The 260 Journey

Day 92

Today's Reading: Acts 3

When a big event is over and life starts up again, how do we cope? How does that look? Or how do we look?

After an inspiring Sunday church service, Monday will be there. Monday is always coming. There will be no lights, no band, no greeters at the door, no hugging . . . because it’s Monday and we have a job and a schedule to keep.

The biggest event in church history after the cross and resurrection is the day the Holy Spirit fell upon the church—called the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church, which we read about in Acts 2. Fire touched them, the church was started, and people were changed.

And what came after, which we read about in Acts 3, is monumental. It is a great guide for us on how to look at Mondays:

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. (Acts 3:1-8)

Look at verse 1 again: “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.” After the most powerful move of God in the church, the church went back on schedule.

The ninth hour is 3 p.m., the normal hour of prayer in the Jewish culture. God put them back on schedule. They started attending the normal prayer meeting. That is insightful. They became 3 p.m. Christians.

What is a 3 p.m. Christian? It is a Christian who was touched by the Holy Spirit in a special setting but now takes that new touch and brings it into their everyday environment and schedule. They are new people in the same old place. A 3 p.m. Christian comes to the same places with a different heart and different perspective. God doesn’t change places, He changes the person.

Acts 3 determines if Acts 2 is real. Real life determines if the experience and change are real. Monday behavior is a great test of Sunday inspiration.

What happened to the disciples? One thing that was very noticeable was that the ordinary started to look extraordinary. They received new eyes. That lame man wasn’t new, he had been placed there every day from the time he was a kid. They passed that guy, but today he looked different. He looked like a candidate for a miracle.

One of the best tests for us is that we will notice people: when God touches us, then we love people—not just God—better. It isn’t a true work of God if we don’t treat people better. The ordinary and the common should start looking different—from the people in Starbucks to our spouses and our kids to our bosses to our coworkers.

God didn’t change you for church. God changed you for life—everyday life, Monday life. He changed you to be a 3 p.m. Christian.

Day 91

Today’s Reading: Acts 2

The church was entering a time that would prove to be the most difficult to be a Christian. Believers would die or be persecuted for following Jesus. The persecution started in the first century and continued for three centuries under the orders of Roman emperors Nero to Diocletian who ordered some of the most horrific things done to Christians. Jesus knew this difficult time lay ahead for His followers so He wanted to make sure they were prepared.

One of the greatest movies is Gladiator. One of the deleted scenes on the DVD depicts Russell Crowe, a once-powerful Roman general who had been forced to become a common gladiator, in the bowels of the Colosseum viewing the Christians being fed to the lions. It was accurately portrayed that he would view the Christians’ persecution before the gladiators would go into the fight. Why? To fill the stomachs of the lions so they would be more playful with the gladiators during the games.

Why did the Romans kill the early Christians? Not for worshiping Jesus but for not worshiping and acknowledging all the other gods in the Roman Empire, because they clung to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. The first-century government hated the Christians not because they were Christians but because they didn’t say all the other religions were legit. We call that pluralism—all religions are equal.

So at the beginning of Acts, with the creation of the early church, Jesus was equipping them with something for the worst times Christianity would face. He was also equipping us. How does God get His people ready for this type of environment? He gives a gift—the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we read in today’s chapter:

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

This is not a denominational thing. This is not a Pentecostal thing. This is a Jesus thing.

I have been fortunate that I was raised by great Christian parents and had godly grandparents. From a young age, I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. When I was a pastor for thirty years in Detroit, someone once told me that they could do a better job on those streets because they have experienced that world, and I haven’t. They had a life of addiction that I did not have so they could speak to the people on the street better than I could. That did not seem right to me—the best way to be effective in ministering to the world is to experience the world? I don’t think so.

This is the reason for Acts 2. The best way to face the world is not to experience it and see that sin is not fulfilling. God doesn’t say taste and see the world is no good; God goes the other way: taste and see that the Lord is good. Jesus didn’t tell Peter to get high, Martha to experience sex outside of marriage, James to get drunk, John to go to prison and kill someone so they could all really minister to people. He said an experience with God is what we need to tell people about God’s kingdom and living a Holy-Spirit-filled life. Jesus knew that our power was in experiencing God, not in experiencing sin. Sin takes away, God fills and gives.

So when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, He wants to give you a power to face what is ahead and equip you to share the Good News unafraid.

If Jesus said that the best thing for us was for Him to leave so He could send the Holy Spirit, then it is best. And He will help us through the hardest times.

We need another Pentecost. We need this fire. We need the Holy Spirit.

The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, wrote a song called “Send the Fire.” Consider his first verse:

Thou Christ of burning, cleansing flame, send the fire!
Thy blood-bought gift today we claim, send the fire!
Look down and see this waiting host, give us the promised Holy Ghost;
We want another Pentecost, send the fire!

