Continue reading

Events

In early 1975, Jimmy Carter, the ex-governor of Georgia, began campaigning in Iowa, the site of the first statewide contest in the race for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. Carter knew almost no one in the state, and his first piece of business was to introduce himself. He set up in a hotel suite in Des Moines with soft drinks, crackers and cheese. Then he waited. And waited. Thirty minutes, an hour, two hours, three hours. . . no one came to his reception, not a single person. Embarrassed but undeterred, Carter 50, and Jody Powell, his press secretary left the room and roamed the streets looking for voters. Anyone with a notebook or tape recorder sent them into exhilaration.
With a persistent attitude (sometimes that is what it takes), they took their cheese crackers and soft drinks and started stumping in the small towns of Iowa. One of the things that Carter told the people was this: “I will never lie to you.” When he said this, he noted a stirring in the small audiences. They perked up and began to pay attention to him. People were still stinging from the Watergate problems. The appeal of that single statement was the power that Jimmy Carter would ride into the Whitehouse. In retrospect, Jimmy Carter will never be considered a great president. In all probability, he was one of the most “common” presidents that the United States has had in the last century. He was a farmer who really was out of place with the political machine that runs this country.
Yet, in all of this there is one single aspect that should be found in this. When no one showed up at his hotel meeting in the early stages of his running for the Presidency, he refused to allow the obstacles to overwhelm him. He knew that he wanted to be President and was willing to make the necessary adjustments to become that man.

Whether you are running for the White House, or trying to influence others for Jesus Christ, or trying to live victoriously in this life over sin and temptation, or trying to reach lost men, or trying to cross a Jordan River at flood stage, one thing is for certain. That is, you must come to the edge of the obstacle and face it down and allow God to work with you and through you to accomplish His purpose.

There are critical hours in every life. Almost every experience has it’s share of calamities and turning points. There are single moments and actions that act as rudders and steer us in the direction of the goal or the direction of misfortune.

I am going into the Promised Land

The Promised Land of perpetual blessing.
The Promised Land of spiritual victory.
The Promised Land of divine power.
The Promised Land of God-centered focus.
The Promised Land of revival and restoration.
The Promised Land of healing and deliverance

Continue reading

Bible, devo, growth, relevant

Brooksville church youth group wins awards at Bible competition

By Gail Hollenbeck, Times Correspondent
In Print: Saturday, May 2, 2009

BROOKSVILLE — Bolstered by first- and second-place wins in New Port Richey in February, 18 students from the Fire Xscape youth group at First Baptist Church traveled to Jacksonville last month to participate at the regional level in “Teens Involved,” a Bible-based ministry competition sponsored by Word of Life Bible Institute.

Thirteen of the teens came home with trophies.

“It was exciting, though I was nervous,” said Stephanie Harris, a junior at Hernando Christian Academy who was a member of one of the church’s quiz teams that took both first and fourth place in the Bible Blitz portion of the event. “It was fun to be a part of it.”

This was the second year the church entered the competition, which tests the students on their Bible knowledge and judges their ministry skills in categories that include preaching, teaching, drama, writing, singing and playing musical instruments.

Now, the winners from the regional level are preparing for the international competition, which will be July 15 on the Word of Life campus in Hudson, where last year six students from the church won trophies and scholarships to the institute.

Hernando High School junior Jen Brooks, who won trophies for her trumpet solo and vocal solo, said it’s hard work getting ready for the competition, but it’s well worth the effort.

“I really like to be able to use my talents for God,” she said. “When people ask why I play the trumpet, I like to tell them about God that way. It’s a form of ministry.”

For Harris, the preparation is an opportunity to refresh her knowledge of the Bible.

“You definitely learn a lot,” Harris said. “Being able to go over the lessons in God’s word again was really neat.”

Brian Brijbag, student ministry pastor at First Baptist, coaches the majority of the teens. His wife, Amy, assists with the drama events and the writing categories. Worship minister Mark Reeves assists with the instrumental and vocal categories.

