Barnabas

There was a man named Joseph, who lived in Jerusalem during the time that the disciples started their ministry. Their numbers were increasing greatly, and many were selling their land, possessions, and other goods and giving them to the disciples and joining their ranks. This man, Joseph, made the decision to sell one of his fields and join their ranks as well. This would be a decision that very well could have altered the landscape of the New Testament. He was better known as Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement.

Barnabas was a Cypriot, but lived in Jerusalem. Being a landowner, he possessed some level of affluence. He was also a Levite, which held authority since the Levite tribe was responsible for duties in the Temple. This should help people understand that he was walking away from a decent life to join the disciples, but also he was giving credibility to this rag tag religion. He would become an important member for multiple reasons, and the scriptures clarify that.

Acts 9:19-28: This is the story of Paul escaping Damascus and coming to Jerusalem. When Saul makes it to Jerusalem, he immediate contacts the believers. Barnabas is the one that recovers him, and brings him to the apostles. The apostles remember what he had done in the past, and become rather wary of him. Not ready to accept him, it took the likes of Barnabas to step in and vouch for Paul. That begs the question, if Barnabas would not have stepped in and helped him out, what would have happened to Paul? He might have felt that this whole Jesus thing was a phase, and went back to being a Jew. Or he could have went a completely different direction. None the less, if it was not for Barnabas, Paul as we know him might not have come to be.

Acts 11:19-24, 25-30: 19-24- Barnabas was sent to Antioch to encourage the church. What is interesting about this is that the importance of starting a church in Antioch was great since it was the third biggest Roman city, behind Rome and Alexandria. Port cities are always a great way to get a religious view out there, because people come and go and bring with them these ideas. As Barnabas was helping construct this church, it would turn into the hub for missionary activity as well. This shows that Barnabas had a crucial role as a missionary and apostle in one of the most important churches in history. This was, after all, where Christians were given their name. This section also shows more about Barnabas’ character.

25-30- As Barnabas went to search for Saul, he put himself at great risk. Saul had returned to Tarsus, which was his home, because he was in great danger. The fact that Barnabas went to retrieve him says a great deal about his value of people. The other interesting detail is that the two times Barnabas and Saul are mentioned, Barnabas is always written first. If you understand how Greek writing works, the most important details are always toward the front. So the fact that Barnabas is mentioned first, it is an interesting indicator of how he is viewed. I mention this because many people place Saul before Barnabas, mainly due to the fact that he wrote more letters.

Acts 13:1-7- There are two parts to this section, the first is Barnabas and Saul being sent out with teachers and prophets as missionaries. Again, Barnabas is mentioned first. This scene also draws attention to the detail that they are considered prophets and teachers, probably the best of the best, and strangely enough Saul was on the back end of the paragraph. This was the beginning of the first missionary journey.

The second part discusses their trip to Cyprus. When at Cyprus, they encounter Bar-Jesus, who worked for the proconsul. The proconsul was an intelligent man, so guess who he called for? Barnabas and Saul. They came and helped clarify the situation, and exposed Bar-Jesus for false prophet. This is also, when Saul takes on the name “Paul” and starts being mentioned before Barnabas.

Acts 14:1-3, 11-13- Paul and Barnabas come to Iconium, where they spoke boldly and performed miracles. This ability to teach and do miracles enamored the locals so much that they believed that Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes. They actually went to the temple of Zeus and brought oxen and wreaths to sacrifice to them! The story behind this is that in Greek mythology, the city was destroyed by Zeus and Hermes because they went once and were not received hospitably by anyone, with exception to an older couple. They were blessed, and everyone else was killed. In an attempt not to repeat that story, the citizens went overboard and showered them with gifts!

What would have happened if Barnabas did not exist? The answer would be intriguing. As mentioned before, Paul might have went a completely different course. Antioch might not have looked the same, and the establishment of the early church would have looked different because of that. Also, the Gospel of Mark may not have come into fruition. Understanding that Barnabas was the one that reconciled John Mark, his cousin, after Paul lost faith in him after Mark fled from Paphos. Barnabas split with Mark, and in doing so, the group covered more ground by splitting up. As for the Gospel of Mark, it is considered the Gospel in which Luke and Matthew used for validating their own text. So if Mark never went through and wrote his Gospel, it might be a completely different text today.

Barnabas eventually met his end in Salamis, Cyprus. It is believed that he was stoned to death by jealous Jews. His body was buried, and later recovered and placed in a church. As the story goes, they figured out that it was him by finding an epistle written by him in his tomb. Tertullian believes that the book of Hebrews was written by Barnabas, though it is not confirmed.

Even though the last paragraphs have a lot of question marks behind its validity, one thing that we can learn from Barnabas is that being positive opens many doors. Barnabas carried many roles, and often times went overshadowed by his colleague, Paul. I have learned in my life that it is important to be positive, because you never know who is watching you. I have found that growing up, I was able to influence people and encourage them without even realizing it. But as I always say, people are either watching Christians to see them fail or to see them succeed and give hope. Just like the fact it is easier to attract flies with honey than it is vinegar, my hope is that you begin to give hope to everyone that you encounter.

