moses, God, the Temple and the Torah.
• In his defense Stephen does not defend himself by even attempting to prove he did not do any of these things.
• Instead he goes on the attack.
• Learning from Jesus’ wisdom – he ignores the accusation and goes straight to the real issue. After all, if these leaders do not observe Moses’ law now, then  what difference does it make if Jesus’ were to change them anyway?
• Stephen like Jesus realized that the best form of defense is attack. Rather than defending against the pretend issue he attacks them on the real issue. They have habitually ignored God’s prophets.
• Stephen even puts himself in the place of Moses when he calls them “stiff-necked people” – this phrase was only used in the OT of the Jews six times and each time it was the way God described His people to Moses and through Moses.
• I play a video strategy game [usually while I am waiting in an airport] called Total War. In between battles there are usually famous sayings from successful generals and kings.
• I remember one stating that most soldiers are killed when they are running away and most armies decimated as they withdraw.
• In life; the best form of defense is attack.
• Praying today to keep moving forward no matter what my enemy throws against me.

25th August 2010

Acts 6:8-15 – Stephen Seized.

• “The Devil is in the Details”.
• The Kingdom of God begins to get unpacked
• First of all this passage tells us that Stephen did great wonders and miraculous signs. 
• Well on earth who told him he could do that? He had been commissioned; it seemed, just to ‘wait on tables’.
• Yet here he is reproducing what the Apostles were doing.
• The Apostles had not simply passed on a system of Christianity; they had passed on its Spirit; a far more powerful and world changing commodity!
• I have had to stop here because I’ve spend an hour reading some ancient Jewish texts that prophecy how the Messiah will change the customs of Moses [the Torah] without actually changing it. The things I have read are so fascinating that i cannot concentrate on anything else but the things running through my mind are not concise enough to write in my journal yet.
• I am fascinated by how there were expectations within Judaism of a New Torah latent within the existing one. Plus how the messiah would reveal this ‘latent’ [my word] Torah. It is organic.
• To summarise – the devil attacks Stephen by accusing him of saying that Jesus will change the customs that Moses handed down to them. Although in Spirit this is untrue there is a grain of truth in what they say.
• Beyond spending a lot more time looking into the background material I have read today, I need to pray for awareness of how the enemy will plot against me.
• He takes small grains of truth and then completely twists their details.
• The devil is indeed in the detail – his title does not mean ‘the tempter’ but ‘the accuser’. This is his primary tactic – and to defend myself and others I need to know the Word of God more completely.

24th August 2010

Acts 6:1-7 - The Choosing of the Seven.

• “Dealing Decent Delegation”.
• Passing on your authority is an important skill required by leaders.
• Delegation is not abdication.
• Here the Apostles begin to pass on the authority they have received from Jesus.
• Here are my tips for Biblical delegation based on this passage:
• v1 - The necessity for delegation is a product of & should produce growth
• v2 - Communicate to the whole! Not just to those you delegate to.
• v3 - Release into something of obvious value to all.
• v4 - Know what only you can do & do that as your primary responsibility.
• v5 - Your decision needs to appeal to the main influencers
• v7 - It should lead to new fruit. Give whole tasks - so people can look at something & feel as though they’ve accomplished something
• v8 - Once you delegate do not box in - they may grow ‘bigger’ than you, more popular. Watch your insecurities. Set parameters.
• Remember: a barrier to delegation the need to be needed
• Praying today that I will continue to grow in this area and for my leaders to do the same.

23rd August 2010

Acts 5:17-42 – The Apostles persecuted.

