But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy … - Ephesians 2:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 28, 2018): Ephesians 2

Jessica Brody in “The Karma Club” sums up the idea of Karma pretty well. “Karma comes after everyone eventually. You can't get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don't care who you are. What goes around comes around. That's how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge that you deserve.” Deep down it is what we want, for the universe to get its revenge on those who plot to do evil; for the cheaters who consistently break promises they have made to be cheated; for the haters to be hated, and the hunters to be hunted. This is the way that the world should work.

Well, at least in our dreams (and on the television shows that we watch.) Karma is a Buddhist theory that actually argues for a cosmic system of cause and effect. The spiritual principle argues that the actions, as well as the intent, of an individual will influence the future of that person. A good person will receive good things right here on this earth, while a bad person is in deep trouble. So during the Olympics, when Olympic favorite Lindsay Vonn failed to garner a medal in the “super-G” (ending up tied for sixth, 0.38 seconds behind the leader), Donald Trump fans were quick to blame Karma for her loss. Vonn had said that she was proud to ski for the United States, but not for President Donald Trump. For many Trump supporters, Vonn’s loss was exactly what she deserved. A heaping helping of Karma had just been served.

As I have mentioned, Karma is Buddhist in nature, so it always surprises me how many Christians seem to have some sort of belief in the theory – or in the idea that we get what we deserve. Actually, the Bible teaches a kind of anti-Karma. It argues that Christians are the ones who have the privilege of breaking Karma and delivering good even to those who are evil. I know, it is a concept that is hard to get our heads around. But the spirituality of Christianity has nothing to do with celebrating when bad things happen to people that we don’t like. In fact, it is the reverse. Our Christianity shows through in the love that we display to people who want nothing more than to harm us. It is a teaching that is hard to live, at least, it is hard on our own strength. Luckily God has promised to help us, and love through us.

And the concept extends from this thought, all of the good that we possess is because God loves us. And God’s love originated not from the idea that we somehow deserved his love because none of us deserve the good that we receive. If we are honest, we know that our built up negative karma. If Karma is real, we are all in trouble. None of us have done enough good to balance our karma accounts against the bad we have created in our lives. No, God’s love was a direct result of his mercy. And he commands that we would go and do likewise, love when no love is deserved, and be a people of mercy and forgiveness when it is only judgment that merited. After all “Karma comes after everyone …” unless somebody steps in to stop it.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. – Ephesians 1:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 27, 2018): Ephesians 1

In her novel, “The History of Love,” Nicole Krauss writes, “I want to say somewhere: I've tried to be forgiving. And yet. There were times in my life, whole years, when anger got the better of me. Ugliness turned me inside out. There was a certain satisfaction in bitterness. I courted it. It was standing outside, and I invited it in.” Maybe we can all identify with the emotion. Bitterness often seems to feed something that is inside of us. It makes us feel good, justified, and even in control as it eats away at us from the inside. And so we stalk it, inviting it to come in and destroy both our relationships and our lives.

I have seen the scenario play itself out in many situations. The root of the problem seems to be me, or us. We are people, fallible, prone to let others down and to fail. We expect it and begin to look for those moments when the other that stands beside us will live up to our expectations and fail us. We convince ourselves that it is better to go alone than to be part of a community – after all, if I mess up at least I know who to blame. And the bitterness continues to eat away like an acid inside of us, and every other person who we have not dared to send away is damaged by the bitterness we have welcomed into our lives. In this, we are destroyed.

In reading Paul’s letters, to be honest, he doesn’t seem to be all that much of a people guy, even though people seem to be a big part of his job. He was a smart guy, but smart people often seem to lack people skills (if you are a fan of “The Big Bang Theory” just consider Sheldon and Leonard’s mom). I think Paul understood that all too well, and so he was on his guard when it came to the people in his life. And one of Paul’s tricks was to thank people and to pray for them. Somehow, when we begin to consider all of the reasons why we should be thankful for the people in our lives, and we begin to pray for them, all of the bitterness that threatens our relationships seem to fade away. No matter who it is in your life, you can usually find several things that you need to thank them for, and praying for them begins to shift our point of view to that of God. No matter how badly we might have been wronged, when we start to see people as the children of God, adored by him, somehow our perspective begins to change.

It is something that I try to be faithful to do. I just want to make sure that I say thank you to those around me, and always to include them in my prayers. Right now my prayers are filled with people who I am in contact with on a weekly basis, and some who are a little farther away. And as I pray that God will bless them, the bitterness that maybe should be there just fades into the background. It is the best defense for bitterness that I can think of, and I wonder, who is it for whom you need to be praying.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2

We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. – Acts 28:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 26, 2018): Acts 28

The dreaded “heat ray” is a staple of Science Fiction, so it is a bit surprising to discover that it might have been an ancient weapon. The idea is that it might be possible for a device to create a focused beam of energy that is powerful enough to destroy an enemy at a distance. Admittedly, the ray gun of Science Fiction tales was well beyond the capabilities of ancient people, but there is a belief that the ancient mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse employed the idea of a heat ray to fend of attackers during the “Siege of Syracuse” (214 – 212 B.C.E.). Okay, according to the story of the siege, Archimedes defended the city by causing the attacking ships to burst into flames. How he did, at least according to tradition, was by having people use parabolic mirrors along the shoreline to focus the sun’s rays back onto the ships. And if a series of these mirrors were focused at one ship, the resulting heat, combining with the tar used to coat the wood of an ancient ship, might just cause the ship to burst into flames.  

Admittedly, modern attempts to recreate Archimedes “heat ray” have been inconclusive at best. But even if the claim that the ships burst into flame is untrue, one can imagine the discomfort of the sailors if a series of mirrors were used to turn the sun’s rays back on a ship, causing a blinding light and significant heat to come from the shoreline. Either It might have been enough to cause the sailors to turn the ship around or abandon the ship altogether.

