Original Street Preachers

"I am sending you out as sheep among wolves ... For I am with you." (Tim paraphrase)


This story in Luke is a flat out exciting one! Jesus made it clear that He was sending the disciples out on their own under His authority. He gave them amazing and immense power and ability to heal the sick, cast out evil spirits ... He enabled them to teach and preach with effectiveness. Without any financial support they went ... God provided support. There was no planned itinerary, no blueprints or action plans ... The Holy Spirit was to be their guide. No extra clothing or provision was to be brought along either ... The hospitality of others, prepared minds and hearts took care of that too.

Mind you, this was no far out adventure. But what a fantastic assignment this would be for these guys! But, we have to remind ourselves that these men haven't known Jesus all that well yet. And the disciples that went out had huge imperfections and failures. James and john, the 'Sons of Thunder' for a reason. And Peter, totally unpredictable and could probably cuss a whale of a blue streak for sure. And for Matthew, who probably enjoyed at least some luxury and comfort, this had to be some kind of demanding ordeal to look forward to. And of course Judas ... But Jesus didn't discard them but instead sent them out to do a job as He found them. It was Jesus Himself, by His Spirit which healed, Jesus who taught ...

It seems to me nowadays that many Christians want to operate in only one gift ... I'm an evangelist, I'm a teacher, doctor or prayer warrior, whatever. But here are people entrusted by Christ to fulfill the entire responsibilities of ministering completely to the body, soul and spirit! You know, upon thinking about it, this must rank as one of Jesus' greatest miracles! It essentially excites and captivates me as it shows what Jesus can do with anyone who is available to Him!

Just wanted to share ...

Tim, inspired by the writings of "apostlederrik"


Luke 10

Jesus Sends Out His Disciples

The Lord now chose seventy-two* other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields. 3 Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don't take along any money, or a traveler's bag, or even an extra pair of sandals. And don't stop to greet anyone on the road.
5 "Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing. 6 If those who live there are worthy, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. 7 When you enter a town, don't move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide you. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.
8 "If a town welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you 9 and heal the sick. As you heal them, say, `The Kingdom of God is near you now.' 10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 `We wipe the dust of your town from our feet as a public announcement of your doom. And don't forget the Kingdom of God is near!'

16 Then he said to the disciples, "Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me."
17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!"
18 "Yes," he told them, "I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning!

Back to Dunkirk???

An article I stumbled across ...

Christians called to abandon public education

Posted: December 28, 20089:15 pm Eastern© 2009 WorldNetDaily

You've heard all about the disputes: "Silent Night" banned at the "holiday" program, artistic references to the Bible censored and faith-inclusive children's programs facing discrimination.
Now some people are fed up with public school treatment of Christianity and have launched a campaign calling for a rescue of kids from government education programs – a "Call to Dunkirk."
The name Dunkirk is famous for the hundreds of thousands of World War II allies saved in May 1940 when a flotilla of pleasure boats, fishing craft and others rescued the soldiers from the beaches near Dunkirk, France, where they were trapped by an advancing German army.
Full article here:
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84603

YouTube video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGZLSVph3A

Looking at the video I would have to say that was one of the most offensive propaganda videos I think I have seen in a long time!. Equating public school teacher to Hitler (with convenient Hitler film clips to boot!), Stalinist collective farms, calling public schools "soul killing government indoctrination centers," is a bit much, don't you think?

My thoughts? Well-run Christian schools and quality home-school programs are certainly a viable option for Christians. If one perceives that the public schools become a tool of social engineers to teach anti-Christian messages, then Christian parents may find that removing their children from public schools to be the only option. However I think the problem with the public schools is the lack of parental responsibility for the academic and behavioral advancement of their children. It is no wonder that so many Charter, and Home Schooled children do better than our public schools, they have greater parental involvement and ability to only educate those students they desire. The point of the Social Engineers is valid problem, but NOT the main problem. I would submit that neglecting parental responsibilities IS Anti-Christian.

The mechanism exists for school accountability through school board elections, PTA's, and state and federal grievance procedures. This again has been neglected by the all to often "Too busy to get involved" parent. the problem is that our schools are merely the symptom of a societal breakdown and not the cause. It does however become a vicious cycle, but I believe we should "fix" the society and then the educational system will follow. Their "successes" with certain charter schools only reinforces what the problem is. It is NOT a viable alternative without a quantum shift in our culture back to parental responsibility which schools and homes have NOT supported.

I believe that as Christians we should become more involved with our schools not less! Even using the World War 2 metaphor .... We came back to take the land, not just withdraw from it!

Any thoughts?

There will be tail-wagging in heaven!

It is certainly very interesting to see how the Bible actually differs so much across languages, the Bible is a living document which needs to be seen to be relevant to everyone who reads or hears it. Here is an example I came across which may give you a chuckle ...

Happy translation

Sir - Some linguists were translating the Bible into a local African language (Letters, March 28). They had difficulty in finding a pure word for joy. The tribal words used had connotations which were not acceptable.

As they were debating what would be a suitable word a dog came into the room belonging to one of the missionaries, wagging his tail vigorously.

"What word would you use for the joy that dog has having found his master?", the missionaries asked. They were offered a word and the final text was translated: "There will be tail-wagging in heaven over one sinner that repents!"