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That is it Paul has used everything humanly possible. He has tried fitting in with them, he has tried diplomacy and still things goes wrong. Now he is about to be tortured. When suddenly it becomes apparent that Paul is a Roman citizen. You see this Captain would have been in big trouble if he tortured a Roman citizen, it wouldn’t matter if he tortured anyone else. Now this obviously wrong all people are equal under Gods eyes, but God can use all circumstances for good. It s important to understand that God does not want bad stuff to happen, this only happens because humans choose to ignore Gods perfect plan for the world. That’s what comes of having the free will to do what we wont. But never the less God can use both good and bad stuff to help people. If you have had bad experiences in you past, they were not cause by God, but God would love for you to use them to help others. Think about all the people that have gone through stuff like you did who could be encouraged to carry on; because they heard that you had made your way through those problems and still love God.

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

And so Paul takes a deep breath and tries to explain to those who are trying to kill him why he does what he does. Paul does this by giving what some people call his testimony. Why do we use longs words when short ones will do? This simply means that Paul explains how he became a Christian and what he thinks God wants him to do. You see people like stories, and different people like different stories. You have heard of dramatic stories of people who have been drug addicts and prostitutes and then they got to know Jesus and turned their lives around. And there are people who really believe that Jesus could not love them who need to hear those stories, so they can know that Jesus does love them. You have heard Stories of people who have been doing OK and become Christians anyway. And yes there are people that need to hear those stores because they believe they are doing OK but something is still missing. Finally there are people who can’t remember when they weren’t Christians, because they gave their lives to Jesus at a very young age. There are people that need to hear these stories as well, because they need to know that their children can stay true to the fact they have given their lives to Jesus. Whatever your story someone needs to hear it.

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Paul must be completely fed up, before this he did his best to fit in. Paul even changed the way he did some things so the guys around him would see Jesus in action, and still they want his blood? It must be about time to Paul to say enough is enough, they want a fight Ill give them one. After all Paul has the one and only true God on his side. But no he doesn’t do that, Paul turns to the guy that has put him under arrest and just says, let me talk to them. You see Paul wants to go that extra mile; Paul wants to try talking one more time. How can Paul’s actions work? These guys are total nutters and they are shouting for him to die. Well I guess Paul doesn’t know if him talking will work, but he knows that he has to try. Do you lash out straight away when you come across conflict? Do you tell one of your relatives where to go because they upset you? Do you punch that guy at school because they called you names? Do you spread gossip about the ex-mate at college because they did the same to you? Or do you try and talk to that ex-mate; do you try and understand the low self esteem of that guy at school, do you invite the relative around for a meal? There are no guarantees, that what you do will work but pray about it and go-ahead and try. Being the peacemaker is not the soft option but it is the Paul option and more importantly it is the Jesus option.

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Do you ever wonder why people just can’t seem to agree on anything? We can’t agree on what football teams are best, we can’t agree what shows are best, we just can’t agree. And if you can’t agree with you mate about what the best band is does it matter? You are still going to be mates, just mates that like different bands. However if you can’t agree on what being a friend means then that might well matter a load. If you believe that being a friend means you can talk to either other knowing that you won’t gossip about each other, and they don’t agree, then that will effect how your friendship is. It’s no different here, Paul as we know is very adamant about something’s and won’t budge, but he is happy to give a little in other areas if it helps people come to know Jesus. You see there are something’s that Christians must agree on and generally they are written down in the Bible. Things like Jesus died for us and rose again. Things like, there is only one God and that Jesus is the way to come to know God. But there are other things that we can disagree over, but that won’t stop us praising the true God together. Why not look at what you have in common with other Christians and their denominations rather then what makes you different from each other?

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Is has to be said Paul is either one sandwich short of a picnic or a completely faithful God trusting dude. He has already been warned about going to Jerusalem and now on his way he is being warned again. It’s odd though isn’t it? It’s not like Paul doesn’t agree, he knows that he is going to get a hard time if he carries on, it’s just that he thinks it’s worth it. Paul knows that Jesus has told us to tell everyone the good news about him, and Paul is being completely obedient to what Jesus wants. Hey it’s hard enough trying to be obedient to our parents or bosses in this world let alone being obedient to a command that might get us hurt or in Paul’s case even killed. Something’s though are worth fighting for and risking everything for. Think about soldiers in battle they risk everything for a something they believe in. Think about a father or mother protecting their child, they will risk all even to the point of death to protect his child. Think about someone you love, what would you risk to protect him or her? Now think about Jesus who loves you, what did he do to project you and enable you to go to Heaven? What do we risk when we tell others about Jesus? Maybe they will say they are not interested, or maybe they may even laugh. But surely it is worth the risk to let others know the forgiveness and the everlasting life that trusting Jesus brings.

Author - Max Cross, Uncategorized | No Comments »