Acts in April

Happy Holy Week! May God bless you in your journey towards his kingdom.

I am sorry that it was been so long since my last post. I apologize for not being more forthcoming in my blog postings.

Recently, Hawks for Christ has been reading through the book of Acts together. Our event, entitled "Acts in April," is a chance to read through the founding of the early church and discover our purpose and mission in the Kingdom. Each day we read one chapter from the book of Acts and discuss it in a blog setting. We have had a great discussion over our readings so far; to read more see the blog.

I wanted to bring over today's post and put it here for you to read. I hope you enjoy it. Please fill me in with any thoughts you might have.

God's blessings on you today!
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One man is hauled in front of the Sanhedrin on trumped up charges. He is accused of blasphemy and wanting to destroy the Temple of the LORD. The religious leaders are afraid that he (and the movement he is a part of) will overthrow their power and bring about a new religious revolution.

Sound familiar? This sounds a lot like the story of Jesus, which played out this week two thousand years ago. Jesus is hauled up in front of the religious leaders, who have been looking for a way to kill him for years. They accuse him of blasphemy, present false witnesses (a breaking of the Ten Commandments), and then arrange to have him murdered (yet another break with the 10 Commandments.)

And the exact same thing happens to Stephen. Stephen is a man full of the Holy Spirit who serves the church in Jerusalem. The religious leaders are afraid of the miracles he is doing in the name of Christ, and they arrange to have him killed.

Stephen sums up the story of the Old Testament in his sermon. As he traces the history of the people of Israel, he talks about all of the times they were "hard-hearted," turning their backs on the LORD and his messengers.

What really riles them up, however, is the fact that he downplays the Temple. "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?' says the LORD. 'Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?'"

This totally ticks off the religious elite, who are holding Stephen based on his blasphemy of the Temple. Then Stephen attacks their stubbornness, and reminds them that the Jews killed most of their prophets, and now they've killed the Son of God. At this point, they have him killed.

One of the things that stands out to me in this passage, however, is who was there. Saul (later known as Paul) is standing there giving his approval. After his conversion, Paul comes to the city of Athens and looks up at the Parthenon, a temple to Athena (and the other gods of Greece.) As he speaks to the Areopagus in the shadow of the Parthenon, he tells them: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands." Wow, that sounds a lot like Stephen's statements in Acts 7. Isn't it amazing to think that Paul, the man who holds their coats while they stone Stephen, takes Stephen's words to heart in Acts 17 and uses them in a sermon of his own?

Isn't God good, that he can use tragic events to bring about amazing consequences?