Yesterday I wrote about the misguided zeal of those who rioted in the Capitol on January 6 and who threatened a pastor who apologized for an erroneous prophecy. Let’s be more positive. I read in Acts 12 how it’s supposed to work. Let’s start with the end!

But the word of God increased and multiplied. (Acts 12.24, ESV)

Isn’t that the goal? The Word of God increasing and multiplying? And how did it happen? The chapter opens with Herod beheading James and imprisoning Peter.

About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. (Acts 12.1 – 4, ESV)

What was the church’s response? Rioting? Why not? There were thousands of them. NO! Prayer.

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. (Acts 12.5, ESV)

They prayed for Peter, and he was released by the act of an angel (see Acts 12.6 – 11). Herod had his guards executed – killed, not by rioting Christians, but by Herod himself.

Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. (Acts 12.18, 19, ESV)

Then Herod dies. He is NOT killed by rioting Christians, but by worms (see Acts 12.20 – 23)!

Which brings us to where we started: Herod, the ruler, the persecutor and murderer, is dead, but God’s Kingdom expands.

But the word of God increased and multiplied. (Acts 12.24, ESV)

Again, as we wrote yesterday, God’s instructions are clear:

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2.13 – 17, ESV)

I keep trying to get away from this topic, but the cover story of World Magazine’s February 13 issue talks about the mindset of some of the rioters of January 6. Apparently, Christian believers were among them. The article, Crisis of Fath, also talks about Christian leaders with followings publishing prophecies that Donald Trump would win the election. Here’s a snippet telling what happened when one such “prophet” apologized:

On the morning after the Capitol Hill riots, preacher Jeremiah Johnson posted a public apology on his namesake ministry’s website: “I would like to repent for inaccurately prophesying that Donald Trump would win a second term as the President of the United States.”… On Jan. 7, the day after Congress certified that Biden prevailed—and after a mob of rioters stormed the Capitol in protest—Johnson posted an apology for being wrong about Trump. He rejected the notion that Trump didn’t win because people didn’t pray enough. And he refused to say Trump actually did win but the election was stolen: “I want to go on record: I was wrong, I am deeply sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness.” Johnson says the response was brutal. In an update on Jan. 10, he wrote: “Over the last 72 hours, I have received multiple death threats and thousands upon thousands of emails from Christians saying the nastiest and most vulgar things I have ever heard toward my family and ministry. … I truthfully never realized how absolutely triggered and ballistic thousands and thousands of saints get about Donald Trump. It’s terrifying. It’s full of idolatry.”  – World Magazine, February 13

This reminds me of an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about climate activists. Here’s a snippet of that:

Unfortunately, America is absurdly supplied with citizens whose professed passion for climate science is not matched by a desire to know anything about it. – “Biden’s Age of Climate Decadence,” Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2021

We could paraphrase that provocative sentence into something like,

There are thousands of Americans whose passion for Christianity is not matched by a desire to know anything about it.

Scriptures are clear, and tomorrow I want to post an uplifting story from Acts about how things are supposed to work. In the meantime:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way… I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling… (1 Timothy 2.1, 2, 8, ESV)

Acts 8, 9, and 10 give us a clear picture that no one, meaning NO ONE, is excluded from the opportunity to be part of God’s Kingdom.

• A black government official – Acts 8.26 – 40
• A Jewish, anti-Christian terrorist – Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9.1 – 22
• A Roman military officer – Cornelius, Acts 10

The Passion Translation has an intriguing note relating these conversions all the way back to Noah’s three sons:

At last the gospel broke through and penetrated into the non-Jewish cultures and people groups. The Holy Spirit was now uniting Jewish believers and non-Jewish believers into one mystical body of Christ on the earth. Because of this, there would no longer be a distinction between Jew and non-Jew, but one family of believers formed by faith in Jesus Christ. See Gal. 3:26-29. The three conversions of the Ethiopian dignitary in ch. 8, Saul of Tarsus in ch. 9, and the Roman officer Cornelius in ch. 10 prove the power of the gospel of God. One could view these three as representing all of the sons of Noah: Ham (Ethiopian), Shem (Saul), and Japheth (the Roman Cornelius). A black man, a Jew, and a gentile were converted! (Acts 10.38 note, TPT)

And all three people were missional right away!

Saul (later called Paul) began his public preaching in Damascus immediately even though he didn’t know much at that time…

And immediately [Saul] proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” (Acts 9.20, ESV)

It’s likely that the Ethiopian began to sow the seeds of the gospel in his homeland, which today is over 60% Christian.

Cornelius had a house full of people when Peter (reluctantly!) preached in Acts 10, and the Holy Spirit came on all of them.

God is inclusive while we sometimes try to exclude. Saul had a hard time being accepted in Jerusalem, not because he wasn’t Jewish, but because of his history as a terrorist. Barnabas had to come to his rescue.

