By Greg Laurie
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013
| Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.” | |
Wherever the apostle Paul went, something was happening. Usually it was either a conversion or a riot. But there seldom was a dull moment.
In Acts 14, we find Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, preaching to people who turned from worship to war. The Greek culture was filled with many gods. And there was a tradition in Lystra that the gods Zeus and Hermes once came to earth, incognito. When they arrived in Lystra, they asked for food and lodging, but everyone refused them. Finally, an old peasant took in these two gods, and all the inhospitable neighbors were drowned in a flood that was sent by the vengeful gods. The peasant and his wife were blessed by their gods, and their humble cottage was turned into a great temple. After their deaths, they were turned into two stately trees.
This was folklore, but the people believed it. So when Paul and Barnabas came along, and God was performing miracles through them, the people thought Zeus and Hermes had returned. So they began to worship them. But their worship turned to war: “Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe” (Acts 14:19–20).
G. Campbell Morgan said, “Organized Christianity that fails to make a disturbance is dead.” I think sometimes that instead of our turning the world upside down, the world is turning us upside down. Instead of us impacting our culture, our culture is impacting us. What we need more of today is a holy disturbance. And if we are not making a disturbance, then something isn’t right.
Related articles
- Acts 14…Growth and Persecution in Iconium (simplyjuliana.com)
- Kingdom first decisions part 2 (slideshare.net)
- Barnabas: The Son of Consolation (studyinthewordblog.wordpress.com)
About the author: Greg is a strong believer in Jesus Christ and is also a political analyst, author, and is the Editor-in-Chief for the National War Council. By day he is a self-employed non-emergency medical transport driver, as well as being an author and blogger. His articles are first published on Inspirational Christian Blogs, and I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ! His articles have been widely published on many well-known conservative websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so leaving all links intact and crediting the author and the website that the article appeared on.
Greg is the author of the newly released book: Spiritual Darkness is Destroying America and the Church
Categories: INSPIRATIONAL DEVOTIONS
After the Fall
“…sometimes…Instead of us impacting our culture, our culture is impacting us.” And here is a hard example of that for our day from the pen of Charles Spurgeon in his day:
As I understand the Word of God, I always rejoice to find a soldier a Christian, but I always mourn to find a Christian a soldier, for it seems to me that when I take up Christ Jesus, I hear one of His Laws, “I say unto you, resist not evil. Put up your sword into its sheath; he that takes the sword shall perish by the sword.” The followers of Christ in these days seem to me to have forgotten a great part of Christianity.
http://spurgeonwarquotes.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/christ-our-peace-2/
I am curious as to exactly what you mean by this.
I guess it’s high time that Church understands her calling.
Adoni (http://covenantnotes.wordpress.com/)
Indeed, thanks for stopping by!
G. Campbell Morgan’s words hold a lot of truth. There is very little difference today between the Church and the world. Maybe we can’t blame our governments for thinking that God/Christianity is no more relevant to society.
Christians should stand out as being different. The Light of Christ shining from within should cause people to “want what they have”.
Thanks for the challenge.
Amen. Thanks for the comment.