Perspective in Adversity

One of the major life issues that I have had to deal with is trying to understand why God allows things to happen. I know that I am not the only one who has dealt with this question, so that’s why I feel comfortable talking about it with everyone. This devotional has two parts, and it includes perspective on people and events that happen to interfere with our lives.

The one, which is negative events, is a probably one of the more common issues that I have dealt with since I have committed myself to ministry. Mind you, I have not had much church ministry experience, but I have done a lot out in the field so to speak. So when people ask me “why did your God, who is supposed to be loving, allow this to happen?” The truth is, that often times we do not have sure answer all the time. But what I have been able to do is talk about my own life and talk about how this happens in the Bible.

In my own life, I have asked similar questions. Growing up with my situation was not easy for me, I had a hard time articulating thoughts, communicating, and I was not the smartest student. Because of that, I was discouraged from public speaking, discouraged from having high goals, and discouraged from anything that could expose my weakness instead of embracing it. Christians told me that I lack faith and that God should heal me and wants to heal me. Then one day it hit me, what if God is allowing this to happen because it glorifies him? To think that I have made it this far with my condition is a testament to God’s grace and my hard work. It proves that anyone can do what I have done with God’s grace and hard work. So in the big picture, the gains of me being who I am outweigh the cost, and until he is willing to take it from me, I will remain patient.

Another question that I often had was why it was so hard for me to get around in the church. I have had a horrible time trying to find a church the first 9 years of my walk, and have been accused of so much. Those that know me know the threats and accusations, but I don’t want to bog us down. The thrust is that if I did not experience persecution from the hands of Christians, I would probably have a much weaker resolve when it comes to being a leader. Now that I can see this, I have a much stronger sense of urgency when it comes to my faith.

Read 2 Corinthians 11:21-30

To give a quick reference to context, Paul is writing the Corinthians about true apostleship. There had been false leaders entering the church, and they were viewed as “super-apostles” and were leading Christians astray. Their speech and charisma attracted the masses, and began questioning the validity of Paul since he did not focus moving speech speech. They actually taught that they should be paid based on their performance when teaching. So instead of giving in to the extravagant life style and performances that the false teachers were portraying, Paul taught about the suffering he endured for being a true apostle. Which to him, was worth bragging about.

As I look at what Paul had to endure in 2 Cor 11:21-30, I blush at the thought that I might have been persecuted. My list, though it is a lot to some, does not stack up well against Paul’s. But the way it works is that if we try to live a life for Christ, we will receive opposition. Paul was being stretched in ways that most of us cannot understand, but it was also a testament to God needing him since he survived all of those hardships. So when you go through trouble, I would encourage you to look at it as “how is God forming me or what is God teaching me by allowing this to happen?” Keep an eye on the big picture.

The second part is dealing with people who oppose you.

One day I was reading in the book of 1 Samuel, and I tripped over the story of David and Goliath. Something registered, and I looked at Goliath and the Philistines in a new light. You begin to wonder what these well-trained men were doing threatening and tormenting the Israelites, who from what I understand, weren’t even well equipped. So Goliath strolled around bullying them for days, but never attacking them. David comes onto the scene, remembering how he had slain lions and bears, and claiming that Goliath is no different. The rest is all history, but I want to focus on the different groups in 1 Sam 17. You have Saul, who is armed and well built to be a warrior, and he is busy posting rewards for anyone who goes and fights Goliath! If you are one of his country men, what do you think of this? Then you find David, who wants to do God’s will and is out to fight. He goes in confidently and is mocked by the Israelites and his family for his willingness. He fights Goliath, who is extremely over confident and very condescending. Some studies I have read have mentioned that due to some of his comments, he might have had a hint of jealous due to the comments about being ruddy and handsome and despising him (v 42). Kind of makes you wonder about Goliath. After he is slain, what do the Philistines do? They run off! They are fully armed, trained and ready to destroy this peasant army, and they run off. Not so tough, eh?

So this illustration just shows you a little bit about what people are really like. I have had a lot of people attack me in my life, and it is always strange to me. I am one of those people who is happy when everything is smooth. So it always confused me that people just hated me for no reason at all. Then one day, this idea popped in my head. I started looking at the people in my life who disliked me, and I was suddenly having pity for them. Whether they were coworkers, former friends/girlfriends, I started seeing them for who they are. Like instead of seeing my boss as a perfectionist tyrant like everyone else did, I saw a weak man who thrived on picking on the low men, who feared failure and rejection and spent long hours at work because that’s all he had and he was just lonely. I started sizing everyone up with that idea that David used, and realized that they can’t and won’t hurt me.

So I say this today not to brag or say how wise I am or anything like that. I say this so that you can get the word out and teach those in your about what I have learned so you can create confident people.

