The Impact of Christianity on Cultures

Christianity impacts all cultures more than any other religion because it makes people realize that they have been worshiping “Gods” that they were unaware of - they worship money (Matthew 6:19) and position (Luke 11:43) - neither of which brings you eternal life.

THE COST OF SINNING

I wondered, given the pain that can befall a believer, if even though Christ died for our sins, do we still pay a price for continuing to sin after we are saved. Brother Mike observed that if Christ, who was without sin, suffered on the cross, suffering may not be the result of sinning. 

PAUL IN EPHESUS

ARE ALL PRAYERS ANSWERED? The bible says God will answer all prayers made in the name of Christ. Our brother Bartt pointed out that God answer all prayers in one of three ways: Yes, Yes but not right now, and I have a different plan to accomplish your desires. I also think time is a factor, to us, the clock is ticking, to God, who is eternal, all time is now.

Paul in Prison

In Acts 16 a slave girl is described as has having the spirit of divination, a fortune teller, and she proves her skill by identifing Paul and his group as “The Servents of the Most High God.” The spirit that gave her that power had to leave her when she accepted Christ. It made me wonder if there are still people who are possessed and given special skills. Our group felt that any spirit, other than the Holy Spririt, is evil.

Interesting to note that it is, or was, possible to know the future; is it just what’s likely to happen or are our lives already scripted?

We also talked about a system that allowed Paul, a citizen, to be imprisoned and beaten without a trial; while I can't speak for our group, I think we are there again - January 6th.

TIMOTHY

Reading Acts 16 the group wonder why Paul, after appealing to the disciples in Jerusalem not to required that converts to Christ needed to be circumcised, had Timothy circumcised. One thought was that Timothy's mother was Jewish, which made Timothy an uncircumcised Jew, something Jews who they hoped to convert would find unusual if not unsettling.  

PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES

We closed todays meeting with a discussion about how hard it is to pray for your enemies. Some felt that while it is hard to pray for your enemies to enjoy success and good luck, you can with sincerity pray for them to find Christ.

CONFLICT BETWEEN THE BELIEVERS

Acts 15:39 Describes "sharp contention" between Paul and Barnabas; hard to imagine Paul being contentious over the choice of traveling companions so our group felt perhaps Paul was right in not wanting to travel with Mark and it was Barnabas who was continuous.

CONVERTING GENTILES

After being threatened with the requirement for adult circumcision, potential Gentile converts in Antioch were later told they need only obstain from things offered to idols, blood, meat from stangled animals, and sexual immorality. Our group felt that perhaps the message is that once you accept Christ, following Jewish law (the Ten Commandments, etc.) is no longer required. If you except Christ you aren't likely to violate the Ten Commendments anyway. Also, by making the stipulations concerning blood and strangled meat, it would have allowed Paul and Barnabas to more comfortably meet with and convert Jews.

RULES MADE BY MEN

We discussed the rules that followers create when they accept a new belief; it would seem that the rules created by Christian followers are optional - not bad but not necessary for you to follow in order to be saved. In Matthew 19:10-12 Christ was asked if it was better not to marry and he responded that some men are eunuchs; “Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” In other words, it's not a bad idea but it isn't required for salvation. In Gelations 5:6 Paul said, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love."

FORTY DAYS

Our group discussed the biblical references to forty days. In Genesis 7:12 we read about Noah and that the rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. In Exodus 24:16 we find that Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights and, in Mathew 4:2, we find that Jesus was in the wilderness and fasted for 40 days. What is the significants of having to undergo 40 days of trials or training?

CARROT and STICK

In ACTS Luke describes Paul's appeal to the Jews of Antioch to accept Christ. His presentation is the quintessential appeal beginning with repeated references to Judaism with which his audience has to agree and in their minds they are thinking - yes, true, correct, true, of course. Paul closes with references to Christ's coming and reveals that he has indeed come and everything the Jews believed has come true and, for a finish and to urge those still not convinced, he references Habakkuk 1:5 which describes how the Jews did not believe what they saw and he suggests they will perish if they don't believe.

PETER'S ESCAPE FROM PRISON

We studied Luke’s book of Acts and Peter's miraculous escape from prison. Peter must have become very bold and confident after the angel helped him escape. Times were so violent then that it must have taken great courage to openly follow Christ.

ANTIOCH: A TURNING POINT

As we read Acts 11 we imagined how great it was for non-Jews in Antioch, one of the largest cities of its time, to be offered inclusion with God's chosen people. Up to now the preaching about Christ was essentially a confirmation of Jewish prophecy but in Antioch, where many non-Jews were accepted into the faith, that faith goes beyond being a Jewish sect and becomes a stand-alone religion, CHRISTIANITY.

