“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do” Acts 9:4-6.
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do” Acts 9:4-6.
What a conversion! The greatest enemy of the early church becomes its greatest advocate. How did it happen? The Holy Spirit had His way and the Master intervened in Saul’s life. And the disciple Paul went all over the then known world testifying about Jesus. Thousands were saved, churches were formed, and Paul’s writings speak to billions around the world even today.
The time was ripe for the message of Christ. Jews were sick of Roman occupation, sick of the Sadducees selling out to the oppressors, sick of the tyrant Herod. The Essenes had left the corrupt priesthood in Jerusalem to record scrolls by the Dead Sea. Meanwhile the Greco Roman world was sick of the panoply of gods they had invented – gods that envied and lied and lusted just like they did. There was hunger for something more and the message of salvation in Christ found a ready cultural ear.
I feel there are parallels to our own Western culture today. We are reaping the fruit of teaching the lies of evolution as fact. “Natural selection” teaches the survival of the fittest – but what of the weaker? It teaches the convolutions required to explain away the creation of the universe when the existence of God is denied. It teaches that we are an accident with no ultimate meaning to our lives – what is love or longing but an elemental reaction in an evolved brain? It is this kind of teaching that is responsible for more deaths in the 20th century than all historical tyrants put together. These answers are insufficient for the human soul – is there something more??
The Church often feels so impotent – it feels like the handcart going down the railroad track while the locomotive of the world thunders down the main line. This is when I ask:
-Is it true that the same God is sovereign over all things – the creator and sustainer of all things to whom at the last day all will give account?
-Is it true that Jesus Christ is the same Lord – eternal and one with the Father yet fully but sinless man – who provided atonement for sinners on the cross that whosoever will, may come?
-Is it true that the same Holy Spirit is omnipresent in the world, convicting of sin and pointing to Christ? Can He go where we cannot go and speak where we cannot speak?
The pastor of the California mega church we attend when on holidays gave a vision message in the last couple of weeks. He said, ‘Our theme this year is revival.’ He cited the revival movements taking place across the US, many of them at universities like at Asbury in the photo above and the desire to be in on what the Holy Spirit is doing.
The dictionary says that revival is ‘restoration to a vigorous condition.’ Revival came across Western Canada in the 70s – it’s now been a generation. I believe every generation needs to encounter God in power – I am looking for restoration to a vigorous condition.
Join me in praying for this in our church, our churches, our culture – and in you and me!
Pastor Leon Throness
“Read it through – an Encounter book club”.
On May 4 before the service at 9am we will hold the first of three ‘book clubs’ for those reading through the bible in a year. 45 minutes of sharing what we are learning and what God is saying as we go through His Word. We will meet in the Coffee Connection and as you prepare to share, think about these questions:
-What am I learning about God’s character?
-How am I seeing Jesus through my reading?
-How is my reading helping me to understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
-What is my time in the Word doing in my life to change me?