Perspective in Adversity

One of the major life issues that I have had to deal with is trying to understand why God allows things to happen. I know that I am not the only one who has dealt with this question, so that’s why I feel comfortable talking about it with everyone. This devotional has two parts, and it includes perspective on people and events that happen to interfere with our lives.

The one, which is negative events, is a probably one of the more common issues that I have dealt with since I have committed myself to ministry. Mind you, I have not had much church ministry experience, but I have done a lot out in the field so to speak. So when people ask me “why did your God, who is supposed to be loving, allow this to happen?” The truth is, that often times we do not have sure answer all the time. But what I have been able to do is talk about my own life and talk about how this happens in the Bible.

In my own life, I have asked similar questions. Growing up with my situation was not easy for me, I had a hard time articulating thoughts, communicating, and I was not the smartest student. Because of that, I was discouraged from public speaking, discouraged from having high goals, and discouraged from anything that could expose my weakness instead of embracing it. Christians told me that I lack faith and that God should heal me and wants to heal me. Then one day it hit me, what if God is allowing this to happen because it glorifies him? To think that I have made it this far with my condition is a testament to God’s grace and my hard work. It proves that anyone can do what I have done with God’s grace and hard work. So in the big picture, the gains of me being who I am outweigh the cost, and until he is willing to take it from me, I will remain patient.

Another question that I often had was why it was so hard for me to get around in the church. I have had a horrible time trying to find a church the first 9 years of my walk, and have been accused of so much. Those that know me know the threats and accusations, but I don’t want to bog us down. The thrust is that if I did not experience persecution from the hands of Christians, I would probably have a much weaker resolve when it comes to being a leader. Now that I can see this, I have a much stronger sense of urgency when it comes to my faith.

Read 2 Corinthians 11:21-30

To give a quick reference to context, Paul is writing the Corinthians about true apostleship. There had been false leaders entering the church, and they were viewed as “super-apostles” and were leading Christians astray. Their speech and charisma attracted the masses, and began questioning the validity of Paul since he did not focus moving speech speech. They actually taught that they should be paid based on their performance when teaching. So instead of giving in to the extravagant life style and performances that the false teachers were portraying, Paul taught about the suffering he endured for being a true apostle. Which to him, was worth bragging about.

As I look at what Paul had to endure in 2 Cor 11:21-30, I blush at the thought that I might have been persecuted. My list, though it is a lot to some, does not stack up well against Paul’s. But the way it works is that if we try to live a life for Christ, we will receive opposition. Paul was being stretched in ways that most of us cannot understand, but it was also a testament to God needing him since he survived all of those hardships. So when you go through trouble, I would encourage you to look at it as “how is God forming me or what is God teaching me by allowing this to happen?” Keep an eye on the big picture.

The second part is dealing with people who oppose you.

One day I was reading in the book of 1 Samuel, and I tripped over the story of David and Goliath. Something registered, and I looked at Goliath and the Philistines in a new light. You begin to wonder what these well-trained men were doing threatening and tormenting the Israelites, who from what I understand, weren’t even well equipped. So Goliath strolled around bullying them for days, but never attacking them. David comes onto the scene, remembering how he had slain lions and bears, and claiming that Goliath is no different. The rest is all history, but I want to focus on the different groups in 1 Sam 17. You have Saul, who is armed and well built to be a warrior, and he is busy posting rewards for anyone who goes and fights Goliath! If you are one of his country men, what do you think of this? Then you find David, who wants to do God’s will and is out to fight. He goes in confidently and is mocked by the Israelites and his family for his willingness. He fights Goliath, who is extremely over confident and very condescending. Some studies I have read have mentioned that due to some of his comments, he might have had a hint of jealous due to the comments about being ruddy and handsome and despising him (v 42). Kind of makes you wonder about Goliath. After he is slain, what do the Philistines do? They run off! They are fully armed, trained and ready to destroy this peasant army, and they run off. Not so tough, eh?

So this illustration just shows you a little bit about what people are really like. I have had a lot of people attack me in my life, and it is always strange to me. I am one of those people who is happy when everything is smooth. So it always confused me that people just hated me for no reason at all. Then one day, this idea popped in my head. I started looking at the people in my life who disliked me, and I was suddenly having pity for them. Whether they were coworkers, former friends/girlfriends, I started seeing them for who they are. Like instead of seeing my boss as a perfectionist tyrant like everyone else did, I saw a weak man who thrived on picking on the low men, who feared failure and rejection and spent long hours at work because that’s all he had and he was just lonely. I started sizing everyone up with that idea that David used, and realized that they can’t and won’t hurt me.

So I say this today not to brag or say how wise I am or anything like that. I say this so that you can get the word out and teach those in your about what I have learned so you can create confident people.

