Scripture
And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.” Acts 10:4-6

Observation
Why did Peter need a squad car to persuade him to preach at Cornelius’ house? The men that the commander sent that day to fetch Peter were very likely military and Roman. Their shadow in the doorway would have been foreboding. Peter would have felt the pressure.

Why did it take that much persuasion? Why did God use an angel to get Peter out of bed? It had worked for him when Peter was snoring in prison. Why didn’t God add a little more to the vision? A dream worked for Paul to go to Macedonia why not to get Peter to walk down the road to Caeserea?

Peter needed persuasion because God was about to do something that was out of his field of vision. Peter was a Jew pickled in the brine of pharisaism. He had never walked into the home of a non-Jew before. He had never touched bacon. He did everything his mother told him since he was a boy. God, however, was about to move the boundary markers of his life. What had been off limits was now going to become commonplace in his ministry. He would need persuasion to do something he had not done before.

Application
When God intends to do something new in our lives we should not be surprised when he does something to shake up our world view. If something comes to pass that is out of the ordinary that shakes up our perspective we should not be in a rush to return to normalcy. Surprising events could very well be an indication of fresh footsteps of the Lord.

Prayer
Father, when the unexpected comes knocking at my door, let me be discerning but not suspicious. Help me to follow without reluctance. Amen.

Postponed! All decisions postponed!

Scripture

They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Acts 15:39-41

Observation

The church is a family and not a business. Bonds are close so when decisions are made in church life we tip toe through exposed nerves. We should be considerate.

When the tough calls come here’s the question: should we go with the heart or the head?

Barnabas went heart first. He thought of his home state and his cousin first before the mission of the church. In time Barnabas’ choice proved to be right. Cyprus was won to Christ. Johnny Mark matured into Mark the author of a Bible book. Heart decisions work.

Paul went head first. He thought of the corporate mission left by Jesus to go into all the world. He was not willing to jeopardize that for one immature young man or to stay cooped up on an island in the ocean. So he chose a seasoned veteran to journey with him and went where no apostle had gone before. In time Paul was proven to be correct. Before his life was over the gospel had made it to Gibraltar and back. Head decisions work too.

The accent of this story is on Paul and his bold decision to move ahead head first. There are times when the family bonds of church life must be bruised as we move forward with the gospel.

Paul’s home church didn’t criticize him for it, they prayed for him. What a healthy response!

When we sit on the outside of a business meeting or on the edge of a large organization, leaders can make choices that cause tongues to wag. Often it is because we who live on the edges are thinking emotionally and personally rather than strategically.

Leaders, like the captain of a ship, sit in the helm where all things are visible from the boiler room to the horizon. There are many things to be considered. When leaders make choices they cannot afford to be enslaved by one particular need. All things must be considered. So the church prayed, as we should as well.

Application

Are the decisions that I make about life direction based on serving a small, narrow view of life attached to deep feelings of love or am I sitting in the control tower with the Lord seeing life from his point of view? Sometimes we must navigate misunderstanding to move forward into what the Lord has for us.

Prayer

Father, I like to make people happy, but I need even more today to please you. Help me to see your direction.

Listen to worship music while you read today’s entry.

Hillsong London Jesus is Above All

Scripture
“I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Observation
Though the Gospels fill pages of dialog, the four books come down to just a few sentences that Jesus spoke. Jesus spoke sentences so expansive that they can swallow up every plan I have for the next 40 years. These sentences are far longer and wider than the keystrokes that record them. These sentences move much further than the voice that speaks them. These sentences can over take our whole lives if we let them.

This last sentence of Jesus is his bottom line.

It’s so simple: disciples… baptize… teach… everywhere.

Application
This sentence is personal because it means the faces of people we know whose lives are changed by Christ. It is far reaching as it covers places I’ve never gone to yet. It is enormous because it would take the life times of many to fulfill. But once you have seen someone come to Christ, the joy of baptism, the wonderful change of character that a godly lifestyle brings you couldn’t do anything less.

These simple sentences of Jesus are so different from what surrounds us. Life is so complex, but Jesus makes it simple. I must lose my life in these last words of Jesus.

Prayer

Father, today, I renew my covenant to be faithful to the call of the gospel and to communicating that well. I see that what really matters are these simple sentences. Help me to lose my life in these as thoroughly as you would like me to do. I ask this for the sake of Jesus. Amen.