Day 90

Today's Reading: Acts 1

Dr. R.T. Kendall recalls words his mother told him once about an old saint who had great influence on his mother’s life—and consequently on his. She said, “I have served the Lord for so long now that I can hardly tell the difference between a blessing and a trial.”

She understood something important: that what you call a problem can really be an answer to prayer. What you think is an interruption is a catapult to your calling and dream.

Today in our 260 journey, we turn to the book of Acts. Acts 1 is about to give you a dream—and then I want you to see how it is accomplished.

Jesus said in Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Jesus said that He would release the disciples as witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and then to the outermost parts of the earth. Jerusalem happens immediately in Acts 2. Let’s cover how part 2 of the plan is accomplished. Always remember, God is creative. And in Acts 8, God uses a strange element to cooperate with His blueprint: Philip is in Samaria and a whole city is being turned upside down.

How did they get there and how did it happen? Let’s take a look with the goal that you and I will get a whole new appreciation for the tough stuff we face, or as my friend tells me, to “dignify your trial:”

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting [Stephen] to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. . . . Those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. (Acts 8:1, 4-5)

How is the promise fulfilled? Through persecution—or more specifically, great persecution. Believers headed to Judea and Samaria. How does God get the ball rolling to these two places? He uses attack and persecution against the church to scatter them.

What seems so bad? Scattering and persecution is literally God’s agent to fulfill the mission. Here is the end of the story: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase” (Acts 9:31).

So a promise (Acts 1:8) was fulfilled by trouble (Acts 8:1-6).

This is similar to another biblical character who suffered trials in order to fulfill God’s plan.

Joseph was closer to his dream in jail than he was in Potiphar’s home. He was closer as a slave to the dream he had than at home as daddy’s favorite boy. As William Secker said, “If Joseph had not been Egypt’s prisoner, he would have never been Egypt’s governor.”

Call it what you want, but all the stuff you are going through—false accusations, betrayals, being fired for no reason—all that trouble may be the catalyst to God doing something great in your life. Or as some anonymous person reminds us, “Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can fall together.”

Day 89

Today's Reading: John 21

We know that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879. Back then they didn’t have mass production, so each bulb had to be created separately. He and his colleagues worked twenty-four painstaking and meticulous hours straight to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with that light bulb, he gave it to a young boy to deliver up the stairs to another part of Edison’s workshop. The boy nervously carried it— step by step cautiously watching his hands, terrified of dropping this treasure. But when he got to the top of the stairs, the poor boy dropped it.

It took the team of men another twenty-four hours to create the second light bulb. Tired and ready for a break, Edison needed it carried up the stairs. Guess who he asked to deliver it? He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. This time he made it to the top.

Jesus had a light bulb and Jesus had a clumsy kid. The light bulb would be the church and the kid’s name was Peter.

Peter’s stair drop? Peter denied Jesus three times at Jesus’ most critical moment of his life. And after the resurrection, Jesus found Peter to give him the light bulb—right after his failure. That’s where we land in today’s reading.

God is amazing—not only because He forgives us after failure, but also because God trusts us after failure. As Psalm 130:3-4 (MSG) says, “If you, GOD, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.”

In John 21, Peter and Jesus met the first time after Peter dropped the light bulb. And Jesus wanted to see where Peter was in his failure. In other words, He was looking at Peter with an eye toward what Abraham Lincoln said: “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” Jesus was making sure Peter was not content.

Failure is part of life, everyone experiences it. Getting up from failure, though? Not everyone does. Yet failure isn’t final until you quit. Let’s look in on the scene:

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing. (John 21:1-3)

The craziest phrase is in the first verse: After these things. What things? The things in John 20.

“After these things . . .” (verse 1) and “Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing . . .’” (verse 3). That’s your response, Peter, to the resurrection and to what you just saw?

Remember what Peter saw:
• An empty tomb, which he entered.
• Mary overcome with emotion and clinging to Jesus.
• Jesus walking through walls.
• Being commissioned to tell the whole world.
• Doubting Thomas becoming believing Thomas

Shouldn’t the next phrase after 21:1’s “After these things” be something like:

• Peter preached.
• Peter went to church.
• Peter worshiped.

You would think, but nope. Peter saw the resurrected Jesus and got his tackle box. He was told he would be a “fisher of men,” but he went back to being a “fisher of fish.” Why? Because Peter forgot. The emotions, the feelings of God, fear, and excitement wore off.

To Peter, the event of the resurrection was done and now it was Monday. He was thinking, It was a good run. We did the Jesus thing for three years and now it’s time to get back to normal life.