Unpacking Spiritual Gifts

What I would like to talk with you about today is something that seems to be a pretty huge ambiguous subject in the church today. What I have found is that a majority of churches preach on this subject regularly, but very few of them actually take the subject as a whole and apply it to our everyday lives. This is going to be a bit cursory rather than in depth, but I still feel that it is important for us to know, whether it is as leaders or training others to eventually lead. What I have generally found is that churches tend to lock into one gift category, and do not look at the others. For instance, the church I attend back home is locked into the 5 discussed in Ephesians. My experience with another church has shown me that they favor the Romans verse, but have referenced 1 Corinthians as well. What I find the most interesting is that people tend to group all of them together, which I find particularly dangerous due to the fact that they are used in different contexts. What I have found is that I think it is important to know that we can operate in all three categories, since they all have different purposes.

To start out with, I am going to give you three gifts. We will open one at a time, and then discuss what is in the box, why it is problematic and then how we apply it. Hands out the boxes and then opens the first one

Okay, so the first box is a box of Legos. The Legos are obviously there to form something, however, it is rather difficult to figure out what exactly it is forming since there are no instructions. The problem with the charismata are that we hear in church over and over again “use your spiritual gifts” but it is rarely ever explained or instructed. This is the case in Romans. Read Romans 12:3-8

To provide context, Paul is writing this message to the Romans because he is instructing them and telling them that they all need each other. As many of us know, the Roman culture was very individualistic, and many people did what they could to be recognized as individuals. This was done through self-glorifying acts that would draw attention to how great they are.

This is why the message of Paul is so counter-cultural. Instead of trying to succeed as individuals, Paul is telling them to succeed as a group. Instead of competing against one another, they should be celebrating their differences and working together towards a common good. This idea of being a living sacrifice would be completely foreign to them, thus, requiring instruction.

That’s where the Legos come in. When you look at the Legos, you need someone to come along side and explain where all the pieces come together. Without that instruction, it is just a pile of blocks that serves no purpose. When you begin to understand that Paul was trying to guide them, the verse makes more sense. What Paul did was he referenced virtues and commendable actions of Roman culture to form the spiritual gifts. These gifts are inherent to people and they are what motivates people to live out the Holy Spirit (to reference Discover your God-Given Gifts). Prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading and compassion are the seven virtues that Paul shares. This was palatable to his audience and easy to understand, which is how they were able to apply what they learned.

This correlates to us today because often times we do not know where to start or know where we fall on the scale. Being that this was meant for a group of people 2,000 years ago, it can be difficult to digest. But the application that can be made is that we all possess at least one of these gifts, because that is what makes us want to do something for Christ.

Open the Second Gift

The second gift that we are looking at is a note that claims that a gift is on its way… when we consider this gift we find that it is not so reliable. The question we often ask is “when I really need it, will it actually be there?” Needless to say, it is rather anti-climatic and kind of confusing. When it actually arrives, it might be amazing, but you really have to put a lot of trust into it EVENTUALLY coming.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

When we consider this passage in 1 Corinthians, you will see that the list of gifts have a distinct nature to them. What we find is that they are sort of unpredictable, and they tend to be actions rather than the character traits that you see in Romans 12:3-8. Any guess why?

To give you some background on 1 Corinthians, one of the big issues that Paul had with them is that they were getting caught up in the gifts. Because of this, they were creating factions among themselves and they were being arrogant towards those who did not have that specific gift. This was a well-engrained idea in their society as it was because any individual could easily climb the social latter through money or intelligence. This idea was applied to spiritual gifts, and soon the Corinthian church was forming hierarchies. This is shown in 1 Cor 12:7&21 in which groups would isolate themselves.

In the fervor to have certain gifts, main doctrinal issues became marginalized in favor of ideas that are more self-glorifying. Tongues is an example of this being that this gift was viewed as being more angelic, so those that possessed the gift began excusing sins such as prostitution since it was bodily sin that they felt did not apply to them.

So how does Paul correct them? He explains to them that there are many gifts that manifest themselves in people. They are all important, and that they all have their place in the body of Christ. Interestingly enough, he mentions tongues as the last gift on the list. The significance to that is that in Greek writing, the last item on a list is considered the least important. This demonstrates the desire to have diversity in the gifts, and not be so focused on the one gift.

To conclude this section, it is worth establishing that these gifts are by no means permanent, such as the motivational gifts. These gifts come and go at the will of the Holy Spirit when a certain need is to be met, so that is why Paul mentions that the truly gifted members of the church are those that Love well and do not seek self glorification. For if you love consistently, then you will use your gifts to help others.

Open the Third Gift

The final gift that we opened is a guitar tuner, it is very one dimensional. It does not serve a huge purpose outside of itself. The limitations are so that if you do not have a guitar to tune, it is pretty much useless. This is what some people see as a problem with the third category of gifts.

