“But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
~ Acts 8:3
Hi James and Ellen,
Do guys and gals sometimes confuse you by what they say and then what they do? Does your dad and/or ma always do what he, she or they say? Do your friends know you by your words or by your actions? Saul was first known by his actions. Doctor Luke tells his buddy Theophilus in Acts 8 in the letter that he sent to him – in verse 3, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” While Saul was jailing and probably killing Christ-follower guys and gals, Philip went to a city in Samaria where he preached about Jesus Christ. Saul’s desire was to completely eradicate all the guys and gals in emerging Christ-follower fellowships while Philip’s desire was to do whatever he could do to add guys and gals to emerging Christ-follower fellowships. Saul used brutality over 1950 years ago to try to shake the resolve of guys and gals who were new Christ-followers. Philip used miraculous signs over 1950 years ago to heal crippled guys, gals and kids who were new Christ-followers. Do you think that guys, gals and kids who were new Christ-followers ran away from Saul out of fear? Do you think that guys, gals and kids who were new Christ-followers ran to Philip with hope? When Jesus’ disciples – who had remained in the city of Jerusalem after Jesus arose into heaven where He is now advocating for the guys, gals and kids Who God – as God the Father, adopted before planet Earth was created and after Saul began his murderous eradication of the guys, gals and kids who had made a decision of faith to become Christ-followers, received word of a friend who was an evangelist – whose name was Philip, having an incredible response from guys, gals and kids accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they sent Peter and John to where Philip was evangelizing. When Peter and John arrived at where Philip was leading an emergent Christ-follower community of guys and gals and after they found out that the new Christ-follower guys and gals had not yet been baptized by the Holy Spirit, Peter and John laid hands on the new Christ-follower guys and gals for them to receive the Holy Spirit. When Peter and John – after they preached the Gospel in a number of villages in Samaria, returned to their compatriots who had remained in the city of Jerusalem, an angel told Philip to meet an Ethiopian eunuch. The Ethiopian eunuch was responsible for the treasury of Ethiopia’s queen – whose name was Candace. When the paths of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch crossed on the desert road that was between the city of Jerusalem and the city of Gaza, Philip found the Ethiopian eunuch reading a passage from the Isaiah Book that referred to a sheep that was going to be killed. After Philip explained to the Ethiopian eunuch that the sheep that was referred to in the passage in the Isaiah Book was Jesus Christ and that Jesus had died for him, the Ethiopian eunuch had Philip baptize him in a brook, spring, wadi or pool somewhere near the road leading from the city of Jerusalem to the city of Gaza.
Would you rather listen to a guy or gal who openly espouses killing guys, gals and kids who do not agree with his or her personal beliefs or would you rather follow a guy or gal who actively engages in helping guys, gals and kids? Your grandpaa wonders how a guy, gal or kid can say that he or she is a Christ-follower and then act in the same way as a guy, gal or kid acts who is not a Christ-follower. Because Saul was not a Christ-follower, Saul had no compunction with doing what he did to terrorize guy and gals who were Christ-followers. Because Phillip was a Christ-follower, Philip had no reluctance sharing his born again faith with guys, gals and kids who were not already Christ-followers. Your grandpaa cannot picture Saul doing anything else but to communicate through his actions a worldly based lifestyle of doing what was wrong and evil. Your grandpaa cannot picture Philip doing anything else but to communicate through his Holy Spirit based Christ-follower actions that would be a lifestyle of doing what is right and good. Can you picture a lifestyle that intertwines or meshes understood righteous living with perceived worldly living? When your grandmaa and grandpaa were with the September 2007 World Race squad – which is known as the D squad, in Nicaragua recently, your grandpaa was told by one of the guys on the D squad that he had not seen as much smoking and drinking than what he had seen during his ‘World Race’. Even though the D squad is probably the most disciplined, God-seeking squad so far to do a ‘World Race’ and even though a number of guys and gals on the D squad had been baptized by the Holy Spirit, these same guys and gals thought it cool to smoke, drink and dance. Your grandpaa found it very disconcerting one day to find a D squad leader and one of the gals from the D squad sitting at a table outside a café on a busy Granada, Nicaragua street drinking beers. The guy was also sitting at the table smoking a pipe. Because Christ-follower guys and gals who are living in Nicaragua frown on drinking beer believing it to be wrong to do, your grandpaa has no doubt that this good squad of guys and gals had their testimony tarnished. After their final celebration dinner, ten or so of the D squad guys and gals went searching for a bar where they could dance. Your grandpaa is having a really hard time wrapping his arms around why after spending eleven months of radical Christ-follower living in community – which involved praying together, studying scripture together and witnessing life changes together, that some of the guys and gals would want to end their time together by publicly being involved in activities that were understood to be worldly or non-Christ-follower-like.
To pull a Philip is the way to go – as this is what had Saul the killer become Paul the faithful Christ-follower.
Acts 8 (929)