Two and a half centuries later, the learned Paul would have known of the stories of Archimedes and his city of Syracuse. Syracuse was an important city during Paul’s lifetime. The Roman politician and lawyer Cicero called Syracuse "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all." And I wonder if, as Paul’s ship pulled into the port of Syracuse, the Apostle imagined Archimedes “beam of light” and other war machines that he had built and used in a futile attempt to defend the city from the Roman invaders being turned onto the boat that now carried him. But now Rome was in possession of the city, and in possession of Paul.

And maybe, Paul wondered if he would fare any better as a prisoner of Rome than had Archimedes. Archimedes died during the “Siege of Syracuse,” in spite of the Roman authorities’ orders that the mathematician not be harmed. Again, according to tradition, after the Roman’s took control of the city, a Roman soldier found Archimedes drawing in the dirt as he worked on a math problem. The soldier placed a knife at the mathematician’s throat, to which Archimedes said, “Stop, you’re disturbing my equation.” Those would be Archimedes last words as the guard killed him on the spot.

Paul may have hoped for better treatment, but he too would die because of the sharp edge of a Roman sword. It would not happen during this imprisonment, but in the end, neither Paul nor Archimedes would escape the punishment of the Romans. And both would die doing what it was that they believed that God, or the gods in the case of Archimedes, had intended them to do.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1

Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. – Acts 27:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 25, 2018): Acts 27

For those who live on the north-east shore of North America, there is a mystical wind that almost everyone knows to avoid; the dreaded noreaster (or northeaster). Sailors are familiar with the wind which is essentially a northern cyclone (although noreasters have been known to hit as far south as the Gulf of Mexico). The wind takes its name from the place of highest wind speed for a storm that is partially over water, much like a hurricane, and is spinning in a counterclockwise direction. From the perspective of those on the ground, this circular cyclone produces a violent wind that appears to be coming out of the north-east as it hits the shore. Noreasters are usually winter storms, hitting the coast between November and March. And when the noreaster begins to blow, it is best if you leave your ships anchored and head for someplace warm to wait out the storm.

There are things to like and dislike about newer translations of the Bible. I love that they make the Bible more accessible and understandable. In many cases, I believe the newer translations are not just easier to read, but they are often more accurate than the older versions, and especially the King James Version. But there are times when the modern language becomes a little too familiar or uses language that might not be universally understood, and this passage is one of those times.

For me, the King James use of the word “Euroclydon” is more accurate than the NIV’s “Northeaster.” While “Northeaster” is an interesting and somewhat accurate word to use in the place of “Euroclydon,” it delivers the emotional impact that it is trying to relay to only a small subset of people; namely, those living on the North Atlantic seaboard in the United States and Canada. “Euroclydon” is a little less known but a little more accurate. A “Euroclydon” is a wind from the east (north, mid or south-east) arising out of an area that is known by the geographical term “The Levant.” A “Euroclydon” causes a violent agitation of the Mediterranean Ocean. In modern times, this wind is not known locally as a “Northeaster,” but rather a “Levanter” – a Mediterranean wind arising out of the Levant in the east.

The important thing to note, no matter what we call the wind, is that this was a storm in which no one wanted to travel. It would have been characterized by high and broad waves that would cause problems for even more modern boats, let alone the ancient boat in which Paul was trying to complete his journey to Rome.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 28

Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. – Acts 26:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 24, 2018): Acts 26

Ji Seong-ho, the North Korean defector who was praised by President Trump in the President’s 2018 State of the Union address and is currently making his home in South Korea, believes that North Korea has hit squads around the world trying to end the lives of defectors like himself. With the public execution of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in 2017, the incredible idea that hit squads roam our cities has to be at least entertained as a possibility. In the world of a dictator, the easiest way to mold public opinion is to make sure that the voices of your opposition can never be heard. In North Korea, that is partially achieved by maintaining a tight control on the media. While many in North America became more familiar with the struggle of Ji Seong-ho to get out of North Korea following President Trump’s 2018 endorsement, it is almost certain that no one inside of North Korea has heard his story. North Korea’s UN mission called Mr. Ji “human scum;” what was left unsaid is that scum must be eradicated. If there is a North Korean hit list, then there is little doubt that South Korea’s Ji Seong-ho is on it, along with a number of other defectors who have refused to worship and bend to the reality presented by the North Korean leader.

In some ways, this admission of Paul is an incredible one. In his testimony in front of King Agrippa, and with the Roman Governor Festus in attendance, Paul admits several things that might be shocking to his audience. The first admission is that Paul was a man of power. That he had a vote on the disposition of prisoners and voted for their death indicated that Paul was likely a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. But only Rome had the power of life and death within the empire. The by-the-books Festus was likely shocked at this admission, even though Rome long understood that the Jews were involved in the execution of their people.

But then Paul follows up that admission with another. Paul was part of a hit squad that operated within Judea, and that tried to force confessions from Christians in order to execute them. Maybe the juiciest of Paul’s confessions is that Paul worked as an agent of Jews, not just within the boundaries of the province of Judea, but that he went into other cities within the Roman Empire in order carry out his task of killing Christians. There was no place that a Christian could run and be free of the tyranny of the Jewish ruling council. If you stood in disagreement with them, they would find you and have you put to death.