WOMEN IN AUTHORITY

We see in 1 Timothy 2:12 that Paul wrote: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man..." That is a pretty straight forward instruction but it may just be a reflection of the times and in Galatians 3:28, a letter also from Paul, it reads: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 

Jews Still Waiting for the Messiah

Acts 10:45 mentions the Jews’ “astonishment” at gentiles receiving the holy spirit. It made us wonder about the view of present day Jews concerning Jesus. Clearly 14.7 million Jews (the number of Jewish practitioners in 2023), after 2000 years still don’t believe Jesus was the Messiah. Only about a million Jews are ultra conservative (Haredi) but most others are no longer strict about associating with others, though even the Conservative Jews (about 18% of American Jews) don’t approve of mixed marriages. Like the Christians, the Jews have many sects; with new ones developing all the time. 

Peter is Changed

We read today how Peter was transitioned to reach out to the gentiles. The Roman, Cornelius, not a Jew and probably raised to worship an assortment of "gods," sets the stage for Peter to work with and even reach out to gentiles; people he never would have been allowed to eat with for most of his life and, to drive the change home, the Romans were also Peter's bitter enemies but after Cornelius, he has fellowship with them because they believe.

Nothing Changes

As we reviewed ACTS 9, one of our members observed that in biblical times, the Jews where wondering when the Gentiles would see the light and believe in God and now the Christians are wondering when the Jews will see the light and believe in Jesus. 

ACTS 9

Continuing in ACTS 9, we observed that the Jews and their leadership were quick to kill or imprison those who believed in Christ. While the Jews no longer try to physically harm Christians, it is interesting that some followers of Islam continue in that approach.

Appointing Paul to reach out to the Gentiles made Christianity blossom; the Gentiles had to have been much easier to convert than Jews and there were more of them than there were Jews.

We also discussed the significant impact certain people can have when sharing the word; Paul had been violently opposed to Christians so when he changed it had a special impact. Even in modern times a man named Leuba made a study of the beliefs of scientists and found that four out of ten believed in God; Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton, for example, were profoundly religious. 

VISIONS and DREAMS

As we discussed ACTS 9:10-20 we wondered if people still received visions; many claim to have, especially these days, but it is hard to know what's true - Matthew 24:11 "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." We also marveled at the risks people took being Christians and thought about the risks each of us take; perhaps we will soon find out. 

ACTS 9:1-10 SAUL'S CONVERSION

Unusual that a man so evil and so opposed to Christ was chosen to be an instrument of God. God uses who he will to accomplish his goals and Saul/Paul was indeed zealous and, as Mike Witzig pointed out, he understood the Greek and Roman world; understanding essential to his mission to spread the word of God to the Gentiles.

Phillip and the Ethiopian Official

An angel directed Phillip to a very high ranking Ethiopian official who was studying Isaiah as he traveled home and he converted him to Christianity and baptized him and now 68% of this African nation is Christian. We must never shy away from spreading the word even to someone who seems unapproachable.  

Bible Manual for Businesses

Fifty years ago Ron Rainson wrote a book; a reference manual demonstrating the compatibility of Christianity with the aggressive pursuit of business success and to illustrate that ethics is a function of a higher authority than legal expediency. The book deals with many business environments (investor owned, proprietorships, and not-for-profits) and many situations including board selection, acquisitions and litigation. See www.cecontents.blogspot.com for a table of contents. 

Paul Oppresses Christianity

Reading from Acts 8 we discussed the cruelty of the Jews as they oppressed and scattered the believers and, after considering the Nazis and even the American treatment of the American Indians, we realized that all races can be pretty nasty; however, as we read about the believers being scattered, we realized that it actually helped and continues to help spread the word. 

STEPHEN STONED

We discussed Acts 6 and 7 today, wherein Stephen is stoned for reminding the Sanhedrin that they essentially lost their way and even killed the son of God, which threw them into a rage. Perhaps these verses demonstrate that Christianity isn’t a branch of Judaism but a very separate religion.

SPREADING THE WORD IS PRIMARY

Acts 6 contains a lot of interesting information; Jewish Priests were being converted to Christ and the Jews took care of feeding widows. Concerning the widows, the decision was to assign some believers to take care of feeding the widows so others could concentrate on spreading the word. As it says in Matthew 6:25, … do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, … So the Apostles took care of business but put spreading the word first. 