And when [Saul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9.26, 27, ESV)

All of Acts 10 and half of Acts 11 is given to Peter’s visit to Cornelius. Peter had to be convinced to go, and the Jews had to be convinced that it was OK for him to go.

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” (Acts 11.1 – 3, ESV)

I wonder what part of Acts 1.8 did Peter and his Jewish friends not understand?

[Jesus said,] “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1.8, ESV)

Have we gotten the picture?

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3.26 – 28, ESV)

Continuing our wrapping up of Genesis, I’ve already pointed out that the people through whom God chooses to advance his mission are flawed. Adam, Noah, Abraham, all had serious shortcomings.

I noticed further that people have ups and downs (in either order), and God still uses them. For example, we have this lovely sentence about Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben:

While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. (Genesis 35.22, ESV)

It costs Reuben his rights as firstborn (see Genesis 49.3, 4). But even so, it’s Reuben who prevents Joseph from being killed by the other brothers:

They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. (Genesis 37.18 – 22, ESV)

And Judah? Judah who takes Reuben’s place as the leader of the family (See Genesis 49.8 – 12)? It’s Judah who sells Joseph into slavery (Genesis 37.25 – 28) and fathers twin sons through a daughter-in-law whom he thinks is a prostitute! (You can’t make this stuff up – see Genesis 38.) The daughter-in-law, Tamar, actually makes Jesus’ genealogy.

BUT, Judah demonstrated a huge change of heart and growth in character when Joseph tested his brothers. Judah is the one who stepped up to take responsibility:

Then Judah went up to [Joseph] and said, “…please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” (Genesis 44.18, 33, 34, ESV)

As my friend Fisher DeBerry, former head coach of the Air Force Academy Falcons football team, used to say:

You’re only as good as your last play! – sign in Fisher DeBerry’s office

That sign can be read negatively or positively as, “Don’t tell me how good you used to be…” OR “No matter what you did yesterday, let’s step up today.” The Bible is the story of real people with noble behavior and unimaginably evil behavior (sometimes the same people!).

¹⁰  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹²  as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³  As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103.10 – 14, ESV)

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, ESV)

I finished reading Genesis this week, and it ended like it always does with the deaths of Jacob (Genesis 49) and Joseph (Genesis 50). It’s been said that Genesis begins “In the beginning God…” and ends “…in a coffin in Egypt.” Depressing.

Since Genesis 3, death has had the last word. As my son Matt pointed out while Clemson was losing its semi-final championship football game to Ohio State on January 1:

Most teams lose their last game.

I had never thought of that, but it’s true. While it’s true that for those college football teams that play in (meaningless) bowl games, only half lose their last game, seasons that end in tournaments end with a lot of losses! In basketball, 68 teams get very excited about being invited to the NCAA (“March Madness”) Tournament, and 67 of them will lose their last game. The table is set for this year’s Super Bowl: 14 NFL teams made the playoffs, and in three weeks, 12 have lost their last game.

As I was contemplating the “lose your last game” phenomenon and comparing it with death, I was excited to realize that we only appear to “lose our last game to death.” Actually, death loses its last game, and that’s good news!

And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4.13, 14, MSG)

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power…The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15.21 – 26, ESV)

Hank Aaron, the great slugger for the Atlanta Braves who broke Babe Ruth’s record for most lifetime home runs, passed away last week. He still held the record for most runs batted in, most total bases, and most extra-base hits. 

Tony Evans, famous preacher in Dallas, Texas, likes to tell a story about Hank Aaron and Yogi Berra, the great catcher for the New York Yankees. I heard it on an audio CD about 20 years ago. The story goes like this:

As Hank Aaron came to bat in the All-Star Game one time, Yogi Berra was doing all he could to distract the great slugger. Berra was a chatterbox behind the plate who was always trying to distract the hitters, so he said to Aaron, “Hey Hank, you’re holding your bat the wrong way. You should have the label turned up so you can read it.” But Aaron ignored Berra and said nothing.

Yogi wouldn’t give up, however. “Hank, I’m telling you, you’re holding the bat the wrong way. The label should be turned where you can read it.” But still Aaron said nothing.

After this had gone on for several pitches, Aaron hit the next pitch out of the park for a home run. As he crossed home plate, he said to Berra, “I didn’t come here to read.”

Tony Evans concludes the story with : 

You and I need to know why we are here.

We all need to work at not being distracted from God wants us to do.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12.6 – 8, NIV)

I wrote yesterday about the importance of fruit and how that both in the physical and the spiritual realm, producing fruit is sometimes seen as a messy add-on, best avoided.

As the Apostle Paul would say, “God forbid!” (See Romans 6.1, 2). Or as one preacher put it years ago, “No, no, no. Don’t be stupid!”

Fruit is what it’s about. Unlike yesterday’s picture of the beautiful but fruitless pear tree, my pastor friend Chip Martin in Alabama is motivated by this picture from Colossians 1.6:

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. (Colossians 1.6, NIV)

A few days ago, I was privileged to spend an evening via Zoom(R) with Chip and 9 of his men, laying the groundwork for what we hope is a thriving 2:7 disciple-making ministry in his church. Like physical fruit, it will be messy! But the process will be worth it. It’s what we’re all called to do and be.