Paul was once part of this hit squad, but he had defected, and now found himself pursued by it. And now, he was exposing it to those in power, hoping that they might agree to keep him safe from his former friend’s. Paul understood that if Agrippa and Festus decided to send him back to Jerusalem, his life would be forfeit. His only hope was to be sent to Rome.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 27

When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. – Acts 25:18-19

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 23, 2018): Acts 25

Stephen Hawking received his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) when he was 21. What he received from the doctors was a death sentence -  he had about two years left to live. In an interview with the New York Times on December 12, 2004, or forty years after his original diagnosis, Hawking remarked, “My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus." Of course, for one of the greatest minds that has ever lived, that is not quite true. Hawking never gave up on his expectations. Instead, he followed his expectations into the stars. And it is still his expectations that shape his discoveries and his view of the future. Hawking’s illness has had a shaping effect on his expectations but has never totally subdued them. Hawking’s reality, as is true with every one of us, is shaped by what it is that he expects to be real, and what it is that our future holds for each of us. And the one truth that we need to understand is that the first step in changing our future is rooted in changing our expectations.

Porcius Festus succeeded Antonius Felix as Governor over Judea somewhere around the year 59 C.E., during the reign of Nero as Caesar in Rome. Festus was a man of fixed expectations and, while that can be positive in many roles in life, it would not serve him well in this role as Governor over Judea. The main problem was that Festus expected that any province the Roman Empire would function under Roman Law. The Jews had created problems for the Empire by demanding numerous civic privileges or immunities under the law in their territory. It was a problem that Felix had never been able to fix, and a situation that now the expectant Festus was going to exasperate. Much of what would happen during Festus’s short reign would become the building blocks for the war that would break out between the Jews and the Romans in 66 C.E, and would end with the destruction of Rome in 70 C.E. and the massacre and mass suicide at Masada in 73 – 74 C.E. In short, Festus expected the Jews to act like Roman citizens, but the Jews were not up to the challenge.

With regard to Paul, Festus’s expectations are made clear. He had brought the Jews to Caesarea to present their charges against the Apostle. Felix had done the same thing late in his reign over the area. But Festus expected Roman style charges that would have Roman-style penalties attached. What he received were religious questions about Judaism and complaints about a Jew that had been executed three decades earlier, but who Paul claimed was still alive. What the Jews presented to Festus were covered in the realm of “civic privileges” to which Festus’s expectations had blinded him. In this, Festus almost takes on a sympathetic role in the story, much like Pontius Pilate, begging with the Jews, and now the Jewish king Agrippa II, to give him a Roman crime so that he could deal out Roman punishment.

Of course, for Jesus and Paul, that was an impossibility. There were no Roman crimes that applied to the behavior of either of the men. For Festus, a Roman who was probably at best an agnostic, and who was tolerant to many different religions, questions of religiosity would never equal a crime, let alone a transgression deserving of death, which, once again, was the punishment that the Jewish authorities required for Paul.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 26

However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets … Acts 24:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 22, 2018): Acts 24

A paradox: a statement that, despite being grounded in sound, logical reasoning leads to a conclusion that is logically unacceptable or self-contradictory. In the science fiction realm, paradox is the best way to defeat an evil computer or robot because they can’t handle the contradiction. Comedian George Carlin once illustrated the idea of a paradox when he asked: “If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?” There is nothing wrong with the reasoning in the question except that it seems to employ a curious double negative. Frank Herbert in “Chapterhouse: Dune” reveals a paradox in a more serious way. “Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” Essentially, when we seek to be free, we become captives to all of our various wants that we have come to believe are essential to our freedom. Herbert is speaking of a long distant future, but we understand what he is saying in our own culture. Both personally and nationally we are being enslaved by our own wants and desires, and often by the debt load that it takes to make us happy. But we also have examples of people who have disciplined themselves to the point where they have the ability, and the money, to do whatever they want. Through discipline, they have enslaved themselves, and so they are truly free. Maybe it doesn’t make logical sense, but it is true.

Paul is involved in an early church paradox. Paul is often referred to as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Maybe more than any other early church leader, Paul led the charge of taking the Christian message to non-Jewish populations. In the process, he changed the way that Christianity was viewed by the world. Most notably, he ended the requirement for male Gentile people to be circumcised, an action that was abhorrent to non-Jewish cultures, to become a member of the faith. But in the process, he also erased much of Law of Moses, including many food regulations, for non-Jewish believers. It was a radical separating of the faiths. Christianity was no longer a Jewish sect. Christianity and Judaism, because of the work of Paul, could finally stand on the world stage as individual religions.

Yet, the paradox was that while Paul was a Christian, this Apostle to the Gentiles was still a Jew. And he tells Felix that he better follows the rituals of his ancient religion, Judaism, by being a Christian. For Paul, to be a good Jew, you needed to be a good Christian because all that was spoken by the law and the prophets were summed up in the teachings of Jesus Christ. To be a real Jew, a believer had to leave Judaism and become a Christian, because it is Christianity that follows the real dictates and purpose of Judaism.

It is true, but it also almost enough to make your head hurt.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 25

… he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace. – Acts 23:35

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 21, 2018): Acts 23

Nelson Mandela once remarked that “it is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” A nation should never be judged by the rewards and tax-breaks that it heaps on the powerful that inhabit the land, but rather by the compassion it gives to the weak in their midst or, as in Mandela’s case, the way that the culture handles those who oppose the ruling class. The words of Jesus should still bring us pause when we consider the way that we live our lives. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

Paul presented opposition to those who ruled the society in which he lived both politically and religiously. Up until this point, although he had been beaten almost killed, and arrested, on several occasions, he had actually not yet been imprisoned for long periods of time; primarily because he was a Roman citizen. Not everyone could claim citizenship. It was restricted to only the best and the most heroic of the nation. What makes Paul’s citizenship even more unique is that it appears that his citizenship was hereditary, passed down from father to son. But, again, not all citizenship worked that way. What this meant was that the local governments were often hesitant to take steps against Paul for fear of Rome. By law, only Rome could punish a Roman citizen.

