things your pastor never told you: 3,000 baptisms in one day

If you read my last post, you know that the prescription for becoming a Christian is listed in the book of Acts.

John 3:16, the most quoted verse in The Western World, is in a series of verses that should be read together with some understanding of the Old Testament, or it is likely to be misunderstood…which is one reason we have “John 3:16 Christians” living in sin and who will die and go to Hell.

But back to Acts. After a very large crowd of people heard disciples of Jesus speaking in tongues, and Peter preached the gospel to them, many asked him what they should do. Peter replied, in the Imperative:

     (roughly translated from the Greek NT) You repent, and let each of you be baptized, upon (into) the name of Jesus Christ, with a view to forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then, Peter went on, warning them, including telling them they should “be saved from this perverse generation.”

The response was: (again roughly from the Greek NT): The ones welcoming his word were baptized, and there were added in that day about three thousand souls; and they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship, in the breaking of the loaf and in the prayers. Acts 2:41,42

Now the passage above is in one sentence. However, many translations to English changed the ; to a period. The Bible was not originally written in verses (I’ll explain that another time).

But what I want to focus on here is the fact that about 3,000 people were baptized in one day. You were probably taught that it was the apostles doing all this baptizing. Uh, do the math…3,000 divided by 12, with maybe a short break for bread and olive oil and some wine…I’m no math whiz, but 270 or more people per disciple in most of one daylight day? Are you crazy? Even if the 120 mentioned in Matthias’ selection (early book of Acts) were present, that is still only 132 people to baptize about 3,000 people.

But you would be ignoring the semicolon. It is easy to explain who did it. The whole verse explains that the ones being baptized followed the teachings of the apostles, which means that once they were baptized fully, they baptized others: one repented, was baptized, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then followed the teachings of the apostles by then leading another repenter in the same process! How unlike today when you see so-called “christian” leaders lording over everyone that no one else can do anything. That practice is a lie from the pit of Hell, and it is obvious from this scripture here what we are to do once we are Christians. What a difference from the old institutionalized “church!”

So, that is how about 3,000 were baptized and added to the Kingdom of God in one day.

Ten Things To Pray For In The Year 2014: # 3 Compassion

without compassion, no one in this world would breathe their next breath. it’s strangely wonderful, this thing we call breathing. it keeps us going, it reminds us we are alive, and it helps take us to new divine appointments.

today, as i was driving through the city, i sensed God telling me to go toward WalMart. No, not to WalMart, toward WalMart. Without going into details, I ended up being part of what God wanted to do in someone else’s life…because…I felt God’s compassion within for that person.

when was the last time you stopped to ask someone if you could help them? yeah, you, the one with the twenty dollar bill in your pocket. have you thought that maybe that twenty dollar bill is in your pocket, not your purse or wallet, because God wants you to use it to bless someone who needs your compassion today? i know, not just from the Word of God, but because i have been on both ends of that twenty dollar bill.

there was a time in my life when i had to feed and clothe more than myself, yet i did not have the funds, nor a job that paid enough, to meet the needs. i went without new clothes longer, since i was the adult. 

one Sunday i sat with my wife and children in a church we belonged to and heard God tell me that the man in front of me had money- I believe it was a twenty- that he wanted the man to give us to bless us. yet the man in front of me, a man in charge of a large company, did not turn around and give me the money. he walked out of the church without blessing our family. not much later he lost his job as the manager of that large company…

today, i met someone who i have met before, a person with a lifestyle so distinctly different, and even grating, to me, that it is only God’s compassion that moved me to help. If I went by my flesh and did what I wanted to do, I would not give this person even a glance. 

If Jesus sat with a woman literally caught just a few minutes before in the very act of adultery and He had compassion on her, tell me who does not deserve the compassion of God? After all, if you are a Christian, a true Christian, you know that it is only God’s grace that keeps you from being as bad off as the woman caught in adultery…or anything else that seems horrendous to us. Jesus died for you and that woman, and whoever you are to have compassion on today. remember that, and use your breath to live life abundantly, in compassion, loving even the one you would never love without Christ, the hope of Glory, within you.

Ten Things to Pray For in The Year 2014: #1 The homeless

1. Pray for the homeless, the downtrodden, the ones struggling every day to live…those living under bridges, in the woods, and on the edge of large cities everywhere.

