The more I study the gospels the more I realize one thing in particular. Jesus did and said things that no one would dare do or say. He was a "jaw-dropper". The boldness with which He would proclaim the truth and the situations in which He found Himself in was handled with poise and power. What really interests me, is that the early church, possessed that same mentality. Peter and John were called before the Jewish leaders for healing a forty-year old lame man who had been begging for alms outside the temple for probably the better part of his life. The leaders wanted to know by what power they had healed this man. Now, mind you, these are the very leaders that Christ would have appeared before during His trial and crucifixion. The passage continues and declares that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and he said the following: "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation by no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Can you picture the jaws drop? These are the same men who days earlier had fled in fear of these very leaders. Something had changed. These men were different. Not only were not running in fear, but they were standing defiant to the religious leaders of their day. The leaders were so dumbfounded that they couldn't find any fault in Peter and John for healing the man. They wrap the meeting up and tell them that they are not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

I love Peter and John's rebuttal. "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

I want that boldness! In the face of opposition and possible persecution, Peter and John felt so strongly about the truth that they had no choice but to continue to live and proclaim. They continued to meet in the temple and the church continued to grow. The apostles truly had become like their Master. Jesus didn't back down to the leaders and neither did His disciples at this time. I pray that I will be faithful to do the same.

Today in chapel the speaker spoke on a passage that I am very familiar with, but hadn't meditated on in a while. In Luke 14 Jesus addresses his followers and procedes to give them a challenge on the cost of being his disciple. He first addresses the issue of people or family. He says that unless you hate you father and mother, brothers and sisters, you cannot be my disciple. Now, I know some of you are thinking that can't be. What in the world is Jesus talking about here. Being a disciple of Christ is a high calling. I believe what He was trying to get at was that if you hold anything in a higher place of importance or priority to the point that you are not willing to follow Him, then you are not worthy to be called His disciple.

I believe we have done ourselves a disservice by not understanding the Jewish mindset and culture in the time of Christ. To become a disciple of a rabbi was the ultimate achievement of any young Jewish boy. It was a life-time commitment in which he would leave all that he knew to live and study and seek to model their lifes and teachings after the rabbi who chose them. You see, Jewish boys would study in a synagogue until they were around the age of fourteen. At that time they would present themselves before a rabbi and the rabbi would drill the young boy in all the interpretations and teachings of Torah. After this took place, he would either be deemed worthy or unworthy to follow or become the disciple of that rabbi.

If the boy was found unworthy, then he would go home and begin learning a family trade. To have a rabbi choose you meant that he believed that you had what it took to become his disciple. Think about this in light of what Christ has done for us. We as believers have been called to be his disciples. He believes that we have what it takes. Not only that, but he has commanded us to make disciples. If we are going to be effective in this life, we must begin looking at people not for what they are, but for what they can become in Christ. We must believe that by the grace of God they do have what it takes to be His disciple.

I know this is just a short breakdown, but it was a fresh reminder to me to do more and to stop holding back.

The age we are living in has been defined as "post-modern". For those in my generation, that is perhaps all that we have ever known and been accustomed with. In our society diversity is praised along with tolerance and pluralism coupled with religious syncretism. This pervasive thinking has infiltrated every area of our life and thinking. We are programmed by our culture to live in open mindedness to anything and everything. What truth is to you is whatever you want it to be and for me to say otherwise, I'm wrong.

It's funny, however, when it comes to Christianity (even though I hate stereotyping the word), our society is very intolerant. They preach tolerance, but when it comes to a religion that claims absolute truth, they are willing to turn their backs on everything they stand for and go to any means possible to eliminate or destroy this claim that there is absolute truth.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that at some point believers are going to have to approach this issue head on. I believe Jesus taught about such a thing when He took his disciples on a retreat to Caesaria-Philippi just prior to the transfiguration. The city was known for their pagan worship of the Greek god Pan. There was a crack in a cliff linked to a grotto or underwater river or spring in which the locals believed that spirits would travel back and forth to and from the underworld, or hades. They coined the name "Gates of Hell" for this crack or gate as they saw it. The city was renowned for it's Gentile paganism which included promiscuous ceremonies that went to the extent of committing sexual acts with goats. A devout Jew would not be caught near such an unclean place. So, why did Jesus decide to take His disciples to this ancient "Red Light District"?

Do you remember the coversation He had with His disciples during this tenure? He asked them, "Who do people say that I am?". The disciples responded with, "Some say you are Elijah, some say you are John the Baptist, and others say you are a prophet." Then He directs the question to them and Peter replies, "You are the the Son of the Living God".

Think about the contrast between the pagan, dead gods that would have been freshly on the minds of the disciples. Their God was living and alive. He was the Messiah who was the promised deliverer.

Christ would then respond with, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it".

I personally feel that Christ was preparing His disciples for the reality of the future without Him. They would not shy away from the evil in their culture, rather they would confront it and not even the most wicked evil would stand against it. The reality of the age we live in is similar I believe. Should we as believers (myself included) sit back and allow the culture we live in to dictate the way we live our lives, or, should we like the disciples confront sin for what it is. We are the "Church" and the "body of Christ". I feel that now more than ever we have the responsibility to take the gospel and confront the culture we live in. We may face ridicule or even persecution at times, but remember the Word says that "all who desire to live godly will be persecuted".

I pray that I will be faithful in proclaiming not only the written gospel, but also the living gospel. May my life be a living testimony to all I am privleged to come into contact with. I pray you will do the same.