- Dennis Tuma
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2010 8:37 AM, PST
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/teamtuma/journal/
“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams… And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:17-21)
So here’s my first posting as we’re reading through Acts. I fell behind a bit, and honestly it has been a bit humbling to see God reveal more depth to His Word than I can understand or see on my own, but I’ll try to offer up a few good things I heard - please point out if I err anywhere because I hope it is filled only with truth about God and His Kingdom.
I quoted Acts 2:17-21 here because I find it profound that this is what our daily lives are supposed to look like right now, since we are in the “last days” right now (and have been for the last 2000+ years). Otherwise, why would Peter (or Luke) mention these words that were said so long ago here?
One thing God has been humbling me with lately is the extent of my own human knowledge & logic. I used to be someone who would try to categorize everything, and if something about God or true faith/life in Christ didn’t make sense or was not able to be categorized in my paradigm, I would dismiss it or mark it off as false teaching. However, within the last year, God has brought fresh insight into His true revelation as He has revealed more of His character to me through other people, Livingwater, my own experiences, and His Word - and this happens to be one of those times.
I found it interesting that the ideas of “repentance,” “baptism in Jesus Christ,” and “being filled with or receiving the gift of or pouring out the Holy Spirit” are all intertwined, and that repentance & baptism lead directly to receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter says, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.“ Just after that, it is encouraging to hear that God seeks out those who are lost so that they may receive this gift: “For the promise is… for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
God is calling all people [who are willing to listen & give an ear to the call] to Himself & has set out a grand, magnificent, and glorious promise that is rooted in truth, grace, and love. Peter ends what he has been saying with a picture of what that promise looks like on earth with an example of the early church in Acts 2:42-47… and it leads me to believe that this was all made possible by individuals in the Church first repenting, being baptized in Jesus Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Who wouldn’t want a community/church like that found in Acts 2? But, there is a price & cost associated with building a community like that… that we would first come and die to ourselves to live for Christ.
So many of our lives & churches today in America fall short of the example & hope that has been set before us. What a challenge and high call for our own lives personally & our own churches in this day and age in America.
In Young Adult, we just heard this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer…
“The cross is laid on every Christian. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death - we give over our lives to death. The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (The Cost of Discipleship, 99).
Repentance is a full 180 degree turn around, and so many of us stop at 90 degrees, 45 degrees, 30 degrees, and then look back. Too many times I have stopped at somewhere less than a full turn around & found myself back where I started, sometimes even worse off than before.
Also in Young Adult, we heard this quote from John Stott…
“The Christian landscape is strewn with the wreckage of derelict, half-built towers - the ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. For thousands of people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow Him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so… In countries to which Christian civilization has spread, large numbers of people have covered themselves with a decent, but thin, veneer of Christianity…”
May God grant us the grace & conviction through Jesus Christ to not only turn our lives around a full 180 degrees, but the perseverance & power through the Holy Spirit to run at full speed straight toward Him without looking back, that we may build our tower in totality & finish the race. Even though life may take detours over bumpy roads, quite deliberately placed there by God, we still run with all our might toward that finish line. Then we can thrive in our humanity to the fullest as an Acts 2 community & church, by the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within.