Read Ephesians 4:11-13

This verse can be pretty confusing to a lot of people because it seems that they are very distinct and they deal specifically with the church. The initial thought that comes to mind is “what if I am not called to full time ministry?” Because much like that tuner, the gift becomes useless because there is no outlet to do use it. The truth is that it does not always have to be full time ministry, and that you can effectively use your gift in a lay setting or out in the world. Just because it says “pastor” does not mean that you have to be an official pastor. Pastoring is the act of shepherding people and taking care of them. Because you might come up as an “evangelist”, it does not mean that you need to be Bible thumping people on the street corner, now that I think of it, I hope that you never do that! But these are all ideas that can be used in every day life as well.

So you are probably asking, “why does Paul write so exclusively?” Paul is writing this to the church in Ephesus, which was a hotbed for the Imperial Cult. Ephesus was the home of the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the wonders of the ancient world, and was strongly influenced by the Romans. With this in mind, it made sense that Paul would write to the church in a way to help maintain a church and to remind them of their mission.

To do this, Paul wrote about the five gifts listed (four, in some circles) so that people would be able to focus on the main components of starting a church. The two categories that they can be broken up are internal and external. Pastors and teachers are considered the internal grouping, and this can be established by the way in which they are separated from the other three. Apostles, prophets and evangelists are considered heralds of the church and are outwardly focused. The intent is to equip and build up the church, which is run by a theocracy in which God is the head and is carried out by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, it was anticipated that the next group of believers needed to know how to run a church effectively. Being that the original apostles were beginning to die or get executed, Paul felt it was important to instruct them now before it was too late. What makes these gifts different than the other three is that they focus on the people, not personality traits or actions being done. These gifts are given “office names” so to speak. But the interesting thing is that even though these are offices, you do not need the title to be able to use the gifts.

Now that we have covered the three categories, I would like to return to the initial problem. If all of these gifts exist, why does Paul mention certain gifts in certain lists and leaves them out in other lists? It can be very confusing, but the fact of the matter is that they all function differently.

I am telling you this because often times people will claim that you can only have certain gifts, or my favorite is that you need to have a specific gift to prove that you are a Christian. Instead, I would like to give you the same encouragement that Paul gave to the churches, and that is that it takes many parts of the body to operate it properly. Also, I hope that you would not just look at one category and say “I have this!” and then limit yourself to that. I am not saying this as doctrine, but I firmly believe that we can operate in all three categories as the holy spirit prompts us.

For instance, I have been told that I am an exhorter and teacher from Romans, I get told a lot that I demonstrate the wisdom mentioned in 1 Corinthians, and I have received comments about being a teacher and an evangelist in the Ephesians verses. We all have our unique mix of gifts that the spirit gives us, and I would hope that you would be interested in learning about yours and that you spend time seeking the Lord in how you may properly use them. If you do not know where you stand, I have quite a few books (I have referenced Discover Your God-Given Gifts quite a bit) that will help you on your journey

So you are probably wondering how we know what we are good at. There are a few different answers that you can have. Can you think of any? You will want to talk with people that you trust so that you can figure out what you are good at. Sometimes we take for granted things that we do regularly, and it really means something to someone else. For instance, I never really knew that I made sound decisions and gave wise counsel until someone told me so. The reason is that I just always operated that way, and no one really told me until I was in my early 20’s. The second way that we could find out what we are good at is trying out new things. For instance, if you have felt compelled to pray for people, then you might have a gift that could be used on the prayer team. I found that I had a strength with evangelism because I put myself in situations where I could share my faith and share the love of Christ with others. This is not simply giving a tract or saying “God Bless” at the end of a greeting, this is talking with someone and trying to meet their need and trying to share the good things that are happening in my life. I found this because I decided that I was not going to shy away from people who did not believe what I believe. Another way to find out is to take a quiz or read a book and see what stands out to you. There are dozens of Spiritual Gifts Quizzes out there, so you might as well google search for some and see what comes out the most. Plurality is key here, because some are not as reliable as others. Reading scripture is the final way to see your strengths. Look at the different characters and see what you admire about them, or see what verses/books stand out to you. In my case, I found that Proverbs and James are my favorite books. This appeals to my interest in wisdom literature.

These are just ideas to jump start your interest if you are questioning what you are good at. So in conclusion, do you know what you are good at?

Jealous Bananas

One day last winter, I forgot to eat my lunch before work and I went to my job without eating. Consequently, I became very hungry in the middle of my shift. I had packed a dinner before leaving the house, and packed all of my basic foods such as sandwich, fruit and chips. Being that it was Girl Scout cookie season, I had a bag of them in my brown bag. As was on the showroom floor, my stomach grumbled and I remembered the girl scout cookies that I had packed away in my lunch. So when the coast was clear, I snuck back to the refrigerator and grabbed the cookies. I stuck them in my pocket and went back on to the floor. After a while, the Samoas became nice and warm in my pocket, which makes them all the better! So I pulled one out of my pocket, and I took a bite. What was meant to be a euphoric moment of coconut, chocolate and caramel came crashing down when I tasted banana!