But now things were about to change for Paul. Because the Jews were plotting to overthrow the small Roman guard and kill Paul, a change was quickly made to move Paul to Caesarea and have his case heard by the Governor, Marcus Antonius Felix, who is sometimes referred to as Claudius Felix. Once again Luke, who endeavors to tell us a historical story, anchors this event in history. Felix was the Governor of Judea from 52 – 58 C.E. And if we were to judge his reign we would probably not do so very positively. Felix, like many of his day, was a Governor of the rich and was swayed by their bribes while frequently treating the weak with cruelty. As a result, there was a great increase in crime in Judea during his reign. And the change in location meant that Paul would not be released from this incarceration as he had been before. In fact, this event begins a period of at least five years that the apostle would spend in prison. Two years would be spent in prison in Caesarea and then at least another two years in prison in Rome, plus the travel time and time spent in jail in Jerusalem. This imprisonment would result in a marked change in Paul’s lifestyle. Previously he was able to go wherever he wanted and was able to preach in various out of the way places. Now his place of residence and the people he would meet would be outside of his control.

But something else was also happening. Felix would be the highest-ranking official that had ever heard Paul’s story. King Herod would also hear the story, and in spite of the fact that Paul was in jail, his incarceration was allowing a promise, made to a holy man named Ananias more than twenty years earlier, come true. “But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 24

“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. – Acts 22:8 (See also Acts 9:5)

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 20, 2018): Acts 22

We get asked the question almost every day – Who are you? And to be honest, there is seldom a simple answer. Today the question was asked as I sat in a chair getting my hair cut. The amazing lady who was cutting my hair already knew some of the answers to the question. I was the guy who waited fourteen weeks since my last haircut (I didn’t even know that it had been that long.) She amazed me when she asked me if I had put my summer car away yet, apparently I had mentioned it fourteen weeks ago when she last cut my hair. She even knew what it was, because her next question was “what color is your Mustang?” She knew that I was a grandfather of three, and that the youngest of my grandchildren were twins. I have to admit that I was more than a little amazed, to my knowledge I have only met her twice – today and fourteen weeks ago. Then she asked me if I owned my own company. When I replied that I was a pastor, it was her turn to be a little taken back. Apparently, in her world, pastors didn’t wear colorful Star Wars shirts like the one that I had on. But even with all of the information that we exchanged over the all-important question of “who am I,” I am not sure that we ever got down to the core answer. I am Garry, a slightly obsessive male of the human species who is in love with the world around him – although admittedly the world doesn’t often seem to want to return that love. I am an often confused traveler trying to find his way home. I am broken. But I am also the child of the King, and I am convinced that God loves me even when no one else seems to be up to that endeavor. And maybe even this only scratches the surface of who I am.

Paul begins to recount in his trial who he is and how he came to be here in the first place. Paul had been zealous for his God. He had acted exactly as he believed that his God had demanded. And up until this point he had been confident that his actions matched up well with the one who he had believed to be his God. But in a moment all of that seemed to change. Maybe for the first time in years, Paul was willing to ask the grand question – who are you. Lord? And not only was Saul willing to ask the question, but he was willing to hear the answer.

The question itself is only a starting place – but it is a question that I believe needs to be asked continually because it is so easy for us to find our way into tangents that carry us away from the true identity of God. As I look around at my world, the most prevalent problem that I see is that many of us have simply stopped asking the question. Within the Christian community, I watch many organizations and belief systems chase after their God in the same way that Paul chased after his. And, just like Paul, there seems to be little acknowledgment that they might be wrong – in fact, they are sure that they are not. So they follow their path and pursue their goals, never even considering whether or not they are serving the one true God.

And it isn’t just within the Christian Community that the struggle to know God is being abandoned. The opponents of Christianity seem to miss the identity of God as well, but maybe that should be expected – after all if we as Christians have stopped asking the question, why should they start asking it? Every time I sit down to read something written by Richard Dawkins, my overwhelming reaction is that “I am glad you don’t believe in that God because I don’t believe in him either.”

Maybe the right course of action is just to step back from all of our protestations and arguments and allow God to answer this basic question that Paul asks – who are you, Lord? And to remain quiet enough for God to speak the answer.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 23

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. – Acts 21:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 19, 2018): Acts 21

A couple of years ago, I wrote a monologue for a preaching class concerning the events of Pentecost Sunday from the point of view of the prophet Agabus. I dressed in a robe with sandals tied onto my feet and holding a staff in my hand, and I entered the class to talk to them with the words that I imagined that the prophet might speak to this group of students. One comment, admittedly muttered under his breath at the end of my presentation, was a question about whether or not Agabus even existed.

Not only did Agabus exist, but it is traditionally understood that he was one of the early adopters of Christianity and likely a major player in the early church. Just because we don’t know his name does not mean that he is not an important part of church history. He is only mentioned twice in the Bible, both times in the book of Acts, but both of his appearances are at key moments. In his first appearance, in Acts 11, he is among a group of prophets who have traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch, and it is Agabus who prophecies of a coming famine, which would hit the area in the mid-forties, during the reign of Claudius. His second appearance is in this passage, where he appears very much like an Old Testament Prophet, acting out his message of Paul’s arrest if Paul decided to continue to Jerusalem. This, too, would turn out to be true. Paul would go to Jerusalem and, there, he was arrested and sent to Rome in chains.

But according to the early church, these are not the only significant moments to which Agabus would be a witness. He is believed to have been a resident of Jerusalem who followed Jesus early on in his ministry. His name is listed among the seventy that Jesus sent out. He is believed to have been present with the Disciples at Pentecost. And, like Paul, Agabus was a missionary of the early church, going on his own missionary journeys, spreading the Gospel, and converting many. This missionary activity set him at odds with the Jews in Jerusalem. The set out to find Agabus and found him at Antioch. It was there that he was arrested, beat, and tortured before they finally placed a rope around his neck and dragged him out of the city and stoned him for his belief in Jesus.