• “Insecurity makes our decisions insecure”
• Here again we see how information we receive is significantly affected by the motive of our heart
• Firstly the Sadducees who during the reign of King Agrippa held all but three of the positions in the Sanhedrin were jealous.
• What was happening did not fit either their theology or they politics.
• This message the Apostles were speaking about promoted the resurrection – something the Sadducees did not believe in.
• The message promoted a new King; something that would threaten their cozy relationship with the Romans.
• On the other hand was Gamaliel.
• Rabban Gamaliel the Elder had huge credibility.
• He was the first to receive the title Rabban instead of Rabbi meaning ‘my master, my great one’. Rabban means ‘our master, our great one.'
• He was the grandson of Hillel [some of who’s 7 laws of exegesis Jesus used].
• It was said of Gamaliel by his peers that; When Rabban Gamaliel the elder died, the glory of the Torah came to an end; and purity and holiness came to an end. [Misha Sotah 9:15].
• Gamaliel whose heart was less motivated by politics and perhaps less cluttered by the need to his protect theological viewpoint; was much more secure.
• He tells all that if this is not of God it will go away; if it is of God it is best not to fight it.
• Fighting this movement would mean fighting God.
• How many leaders have found themselves in a juxtaposition with the Holy Spirit because of their own insecurities. Scared they may be wrong, they therefore are not able to trust God to fight His own battles.
• My insecurity means I will make poor decisions about the things that happen around me and I will be unable to stand upon them for long.
• As a leader of myself and others I need to pray today for a security in God that allows me to make right choices.

Conference Break

I will be speaking at a Conference for The Pais Project in San Antonio and therefore will not update this blog for two weeks.

7th August 2010

Acts 5:12-16 – The Apostles heal many.

• “Three Theme Summary”.
• Three themes that I have been reminded of often in my devotions are in this short passage.
• Firstly; God is God.
• He does respond to human need the way we would. In past devotions I saw how on several occasions He ignored the manners and customs of the days and got straight to the real issue.
• Here again there is an element of this.
• Our response to the need to reach people is to make things as easy as possible. Entertainment and relevance is high on our list. We sometimes bend our message just a little towards people. Yet here we find people were terrified of what was going on. And yet, on God’s terms not theirs, they bent the knee. This ancient method of God’s to grow a church produced a people who would become a worldwide missionary movement.
• What kind of people will our modern church growth programs produce?
• Secondly; God connects initially with our ignorance.
• The people brought their sick hoping that the Apostles shadow would fall on them and they would be healed. We might see that as magic or superstition. Yet throughout my devotions and I finding out how God meets us where we are in our understanding.
• Once connecting with us in our ignorance; He then draws us towards a better understanding of who He is and how He really wishes to operate in our lives.
• We see this with His condoning of sacrifices and the shedding of blood for the remittance of sins and Jesus’ healing with saliva.
• Thirdly; God rarely initiates healing.
• I discovered this a long time ago and have had it confirmed time and again as I do my devotions each day. It is the people who bring their sick and dying to the Apostles. Their faith is demonstrated in their creative ways to get their loved ones to God.
• Their actions are followed by their belief. Like Bartimaeus and the woman with the issue of blood with Jesus, these people were convinced and were pro-active otherwise Jesus would have just walked passed them.
• He draws near to us as we draw near to Him.
• Three summaries and three lessons for those on God’s mission not their own.
• Today I will pray to be constantly reminded of His ways.

5th August 2010

Acts 5:1-11 – Ananias and Sapphira.

• "Appearances are deceptive"
• And those on a mission must choose what they pass on.
• Here a married couple are punished not because they kept some of the money, what they gave was very generous. They were punished because of their motive. Their motive for giving was to make a good impression rather than the more important authentic reasons that are required when giving to God.
• This story is quite shocking.
• But why?
• The reality is that the Bible is full of people being punished [and rewarded] for their actions. So why does this appear to be a little more outrageous than most other stories?
• I think it is because of timing.
• Normally God’s punishments and rewards are delayed. What is a little surprising here is God’s instant chastisement. Why does God react so quickly?
• Because appearances are deceptive.
• The church had just been born and if the couple had appeared to have gotten away with this then it could have led the Church into sin. Galatians teaches us; “God cannot be mocked, you reap what you sow”. Imagine that, a church where appearances are more important than reality.
• Yet is that not what has happened over the years?
• Christianity has become a brand.
• Sometimes we have to make the choice between being a Christian and following Jesus.
• Being a Christian can mean going along with the things that the brand now stands for. Fitting in. It can lead, as in Ananias and Sapphira’s case, to us doing things for appearance sake rather than with a spirit of authenticity.
• Follow Jesus is impossible without being real.
• Following Jesus costs us but being a Christian does not.
• It’s a difficult choice.