While Brijbag is happy that the students win many of the events, he said the coaches want the teens to look at their abilities as a form of service.

“The whole time, we encouraged the students to not focus on winning but instead have fun and do the best with the gifts and talents God has given them,” he said. “They were not performing for judges but were serving their God.”

Brijbag, who is also chairman of the Hernando County Fine Arts Council, said that along with developing the students’ ministries, the competition also helps them develop artistic skills.

“We want a vibrant, growing youth program,” he said. “We want to encourage drama, singing, preaching and all the other gifts and talents to be used for God’s glory here at (the church) and out in the community.”

Trophies were awarded to students who finished in the top four in their respective categories in the regional competition.

David Seale was on the fourth-place quiz team. Kalene Parker was on the first-place quiz team and also won in the creative writing category for her short story, Kara’s Lesson.

Kaylee LaPlace and Kristy Madden were on the fourth-place quiz team and placed third in the video category. Timmy Carter was a member of the first-place quiz team. Niki Tucker was on the first-place team, placed third for her clarinet solo, Came to My Rescue, and placed fifth for her individual drama, Hands.

David Reeves finished second in evangelistic preaching and third for both his vocal solo and his video. Jen Brooks won for her trumpet solo, Sweet, Sweet Spirit, as well as for her vocal rendition of The Stand, by Hillsong.

Jackie Harris finished second in teaching children. Phillip Reeves finished third for his video. Rachel Reeves finished second for her vocal solo, Does Anybody Hear Here, was on the first-place quiz team and won for her piano solo. Stephanie Harris was on the fourth-place quiz team and won a trophy for her video.

Samuel Van Scoyoc, a senior at Hernando High, won a trophy for his preaching about “The Power of God’s Spirit” and took first place for his original poem, The Past.

The inspiration for his poem came to him after church one day.

“I’d been going through a lot of relational issues lately, and I was trying to let go of the past,” Van Scoyoc said. “I was praying so much to God to help me let go, and I sat at the computer and typed in the title, “The Past.” From there it was entirely God-led. He guides all my poems. That’s why I don’t have so many, because it’s always at the perfect time that he wants them done.”

Van Scoyoc said he’d like to win one of the scholarships to Word of Life that are awarded at the international competition.

“I just hope that God’s will would be done above all else,” he said.

Brooks said she just hopes that she is able to bless people with her music.

“That’s about it,” she said. “Just make God proud of me and bless other people with my ministry.”

Continue reading

Events, news

Priorities.

 Some people have them…some people don’t. Some people claim to have them but don’t use them. Others don’t claim to have them but how they go about living their lives speaks volumes.

Rick Warren in his book, The Purpose Driven Life, started the book with these words, “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”

It’s a matter of priority. I suppose that most people if asked would list their families, their career, their security, their education and so on in their top five. But when Paul wrote this letter to the congregation in Rome, a predominately Gentile crowd, he wanted them to know that God and his will for their lives should be ranked #1.

If we claim Christianity, then we walk according to the Spirit.
If we claim Christianity, then we accept God’s ability to do things we cannot do.
If we claim Christianity, then our #1 priority is to “set our minds” on things Spiritual.

Paul wrote that if we claim to be Christian, we cannot continue to live our lives as anything but. We can either walk through life focused on ourselves, our wants and supposed needs, or can we walk according to the Holy Spirit with God’s will in your sights.

Romans 8:1Romans 8:1
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

We really like this verse, don’t we! Time and time again I’ve heard people say “there is therefore now no condemnation…” but that is not the full message of that verse is it. There’s a priority statement which follows…the whole no condemnation thing is for those for walk according the Spirit.

Which way we walk, determines our priorities.

Anytime we put our will before God’s, we walk in the flesh.
Anytime we intentionally turn a deaf ear to God’s instruction, we walk in the flesh.
Anytime we seek to divide instead of unite, we walk in the flesh.
Anytime we think we’re better than someone else, we walk in the flesh.
Anytime we envy others, we walk in the flesh.
Anytime we hate…anytime we inappropriately use anger…anytime we become selfish…

When we spend more time with what our stuff, compared to time spent in God’s Word,in prayer, in worship and in praise…we walk in the flesh.

