Mandeville Church

Same Verse, Same as the First

Jun 222010

Fred's Cow

Have you ever heard that horrid camp song that goes like this:

A cow kicked Fred in the head in the barn.
The doctor said it would do him no harm.
Next verse,
Same as the first.
A little bit louder and a little bit worse!

And so the kids repeat the verse, louder and more belligerently, until their voices reach such a terrible cacophony they cannot stand it any longer. I usually got tired of the song well before most of the others.

Paul’s life seemed to be going like this. First it was Felix in Acts 24. Felix tried him, then left him to rot in prison for two years. Felix wasn’t interested in justice; he was interested in pleasing the Jews (Acts 24:27) and possibly getting a bribe from Paul (Acts 24:26). As soon as Festus replaced Felix as governor of Caesarea, the Jews again brought the same old unsubstantiated charges against Paul (Acts 25:1-3). Paul was brought to trial again, had to defend himself again, and ended up appealing to Caesar (Acts 25:11). This was similar to our appealing to the Supreme Court. Paul would have to go all the way to Rome to be tried, but he was a Roman citizen and, therefore, had the right to due process.

Before the King

And it wasn’t over yet. King Agrippa came through and also sought to hear Paul’s case (Acts 25:22). So Paul ended up giving his defense before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa before he was shipped off to Rome. Jesus had said Paul would “be a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

In every case, Paul said practically the same things. (1) He was not guilty and the Jews had no evidence against him. (2) The real reason why he was in prison was because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Paul took every opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus. It didn’t matter that his life hung in the balance. It didn’t matter that kings and governors were looking down their pompous noses at him. He preached the gospel!

We should sing the same verse. Again and again. The gospel does not change, and it is for every man and woman on God’s green earth. Take every opportunity. Carpe diem! When should I talk about the gospel? Now. Where should I talk about the gospel? Here. When should I obey the gospel? Today.

We must spread the word of Christ’s resurrection, His Lordship, His sovereignty, His majesty. With whom will I have opportunity to share it today?

God bless,
Nathan

Surprised by Salvation

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Mar 052010

Surprise from Above

We love the stories of men and women in impossible situations, near death, saved in the last hour. We should really love the Bible, then, because it’s full of those kinds of stories! We should really love the Lord, then, because He’s the One who saves.

Peter, I’m sure, loved the Lord greatly after an angel broke him out of prison. The event, recorded in Acts 12, seems surreal at first. An angel appeared suddenly in the prison cell with Peter, and Peter’s chains simply fall off. The angel struck Peter in the side and said, “Get up quickly!” There was no, “Hi, Peter, I’m an angel sent by the Lord to break you out of here…now here’s the plan…” Peter, thinking it was all a dream, quickly dressed and followed the angel past two sets of guards. The prison gates swung open without a touch. And Peter was free – just like that! It was only after he was standing a

lone in the street outside the prison that Peter realized, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting” (Acts 12:11).

Peter was surprised by the Lord’s salvation. He wasn’t even expecting it, or at least he never expected to be saved in such an exotic manner!

Peter wasn’t the only one surprised. A bunch of disciples had been praying together in the home of Mary, mother of John Mark. Peter found them there praying, but they wouldn’t believe it was really Peter standing outside their gate. They were surprised by the Lord’s salvation, even though they had been fervently praying for it.

Grace in Amazing Places

We might ask if we really should be surprised when the Lord acts in marvelous ways to save us from various afflictions. Do we demonstrate a lack of faith? We can see from this event in Peter’s life that, although we ask the Lord to intervene and help, we just don’t always know HOW God will work (or even IF He will choose to work) for us. God surprises us all the time because He works outside our little worldview. He does many things we wouldn’t expect. Who would have expected God to sacrifice His own Son to deliver us from the worst possible situation – eternal damnation? Someone coined the phrase: “Surprised by Grace.” We can’t help but be overwhelmed when God acts.

It is so comforting to realize that God works for His children! Like Peter, it’s often AFTER God has brought us through some grave situation that we can look back on the path we took and see His salvation at work. While we walk the road of affliction, we simply trust. After God delivers, we pour out our thanksgiving! Praise be to our awesome God who loves us and gave Himself for us.

Praise the Lord today,
Nathan

Reverse Challenge: Christ, Son of David (Mark 12:35-37)

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Oct 142009

A Good Question

The Jewish leaders had all tried their hand at stumping Jesus. They had succeeded in making themselves look like fools in front of the people. Now Jesus turned the tables; it was His turn to challenge them.

“How is the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?” Jesus asked (Mark 12:35). He pointed to a prophecy from the pen of King David which states, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” (Mark 12:36).

David called the future Christ “Lord.” He was writing about one of his own descendants. Usually, the father is considered greater than the son or grandson simply because of his place in history, but here David recognized his progeny as “my Lord.” Jesus wanted to know why.

I wonder why this was so difficult for the Jewish leaders to answer. It must be because they didn’t WANT to answer it. Jesus was claiming to be the Christ (the anointed one). By quoting this Scripture, He claimed to be greater than King David! Any honest Jew would have bowed to Jesus when he recognized this.

The crowds enjoyed listening to Him (Mark 12:37). Why? Because of His wit and wisdom? Because He stumped their political and religious leaders? Jesus was a hero to the common people of His day, as He should be today. It is difficult for those in power to accept our Lord because He demands their obedience and worship. But to the common people, Jesus brings new hope, release from bondage, and great power to overcome in difficult circumstances.

Let us enjoy listening to our Lord, the Christ, the Son of David!

God bless,
Nathan

Authority of Jesus Christ

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Jul 062009

"the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5)

A lesson we should not miss from Mark 1 concerns the authority of this Man.

Mark began by claiming Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Mark 1:1).
John’s preaching was all about Jesus. As great as John was, Jesus would be much greater (Mark 1:7-8).
A voice from heaven (the Father) testified: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased” (Mark 1:11).
When Jesus said, “Follow me,” Simon, Andrew, James and John immediately followed (Mark 1:16-20).
When Jesus taught “they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22).
They were amazed when Jesus had authority over the demons. They said, “A new teaching with authority!” (Mark 1:27).
Jesus had authority over Simon’s mother-in-law’s fever (Mark 1:31).
Jesus commanded the demons not to speak about Him, thus proving His authority over them (Mark 1:34).
Jesus exercised authority over a man’s leprosy, completely cleansing his body (Mark 1:40-44).

And what shall we say about all this authority? After reading the first chapter of Mark, we are stunned, awed, amazed at the presence, power, and teaching of this Man. What shall we do when confronted with this Jesus of Nazareth? We have one of two choices. 1) We can refuse to believe and turn our backs on Him. 2) We can submit to the authority He so obviously has over all things!

God bless,
Nathan

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Same Verse, Same as the First

Surprised by Salvation

Reverse Challenge: Christ, Son of David (Mark 12:35-37)

Authority of Jesus Christ

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