Scripture

When Paul and Barnabas learned of a plot to incite a mob of Gentiles, Jews, and Jewish leaders to attack and stone them, they fled for their lives.

~Acts 14:5-6, TLB

Quote

If we don’t come apart; we will fall apart.

~Vance Havner

I am reading through Acts in the Williams translation and noticing once again the persecution of the Jews against Paul. Paul was a Jew himself but his kinsmen in the flesh were offended by his preaching of Jesus and grace: they hated the thought of both. The Jews literally hounded Paul and his team. They followed them and organized protest which usually turn into riots. They were your first century COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS. They hated Jesus and the gospel and they hated Paul whom they considered a traitor. They would stir the stink and then disappear into the crowd. In Iconium Paul had tremendous success but then the Jews arrived and organized a violent protest that was to end with Paul being stoned to death. When Paul and Barnabas got wind of this plot, they fled to Lystra and Derbe where they continued sharing the gospel.

My question is: should they have fled? Why do Christians retreat in the face of danger? Did Paul and company do wrong? My answere is no! There are times when the wise thing to do is retreat. Yes, they could have stayed and been martyrs, but they moved to other towns and shared the gospel there. We all know there are stories where missionaries fled the country and stories where they stayed and died. Bill Wallace would be an example of the later, but who are we to say that either is wrong. I happen to think that Paul was right and that the LORD was leading him to retreat. According to tradition, Peter had a chance to get out of Rome, but he stayed and was executed. I admire them both and I happen to think they were following their convictions.

Folks, we are AMERICANS. We are graced to live in the land of the free, and it is all God’s grace. The father of our country is George Washington, and he is the most indispensable man in American history. He was the commander in chief of the Continental Army, which was a ragamuffin group. Most were untrained and all were poorly equipped. Had Washington not been a master at retreat, we would have lost the war after the battle of Long Island. He choose to live to fight another day. Retreat does not mean defeat; quitting is defeat. Thank God, George Washington had no quit in him.

Extra

This is knee surgery week: Perry Smith has a knee replaced today and Mickey tomorrow by the same doctor. I thought we were supposed to get rain last night but I think it missed us. Josie has a soccer game in New Hope this evening. It looks like we could find some closer opponents. Pizza and Cookies tomorrow night at the POINT: 6:00 pm in the fellowship hall. We can get four rows of tables in the hall. There are seats for 80 now but when the new tables come in; we will go over 100 easily with some room to spare.

I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.