Paul wrote, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…” - Romans 8:3Romans 8:3
English: World English Bible - WEB
3 For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;

While we were yet sinners, God still loved us enough to send a portion of himself.
And even when we become believers, God still loves us enough to give us His Spirit to lead, guide, and direct if we only listen.

If you want to feel God’s grace….
If you want to experience God’s mercy…
If you want to appreciate God’s love…
…then we need to set our priorities in line with the priorities of God.

We cannot do it by ourselves. Throughout human history, we have tried and failed.

We’ve eaten forbidden fruit, molded golden calves at the foot of mountains.

We’ve found ourselves in a foreign land conquered and captured.

We’ve heard the words of Jesus and still deny him before the rooster crows.

And while Jesus, John, and Mary stood at the foot of the cross, we huddled on the very outskirts afraid and bewildered.

After Jesus died, we couldn’t get up the nerve to take care of the body, so we sent the women down to take care of the body.

And when that body wasn’t there…we blamed thieves and soldiers…we huddled in a locked upper room…awaiting our Lord’s same fate.

But what we couldn’t handle, God could. When Jesus entered that room and told us, “Peace, be still!” it was then we knew what our priority must be. Even Thomas doubted no more.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of waiting in an upper room.

I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to understand that this whole thing I am
experiencing is just a drop in the bucket compared to the joy that God has in store.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for God to accomplish what I’ve been unable (or maybe somewhat unwilling???) to accomplish!

It’s not our way that matters…we make decisions based on very little information compared to God’s vast knowledge. It’s that letting go and letting God theme revisited…

Once we’ve given up our way, God is waiting for us to see it his way.

Continue reading

Bible, devo, growth, relevant

The word Relevant means “Logically connected with and important to the matter in hand; appropriate, germane, pertinent.”

To some the Word of God and the Church of Jesus Christ do not always seem “Logically connected” or “important to the matter in hand.” They may be logical to the believer, but not to the unbeliever.

 In the January, 1966 edition of an American journal called The Christian Century, the editor wrote of receiving a small “assemble it yourself” package by mail. After spending an hour in frustration trying to put the pieces together, he discovered in the box a message from the manufacturer. Printed on a neat, white card were the words, “If all else fails, follow the directions.”
Most in our generation today are puzzled, bewildered and confused, not knowing the way to worthwhile living. Now comes the question, “Whose directions are we to follow?”

 Any church that is founded upon the sound teaching of the Word of God is as relevant today as the Bible is. The church is a place where we learn

 1) What God’s Word says

2) How to appropriate those biblical principles in our lives.
The problem today is that most come to church for the music, rather than the message. We’ve become more concerned about programs than we are about progress in our spiritual lives. We welcome comfort and convenience, rather than conviction and confession. People would rather have their “ears tickles”, than to be confronted with the truth of the Scriptures.

 The problem lies not in the Content of the Word of God, but in the Complacency of our society.
When the Holy Spirit begins to convict of sin, they start looking for another, more compassionate church to attend… usually a place with a watered down message.

 When it comes to communicating God’s Word, my prayer is two-fold:

 1) That we will always speak the truth in love

2) That we will always speak the truth!

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Isaiah 55:6-11Isaiah 55:6-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near: ⁷ let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. ¹⁰ For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; ¹¹ so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Continue reading

Bible, devo, growth, relevant

Interview with Mayday Parade:

 

PB:  Thanks for speaking with Fire Escape Radio today! Let’s start by talking about the song “Jamie All Over.”

 Alex:  This song is just about literally having a dream about really positive things, going out, having fun, going out to Las Vegas, California, that whole manifest destiny thing, wanting to find something better than what you’re around and spending your time with somebody else, but really it turns out to just be a dream.  So, keep dreaming kids.

 PB:  How about the song “Jersey?”