I was quite sad about the banana taste, but I ate them anyway since they are Samoas and they only come around once a year. When it came time for lunch, I bit into my sandwich and tasted banana. I ate my chips, that tasted like banana. My apple was the only item not tainted by banana, so I ate it. I pushed my banana to the edge of the table and just glared at it. I was thinking “how dare you taint my lunch!”

Then it dawned on me, that we as people are so much like my bagged lunch. Everything that I was pulling out of the bag was directly affected by what was in the bag. In Matthew, Jesus reprimands the Pharisees for their lifestyles.

Read Matthew 12:33-37

To quickly put this verse in context, the Pharisees were condemning Jesus for casting out demons. It was not the act of casting out demons that raised questions, it was that he did that without using incantations, rings, spells or potions. Instead, he would send them away. This was strange to them, so they decided that he was Beelzebub, which is another name for Satan.

When we read this, it sounds peculiar. We would ask, why would they be so quick to drastically call him Satan? The primary reason is that Jesus was exposing them for what they were, and that was as hypocrites. Jesus calls them hypocrites, snakes, and other insulting names because they were self-centered people who held positions that were supposed to be selfless. Not all Pharisees were painted evil in scripture (see Nicodemus), but quite a few of them had there own agenda and tended to feel threatened by Jesus because he was out-doing them at their own game that was ultimately rigged so that they could win.

One idea that really stands out to me is that Jesus said that from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. What I started to realize is that sometimes we place bananas in our bags that taint the flavor of our souls. In my life, I had a few of those that I began to notice.

When I look back at my life, I find that I was not always the most positive person in the world. I generally try to be positive, but it is easy for me to get run down when I am around negative people. I am not saying that everyone has to be positive all the time, but when people you are hanging around are cutting you down, trying to pressure you into changing who you are, or anything else that is not life giving, you have to wonder why you are around them. I began to see that in my life, that at one point I was not in a healthy church, my friends were not encouraging me, and I had some messy relationships.

Another category that I will share is the idea of what I was hearing. When I was in the Navy, I found that I was listening to people who talked condescendingly constantly. Not just that, but many people had such a negative outlook on life. What I began to find is that over time, the negativity was wearing on me. I found that when I stubbed my toe or got frustrated, there was a word that I did not like ready to jump out of my mouth.

But the good thing is that we are not stuck in that rut and there are ways to go about fixing the problem. Another way that I found to combat the negatives is to try and listen to positive music, messages, and be more committed to devotions and prayer. It helps me keep a positive outlook on life and the events in my life. My pastor once said that if you spend time reading the Bible regularly and read well written books, your thought process will conform to that way of thinking. Meanwhile, if you read comics and never read anything else, you will begin to think and talk like one. So that’s what I began to do, I am not always the best, but I am working on cleaning that part of my life. I started looking at my social life in a similar way as a sports team, in that I had to pick a system and find people that fit that system. It sounds weird, but when I started removing negative influences, my quality of life began to increase.

When we start talking about the outcome of positive nature, we start to understand what Jesus meant when he said that a tree is recognized by its fruit. If you water a plant, give it ample sunlight, and take care of it, it grows strong and it bears fruit that is attractive. When we begin to understand that words that come from our mouth are much like the fruit on the tree, why would anyone want fruit that is rotten? That is why we must take great care to make sure that our fruit is healthy and nourishing.

Another idea that really jumped out to me that I felt was worth mentioning is that Jesus claims in verse 36-37 that we are accountable for every careless word we say. With the analogy of fruit still on our minds, what would life look like if words were like fruit? Lets say that I gave you a spoiled apple and you got sick off of it. Would you be less likely to take fruit from my tree next time? If it was that blatantly obvious, do you feel that we would be more careful about the words that we give to one another?

I write this today not to put anyone down or to preach at anyone, but I am sharing this so that you might be able to have a good illustration of how what we allow to be in us directly affects us. Since change comes from the inside and goes out, my hope is that you continue to influence everyone around you by the positive force that comes from within. So I am going to close by asking you, what are the bananas doing in your bag? Is the smell repulsing others, or are the fruits of the spirit attracting people?

God Does not Waste

One of the biggest fears that people have is that they will screw up horribly and cause serious damage for the rest of their life. Yes, it is true that every action that we make has a consequence, whether it is good or bad. The good news is that we have a God who is redemptive and who can and will turn even the worst situations for his own good.

You might wonder, “well, this horrible thing happened to me when I was young and it can not possibly have any good, so how can you say that?”, and I agree, there are some pretty horrible things that happen to us. With that being said, I am going to use scripture from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Both stories show the characters as being remorseful for what they have done, however, God had bigger plans.

The broader spectrum is that even though we have our faults and we have made some pretty big mistakes, sometimes we need to step back and see what happens after that mistake. So lets look at these examples and talk about what is happening…

Read 2 Samuel 11

I want to start by saying that this is another story that I try not to use because I have the feeling that David is pretty tired of getting beat up over this story! He probably has been saying “I get caught up in the moment once, and look what everyone remembers!”