Agabus shaped the early church with his teaching, his faith, and even his death. We may not recognize his name, but his story, like many other unknowns of the church, deserves to be told and celebrated.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 22

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. - 2 Corinthians 12:7b-8

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 18, 2018): 2 Corinthians 12 & 13

Fantasy writer Anne McCaffrey writes in Dragonsinger, “there's something wrong in not appreciating one's own special abilities, my girl. Find your own limitations, yes, but don't limit yourself with false modesty.” How we learn to deal with limitations is an interesting study. I know of some who let their limitations define them, they never venture outside of their boundaries. For others, these borders are challenges that they will somehow find a way to break through and do what others say can’t be done. If I have a choice, I want to be boundary breaker; I never want to allow my limitations to define me. And then there are those who McCaffrey describes, who maintain limitations where none actually exist; a false modesty that stops someone from doing what might be done.

Paul admits that he has limitations and they are very real. That, in itself, is probably not surprising. We all have places where it is harder for us to act because of something inside of us that inhibits us. For me, my limitations are health-related. I am a severe asthmatic with severe allergies. That meant that, as a child, I was often on the outside of things. Even recess could be present a real challenge to my health.  I had to fight hard to even just play. We have no idea what Paul’s limitation was, what he calls it his “thorn in the flesh.” But that hasn’t stopped us from trying to figure out what it was that caused Paul’s suffering. A number of possibilities have been raised that have ranged from various sicknesses to sin issues in his life. Some have even wondered if Paul was same-sex attracted in a world where that simply was not an option for a believer in God. But for me, some of the most plausible “thorns” relate to the reason why this letter was written in the first place. The Corinthians were bothered because Paul was a physically unimpressive man who possibly had trouble speaking. Maybe Paul was a stutterer and had trouble verbalizing his ideas. Can you imagine the frustration of having so much to say, and yet being unable to get the words out of your mouth? I can imagine the nights spent in prayer, agonizing over meeting with a group of people and asking God to help him speak clearly – to allow him to speak the way that he wrote. Paul calls his thorn a messenger from Satan, which is what fuels the argument that his thorn had something to do with sin, but it could also be that his inability to speak hindered the preaching of the Gospel, something that Satan would most definitely want to do.

According to Paul, he prayed three times asking God to remove his limitation, that God would stand between him and whatever it was that he felt Satan had brought upon him, and three times God said no. But Paul was not about to allow himself to be defined by the limitation, but rather to work through it, breaking through the barrier that his “thorn” had brought into his life, and allow God to be glorified, even in the midst of his weakness.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 21

I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me!’ – 2 Corinthians 11:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 17, 2018): 2 Corinthians 11

Donald Trump has increased my vocabulary, well, he has added at least one word to it – braggadocious. Donald Trump loves the word. He repeatedly tells his audience that he is not braggadocious. And actually, the people at the Merriam-Webster dictionary would tend to agree. They claim that Donald Trump is not braggadocious because braggadocious is not a word. Merriam-Webster argues that the word that Donald Trump is actually trying to reach for is braggadocio. By the way, my laptop agrees. It places angry red lines under the word braggadocious while giving braggadocio a free pass. But who knows, maybe Merriam-Webster will see the light and include braggadocious in their next dictionary, and maybe Donald Trump will have given us the next word of the year. Or maybe not.

However, the reality is that Donald Trump, while he might not be braggadocious, does display evidence of braggadocio, which means boastful or arrogant behavior. Even in a recent stop on his never-ending campaign trail, the self-delivered claim that Trump was not braggadocious was too much for one supporter standing in the background who broke out in spontaneous laughter at the comment before quickly ducking out of the picture.  

It is this braggadocio that Paul claims is foolishness. He asks that the Corinthians put up with what is coming next. Paul is about to list his credentials. It is a curious place in which the Apostle to the Gentiles to finds himself. After all, one of Paul’s biggest arguments has been that God’s strength comes through in the places where he is weak. Paul seems to know that he doesn’t speak well and that the visual that he presents is not that of an overwhelming person. He has never claimed to be a speaker like Apollo, or as charismatic as Peter might have been. And, for Paul, this is good. Because then the Gospel that he teaches needs to be considered on its own merit and with the presence of God in the discussion rather than with the force of Paul’s personality.

But because Paul’s underwhelming presence has come under criticism in Corinth, Paul is about to do what he has always claimed to be foolishness. He is about to display some braggadocio. Paul is about to talk about his credentials as an Apostle, even though none of this, in the mind of Paul, is of any significance. It is foolishness because the Gospel that he preaches stand on its own merits, and not on the credentials of the one doing the speaking.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 12 & 13

For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” – 2 Corinthians 10:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 16, 2018): 2 Corinthians 10

Author and feminist Naomi Wolf writes that “Beauty' is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the West, it is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact.” I think she is right, and she is wrong. I agree that beauty and appearance is a currency system. If we watch the various media all around us, we know that is true. Our televisions are filled with the beautiful people. The ugly are often relegated to supporting roles or stock characters. To be ugly means you are evil, and if you are overweight, then you must be lazy. My struggle with what Wolf says is that, in the absence of money, the lack of beauty is a limiting factor for everyone, and it doesn’t matter whether you are male or female. The real issue is the presence or absence of money. If you are male and rich, you are good, no matter your appearance, although there may be some rich men in our culture who are working hard to disprove that caricature. If you are female, beautiful and rich, then you must have slept your way into money, and if you are female, rich but lacking beauty, then you are greedy, conniving and some words that I won’t use in this blog. But that is not the place where most of us live, so beauty becomes a currency system for all of us. Being accused of having a face made for radio is something that both men and women have to endure.