You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen and commissioned you to go into the world to bear fruit. (John 15.16, TPT)

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of a Kingdom focus and quoted Pastor Brad Edwards of Lafayette, Colorado:

If secularism is the pursuit of the Kingdom without the King, Evangelicalism has come to worship the King without the Kingdom. –Brad Edwards, September 8, 2020

Later on in the article, he paints a provocative picture of a fruitless pear tree:

In an interview on the podcast I co-host, Everything Just Changed, Brandon Washington, the founding pastor of The Embassy Church in Denver, CO, tells of how his HOA recently hired a tree trimming service for their neighborhood, but they refused to prune one particular tree in his front yard because it was a pear tree and fruit trees weren’t included in their fees. Confused, Brandon explained to the arborist that this tree hasn’t borne any fruit in the 7 years he’d lived there, at all. Not a single pear...

Some fruit trees (e.g. pear) are both pleasing to the eye and easy to maintain, and would be ideal decorative species if not for the messy and inconvenient fruit that regularly falls to the ground, clutters neat suburban lawns and, if neglected, will rot where they lay. Thus, “domesticated” fruit trees had the fruit-bearing genes bred out of their DNA so they could be visually pleasing and conveniently maintained with little effort. Domesticated suburbanites wanted a fruit tree (King) without the fruit (Kingdom), and literally remade it in their own image. –Brad Edwards, September 8, 2020

I never heard of such a thing so I looked it up. Sure enough, although the terms are different, the concept is the same: there are ornamental pear trees that don’t bear fruit.

If you aren’t a fan of fruit or dislike the mess it can create, there are many showy non-fruiting tree specimens to choose from for your landscape. Amongst these, there are several cultivars of ornamental pear trees. – Amy Grant, Gardening Know-How: Learn about Ornamental Vs. Fruiting Pear Trees.

Nice to look at, but no fruit. Jesus was not a fan of fruit trees without fruit:

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” (Mark 11.12 – 14, ESV)

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15.16, ESV)

We’ve been talking about the importance of a Kingdom focus, and I think it’s safe to say that a Kingdom focus and a God-focus ought to be the same thing although according to Pastor Brad Edwards of Lafayette, Colorado, it’s not always:

If secularism is the pursuit of the Kingdom without the King, Evangelicalism has come to worship the King without the Kingdom. –Brad Edwards, September 8, 2020

That’s an intriguing quote, but it’s certainly true from my experience growing up in a tradition that worshipped Jesus, to be sure, but relegated his teachings to “another age” – maybe a future millennium. I’m learning that it’s not a “future Kingdom” but a present one. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4.17)

And if we are subjects of a King, then best we be about doing what he wants us to do and becoming what he wants us to become. The late Dr. Howard Hendrix said:

The Bible was written not to satisfy your curiosity but to help you conform to Christ’s image. Not to make you a smarter sinner but to make you like the Savior. Not to fill your head with a collection of biblical facts but to transform your life. – Howard G. Hendricks

So as we read the Bible this year, let’s be open to how God wants to change us and let’s be available for advancing his Kingdom where we are. May we be peacemakers in these volatile times.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5.9, ESV)

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life… (Philippians 2.14 – 16, ESV)

I’ve been reading about Joseph (Genesis 37, 39 – 50), and one thing that jumps out is his God-focus. When ordered by his master’s wife to take her to bed, he responds:

And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39.7 – 9, ESV, emphasis mine)

When two of his fellow-prisoners had dreams needing interpreting, he told them:

Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me. (Genesis 40.8, ESV)

When Pharaoh wanted a dream interpreted, Joseph told him the same thing:

It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. (Genesis 41.16, ESV)

Joseph’s God-focus drove his behavior, just as Job’s did. For example,

¹  “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
²  What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
³  Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
⁴  Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? (Job 31.1 – 4, ESV)

What’s interesting is that neither Joseph nor Job had the written word at that time. They would have had to rely on an oral tradition that may have included not much more than:

• God created the heavens and the earth (we can look it up in Genesis 1 and 2)
• Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of the serpent and sinned with consequences (Genesis 3)
• God destroyed the world because of sin, saving only Noah (Genesis 6 – 8)
• God scattered the people because of their pride (Genesis 11)
• God chose Abraham and his family to make a difference (Genesis 12 and following)

Even as I listed these stories, one unmistakable theme is that sin has consequences. Joseph knew this, and it drove his behavior. I may write more tomorrow about how for some of us that’s not true. We know a lot, but it sometimes doesn’t alter our behavior.

For now, let’s remember that for Joseph it did make a difference. A God-focus (we could say Kingdom focus) did guide his behavior.

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19.12, 13, NKJV)

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.24 – 27, MSG)