 Alex:  This song is just about having a significant other that you think is being unfaithful to you and messing around with other people. This is just the feelings that we got when that happened and the feelings that we wanted to express about that.  

 Jeremy:  We actually wrote this song while we were in New Jersey, sitting on the sidewalk.

 Alex:  Yeah, we were on tour.  This was written during one of our first tours.  Actually, a lot of our songs were, so that’s why there’s a lot of references to states and cities and stuff, because this was our first real experience touring.  It was weird, being out of town and the relationships back home, you could see them and sometimes things weren’t going so well, and there’s not much that you can do about it being 3,000g 3,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

miles away from home, or whatever.

 PB:  Tell me about the song “You Be the Anchor that Keeps My Feet On the Ground, I’ll Be the Wings that Keep Your Head in the Clouds.”

 Alex:  This song is sort of like a story about a guy that’s on a battleship in Pearl Harbor and he’s writing home for the last time, and just about the feelings that he has that he possibly might not see his girlfriend or wife, Eleanor, ever again.  And so it’s just his reflections on that and how he feels.

 PB:  What’s going on with Mayday Parade right now?

 Alex:  Right now we’re on Warped Tour, and after this we’re going to start writing for the next album, right after this.  Then in the fall we do a tour with All-Time Low, The Main, and Every Avenue.  As soon as that’s done, we’re going to start heavily writing, and trying to record our next album.

 Jeremy:  Which should be out some time next summer, so look forward to it.

 PB: Thanks again for the time guys!

Continue reading

FER, Interview, Transcript

PB:  Tell me about your new CD.

 

David:  It comes out August 26.  We’ve been in the band for four years.  We just signed with Word Records, so this is going to be our first nationally-distributed CD.  It’s going to be called “Daylight is Coming.”  It was produced by Ian Eskelin.  The first song is called “Daylight.”  The song is about, sometimes we forget that there’s going to be trials, there’s going to be struggles, there’s going to be a lot of difficulty in life.  I don’t think that anybody actually forgets that but sometimes, in art, it gets left out.  So it’s the darkest night that precedes the morning.  You know, it always gets the darkest, it always gets the coldest, right before the morning.  Whatever you’re going through, whatever I’m going through, whatever seems impossible, it seems empty, it seems hopeless – just remember, the sky’s going to rip open like a scroll some day.  That’s what I read.  And there’s something real, something permanent, something substantial.  This flesh and blood, this skin and bones, it’s only a rough draft, like C.S. Lewis says.  There’s something real coming.  Daylight’s coming.

 

PB:  On this CD, what are we going to hear musically?

 

David:  We’re a piano band.  I play piano out front.  Paul plays some great guitars. 

 

Paul:  I try to make it really sound like a symphony, is my goal.  I like to make it sound like a violin.

 

David:  It sounds like an organ and a symphony all at the same time.  One guy.

 

Paul:  That’s my goal.  I love the lay pedal.  I think our sound is just a lot of harmonies, a lot of great drum beats, bass parts, just everything.

 

David:  We teamed up with a guy named Ian Eskelin.  He does a great job of capturing great sounds, all the tones.  We had a really good time in the studio finding really interesting tones.  For the first time, I recorded using an overdrive pedal on the bass, and now I use it all the time.  So we had a really good time experimenting. 

 

PB:  What’s God doing in your lives right now?

 

David: God, when He created me, made me a little more clumsy than I should have been, I think.  I went to give this kid a high-five and stabbed him in the eye with my thumb.  Which keeps me humble.  But what we love about playing music is, you’re playing a song, like “Daylight,” it’s brand new, and seeing a kid in the front row, straining to figure out what’s being said, and singing along.  But then singing from the other album, singing word for word what we’re singing about, and knowing that that song’s playing in some kid’s car, and living rooms and bedrooms and cars and iPods all across the country.  It’s pretty humbling, it’s pretty fun at the same time.  We get a lot of e-mails, we get a lot of people saying, “hey that impacted me at this particular moment.”  I can’t think of any specific things, but kids saying, “hey, I was going through this, and those words impacted me.”  That’s what’s great about using the words that made the heavens and the earth, that put the stars in the sky.  Using those words as influence.  There’s still an impact there, I don’t know how it works that when God speaks, light comes on and matter is called into existence from nothing.  Hopefully these songs are asking questions, pointing to hope.  We don’t have the answers, I’m a broken individual. I’m disillusioned, I’m empty as the next guy, but knowing there is hope in the fact that we can have a brand new heart, and pointing kids that way. 