And it seems that it always has been that way. We know very little about the apostle Paul outside of his writing. None of his contemporaries painted his picture or built a bust of him. Why would they? In his era, he lacked both power and money, and it was only the powerful and the rich that would have received such treatment. But that does not mean that we don’t have any idea of how the apostle might have looked, or how he might have acted. And it is passages like this that gives us the clues. We know that Paul was a powerful writer. We hold his words in our Bibles. He painted great word pictures, and he had a way of explaining things that made sense to his audience. The problem with Paul, which was becoming a real issue in Corinth, was that he lacked beauty. Some have openly wondered if maybe he was short and balding, with a prominent nose. He lacked the classical Greek physique that most powerful men seemed to try to emulate. It is possible that he didn’t see very well, maybe because of the long nights writing letters by candlelight, so he did not recognize people quickly and from a distance.  And on top of all of that, there is the suspicion among historians that Paul might have been a stutterer. Therefore, the Corinthians accused him of speaking without power or that “his speaking amounts to nothing.” And all of this was a problem because the people were willing to judge him on his lack of beauty even though the words he wrote in his letters were powerful. In the absence of beauty, how could anything that the apostle wrote be true or trusted? While Paul possessed a great intellect, he lacked the currency that, even then, counted more than any other; he was not beautiful.

We still act more on beauty than any other single factor that is presented to us. I know of pastors who have been turned down by churches solely on the way that they look. The problem is far beyond just a feminist issue in Paul’s day and ours, and it is something that we need to address. It is possible that the wisdom that we need to hear is passing us by because we do not like the way that the messenger looks.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 11

And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. – 2 Corinthians 8:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 15, 2018): 2 Corinthians 8 & 9

Some years ago I went as a sponsor to a youth event held in Toronto, Canada. Teens from all over the world gathered in the largest Canadian city to have a party (okay, that is probably not the way the promoters would have phrased it, but it was going to be a time of fun.) Advertised, well ahead of time, were a number of musicians and bands that would be playing in the evenings of the event. And then, very late in the preparation stage for the event, an extra act was added. However, we were not told who the act was, just that there would be an added late-night concert on the very first night.

And so the guessing game began. Who was it that was added so late in the planning stage? Everyone seemed to have an opinion. The mystery guest happened to be the Christian crossover band Delirious? at about the height of their popularity. I was pumped for the late night concert, and a little amazed at how many decided to skip the concert because it had been “a long travel day.” That actually worked out pretty good for us. We were able to slip out of our seats, high in the corner of the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, in favor of some newly vacated seats at the front of the first balcony just over the front corner of the stage area where Delirious? was about to play.

Apparently, Paul liked the idea of the mysterious surprise. We have no idea who this mysterious brother was that Paul had decided to send along with Titus. Paul wanted to keep the Corinthians in suspense until the moment when the pair would arrive, but he was sure that the Corinthians were going to be delighted. But that hasn’t stopped readers over the century from trying to solve the mystery. All we know for sure about this mysterious individual was that he was held in high regard, he was popular, he was chosen by the churches to travel with Paul carrying the gift that was bound for Jerusalem, and that Paul was sending him along with Titus as his substitutes on this leg of the journey. Some people have been suggested as being the possible identity of this mystery guest, a list that includes Luke, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, among many others. But no one knows who he was. What we do know is that Paul expected the Corinthians to be excited about this brother’s arrival, maybe even excited enough to forgive Paul’s absence.

What we do know is that the identity of this person is ultimately unimportant to us, even if it was likely very important to the church at Corinth. If that were not so, then Paul would have made the identity of this mystery visitor clear for those who would read the letter beyond the city of Corinth, and beyond the era of Paul.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 10

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 14, 2018): 2 Corinthians 7

Today is Valentine’s Day. It is also Ash Wednesday. The two seem to be a mismatch. I have been joking to those around me that I cannot think of a better way to celebrate your earthly love than to bring your significant other to a romantic Ash Wednesday service. Or maybe not. Yet, I do believe that there is a connection.

We all recognize that Valentine’s is a celebration of romantic love, albeit sometimes the celebration seems forced and people rebel against the idea that they argue has been created to sell greeting cards and flowers. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and our walk toward Good Friday and the Cross of Calvary. While Valentine’s Day is a happy celebration of love, Ash Wednesday is the saddest day on the Christian calendar. Ash Wednesday is even sadder than Good Friday because, while Good Friday occurs in the shadow of our Easter Celebration, Ash Wednesday stands alone, often in the cold of late winter, weeks before any celebration invites us into its happy arms. On Ash Wednesday, we contemplate our own mortality, the inevitableness of death, and the daily practice of our sacrifice.

But the connection between Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday is that they are both the result of our celebration of love. Ash Wednesday could not exist if it were not for the celebration of God’s love for us that happens so dramatically on Good Friday. If Good Friday and the death of Jesus on the Cross casts its long shadow over Ash Wednesday, then while we are considering our own mortality, and as we hear the words “from dust you have come, and to dust you shall return,” we recognize that even in our weakness, God has found a reason to love us.

Paul isn’t talking about Ash Wednesday in this passage, as Paul worked and ministered Ash Wednesday didn’t exist as a part of the Christian calendar, but his words can be applied to our current contemplation. Paul is writing to the Corinthian Church regarding some words of his that had caused the church sorrow. But Paul is arguing that there can be no regret because godly sorrow has a purpose in our lives; it brings us closer to salvation, and closer to being able to live life the way that it was intended to be lived. Worldly sorrow can only bring death. And we “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13), because even on Ash Wednesday, while hope seems to be so far away, it is still there glowing in the distance. So we can rejoice, even if it is godly sorrow that exists in our midst, knowing the godly sorrow leads to repentance which brings the salvation that we most desperately need.