So what have we seen in reference to things going wrong? I can count at least five, which are adultery, conspiracy, murder, lying and marrying the man’s wife after his death. To making matters worse, David is told that the baby will die within a week of birth. Even though he fasts and tries to bargain with God, the baby does die on the seventh day. So with everything going wrong, there is one thing that goes well.

2 Samuel 12: 24&25

Even though this is a baby that was created at the expense of another man and at the expense of a newborn child, Solomon will become one of most revered characters in Jewish culture. He is wise, powerful, and responsible for some of the writings in the Old Testament. Never mind the fact that he did a lot of evil things, he is responsible for quite a few great things.

The reason why I am saying this is that often times we see all the negativity in a situation and it often times can deter us from seeing the good. If we were to look at all the horrible things that led up to him becoming the King of Israel and then look at all the negative things that happened while he was the King, then we would completely miss the wisdom and the leadership that he contributed to our culture.

To give you an idea, I am not quite sure that I was supposed to join the Navy. I honestly have wondered if I went against God when I decided to join because my time on active duty was not pleasant for the most part. Granted life is not always pleasant, but it all felt wrong. Initially my application was rejected due to medical reasons, and then that got excused and I decided to go ahead and join. I have spent time wondering if that initial denial was meant for me to not join and to find some other way to get to seminary. I joined in June 2005 and went away to boot camp. At training school I request orders to get sent over to Europe or elsewhere over seas. I figured that I would try and do that while I could and have fun with my time in the Navy. Instead, I got sent to Norfolk and was put behind a desk. During that time, I sometimes wondered what exactly I was doing there. I had quite a few bosses and coworkers that treated me horribly and I felt that I was at times wasting my life.

Eventually it dawned on me that it was not always about me and my comfort. Yes, there were a lot of things happening that I did not like, but because of my discomfort I was able to bless other people. Some people told me about how my life had helped restore faith in them whether it was my endurance, my character or my concern for them. I also began looking at the other details of my life outside of work. I was starting to go to school again, I was getting involved with a church, and my spiritual life was stronger than ever. That is when I began to realize that God can salvage damaged situations.

*Read Matthew 26:14-16, 27:3-5

Again, here is a situation that something absolutely horrible happened. Judas betrays Jesus for 30 silver coins, and then feels remorseful for it. Matthew and Luke (Acts, which is written by Luke) have different accounts of what happened, but it is quite evident that he killed himself. The average person that does not know anything about this story probably wonders “What good can come out of any of this? Two people have died and greed prevailed. I think we all know the answer to this question as well. Salvation. If Judas would not have turned Jesus in, then how would the prophecies of the Old Testament have been satisfied? It would have probably happened some way or some how, but it still would have resulted in a necessary evil to set the sacrifice in motion. It is because of that perfect sacrifice that we are now called sons and daughters of God.

Again, I am sure that we can look back into our lives and think of a time in which someone wronged us in a way that we will never forget. Now what I would like you to do is think about that time, and think about how it played into the next stage of our life. For me, I am going to recall a time in which I was denied ministry opportunities. When I was attending this church, I decided that I wanted to get involved and help out. Everything seemed to be going well, until two pastors told me that either I was not cut out for the ministry or they changed their tune when I tried to pursue a higher degree.

Yes, that was a disheartening moment for me, but I needed it. That gave me a stronger resolve to be a healthy leader and to work towards being a better class of Christian leader. I do not think it is arrogant to say that, but I realized after being a Christian for 9 years at that point that I did not have many positive Christian influences. That was the point that I broke and said that I was going to seminary and that I was going to pursue the calling that I had found.

In closing, I want you to look at how the plains Indians treated the body of a killed buffalo. They were not like the white men who just shot them and left them to rot, instead, they had a use for everything. They would take the skins and use it for clothes and tents. They would take the meat, and eat it. They would use the fat for oil and other various purposes. They used the various body parts for different tools and necessities. The fact was that they were resourceful. That is no different than God. So when you look back on your life, remember that degree that you think was useless? How is it tying into the big picture now? Or how about that bad relationship? How much more respect do you have for the person you are with, or who you will have in the future? Or how about that time in which you thought you lost everything, but you found that God was there helping you through? These are just a few things that go on in the big picture, but I want you to know that God does not waste, and that we must look for the good that he is doing in our lives.

Andrew

There seems to be a distinct pattern when it comes to what has been written about the disciples of Jesus. It seems that there was the four fishermen, and then the rest of them. Sure we have accounts of Judas, Matthew, and a few others, but we mainly hear about the inner circle of Jesus… Mainly Peter, James and John. The three of them come with reputations as well, Peter as being brash and often times dull witted, meanwhile James and John come of as pretentious and earn the title of “sons of thunder” for their passionate nature. There is one member of the group of fishermen that is often forgot about, can you tell me who that is?