 

Dan:  I think, during our shows, we try to create just an excitement.  We want, when people come to our shows, we want them to feel like they’re part of something.  Just something crazy, we want them to be kind of scared when they’re up front, think that they’re going to get hit with a guitar or something.  I just think, a rock show is such a cool place for a group of people to get together and just be a family for an hour or two.  Just enjoying themselves. 

 

David:  Jon Foreman said, sweating the same sweat, bleeding the same blood, singing out the same song.  And then realizing that, as much as this is about a rock concert, it’s not.  It’s not about rock music, it’s not about success, it’s not about record labels, it’s not about SUVs, and suburban dreams and picket fences and mortgages.  It’s about a kingdom coming.  And somehow, in some way that I don’t understand, none of us here in Remedy Drive understand, we can be part of that today.  And then for ten years, and then for twenty more years, and then for a hundred more years, and for a million more years.  We can be part of something huge, something permanent, something lasting.  Something more real than the American dream.  Bigger than suburban accomplishment.  I don’t know what it is.  I hear there’s golden streets but that just doesn’t cut it for me – but I know, whatever it is, is what I was made for.  And to get back to the design, get back to the purpose, finding it.  Or at least realizing, “I don’t have it together.”  If we can accomplish that in a concert, we’re pretty excited. 

 

PB:  What are your future plans?

 

Paul:  Every week we do this thing called New Video Mondays, which is kind of a way that we make our shows more exciting, because people come knowing what to expect.  We love to get to know our fans, we love to get to know the people that are in the crowd that night.  We also love to let them get to know us.  So we put up videos of stuff like, Dan got stuck in an elevator one time in Illinois.

 

Dan:  Three hours!

 

Paul:  He was in there for, like, three hours.  So we documented the whole event.

 

Dan:  Fire trucks came.  What else happened?  They pried it open with a very large wedge.

 

Paul:  And we were there to capture it.  And so, everyone, you can see it on Youtube.  But we do that every week and if there’s a rodeo right next to our show, we’ll take footage of it.  So that’s a way that people can get to know us and come to the show knowing what to expect.  But then there’s also the anticipation of what is going to happen?  What’s going to happen tonight?  Maybe you’ll be on the new Video Monday next week.  So that’s something we love to do.

 

Dave:  Maybe you’ll be a camera guy up on stage getting in the way that ends up getting tackled.

 

Paul:  Yeah, one guy brought a camera on stage and we broke his camera, on accident.  But that’s just kind of rock and roll.  Our equipment breaks all the time.  I don’t think we own really anything that hasn’t been broken at least one time in some way.  So that’s New Video Mondays.

 

Dave:  We’re going to be on tour down in Florida this September, so we want to see you guys at the show.  Check our website for where we’re going to be and the tour dates.  Our website is remedydrive.com or myspace.com/remedydrive.

 

PB: Thanks for hanging with Fire Escape Radio!

Continue reading

FER, Interview, Transcript

That leaves us with death to deal with.

You’ve probably heard the saying - “The only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes.” I’m not so sure that statement is absolutely true, though. I’m guessing that with enough deductions, loopholes, and a “creative” accountant, you can avoid paying most, if not all, of your taxes. So, there’s no guarantee there.

 

Four friends were talking about death. One of them asked the other three, “When you are in your casket and people are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?” The first man said, “I’d like to hear them say that I was a fine physician in my time and a great family man.” The second fellow said, “I’d like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and a school teacher who made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow.” The third man replied, “I’d like to hear them say, ’Look, he’s moving!’”

