How has God’s Word in the Acts of the Apostles pulled at you and your following of the Master?
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He has deeply planted the truth that all that happens in the world is under God’s purview. When you and I can live into this truth, we can find much freedom from the challenges and joys of life.
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I remember once, a person leaving church, pointing out how they were tired of all the sports analogies. I appreciate they can get tiresome.
Let’s consider a list: sport teams, choirs, symphonies, marching bands... What other groups can you think of where people offer their individual gifts/labors and add them to the larger group?
In addition to the above, I can think of most jobs, the military, and church! Yes, the church.
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What is the most elite group you have ever been a part of? Maybe you are having trouble remembering if you were ever part of such a group. Have you ever been a part of a group that had its own identity? Was it a good experience? Would you have “sold out” or “crossed over” to another gang or team? Today in Philippians, we read about a gang called the Imperial Guard. Are you thinking, “The Imperial Guard from Star Wars?” No, not those fellas who ran around in red outfits. Today, I am talking about a real gang who protected real Emperors. To put a point on the importance of this unit, emperors were not voted out of office—they were murdered.
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You all never see the raw starting point of each blog entry. Can I just tell you I have a great editor? She has two large tasks: help me not commit heresy, and sort out my grammar. It is easy to slip into heresy, but that is for another day. Today I want to tell you about my spiritual gift of creating new uses for commas, mixing past-present-future tenses, confusing masculine-feminine… the list goes on. My so-called excuse is that I am a math/science person. That is a poor excuse. Bad grammar at best confounds, and at worse confuses. If the goal is communication—compelling and clear communication—then correct composition is key. Why am I bringing this up? Yesterday we read that you and I had died. Today, us dead people are told to put to death certain things in our lives. Is there a grammatical issue with past and present tense?
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I expect most of us do not receive many personal letters these days. True for you? My daily mail is made up of flyers, bills, and catalogs. It was not always that way. Arrival of the daily mail used to create anticipation—perhaps we would receive news from a friend, or even a birthday card!
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