The Incongruent Believer

For me the events chronicled in Acts 9:3-22 are the  most amazing in the New Testament and the most significant for people today. A young man who first came to light as complicit in the stoning of Stephen and who fostered and acted upon a murderous loathing for the followers of Jesus. A young man who we know was an educated Jew destined for greatness and with all the privileges that came with being a Roman citizen. A young man who gave all that up and became one of the most important figures in the Christian Church because of a brief encounter whilst on his way to Damascus to act out his murderous intent. That young man was Saul, later to be known as Paul, and his encounter was with the risen Christ. What greater testament is there to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God than that of Paul? What more unlikely conversion is there than that of this man, it would be like Adolf Hitler himself suddenly ceasing his persecution and systematic murder of the. Jews and converting to Judaism...

  When reading Stephen's speech in Acts 6 and he speaks of God appearing to Moses in the burning bush I am struck by what God say's, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob." Why, because isn't this something we continue to hear from God? Maybe not in a burning bush, but in the miracle of life, the beauty of nature, in times when we are ecstatically happy, and in times when we are unfathomably sad. God, the God of our fathers, the God of the ancient patriarchs, everyone's God, who is not owned by the Jew's, the Christians, the Muslims, or any other of the religions or sects, or denominations that human's have created, God, the God of all humanity, who created all things, and sustains all things by his will, the triune God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The One, The True God, indivisible, all powerful and all knowing, the Great I Am. This is what he is saying, this is what he is affirming, yet so many of us do not ...

If one wants to witness the transforming power of the Holy Spirit one has to look no further than Acts 4 where Peter and John are brought before the Council of Elders in Jerusalem and Peter embarks on an oratory, quite out of character for that gruff yet humble fisherman, indeed the council are astonished on the boldness of these “uneducated, common men.” Peter even uses the words of Jesus who is shown in three of the gospels quoting Psalm 118:22 about himself, against the Council calling them the “the builders” who have rejected Jesus, “the cornerstone” in accusations directed at them. The power of the Holy Spirit has been evidenced countless times since then transforming ordinary folk like you and I into powerful Christians whom God can use in his work on this earth, but only when we let Him, the Spirit in. So I say, “come, Holy Spirit, come, with your transforming power transform me into something useful for God and his work upon this earth.”

Sometimes my musings are a knee-jerk reaction to something I read, other times they take a while to mature, often developing while I am doing some mundane, repetitive task that gives my brain time to wander and reflect. This weekends mundane task was painting the garden fence and whilst doing this I was reflecting on John 18, in particular verse 6. Judas had got together a posse of soldiers, officials, priests and Pharisees to come and arrest Jesus in the garden who when they ask for Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus replies that it is him, "drew back and fell to the ground." So this band of individuals who were "carrying torches, lanterns and weapons" are assaulted when confronted by the words of Jesus. I had been reflecting on this for a day or so asking myself why did they react like this and it came to me, it was the power of the truth. Quite often when I come to a conclusion like this a song comes to mind, music as always paid a huge part in my life and my head is fu...

Jesus often seems to me to be quite wordy, especially when talking to his father in John 17. When I read this recently I asked myself "why" as I struggled reading and absorbing the sheer amount of words he was using. After all doesn't he say in Matthew 6:7 "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." Shouldn't he 'practice what he preaches?' After meditating on this for a while as my brain covered from John 17 I realised what he was doing, he was using all those words for the benefit of his disciples, so that they  would hear his words and remember, after all he and the Father are one, so the Father already knows what he is thinking, let alone saying. It also brought me on to some of the drama that goes on when he performs a miracle, such as the healing of the man born blind in John 9, when he spits and makes mud to put on the mans eyes. I believe that this poultice of saliva...