4th August 2010

Acts 4:32-36 – The believer’s share their possessions.

• "A cheeky question to ask yourself"
• The believer’s prayer reflects back on them.
• They take action and begin to implement on earth what they believe will be a taste of the Kingdom.
• Barnabas means Bar – son of and nabbas can mean prophet – one who speaks God’s words of council, encouragement etc.
• Here Barnabas demonstrates what real encouragement is… action.
• We have often diluted it down to words. Encouragement has come to meant someone who simply verbally affirms but real encouragement is about actions.
• Barnabas encourages the church by selling some land and donating it to God’s work.
• The writer is setting up tomorrow’s passage – the conflict between following Jesus and Christianity.
• Which one will I choose?

The Dinner Party

A conversation about my book 'The Line and the Dot"

3rd August 2010

Acts 4:23-31 – The believer’s prayer.

• "Deeper Understanding = Deeper Courage"
• Like all good prayers this one is built on God’s Word.
• Their passion comes from a deep understanding of Psalm 2
• Although the P’shat refers to David they invoke Remez realizing that in fact the whole of Psalm 2 is a Messianic prophecy.
• Their understanding of this helps them to see that although everything seems to be going wrong, under the surface God’s plan is still being worked out.
• Invoking Remez means that they also understand that the whole of Psalm 2 applies to their situation. Including, for instance, verse 8 that speaks of a global move towards God.
• To be forewarned is to be forearmed!
• The more I understand the deeper levels of scripture, the more hope I will have and the desire to ask for courage and to be filled with the Spirit again and again.
• The believer’s drashing of Psalm 2 helps them draw on a depth of strength that those who only read scripture on a surface level do not have available to them.
• This sod, this revelation of God’s plan inspires them to call upon His Spirit to fill them again and with this infilling they move a step further towards to fulfilling of verse 8 of Psalm 22.
• A deeper understanding of scripture helps us fulfill its promises.
• I’ll pray today for a greater commitment to deeper study of God’s word for me and for those who want to ask of God, and see Him make the nations their inheritance, the ends of the earth their possession.

2nd August 2010

Acts 4:1-22 – Peter and John before the Sanhedrin.

• "An impersonal life leads to an impervious heart"
• A classic story of a group with control issues stifling a move of God.
• The Sadducees were God’s main enemy – more so than the Pharisees. They rarely supported Jesus whilst some members of the Pharisees did.
1. They did not believe in the resurrection.
2. They were from the Jewish aristocracy and looked down on anyone who did not have the same training as them.
3. They did not believe in a personal Messiah but instead they believed in a messianic age that they had to preserve.
• It is this third fact that I believe gives us the greatest insight into those with real control and power issues – everything was very impersonal with them.
• Those with control issues that I have noticed often lack relationship – real authentic relationship.
• Many are socially awkward.
• This is what the Jewish historian Josephus said of the Sadducees;
• The Sadducees one towards another is in some degree wild, and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them.Josephus says they did not emphasize God’s interest in man’s decisions.

• Being impersonal led them to be impervious.
• They could not see God’s move because they could not see people for who they truly were. They were full of doubt and distrust.
• As a leader I must be careful to make sure that I practice authentic relationship.
• It is when I lose sight of relationship that I lose sight of the thing that grounds my religion.
• I must regularly practice forgiveness, honesty, kindness, gentleness etc.
• Are we in danger of impersonal leaders that lead to impervious hearts?