Reading Acts

Through a series of e-mails and links, I came across this Bible reading plan:

The Change Your Mind Plan - This plan is very simple: “1. Choose a book of the Bible. 2. Read it in its entirety. 3. Repeat step #2 twenty times. 4. Repeat this process for all books of the Bible.”

The author suggested starting with the smaller books and working up to the larger ones.

I decided that since my pastor is going to preach through Acts, I would start with Acts. BTW: Acts is NOT one of the smaller ones!

My goal was to read seven chapters a day, which would allow me to finish the book every 4 days.

A holiday with little to do and an audio Bible at the treadmill later...and I've gone through the book twice already.

Eighteen more to go!

Some observations:

1. There are a lot of courtroom scenes in Acts. I've noticed this because I had a discussion this week with our associate pastor about 1 Cor 6. The courtroom scenes in Acts are believers being taken to court for preaching the Gospel, which is not the case in 1 Cor 6. But when the believers went to court in Acts, the Gospel was presented, Christ was magnified and the believers were pleased to suffer for the Gospel.

2. The spread of the Gospel will not be hindered. The believers suffered persecution, ridicule and death. But God's plan of spreading the message of salvation through the cross of Christ was not hindered.

3. The believers took a variety of opportunities to share the Gospel. They were 1st century humans, so I suppose they missed many opportunities like 21st century humans. But it is interesting and encouraging to see the various places where the believers evangelized, as well as the variety of people who listened.

Looking forward to learning more from Acts in the next weeks.

Do you want to join me?

You Harvest what you Plant - Part 2

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal 6:7-8).

The principle of sowing and reaping is evident at this time of the year. Farmers who planted soybeans are harvesting soybeans. And in the fields where they planted corn, they are harvesting corn.

In the last post, we considered sowing to the flesh that leads to corruption.

The end of verse 8 states, "...the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

Just as feeding our minds and filling our time with satisfying our passions will lead to disappointment and destruction, feeding our minds and filling our time with godly pursuits will lead to spiritual blessings.

So what does that look like?

1. Reading the Bible

The only source for knowing God is through reading the Bible. Oodles of methods are out there. Just do it. The more time and energy you invest, the more you will reap. It's not a matter of knowing more about the Bible; it's a matter of knowing God through the Bible.

2. Prayer

Prayer is our communication with God. Praise, thanksgiving, requests, fellowship - all those are part of prayer. The more time we spend in prayer, the more we are investing in our spiritual lives.

3. Community

God did not call us to be Lone Ranger Christians. He called the people of Israel. He called the church. He instituted the local church. He calls for believers to be involved in a local community to help them to grow and to help others to grow.

4. Service

When we are living to satisfy our passions, we are living for ourselves. God calls us to live for others. Through a life of service, we should be investing the spiritual lives of others, and reaping spiritual benefits for ourselves.

5. Suffering

No one wants to suffer, but that's the way life is. Life's tough. Get used to it. But the way we suffer will help us to grow spiritually. We will learn dependence on God. We will learn to help others when they suffer.

6. Anticipation

We have a bright future. Not when we graduate from school. Not when we get married and have kids. not when we retire. Those are all pretty paltry in comparison to the future that awaits us in glory at the right hand. We should be living in anticipation of our resurrection, being united with Christ for all of eternity at the right hand of God.

You might add more to the list.

While making a list is a good exercise, practicing those things is what will bring the fruit.

A farmer may know all that he needs to know. But if he doesn't go to the trouble of preparing the soil and planting the seed, there will be no harvest.

Careful! It could change you!

Josiah, the grandson of Judah's most wicked king, Manasseh, for some reason initiated a reconstruction project for the dilapidated temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22-23).

In the middle of the project, the workers discovered an old scroll, which was brought to the king and read to him.

Upon hearing the words of this scroll, Josiah, tore his clothes and put on sackcloth.

He then begins a reformation in the land. The people of Jerusalem, from the most powerful to the most common, gathered before the king as he read this scroll out loud.

The king destroys the signs of idolatry that were throughout the land. Many right in the temple and the palace. Some that had stood for centuries.

Idols which Solomon had built.

The altars to the golden calf which Jeroboam had built in Bethel.

The places where the people had been sacrificing their children.

Bones were dug up, cremated and strewn across these idolatrous places to desecrate them.

The sorcerers were cast out of the land.

Josiah cleaned up the land - and it was pretty dirty!

All because of what he read in an old scroll.

The scroll?

The Book of the Law. The Torah. The five books of Moses.

It was that scroll, the Word of God, that changed Josiah and motivated him to do what is right.

No other book has that power to change a nation.

No other book has that power to change my life.

So be careful when you pick up your Bible to study it.

It might change your life.