The Joyful Voice of Martyrs #2 – Stephen

Stoning of Stephen

When I think of martyrdom, the first person I think of is Stephen. Stephen, like  many early followers of Christ was being put on trial for preaching Jesus and mocking the religious establishment of the Pharisees. In Acts 7:1-50 Stephen gives an account throughout history of the scriptures concerning the ignorance of the Israelites and the religious leaders. He was even bold enough to blame them for being a crucial part of the crucifixion of Jesus. Read what Acts 7:51-53

51 “You stiff-necked ^(A) people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! ^(B) You are always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your forefathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? ^(C) They even killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers ^(D) you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels ^(E) and yet have not kept it.”

Cross references:

1. Acts 7:51 : Ex 32:9; Dt 10:16; Heb 3:13;
2. Acts 7:51 : Lv 26:41; Jr 4:4; 6:10; 9:26;
3. Acts 7:52 : 2Ch 36:16; Mt 5:12; 21:35; 23:31;, 37; 1Th 2:15;
4. Acts 7:52 : Ac 3:14; 5:28;
5. Acts 7:53 : Ac 7:38; Gl 3:19; Heb 2:2;

One thing I admire about Stephen is that he probably knew he was facing death by saying what he said but he said it anyways. How many times are we afraid to say what needs to be said? In the ministry I have been faced with a few times in which I either said what needed to be said no matter what the outcome and I stayed quiet. I have become more bold recently, but if you are going to be a leader, you must be bold in your beliefs. Stephen was bold, Stephen was murdered for it as we read on the chapter…

54 When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts ^[a] and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with ^[b] Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ^(A) and he said, 56 “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ^(B) 57 Then they screamed at the top of their voices, stopped their ears, and rushed together against him. 58 They threw him out of the city and began to stone ^(C) him. And the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ^(D) 59 They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ^(E) 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ^(F) “Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep. ^[c]

hmmm….some good thoughts from the first Christian Martyr

Should Christians Support Starbucks?

I know the very title of this post is going to raise eyebrows and begin the process of hate-mail but I must get this off my mind! The answer is NO! They shouldn’t! If you are truly a Christ Follower, would you support the advancement of the New Age, Zen Buddhism, Mysticism, etc.??? Under the disguise of casual interactions with friends, over-priced (and low quality coffees), and social status is a little company that has made its way into the store shelves. This company is the the supplier of Starbuck’s Teas…TAZO

  You can visit their site by clicking here. Did you know that they claim each box of tea is “blessed by a Shaman” ? This is a crying out to all who read and even are daily drinkers of coffee to banish Starbucks from their vocabulary and checkbooks! You might be saying that you don’t drink tea so it doesn’t affect you…I site the many verses in the Bible warning us not to partake in the ways of the world and having nothing to do with paganism. So come on “Christians” stop giving your money to companies that support everything you “believe” to be wrong.

"I Don’t Mean to be Racist, But…"

I get an occasional glance on my blog from my own church members and I appreciate you out their. Over my short term in ministry, every church I have been in has either directly or indirectly had problems with racism. To set the record straight…I am not racist, prejudice, or think I am better than any other ethnicity in the world. After all, Jesus was not a “white male” either. Growing up in a growing city in south Florida, I have been accustom to all kinds of races at school, work, and church. When I moved into the “Bible Belt” this all changed.

While serving in one particular church, my wife and I were victims of a road rage and shooting…no bullets hit us…Of course the gossips started flying through church and almost everyone who came up to me and asked me questions about it first started off by asking…”Were they black people?” “Nope! They were as white as you and me” I responded watching the shock on their faces that a crime was committed by one of their own kind and not a black person.

I have also heard horror stories of churches in the Bible Belt telling a black person to go worship down at the “Black Church” That enrages me to no end. How can “Christians” do this?

The Church I serve in now is different, there are many different races and ethnic backgrounds represented in Worship. We have Haitians, Greeks, English, Canadian, Chinese, African American, Romanian, Hungarian, German, as well as Anglo-American. It’s awesome to see so many types of people joining together as one. I want to list some of my “pet peeves” of how Christians show direct or indirect racism:

1. Don’t Call it “The Black Church” – They are a church…I’m sure white people are welcome
2. Don’t say “I don’t mean to be racist, but…” – If there is something that might sound racist or
stereotypical, than it doesn’t need to be said.
3. “Them Mexicans” – not all Spanish speaking people are Mexican. If you are white and speak
english does that make you British?
4.”Don’t Judge Interracial Marriage” – I believe we humans are all one race bonded together by
one faith in one God. How could skin color break that apart? We have a couple of bi-racial
marriages in our church and they are the sweetest people.
5. (this one’s left blank for your examples…let’s stop this nonsense of racism)

Joel Osteen

Hey readers…I recently have been preparing to study about this whole Joel Osteen controversy thing going on in the Christian circles. First and formost…I don’t preach “Prosperity Gospel” but have been faced in my church, friends, and other bloggers about whether Joel is a pastor or not. There is an excellent article on Colossians3:16 blog about this so I figured it appropriate to link it here. It definitely is worth your time as you know I don’t link posts that often on this blog. To read it…Click Here