weekly revelations, installment 1
I usually don’t publish them anywhere, but each week presents its own set of interesting and often surprising revelations. This week I had two…and I don’t remember one. So here, for my faithful yet exasperated readers, is that one thing. 
1. Christianity doesn’t just die.
Yes. That is it. 
And I’m proud of it, for several reasons. For one thing, the pastor mentioned a couple weeks ago that Christianity grew from 0.03% of the Roman Empire, or about 1,000 people, to over 14 million (56.6% of the Empire) in just over 300 years. Impressive! And I’m constantly reminded that most of the governments through the ages of most countries have attempted to squash this resilient group of people. Perhaps what gives me most hope, though, is that it is not just a group of people. It is a body, composed of all the parts necessary to function if not fully, then as well as possible. Each person plays a role, even though it’s difficult to see the roles certain groups (i.e. teenagers) can play in the church. (That’s a different post, though.) It’s a body that does not give itself life support…it can’t! It could not exist aside from the moving of God’s Spirit. God has promised to uphold it as long as there are people who will follow Him. Far down the drain though my home country (of which I’m sadly proud) may be, I am fully aware that there are people who still trust God to move. -o.o-
So you see, I’m not worried. Yeah, I’d like to teach. I’d like to work as a journalist. And I realize that I’ll face intense persecution for my beliefs, as will my brothers and sisters in Christ. But frankly, I have difficulty running scared and worrying constantly because I’m quite confident that if God brings those who trust in Him to it, He will bring us through it. Even if He has seen that it’s time to discipline our country.
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AMEN!
First, its great to hear from you. Long time no read.
Second, as Lewis pointed out, yes, what you have said is so true. No wonder the world hates us: every time they think they have squashed us, persecuted us to extinction, and finally killed the Way, we rise back up to life again stronger than ever, just like Christ. Glorious and majestic.
Remember, on Pentecost, the faithful went from 120 who were washed in the Spirit with tongues of fire to about 3,000 in one day. Shortly after 5,000 more men were added (that means, counting women and children, in an almost ridiculously short time, about 10,000 people strong were living in the Spirit of Christ.)
I know its difficult to think of yourself otherwise in a culture and age when you are constantly reminded of it, but in Christ, we are neither Jew, Gentile, male or female, slave, master, Roman or Greek … and I would venture to say, teenager either. (A group that didn’t ‘exist’ before the last century recognized it as such.)
I try not to worry what role I’ll play so much as to just glorify Christ in the Body He has placed me in and with the wonderfully individual personality He has bestowed upon each of us. It’s good to see Him bring forth even multiple roles in people as long as they aren’t stifling the Spirit. But again, don’t focus on the role, but on Him!
I hope everything is going well with you, be blessed!
James - May 13, 2009 at 12:41 am
Ah, we do recover.
But we’d be boastful to think we did any of that recovery for ourselves…
Pentecost marked the beginning of an outpouring of God’s Spirit has yet to cease…even though He no longer speaks directly, audibly to His followers. There’s no human explanation for the tenacity of the Christian religion.
My age tends to impress me far more than it should. I’m inclined to agree that I certainly quickly forget that I’m not so different from those older and wiser in the faith in that we share that exact same faith and we are both still learning and growing.
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily panics, but it’s always a good exercise to look around and ask how we are reflecting Him whom we follow.
Thank you, James – your feedback is always insightful.
Bumblebee - May 15, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Don’t think me nuts or anything, but Im trying to find where it says God doesn’t speak to us audibly anymore. I mean, I don’t think He normally does, no, but I guess He could? I dunno.
James - May 16, 2009 at 1:38 am
Yes, He could indeed. I was thinking about that myself as I wrote it…since there’s no limit to what He can righteously do, I have to say that He could still speak. However, I don’t know of any recorded occurrences of that….
Bumblebee - May 16, 2009 at 5:20 pm
nor do i, but then again, the times when He may have done it, we “moderns” might have written the person off as a schizophrenic.
on the other hand, God would *know* that we would do that and choose someone whom would not be labeled as such, or at least circumstances not so damaging. Even when it is obvious that God speaks, humans don’t want to hear it – John the Baptist, Paul, or even Jesus for that matter. we write them off and hope the water just goes under the bridge.
but we just won’t die, like Christ, we keep coming back.
James - May 19, 2009 at 12:50 am