Charles Swindoll wrote a very moving book on the Apostle Paul that I've been thinking about this morning.
I mean, put yourself there. YOU are the Adolph Hitler of the day, the MAN, the guy that will end the heresies of Y'shua and his followers. Persecution and imprisionment are your tools of choice, up to, and including, assisting in the stoning of believers. You are totally committed, you are right, you WILL end this thing. It is your destiny....
Then BANG, something miraculous happens. Your day is ruined. You have your main opponent smite you down, you are defeated, broken and told that the very thing you lead your life for, ending the heresy, is the thing you are now commanded to support. Yes, Adolph Hitler now goes out to convert the world FOR his former enemies.
Despite unbearable opposition, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, prison and unending scorn, you carry out the mission to the piont of death.
Man. When I put myself into that scenario, it humbles me, blows me away. I wonder if I could be that man, I doubt that I have the courage and fortitude.
That story is one of the key reasons I came to believe, it is SO REAL and flys into the face of reality, that it had to be completely true. Walking away from family, community, friends, and what you thought was your life's work, to revert, convert, and change the world forever is so moving that to this very moment I'm in awe.
For me, the Christian life is somewhat like that. Sudden change, renouncing former vices, likes, people, ideas, and values. Going out into the world alone, to spread my story where I can. Not anything like Paul had to endure, at least not yet, but I'm asked to put myself at personal risk for this mission, and I have, and have suffered scorn, rejection, humiliation and recriminations for my new found faith.
Does anyone have anything to add to my feelings this morning? Does the work of Paul affect you as much as me?
I mean, put yourself there. YOU are the Adolph Hitler of the day, the MAN, the guy that will end the heresies of Y'shua and his followers. Persecution and imprisionment are your tools of choice, up to, and including, assisting in the stoning of believers. You are totally committed, you are right, you WILL end this thing. It is your destiny....
Then BANG, something miraculous happens. Your day is ruined. You have your main opponent smite you down, you are defeated, broken and told that the very thing you lead your life for, ending the heresy, is the thing you are now commanded to support. Yes, Adolph Hitler now goes out to convert the world FOR his former enemies.
Despite unbearable opposition, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, prison and unending scorn, you carry out the mission to the piont of death.
Man. When I put myself into that scenario, it humbles me, blows me away. I wonder if I could be that man, I doubt that I have the courage and fortitude.
That story is one of the key reasons I came to believe, it is SO REAL and flys into the face of reality, that it had to be completely true. Walking away from family, community, friends, and what you thought was your life's work, to revert, convert, and change the world forever is so moving that to this very moment I'm in awe.
For me, the Christian life is somewhat like that. Sudden change, renouncing former vices, likes, people, ideas, and values. Going out into the world alone, to spread my story where I can. Not anything like Paul had to endure, at least not yet, but I'm asked to put myself at personal risk for this mission, and I have, and have suffered scorn, rejection, humiliation and recriminations for my new found faith.
Does anyone have anything to add to my feelings this morning? Does the work of Paul affect you as much as me?