Rapture & Tribulation

We discussed the Tribulation and it was the consensus of the group that believers would be taken up before the Tribulation. There are those who believe Christians will be taken up at 3.5 years into the Tribulation or even at the end of the 7 years. Our belief is based on 1 Thessalonians 1:10 wherein it states … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath and 1 Thessalonians 4:17 …we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Also Revelations 3:10 …I also will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world… In addition to specific references, we take comfort from knowing that Noah and, for his sake, his family was spared when the flood came. God will take care of his own. 

GAMALIEL

We studied Acts 5 and discussed the Jewish religious leader Gamaliel and his protection of Peter by suggesting to the Sanhedrin that if Peter was not from God he wouldn’t succeed but if he was from God, surely they didn’t want to be fighting him. The bible says (John 12:42) many Jewish leaders believed; perhaps Gamaliel was a believer and wanted to help Peter without getting himself in trouble.  

The Apostles Share Their Belongings

Difficult lesson today; we read in Acts 4 and 5 about how the believers would from time to time sell land our houses and contribute the proceeds to their group of believers so that no one would do without but one couple sold some land and didn’t contribute all the proceeds, essentially lying about the amount of money they had received for the land; they dropped dead. It is a  puzzling story as it seems more than harsh and almost certainly would have scared away some potential converts but the conclusion we reached was that the couple had tried to appear to be as committed as the other members but really weren’t. The punishment wasn’t about the money held back but rather the couples hypocrisy. It made me think about how little I give back compared to what God has given me.

ACTS

As we studied Peter’s boldness in spreading the word, we discussed today’s political environment and ethical decline and the need for us to also be bold; However, one of our members correctly reminded us that we should be bold but not for ourselves, as that would be just showing off “look at how devout I am.” We need to be bold for Christ; we are only successful if God wants us to be successful, not because of any skill we think we have.

ACTS CHAPTER 4

The message of this chapter can be summed up by saying "Spread the word no matter what the risk and don't worry about your skill to do so; the words will come to you."

PETER PREACHES TO HIS FELLOW JEWS

The Jews had centered their beliefs on Moses for generations; converting them to a deferent perspective was difficult; still so difficult that today, thousands of years later, only some Jews have been converted. Peter's strategy was to tie Christ to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob and to point out that the Jews had failed to accept what had been foretold by all the Jewish profits. 

NOTE: Odd that millions of Gentiles have believed the Jewish profits and the Jews have been reluctant to do so. In 1910 there were about 600 million Christians; now there are over 2.5 billion Christians and only about 19 million Jews.

We also discussed the need to reach out and witness by helping others and agreed that care must be taken not to take credit for what we do. Peter was careful not to take credit for the miracles he perform. 

PETER'S CONVERSION OF 3000 JEWS

How do you convert people who have a long standing entrenched religion? Peter knew this group revered David so he made the case that Jesus is much more important than David and that David knew it would be so (ACTS 2:34).

IS THE END OF TIMES NOW?

Some say the end of times isn't on a specific day but rather includes the time between the accession of Jesus until his return. That view makes sense as the disciples preached that "the end is near" and here we are 2000 years later still waiting for the end but when we realize modern man has been on earth for 300,000 years, the 2000 years since Christ ascended is the blink of an eye. God is eternal and any time span, even 2000 years, is now for God.

ACTS - Replacing Judas and Speaking in Tongues

We discussed Casting Lots and I for one learned something; it was not a vote as I had always assumed but Casting Lots is more like flipping a coin and allows for God's intervention. This is no small revelation for me as I was never comfortable with the selection of an apostle by human decision.

We also considered Speaking in Tongues from several perspectives and one simple analogy that can be drawn from this is that when we talk to others about the word of God, others from any background, nation, or race (even if they speak English) some hear and understand and some don't.  

WHAT IF YOU KEEP SINNING AFTER YOU ARE SAVED?

Romans 3:10 points out that no one is righteous; we all continue to sin even after we accept Christ. Jesus died for our sins but Hebrews 12:7-11 says that God disciplines us like children, his children. So if we are born again and are God's children, how are we disciplined? It is tempting to imagine that our ailments and misfortunes are the result of our sins but in John 9:3 Jesus points out that a man he healed was not blind because of his sins or the sins of his parents. God doesn't necessarily afflict us or allow us to be afflicted but rather, as believers, we feel remorse and guilt when we sin and it disciplines and strengthens us so, as pointed out in 1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God will continue to sin..." Stay faithful and you will learn to stop sinning.