So welcome to Ash Wednesday. May you find repentance and salvation as you contemplate your own mortality. And as you hear the words “from dust you have come, and to dust you shall return” may you hear the voice of love, spoken from the one who promised that he would stay with us, even to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 8 & 9

For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. - 2 Corinthians 6:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 13, 2018): 2 Corinthians 6

A legal battle surrounds the poem commonly known as “Footprints” or “Footprints in the Sand.” At least a dozen people have apparently claimed the poem as a product of their intellectual work, but three ladies – Mary Stevenson, Margaret Fishback Powers, and Carolyn Joyce Carty - seem to be the most persistent that the poem originates with them. And each of the suitors has a different story and date connected with the poem. And therein lies the problem in assigning ownership. The poem was originally published as an anonymous work and began appearing in print in the late 1970’s. Each of the early appearances of the poem was slightly different, and always with the attribution of “Author Unknown.” The differences between the poems as they appeared in print were close to the form as presented by one of the three ladies. But the story told in the poem is a common one and one that we have all experienced – which gives the poem its power.

“Footprints” is an allegory of life. In the poem, life is seen as sand, and our lives are the footprints. Depending on the version, the one leaving the footprints are described as being an elderly man, a young woman, or a pilgrim making his way through life. And in this allegorical dream, the main character is given the opportunity to look back over the life that they have led. And throughout most of the path that they had walked, they note that there were two sets of footprints; their’s and God’s. But it is then that they notice something wrong. It seems that during the most critical moments of life, the times when they felt overwhelmed by life, there is only one set of footprints. Of course, the discovery leaves them with a question. Why God would you leave in the moments when I needed you the most?

God’s answer comprises the climax and moral of the story. And here again the versions differ slightly, but the message remains the same. One version phrases it this way:

Then the inner voice of God softly spoke and said, "I have not left you.

The one set of footprints is mine.

You see, I am carrying you through the wilderness."

These are words that everyone one of us needs to hear; that in the worst moments of life, God is not just walking with us, he is the one who is carrying us.

Paul is trying to give us a similar message. He quotes Isaiah 49:8, a passage that is written about the restoration of Israel. But in this letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul argues that the words of Isaiah apply to them as well. Here is a maybe a little more of what Isaiah said that God had in mind:

 This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
⁹ to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’

                                    (Isaiah 49:8-9a)

Paul’s message, God promised that at the time of his favor he would hear you and in the day of salvation that he would help you. Now is that day, and in the midst of your stress know that he hears you, and that he helps you, and that it is his footprints that even now you see in the sand as he carries you.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 7

For we live by faith, not by sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 12, 2018): 2 Corinthians 5

Seeing is believing, but it might not be the truth. Study after study asserts that we really can’t trust what it is that we see with our eyes. Eyewitness testimony is not as valuable as we once thought it to be. The problem is that we are so good at deceiving ourselves, that even what we see is vulnerable to reinterpretation. Even our memories change. Over time, it is possible to convince ourselves that we saw an event happen, even when we didn’t really see what it is that we thought we saw. It is an incredible truth that I have to admit I struggle to understand.

But that doesn’t stop me from believing what I think I see, even if it is not the truth. When I was eighteen, I was held up in my apartment at gunpoint by a stranger. I remember the events of that night as if they happened yesterday. I can see the small gun, the three men, I can hear the questions, I know it happened, and I believe that it happened the way that I remember it, and it is mindboggling to think that in some of the details I might be wrong. Seeing has made me a believer, but what I believe might not be the truth. And the fact that stress was involved in the situation probably makes my recollection of that night even more dubious. And that is very hard to understand or to admit.

Paul argues that it is better for us to live by our inner eyes of faith, and not by the sight of our outer eyes. The reality is that everything we see with our eyes, we interpret through the lens of what we believe anyway. I see it all the time. People react to affronts that do not exist even though they are convinced that their senses have revealed the insult. What they have seen has been filtered by what they believe to be true, essentially a statement of faith. Faith surrounds everything that we do and every expectation that we hold. And if it is not faith, then it is the anti-faith of pessimism that surrounds us. Either way, everything we see is being put through a filter of our own design.

So why not take a presumptive strike at the filter. We know what it is that we profess to believe, not because it has been revealed to us by our eyes, but rather because we have chosen to believe what has been revealed to our inner eyes of faith. We believe that God is in control, even when everything our eyes see seems to reveal a world that is spinning out of control. We choose to be salt and light in the world, even though we are not convinced by what we see that we can make a difference. We choose to interpret the world through a positive lens, rather than a negative one, and therefore we understand that there is much more to life than just what it is that we see.

And we are walking toward a positive tomorrow. In faith, we know that things can get better than what we see with our eyes today. We are ready to work toward that positive future, because we have chosen to walk by faith, and not by sight.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 6

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. – 2 Corinthians 4:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 11, 2018): 2 Corinthians 4

In 1918, the world was at war, and in more ways, than we realized at that moment. Of course, 1918 was the final year of World War I, the War to End All Wars. A peace treaty on November 11, 1918, would end all of the hostilities. But over the four years of the war, the toll on human life was incredible. By the time the final peace was hammered out, over thirty-one million soldiers would be either killed, wounded or missing in action. Add in the eight-million civilians who were killed during the war, and the death toll of the war reaches just short of eighteen-million.

But at the same time, we were involved in a different fight, this one against the Spanish Flu. In 1918, we didn’t realize how great the battle was that we were having against the flu, but by the time 1918 had finished, the Spanish Flu would have claimed the lives of fifty-million people worldwide – almost three times as many as died in the War to End All Wars. The reason we didn’t know how serious the Spanish Flu had become was because that information had been classified because of the War. Even the name of the flu is a symbol of what we didn’t know. The first outbreak of the flu may have been in 1917 in the United States, but because Spain was neutral and not involved in the War in Europe, it was only the seriousness of the flu epidemic in Spain on which the news outlets were allowed to report. The result gave the impression that the flu was much worse in Spain than it was in other parts of the world, something that was completely untrue.