After September 11, 2001, many churches were full, but soon the fear and the horror of it all wore off and life went on and it was back to fishing. Peter was part of an event, but during that event he had no encounter with Jesus personally.

Events don’t change us. A personal encounter with Jesus changes us. Peter experienced a resurrection event but never had a resurrection encounter.

To say “I’m going fishing” was a huge statement. Fishing to us is a hobby. Fishing to Peter was his old way of life. "I'm going fishing" were strong words for Peter.

Peter was very persuasive, for seven of the eleven went with him—and three of those were not even fishermen. Life does go on if it’s an event. But life can never be the same if the resurrection is an encounter. Here comes the encounter for Peter:

When the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are you?” Knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:4-15)

After breakfast, Peter had an encounter. Because forgiveness happens in encounters not in events. As pastor Robert Schuller said: “Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. It just means you haven’t succeeded yet.”

Peter was about to get the light bulb again.

Your failure is not final. God wants to get that light bulb in your hands again.

Day 88

Today's Reading: John 20

What if Jesus showed up to your Sunday night service today?

I know we talk about Resurrection morning, but not many talk about what happened that night. Resurrection night was a huge event for the disciples. I’m afraid if Jesus showed up to one of our twenty-first-century Sunday evening church services, He wouldn’t find many there. And Jesus had an important Sunday-night message for the church.

Today we have landed in our 260 journey on John 20. It’s Resurrection day— but not the morning. It’s the evening. Let’s read the passage:

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (verse 19)

The Sunday evening church service is slowly fading out of church life. I grew up in a time when Sunday night service was “the” service to go to. There would be less traditional hymns and more choruses. There were water baptisms, altar calls for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and as a child, the best was that there was always the possibility of an “after glow.” Us “old timers” know that to mean eating after church in the fellowship hall.

Since I grew up in the church, I can tell you that I have been water baptized on a Sunday night, filled with the Holy Spirit on a Sunday night, seen great gospel bands and Christian movies on a Sunday night, and most importantly in my youth, eaten good cake and punch.

Traditionally, Sunday night service was a little more casual for the members. But it was a night that allowed more freedom and had a greater expectation for “the spirit to move.” Unfortunately, today the Sunday night service is becoming an extinct species. Let me say, I am not saying there is something magical about Sunday night, I am just talking about what I experienced. And I’m also talking about the time Jesus chose to give really important directions to His disciples.

Many of us pastors dread the Sunday night service when the morning service is a holiday service, such as Mother’s Day and Easter. Most people have no motivation to get back to church those nights, especially after eating a big meal and meeting with family. Thank God the resurrection of Jesus did not take place in our time . . . or Jesus would have had to accomplish everything in the morning service, because no one would have been at the night service.

And yet Resurrection night was just as important as Resurrection morning. It’s in the evening that Jesus offered a three- point message, and every point was the same:

Point 1: Peace be with you (verse 19)
Point 2: Peace be with you (verse 21)
Point 3: Peace be with you (verse 26)

Jesus comes to the house of the disciples, closed doors and all. Looks a little like our churches on Sunday night. But this is Jesus, so He walks through the walls. The doors are shut, yet Jesus gets in. The risen Christ does not know the barricades of locked doors or locked hearts. The risen Christ is not limited by our closed windows or closed minds.

I’ve always appreciated the suggestion of C. S. Lewis, that the risen Jesus could walk through walls because he is more real than them—in the same way that an airplane can move through the clouds that look so solid.

What was so significant about Resurrection evening? Each of the three times He stated “Peace be with you” was important. The first “Peace be with you” was a challenge to bring Christianity outside the walls of our meeting places. The disciples were afraid, and Jesus told them, in essence, Don’t meet in your little clique. There is a whole world out there that needs to know I am alive, so go in peace.

The second time Jesus says “Peace be with you” in verse 21, comes with a breathing of the Holy Spirit on them. He was essentially saying, “Not only am I sending you out beyond these walls, I will not send you alone. You will have the Holy Spirit going with you, so you can go in peace.” When we go outside our religious walls, we go with His presence.

And finally, the third “Peace be with you” in verse 26 is pretty special. This one came eight days later. Let’s read it: “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus’ statement came eight days later for one man, Thomas. Verse 24 tells us that for point 1 and 2, “Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them.” So Jesus came eight days later to say the same words. Why? Because one guy needed to hear it.

Just when you think, I blew it, I messed up, I missed God, Jesus shows up again. Jesus died for the world, but most importantly, Jesus died for me and Thomas and you. I think Jesus offered a point 3 for one guy.

Resurrection night doesn’t even get any props, but it should. Because we need to hear Jesus’ words: “Peace be with you.”