 

You know, I think most of us can relate to that last fellow, but I can think of something far better I’d like someone to say if I were lying in a casket. I’d like to hear the words that Jesus spoke to Martha after her brother Lazarus had died. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

 

Believes.

 

Will never die.

 

The resurrection, death being defeated, is at the heart of Christianity.

 

We Christians absolutely believe that our faith makes a difference in this life. I think the best thing about Christianity is the hope it gives that physical death will not be the end, but thanks to Jesus we can and will experience eternal life. I’m thankful that when I do a funeral service for a person who believed, I can say to the grieving family, “Death has not won. Death was defeated on the cross and this is just the beginning of life eternal for this person in heaven.

 

Q: What is the date of death’s birth?

 

A: The moment Adam & Eve sinned.

 

Scripture tells us: “…by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world and death by sin.”.

 

Two Roman soldiers are guarding Jesus’ tomb on the first Easter morning. Each has a cup of coffee in his hand, and the sun is just coming over the horizon. One is encouraging the other. “Cheer up, it’s Sunday morning. Way I see it, we’ve got one more day of guarding the tomb. By Monday this whole thing will blow over.”

 

The world is amazed that millions of Christians still celebrate Easter with such joy. Like those guards at the tomb, the world assumes that “By Monday the whole thing will blow over.”

 

But it doesn’t.

 

You see, we have good reason to be joyful. God loves us, we are forgiven.

 

For believers in Christ, Easter means the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!

 

It means the promise of life after death because Jesus conquered the grave!

 

It means hope of a better life. It means joy, not sorrow.

 

The decisive event in human history was the resurrection of Christ, where death and evil were defeated

 

Hallelujah! Christ is risen.

Continue reading

Bible, devo, growth, relevant

People are afraid of being hurt by other people.

 The closer you get to people, the deeper those people can hurt you

 It is hard to deal with painful relationships.

 The passage of 2 Timothy 4:9-132 Timothy 4:9-13
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Be diligent to come to me soon, ¹⁰ for Demas left me, having loved this present world, and went to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministering. ¹² But I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³ Bring the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus when you come, and the books, especially the parchments.

, contains all kinds of different names in it. To us these people are unknowns with strange sounding names, but we need to remember that behind every single name we read is a story. Some of these stories are about people who disappointed the apostle Paul.

Paul is writing from the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire. Paul writes this letter sitting in a Roman prison cell awaiting his trail before the Roman government. This letter is Paul’s last one before his execution. Within months of writing this letter, Paul was led out to the third milestone marker on the Ostian Way in Rome and beheaded. The exact place of his execution is called Aquae Salviae, and on that location today stands a church called Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

 Paul was executed sometime during the year of 65 A.D.

Timothy receives this letter from Paul in the city of Ephesus. Timothy had been assigned to the Ephesian church to help them sort through some difficult problems. Yet in this final letter Paul knows that his life is nearing its end, so he asks Timothy to leave Ephesus and set sail for Rome as soon as possible, so they can be together one last time.

Demas, who we’ll talk about in more detail in a moment, had abandoned Paul and gone to Thessalonica. Thessalonica was the primary port city of Macedonia, just above Greece. We know that there was a thriving church in Thessalonica that Paul had started some years earlier. Most historians think Thessalonica was where Demas was from, that he had gone home.

Chrescens had gone to Galatia. He didn’t abandon Paul like Demas had, but apparently he was away on a ministry trip. Galatia was a region in central Asia Minor that was settled by Celtic tribes from ancient Gaul. Titus had gone to Dalmatia. Now when I first read about Dalmatia I thought that was the city where they got the idea for the movie 101 Dalmatians. But ancient Dalmatia was a mountainous region on the Eastern shore of the Adriatic sea. Apparently Titus had finished his work in the city of Crete and had gone on another ministry trip.