Andrew. Andrew is the one member of the fisherman circle that gets left out of scripture quite a bit. He is deemed so unimportant that at times, he is referred to as “Andrew, Simon’s brother.” Considering his proximity to Jesus, you would be shocked to think that they would need to make a distinction when there was no other Andrew to distinguish him from!

So you are probably wondering how far I can go on a lesson involving Andrew, and more so, why a lesson on Andrew? I can remember starting out and trying to get involved anywhere, and being told that I did not cut it. Whether it was because I don’t open up fast enough, because I did not quote scriptures to everyone I saw, or because I did not prophesy on command, I just did not cut it. It seems that people have this stereotypical idea of what they think someone should look like. Often times, the standard is set pretty high, and usually it is asking for someone who is charismatic and exudes power. In essence, someone that is like Peter, John or James. So what would have happened if Andrew was not in the picture? What would it look like? Lets see what scripture says about him…

John 1:35-42: The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" 37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39"Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter^[j]).

John 6:1-9: 1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages^[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

John 12:20-22: 20Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

John is a reliable source because he was a peer of Andrew and would have given an accurate account of him. Being that they were both fishermen at Galilee, it would not have been a large community of people and they would have known each other. This is why I have focused on John’s accounts of these stories.

So there are a few things that we can learn about Andrew in these verses. Could you name a few of them? In the first story, Andrew is introduced as a disciple of John. He was extremely confident in the testimony of John the Baptist, and he immediately went to his brother to share the good news. When he did, he brought Simon to Jesus and Jesus accepted him immediately and changed his name. If it were not for Andrew, Peter might not have followed Jesus.

In the second story, a large crowd had amassed to see Jesus. The crowd was so large that Phillip claimed that eight months of wages could not feed them. This is when Andrew speaks up about a child that has five loaves of bread and two fish. He wonders how far it will get, but he still speaks up and offers a solution to the problem. If it was not for Andrew, who brought the kid to Jesus, then they would not have fed the masses.

In the third story, it begins to looks as if Andrew was a middleman for Jesus. He tended to be the guy that people went to in order to get to Jesus. What is significant here is that Phillip went to Andrew, instead of directly going to Jesus. We are not sure why, but it is apparent that Andrew was confident in his relationship with Christ and most of what we see Andrew doing is dealing with individuals or small groups of individuals.

There are a few words that stand out to me, and they are relational, individual, and faithful. Relational, because much of his ministry was shown through relationships that he had with people. He was also helping people form relationships with Jesus by introducing them to him. Individuals were Andrew’s specialty. You never see him engaging in major debates or preaching to the masses. While the other three were garnering all of the attention in the major events, Andrew was focusing on people. Finally, he was faithful because he was confident in what he was doing. Andrew was faithful to Jesus and he not only became a disciple right away, but he went out and shared the good news with people in the way that came natural to him. Faithful until his death, as Eusebius claims, he was executed near Athens for leading one of the Roman governor’s wife to Christ. As he hung on the cross for two days, it was reported that he was exhorting people to follow Christ until he died. He died confident that he served the Messiah, and not many people would die for something they were not confident in.

I am teaching this today because I feel that there are many of us out there that feel as if we can not be the minister that everyone expects us to be. When you look at the disciples, they were an eclectic bunch. For instance, Matthew and Simon the Zealot would have been sworn enemies during this time. Zealots would have viewed tax collectors as traitors, and worthy of death. The fact that Jesus had them on the same page working together tells me so much. First of all, I think that it is really interesting because it shows that all sorts of people are needed to reach different crowds of people. For instance, I would not know how to reach out to someone in the upper class knowing that I grew up in a working class family. But someone who understands them would be able to speak to them, know their concerns and struggles, and be able to minister to them. You can see that it many of the early Christians.

Second, I can see that it truly is the grace of God that a tax collector and a zealot can coexist. God’s grace is evident when you look at the rest of the group. So I would like to encourage you to take a look at who the early disciples were, and begin to understand that they are just like you and I. In fact, we might be better off than some of them. However, I think that it is important that you take the time to look at them and you will begin to see that it took all of them to make Christianity go.

The reason I focused on Andrew is because that is who I am. I can do public speaking and I love to teach, but I prefer to focus on people one at a time. It is just easier on me, and as many people who know me can say that my social life is a complex web of individuals. I am not extremely book smart, but I love people and care about those in my life immensely. That is the way I have always dealt with ministry as well. So when I tried to explain this to a few pastors, they accused me of being timid, quiet or shy. I was stunned, because I thought that being an attention hog was a bad thing, and that caring about individuals and being slow to speak and quick to listen would be refreshing to them. That is their loss. So today, I want to leave you with this. Just because you are not the one out there rallying the troops and speaking to the masses, it does not mean that you are not capable of doing great things. You can. Jesus had a place for all his disciples, including Judas, so always remember that you are important.