Job Update and an old lesson

So, my last day in the Navy was the 20th.  That also means that the last day of my paycheck was the 20th as well.  God wanted to wait until the last minute to come through for us.  God, in his infinite awesomeness, changed the minds of the company that I interviewed for and they offered me the job.  It is amazing that God took a pretty resounding "no" and made it a "yes."  I am supposed to start on October 3 and it should be pretty exciting.

I'm going to paste something that I wrote while I was on deployment a few months ago.  I like it and it's a bit in your face, but it'll be fine.  Remember, I'm not crazy, Jesus is :D.

6/26/2011; Acts 28

I just happened upon this chapter today. I don’t believe that it was happenstance, though. It talks about Paul’s journey to Rome while being held prisoner. He escapes the shipwreck and is safely on an island called Malta. Paul has already been delivered from death earlier, but now, while gathering fire wood, he is bitten by a viper. I’m not sure what kind of snake it is exactly, but apparently the locals thought that he was going to die. It’s funny because, according to the scripture, Paul doesn’t even give it a second thought. He just sits there and continues on and nothing happens. I guess if you believe that you have a purpose for God and you’re in danger, maybe there is nothing to fear. If God has something for you to do, He is going to ensure you do it. Beware, though, maybe that something that He wants you to do is die for His cause, but as Paul said “Death where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”.

What is there to fear when you are in God’s will? The worst thing that can happen to you is that you die and get to go see Jesus! Do I fear losing my ability to financially support my family? If I lose that ability doing what God wants me to do, then I am storing up treasures in heaven. Some may say “you’re being a bad husband and father. You need to ensure your family’s safety and basic needs.” I say to them, Jesus told me that he knows each bird that falls from the sky and he provides food for them and he provides “clothing” for the flowers. If he cares enough about those things, then why should I worry about how I’m going to provide for my family? He cares enough and, trust me, he has enough resources to provide for my family. Should he choose not to provide for my family, I’m sure it is for HIS ultimate glory and in the end, my family and I will profit greatly by being his example. I will continue by saying to them that Jesus said that my closest relationships should seem like hate compared to my love for Him. That way, if you say to me “you must not love your wife, daughter, or son because they are near starving and you’re wasting your time helping others.” I can say that I have done exactly as Jesus directed and I can say that “I count it all joy to suffer to Christ.”

The real question is do I have the cohunes to follow through with all of this? Sadly, I fear I do not yet. I use my wife and daughter as an excuse. I don’t want to be too radical for her sake, but I also know that I am using that as nothing more than an excuse. I know that she would follow me through anything. It amazes me how much she and I have changed over the last two years or so, especially her. She is willing to part with large amounts of money for others. She has agreed to move to an area that neither of us has ever lived in or ever desired to live in. We do not have a house to move into when we move. I do not have a job, neither does she. We are kind of living in an unknown right now and she’s doing great! I thank God every day for giving her to me, even though we were completely away from God when we met. God is good! He brought us together to bring each other closer to Him. She has supported me through thick and thin. I’ve put her through so much and she’s stuck with me. God knows what He is doing.

The next part of the chapter talks about Paul’s journey from Malta to Rome. He stops at an island named Puteoli. Here they run across believers. It seems as though Paul had no idea that there were believers here, but here they were. This is awesome to me because we see that the gospel spreads farther than we even know. Notice that it seems that each “church” is just a group of people who have come together, not because they are supposed to, or because it’s the “next step after you become a Christian”, but because once you’re in a family, you want to be a part of that family. The family provides support and protection. Notice how they see Paul and they do not offer to put him up in a hotel or a nice place for a few days. No, they invite him to stay with them. Early Christian homes were not what they are now. They were where church took place. They were where traveling messengers stayed. They were the center of the church. I think that we would be better of if we got back to the home. We do not need an extra building for classes and stuff, we can have Sunday school at home.

I also like this chapter because it shows how Paul’s travels went. He suffered delays just like we do. He was stuck in Malta for three months and even though the Book doesn’t tell us what he did, I’m sure we can say that he spent the time teaching and preaching. Paul did not waste his time there, neither should we. Every moment and opportunity should be seized.

　

Now, I’m going to talk about his meeting with the Roman Jews. First off, Roman Jews? Doesn’t that seem strange to you? It does to me. So, he arranges a meeting with them to explain why he has been sent here from Jerusalem. The Jews in Rome had no idea that he was coming, but they do know about Christianity and says that “concerning this sect, we are aware that it is spoken against everywhere.” Doesn’t that sound familiar to today’s Christianity? It has been so watered down and institutionalized that everyone dislikes it. Almost every other religion in this day and age is accepted except for Christianity. Sure, we “dominate” America’s religion, but by dominating, we have disgusted the masses, anyway… Paul sits down with them and explains, get this, not salvation and heaven and hell and how to get to one and escape the other, but he tells them about the Kingdom of God. As I read the New Testament, it seems as though the Kingdom of God is what everyone cares about. The Kingdom of God is a ridiculously huge topic and I claim to know next to nothing about it, but Christianity is not all about getting saved, going to church, and getting to heaven. If you look at verse 24 & 25, the Jews are starting to believe but then Paul basically gives them an invitation to leave. He tells them what Isaiah says in Is 6:9-10. He tells them that they will not hear or see what this new “sect” is all about because their hearts are hardened. Then he goes for the knock-out punch and says that the Gentiles will listen. So now he is saying that the Jews will not listen, but the Gentiles (the unchosen ones) will listen and received. This of course angers them and they leave. I guess Paul, just like Jesus, feels like there is no room in Christianity for half-hearted devotion to Jesus’ teachings.

Here comes the last part, a part that I find interesting. Paul ends up in Rome with his own place for two years. For two years, Paul hangs out in Rome, maybe he worked, maybe he didn’t, but he was there in a house living. He had neighbors, friends, possibly co-workers. I can say that everyone knew that he was a Christian, because he welcomed all who visited him and proclaimed the Kingdom of God with FULL BOLDNESS without hindrance. This is kind of a wake-up call for me because I have friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Have I told any of them about the Kingdom of God? No, not really. I can definitely say that I am not proclaiming the Kingdom of God with full boldness without hindrance. I am working on this aspect of my life, but its hard when people tell you you’re crazy for wanting to do this or that. I will, hopefully, one day be able to live with being the crazy guy. I tell myself that I am now, but I know I am not. God, grant me the ability to publicly be the crazy guy.

As I said before, I stumbled upon this chapter, but I’ve found some awesome pieces of information in there. Not too long ago, I walked through Rome and Pompeii. All I could think about was that Paul lived here somewhere. Where did he live? He walked these same streets proclaiming the Kingdom. I was in a place that had a thriving Christian underground. The Christians in Rome eventually became tortured and murdered. They were on fire and now I look around and see Christian monuments built to honor a religion, a man, a God, who preferred to have nothing and preferred his followers to have nothing to their names except Him. I saw the Vatican and was awed and appalled at the same time. I saw the Coliseum and was saddened by the persecution and martyring that went on there. I couldn’t get the early church out of my head while I was there, and I wanted to know what they would think about Rome now.

As I walked through Pompeii I wondered if any Christians were living there when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. I wonder if there was a Christian underground there as well. The city worshipped the god Eros, the God of fertility (if I remember correctly). It was definitely not a Christian friendly environment, but it gave me a great perspective on how cities looked back in the early Church’s day. I got a somewhat decent idea of what things were like and what it must have felt to be around back then. I pray that God can give the church and us and individuals the fire to begin to proclaim the Kingdom again. I pray that I will be bold.