Friday, October 9, 2009

I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Well you might have heard the news today (maybe through the grapevine) the Nobel Peace prize was awarded.  There was a lot of reaction to the news.  And many people commented on the idea of peace.  I heard references to:
  • Peace from war
  • Peace among the nations
  • The Coke commercial "I'd like to teach the world to sing..."
  • Peace among groups
Its funny when the topic of peace comes up people conjure up many different images in thier mind.  What does it mean when someone gets the Nobel Peace prize? It really hard to say for sure, but one thing is clear there is really only one real peace and only one real "Prince of Peace".   That peace is a restored relationship with God.   Last time we started to look at a letter that Paul wrote to the faithful brethern in Christ at Colossi.  This letter is known as the book of Colossians.

Continuing on in that letter Paul is thankful for the news about the Colossians faith that Paul has heard about.  Actually it is believed that Paul was in prison at the time he wrote this letter.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Back in Touch

My last entry was from July and since then my life has been a little bit in overdrive.   I can't say its one thing or another, just a lot of little things.  But I hope you faithful have been praying for me and that God gives me the right things to share.

The first week of August Cheryl and I traveled with the Calvary Cruisers (Christian Club) to Vermont.  We camped, made day trips, had devotions and I was able to hook up with an old friend.  The last time I saw or talked to Pete was in the mid-70s, probably before I got married.  Anyway ran across him on Facebook, where we exchanged a few pleasantries.  When he saw my posting for the trip to Vermont he mentioned he would be there the same week.  This was really cool since he is a real genuine brother in Christ.  Anyway I passed onto him my cell phone so he could get a hold of me.   Now here is the fun part.  I am out with the group returning from church we are parked in the driveway of a house when my phone rings.  I take it out but I have my helmet on so I yell "Wait a minute I have my helmet on".  I then take my helmet off and say hello.  Voice on the other end says "Hey, It's me".  He didn't say his name but even after 34 years I knew it was Pete.  We got together for a great lunch at the Bonaza resturant where we met his wife and one of his son's.  What a special relationship we have with our brothers when you can pick up the relationship 34 years later as if nothing happened.

During the trip with the Cruisers we started a study in Colossians.  It was kind of a whirlwind tour and we didn't quite finish.  So I said I would use this blog to complete the study.  The only way I can do that fairly is to start from the begining.  Maybe some day when we get through Colossians we will return to Luke.

Well first of all lets just look at the first couple of verses:

Col 1: 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As you can see from these verses that the book of Collosians in the Bible is actually a letter.  It tells us who wrote it and who they were writting to.  The main author is Paul, but he acknowledges that the letter is from him and Timothy together.  The recipients of the letter were the saints and faithful bretheren in Christ who are in Colosse.  In this letter we see that Paul was an Apostle (someone who is sent).  As a formal title it is someone who Jesus directly sends.

So there were the original 12 apostles and then Judas who betrayed Jesus committed suicide.  After Jesus death he appeared to Paul and asked him "...why are you persecuting me?".  Because Paul (who was then called Saul) was persecuting the christians.  He was having them sent to jail. Long story short, Paul becomes a christian and travels throughout the Roman empire telling other about the savior Jesus Christ. 

You might have noticed the term saint in these verses.  You might be thinking wow there was more than one saint at the church in Colosse.  You would be right.  All the people at Colosse who sought and found the savior Jesus Christ are saints.  As a matter of fact if you have accepted Jesus as your savior you are a saint.  You are separated from the world and consecrated to God.  It was not used as a distinctive title of the apostles and evangelists and of a "spiritual nobility" till the fourth century. So as you can see it is not a scriptural title to be applied to only some Christians. 


My hope is that you will see as we look at scripture that it is good news for everyone.
 
So I am hoping after 2 months I can pick up this relationship of sharing information with you as you search for the savior.