From Paul’s ministry team, only Luke remains with Paul. Luke of course was a medical doctor who accompanied Paul on his ministry trips. Luke wrote the gospel of Luke, in addition to the book of Acts. As we’ll learn a bit later, there were Christians from Rome also with Paul, but from his own ministry team, only Luke remained.

Many Bible scholars believe Tychicus was the guy who hand carried 2 Timothy from Rome to Ephesus, to hand deliver the letter to Timothy. Tychicus is mentioned in Acts, Ephesians and Colossians as one of Paul’s key leaders (Acts 20:4Acts 20:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea; Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

; Eph 6:21Eph 6:21
English: World English Bible - WEB
21 But that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all things;

WP-Bible plugin

; Col 4:7Col 4:7
English: World English Bible - WEB
7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.

WP-Bible plugin

). Tychicus was probably Timothy’s replacement in Ephesus, so Timothy could set sail for Rome, picking up Mark along the way.

Finally, Paul wants Timothy to stop at the home of Carpus in Troas on the way to Rome. Troas was a city named after the ancient Greek city of Troy because the ruins of Troy were ten miles outside of town. Apparently Paul had left his writing materials and books in Troas with Carpus, and now that he’s stuck in prison he wants them with him. Perhaps the parchments refer to Paul’s copy of the Old Testament scriptures. The “cloak” refers to a thick circular poncho. As winter approaches, Paul needs to be kept warm in the drafty Roman prison .

So in the midst of his imprisonment, Paul needs companionship, his books, and something to keep him warm.

But I really want to focus in on Demas and Mark, because these were two people who had really disappointed Paul. Demas is probably short for the longer name Demetrius. Demas is mentioned as one of Paul’s key ministry people in his letters to Philemon and to the church in the city of Collosse (Philemon 24; Col 4:14Col 4:14
English: World English Bible - WEB
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.

). But something happened, and Demas had abandoned Paul. He fell in love with this present world. He probably grew tired of the hardship and struggles that characterized Paul’s ministry team, the long days, the dangerous travel, the beatings and imprisonments. He grew weary of long journeys with not enough food, being away from his family for months at a time. He yearned for the comfort of home, a life free from the hardship and struggles of full time ministry. So he went home, home to Thessalonica, home where it was safe and warm. But he left Paul virtually alone. He’d disappointed his friend and mentor Paul. Clearly Paul writes with a broken heart when he thinks about Demas and his divided affections.

Mark had once had a very similar story. On Paul’s very first ministry trip years earlier Mark had been one of Paul’s first ministry team members. But according to the book of Acts, Mark abandoned Paul early on in the trip (Acts 13:13Acts 13:13
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.

). When Paul and his key leader Barnabas wanted to go on a second ministry trip, Barnabas wanted to bring Mark again, but Paul refused. After all, Mark had disappointed them earlier, and Paul figured that he couldn’t count on Mark to be there when they needed him. But Mark was Barnabas’ cousin, so he wanted to give Mark a second chance. The disagreement between Paul and Barnabas got so intense that they parted company. So the book of Acts leaves us with the impression that Mark is a guy you can’t count on, a guy who disappoints you.

Yet here we find Paul asking Timothy to bring Mark to him because he views Mark as having something to offer in ministry. Obviously something’s happened in Mark’s life, and that something has so impressed Paul that he wants Mark by his side for his last days. And of course, eventually Mark would go on to write the gospel of Mark, which is the second book in the New Testament.

Both Demas and Mark were people who disappointed Paul. Yet Paul is able to respond with them with grace.

 As a pastor I constantly struggle with disappointing people. People have all kinds of expectations of what a pastor should do; some of those expectations are realistic, but many of them aren’t. Perhaps a phone call I forgot to make or a visit that I couldn’t get to. Often as my head hits the pillow at night I wonder who I let down that day.

Yet a deepened life with God helps us respond to people who disappoint us with grace. Rather than getting mad or bitter, we forgive.

 A deepened life with God gives us a reservoir of grace to draw from, so when people do disappoint us, we can show them grace.

Continue reading

Bible, devo, growth, relevant