Hunting Season & the other Important Stuff

The Labor Day weekend marks the beginning of the next hunting season. Are you going to be hunting in our area?

We're going to take a breath and cool off at 10:30 Sunday morning to build our relationship with the Lord praising His name and you're invited!

We meet at 209 Fannin Street in Putnam, TX. It's 2 blocks south of the railroad tracks on Fannin street in Putnam.

Have a safe weekend!

What's stealing your time?

Do you work all of the time and spend little time with your family and friends? When you do go home, the projects you work on at home or volunteer for overwhelm you? Steal your time? Is it getting in the way of your relationships with your family? Or with God?

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV

I can do all sorts of great things even good things for the community - get great promotions, have the toughest pickemup truck, renovate my home by myself, and on and on. But, was the relationship cost worth the time?

Time helps me build those loving relationships. Time with God. Time with my family. It's a sneaky trap the devil lays for me gradually affecting my relationships.

Recognize it as it starts. Renew my mind in Christ as often as I need.

Your invited to worship and study God's word with us each Sunday at 10:30 am in Putnam. We're two blocks south of the railroad tracks on Fannin Street.

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Thank You!

We appreciate you following us through our blog!

God Bless!
Brad Loveland

Paul before Festus

Acts 25

Festus came to Caesarea by way of Jerusalem to meet with the Jews there and discuss the case of Paul. Once again the Jews tried to get Festus to bring Paul to them. Festus declined saying that he was heading there right then. The accusations continue again in Caesarea.

The question that keeps coming up for me is why the writer by inspiration of the Holy Spirit included all of these details about Paul’s legal troubles with the Jews trying to murder him? How does this information have relevance to our Christian lives today?

When Festus asks Paul if he is willing to go back to Jerusalem to face the Sanhedrin again, he appealed his case to Caesar’s investigation. Festus conferred with King Agrippa about this case since Festus was really not familiar with Paul or his faith. Festus found that he was in a bit of a pickle because he would have to write a review of the case of Paul and the case against him. Festus was finding quickly that there really weren’t any charges to be reported to His Majesty.

King Agrippa expresses interest in meeting Paul and examining if there are any charges he can find for Festus to send to Caesar. They both agree that it would not be good to send Paul for further examination without sending any charges leveled against him.

The scene in King Agrippa’s court would have been an impressive mix of the most influential people in the area from the Jewish and Roman world. In the midst of this, little Paul the tent maker is lead in by the tall Roman legionnaires guarding him into the midst of the purple-robed powerful court of King Agrippa. From the moment he was given permission to speak, he had the attention of the court with the confidence of the spirit.

Next, Paul will deliver an impressive sermon to the court.

Be wary of Flattery?

Acts 24:1-27

Tertullus began speaking with nauseating flattery which was anything, but true. Of course, the charges he leveled against Paul were equally false.

The charge he leveled against Paul had three main points. 1) Paul was a stirrer. He was always in trouble and a pest. 2) Paul was a leader of a sect of Nazarenes. Tertullus knew the havoc false messiahs had cause in the Roman Empire and knew this would capture the attention of Felix. 3) Paul was a defiler of the Temple. The charges were dangerous because they were a series of twisted half-truths.

Paul gave his defense. As a man of clear conscience, Paul maintained that he needed simply to state the facts and let them stand on their own. Something we should notice about Paul. The problem is that there are so many in our world that work like Tertullus instead of like Paul. Our problem is figuring out who is doing that with us to support their own agendas.

Felix knew well the facts about the Way, so he put the Jews off. He knew they were spinning half-truths against Paul choosing to believe the right people. Paul demanded the high morals of which terrified Felix. He had persuaded Druscilla away from Azizus with the help of a magician, so his conscience was guilt-ridden. He also wanted to keep his job after several problems he had encountered. Felix didn’t handle the Paul situation very well either. One too many problems, so he was taken out of his position.

Paul appealed to Caesar.

Paul Transferred to Caesarea

Acts 23:11-24

Paul has been in front of the Sanhedrin twice and Paul has been rescued from the volatile situation both times. Now, about forty Jews have vowed not to eat until they have murdered Paul. The oath they took was called a cherem. They were basically asking God to curse them if they did not carry out the terms of the vow. This week, we begin with Paul’s communication from the Lord to take courage because he has testified about Him in Jerusalem and he will testify about him in Rome.

Two things are pointed out here. First, we see the lengths that the Jews were willing to go to eliminate Paul. Later, they even petition Festus to send Paul back to Jerusalem so they can ambush them and kill Paul along the way to carry out their vow, a cherem (Acts 25:3). The current passage is not the only time that the Jews will attempt to assassinate Paul. Paul’s nephew being there and hearing the vow was how God worked through people to ensure that his will would be accomplished. This time, God’s goal was to get Paul to Rome to testify about him in the most powerful government in their day.

Second, we see the lengths that the Roman commander is willing to go to protect Paul, a Roman citizen. Acts 21:34 says that the Roman commander was having trouble getting the truth from the gathering of Jews because of the uproar they were causing. Nothing changed in the next session Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin. When Paul’s nephew tells the commander of the plot to kill Paul, the commander decides to form a small protective army and transfer Paul to Caesarea saving Paul from the murder plot.

Paul knows that he is fulfilling God’s will, so he is acting boldly and continuing where ever the authorities send him. Next, we will see what the commander tells Felix in the letter he sends with Paul to Caesarea and on to Rome.

Paul Addresses the Sandedrin - Again

Acts 23:1-10

Paul is back before the Sanhedrin. The commander brought Paul back before the group to find out why the Jews had such disapproval for Paul and what he was standing. To address that group as brothers put him on equal footing with the chief priests and rulers. The common way of addressing the court was to say “Rulers of the people and the elders of Israel.”

When Paul was ordered struck by the chief priest, the priest was breaking the law by doing this. “Whoever strikes the cheek of an Israelite strikes, as it were, the glory of God.” Paul turned on him calling him a whitewashed wall, referring to the whitewashing of tombs so they might not be touched by mistake causing the one touching to be made unclean. It was also breaking the law to speak ill of the rulers of the people (Exodus 22:28). Paul was making the point that he never knew that a glutton like Ananias could be a high ruler of Israel. What can we learn about how we should treat our leaders?

Paul made a comment that he knew would make the court take notice. The Sanhedrin was composed of two groups of people, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They had opposing positions in belief. The Pharisees believed in the minute details of the oral law. The Sadducees accepted only the written law. The Pharisees believed in predestination. The Sadducees believed in free will. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection; and the Sadducees did not.

So Paul claimed that he was on trial because of the hope of the resurrection causing the controversy to ignite in the group. As a result, the court was torn violently in two. Paul was caught in the middle and had to be rescued by the Romans again. The commander had to take him back to the barracks again.