The cause of the Spanish Flu was the H1N1 virus, the same virus that caused the 2009 Flu Pandemic. And what was significant about the Spanish Flu was the effect it had on healthy segments of the populations. Every year, the flu claims some lives, but normally those who die from the flu are the very young and the old, and those who are in a weakened condition before contracting the virus. The Spanish Flu killed many in those population groups but also killed an abnormally high number of people who were otherwise healthy.

The Spanish Flu and world conflicts are reminders of the truth of Paul’s message. We are a treasure bound up in a fragile container. It sometimes doesn’t take much break the container in which we live. We are a people that are only a war or a pandemic away from destruction. The truth is that it doesn’t matter how healthy we might be; we are mortal, and death and destruction are never far from us. We are fallible, and we don’t always know what is happening around us, or understand the way in which the world will go.

But all of that just underscores the strength of the God who has chosen us and has decided to work through us. We can’t do it, but he can. We aren’t strong enough, but he is. We can’t solve the problem of evil in the world, but he has. And his solution was to come down and walk among us in our frail covering, allowing us to kill him so that he could atone for our sin. And because of that act, we have the opportunity to go and greet the day as new creatures, unafraid of the future because we know that God holds the undiscovered country in his hands.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5

So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. – 2 Corinthians 2:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 10, 2018): 2 Corinthians 2 & 3

Some years ago I found out that a college friend was living not far from where I lived. A mutual friend had passed on his phone number, and one evening I decided to give him a call just to say hi. Admittedly, I am not at ease with the telephone. So much of our communication comes from visual cues, and the phone erases all of that. I also understand that the phone can be intrusive. By its very nature, we have no idea when the right moment might be to call. But I dialed the set of numbers that I had received and waited for the party on the other end to answer.

The conversation did not go as I had hoped. I have no idea what was happening on the other side of the phone line in the moments before I dialed the number, but my friend was not happy to hear from me. He started off by questioning my motives for phoning him, and he never really accepted that I just wanted to touch base with him and that I wanted absolutely nothing from him. The conversation was stilted and painful. I closed by saying that I appreciated him and the time that we had spent together and that maybe, sometime down the road, I would try to phone again. And then I closed the connection and sat in my chair wondering if I had done the right thing.

I didn’t phone him again, but a couple of years later we did meet up in person. And I found out the rest of the story that unfolded after we had had our phone conversation. After I closed the connection and sat in my chair feeling defeated, but he sat in his chair with an opposite feeling. He told his wife who I was and then commented, “He hasn’t changed. He doesn’t seem to care to judge you for the negative that happens in life. He accepts you as you are. I hope he phones me again.” Those words, spoken a couple of years after the event, were some of the most encouraging words that I had received, and they were words that I hoped were true. But the reality was that in my defeat, and with my dislike of the phone, I had never followed up on that first phone call and risked proving those words not to be true.

Paul seems to have spent a significant amount of time in Corinth, and most likely counts the Corinthians as friends. But the result of the last trip was not a positive one. Instead of being a pleasant experience, his last visit was filled with division and conflict. So when he was planning another trip to the area, Paul had left Corinth off of his itinerary. Unfortunately, that had given ammunition to his detractors. They had begun to argue that Paul was ultimately untrustworthy, and that if he was untrustworthy in one area, how could the Corinthians trust him in any area. Paul’s teachings and writing should be discarded, and the apostle should be forgotten.

As a result, Paul is on the defensive as he begins this letter to the Corinthians. Paul admits that he did not want to be the cause of any more pain in Corinth, but beyond that, the problems of the Corinthians were making him uncomfortable. British Methodist theologian and scholar Adam Clarke argues that “because of the scandals that were among them he [Paul] could not see them [the Corinthians] comfortably; and therefore he determined not to see them at all till he had reason to believe that those evils were put away.” So Paul says that he had decided not to come to Corinth this time, not because he did not care for them, but because he did not want to increase the pain and division under which the Corinthian Church was already suffering.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4

Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. – 2 Corinthians 1:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 9, 2018): 2 Corinthians 1

Shaun Hick writes that “You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.” We never understand the gift of health unless we have been really sick. We can’t be expected to make the most out of our good moments unless we remember how we felt during the bad. I know that sometimes the bad in life threatens to take over, but then, in those moments when the sun finally breaks through, we remember why it is good to be alive.

There is a lot of discussion about what Paul meant here, and the two options are that there was some kind of outside persecution that was being brought down on Paul and his friends, or that they were suffering from some kind of sickness. It would have been common in Paul’s day to refer to sickness as “death,” and to say that being restored to health was being “raised to life” or “raised from the dead.” The translators would seem to have been arguing for the latter interpretation; that Paul, and maybe some of his associates, were sick. And the illness had limited their activity, and maybe even forced a pause in Paul’s intended trip to Jerusalem. One of the subtle cues is that Paul says that “we felt we had received the sentence of death.” If it was persecution, the statement might be more objective, but here Paul talks about a feeling. It is possible that the persecution could have been so severe that Paul would have felt as if he was suffering under the penalty of death when no death sentence had been issued by the authorities. But in the context of this letter, it seems that sickness might have plagued the delegation as they made their way to Jerusalem.

Paul knew what it meant to be sick. Later in this letter to the Corinthians, Paul would relate that he suffered from a “thorn in the flesh,” and that God’s response to the Apostle’s request for its removal was that “My [God’s] grace is sufficient for you [Paul], for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Yet, even though the thorn was apparently never removed, and we have no idea what the thorn might have been, Paul never wavered in his belief that there was nothing that he needed to fear, whether persecution or sickness because his God was the one “who raises the dead.” No matter how bad it got, nothing was finished until God said that it was. And that hope gave Paul the strength to simply push on toward the finish line.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 2 & 3