I recently read an article about a wealthy restaurant owner who treated forty or fifty homeless people to a four-course dinner in his restaurant in Akron, Ohio (USA). This pains me as much as the statistics about this town that estimate at least 800 homeless on the streets (keep in mind that the homeless, like the real unemployed, are grossly under-estimated)…it pains me because if I was homeless, I’d probably feel ashamed and even angry if someone did this for me, then left me to fend for myself in the streets again following that diarreah-inducing meal. Obviously, the man could not comprehend the severity of their situation…much better to get them a place to stay, a job or some way of making money legally, and a path in the right direction.

Part of that path includes being open to those around you…open to compassion, something so lacking in the world I see today.

As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility in love to love the unloved, and that includes those who are homeless. God’s love, His compassion that cannot be described completely in words, should lead you in that direction. If your heart isn’t warm toward this, examine yourself- are you living the life Jesus said to live?

Return to me, and I will return to you

Return to me, and I will return to you. That is the message in the first part of Malachi 3.

Way before the Lord speaks about the tithe in the latter part of Malachai 3, the Word speaks of Christ coming. This Messiah does not seem to be all cuddly here. In fact, it states quite plainly that He will refine, purify, those who seek to offer sacrifices so that they will be righteous before God.

When this happens, it states that God will act. But you have to go back to Isaiah 58 to understand how to get into this acceptable place of acceptable sacrifice.

True fasting is found in Isaiah 58. The definition of fasting has been obscured by traditions of men- just as God revealed through the prophet Isaiah. God desired that each of us walk humbly with God, and:

* Repent of sin (turn away from being in any state that keeps us from a close relationship with God. “God, I am sorry. I want to do things your way.”)

The next action requires complete submission to God as you need to be willing to be a spiritual warrior (if you are a follower of Christ, you will know what I mean).

* Loosen the bonds of wickedness (Now “wicked” is not good, it is cruel evil- when someone is attacked by a cruel evil, we are to help that person under attack. In fact, God tells us so many times not to be wicked. If you follow Christ, you are to do what you can – in action and in prayer. This is part of an acceptable sacrifice, part of an active fast)

*Break every bondage (Bondage is anything that has a hold on you- it might be drugs or another kind of addiction, but it may also be emotional bondage- baggage- or even mental bondage.)

*Free the oppressed.

*Divide your food with the hungry.

*Bring the homeless poor into the house. In fact, if you are homeless and your relatives ignore you, Isaiah 58 insinuates that your family members who turned you away are totally out of touch with God, therefore, in sin.

*Clothe the naked.

*Be available to family- do not turn them away. See above.

*Do not accuse anyone. If you accuse, you are doing the same thing that satan does. So, stop it. Yes, we are to reveal the works of evil…but not be an accuser.

*Satisfy the need of the afflicted.

So, it seems to me from this passage that we have a lot of work to do. If you say you are a Christian or a Messianic Jew, and you believe you have no time to act like this as you live out your daily life, check your pulse. You are alive. God gave you life again today. Are you ready to walk humbly with your God?

I am a Patrick

Of all the people this world has seen in the thousands of years, of all the mortal men and women who have walked on this globe, few have a life that resonate more with my heart than Saint Patrick. I never tire of his story, never tire of his example, and never tire of Saint Patrick’s Day, no matter how pagan people try to make it…because I know his example shines like a light in a lost and confused age.

His dedication to the goal- a vision years in preparation- are an example to me, since I too have been years in preparation for the next step. He did not fit the mold either, and although there were others before him who were successful, it is likely his passionate spirit, and his unique understanding, that separates him from Columba and the other equally great evangelists of his time in the area.

Patrick, like Saint Brendan, one of my other heroes of the faith, was a man with a story, woven by the constant need for reliance on God, in a way that would challenge anyone today. His writings reveal that he, like Brendan, possessed a Pentecostal-like fervor and insight many Catholics would rather not admit; it is in the lives and writings/stories of these two men that the Catholic church would do well to heed in this era of trouble filled with people drowning in feelings of hopelessness, confusion, and emptiness.

I celebrate Patrick, my predecessor and example, by trying to walk the walk Patrick walked…in the spirit. And if I ever get the chance that many have, I too will climb Croagh Patrick and the mountains he and Brendan climbed, going away to a lonely place to get direction.

So, when the morning wakes and the day begins, contemplate what our Brother Patrick would have been doing if he was alive today. I do not believe he would be in a pub eating corned beef, even lamb, and drinking green beer, because he had nothing to do with them. For those who are celebrating it that way, it is time you search for the real life story and writings of the man- you will be shocked by his witness. I can think of few with such a great witness…in the history of the world following the birth of Christ.