Thursday, November 14, 2024

"It seems the apostle Paul traveled about 15,500 miles in his ministry, and around 8,700 of those miles were on foot!"

quote from "Interview with John Piper"

"Do Paul’s Missions Leave Us with a Geographic Pattern to Follow?"

"It seems the apostle Paul traveled about 15,500 miles in his ministry, and around 8,700 of those miles were on foot! These are the calculations of New Testament scholar Eckhard Schnabel."

John Piper, Founder & Teacher, Desiring God
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/do-pauls-missions-leave-us-with-a-geographic-pattern-to-follow - accessed 11/14/2024


Paul's Travels: Walking for the Lord

Dr Alex Tang

https://www.kairos2.com/paul_travell.htm - accessed 11/14/2024

Travel in New Testament times was not easy. Though the Romans had built their roads which link major cities and towns, these roads were paved with stones and not comfortable to travel on. The carts drawn by mules did not have spring suspension and were bumpy. Most people, except for the rich and nobles, walked. Travelers were exposed to the weather and at risk from bandits or pirates. They were also at the mercy of unscrupulous innkeepers and their dirty unhygienic inns. One could imagine that the people would not want to travel far unless they had no choice. . . .

Paul was God's chosen instrument to spread the gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles. While the majority of Jews were in Judea and Samaria, the Gentiles were not but spread out all over the Roman empire. These meant that Paul has to travel far to reach the Gentiles. However Paul did not wander around aimlessly. There seem to be a strategy in Paul's traveling. What then was this strategy?

Firstly, Paul identified and focused on provinces in Asia Minor. Both Luke and Paul referred consistently to provinces rather than cities. Thus Paul was forbidden to preach the word in Asia (Acts 16:6), he was called from Troas not to Philippi or to Thessalonica but to Macedonia. In Paul’s view, the unit was the province rather than the city. Then within these province, Paul identified cities to which he would preach. Paul did not plan to preach in every city in a province but key cities only. He would first preach to the local Jews in the synagogue and if his message was rejected, to the Gentiles outside the synagogues. He planned to establish missional churches in these cities which will spread the gospel into the province itself.

Secondly, Paul usually start with the Jewish communities in the selected cities. Under the Roman government, the Jews enjoyed many privileges. Their religion was recognised. They had liberty to administer their own laws. They were not obligated to share in the worship of the Emperor and they were exempt from military service. Thus Paul entered these centres as member of a powerful and highly privileged group. He could enter and preach in any synagogue.

Thirdly, Paul chose cities which were centres of Greek civilisation. Even in Lystra, half the inscriptions, which have been discovered, are Greek while the other half are Latin. Everywhere Roman government went hand in hand with Greek education. The education provided Paul with his medium of communication. There is no evidence that Paul translated the Scriptures into the local dialects of Asia Minor. The influence of Greek civilisation was an influence, which tended to the spread of education, and Christianity from the first was a religion of education. The disciples were learners. Paul preached in Greek, wrote in Greek and expected his converts to read the Scriptures in Greek. For Paul, one common language was as important as one government under Pax Romana.

Fourthly, Paul’s work was confined within the limits of the Roman administration. In preaching in south Galatia, Paul was preaching in the Roman province next to his native province of Cilicia. Between these two cities lay the territory of Lycaonia Antiochi, and across this territory Paul must have passed when he journeyed from Tarsus to Lystra and Iconium. Yet we were never told that he made any attempt to preach in that area. In areas of Roman administration, Paul knew that he could obtain for himself and his people the security afforded by a strong government. As a Roman citizen, he knew that as a last resort, he could expect and receive protection from his fanatical countrymen. In these Roman provinces, there is religious tolerance, peace and security of travel. In Corinth, Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, was impartial and refuse to hear the case, and in Ephesus the city clerk was reasonable and fair.

Fifthly, the Roman Empire also gave Paul the groundwork for the gospel. The idea of a world-wide empire, the idea of the common citizenship of men of many races in that one empire, the strong authority of one law, the one peace, the breaking down of national exclusiveness, all these things prepared men’s mind to receive Paul’s teaching of the Kingdom of God and of the common citizenship of all Christians in it. Paul used the terms and concepts of his time and 'baptised' it for the purpose of spreading the good news. Caesar Augustus' proclamation of the good news (gospel) that he was the saviour of all humankind through Pax Romana, was subverted by Paul into that the gospel (good news) is Jesus Christ who is the saviour of all humankind and has established the kingdom of heaven.

Sixthly, Paul chose cities which were centres of the world’s commerce. They were cities of importance as leaders of the provinces. These were cosmopolitan cities. In them were many travelers who would carry the gospel back to their own provinces. Their wealth made these cities powerful. They were the trendsetters, foremost in any new fashion or policy. One example was Ephesus which was a major trading port city in the Asia Minor coast. Paul spent a lot of time there. Another example was Corinth, another powerful and wealthy maritime city.

Finally, Paul trained leaders from different provinces. He taught them and brought them along with his travels. This is an effective training model, one which Jesus also used. As the team travelled, Paul would teach the core content of Christian belief (teaching), his trainees would observe his life (modeling), and Paul would get them involved in the ministry (praxis). No less than seven disciples were travelling with Paul on his trip through Macedonia, making it a mobile school (Acts 20:4). Even when Paul was a prisoner in transit to Rome, he was able to have Aristarchus and Luke goes with him (Acts 27:2-8; 28:1, 10-15). At one time, Paul’s entourage consists of nine men from different provinces: Sopater (Berea, Macedonia), Aristarchus and Secundus (Thessalonica), Luke (Philippi), Gaius (Derbe, Galatia), Timothy (Lystra, Galatia), Tychicus and Trophimus (Ephesus, Asia) and Titus (Achaia).

To summarise, Paul's travels were not aimless wanderings but a planned evangelistic outreach. An estimation made by Eckhard J. Schnabel suggested that Paul travelled a distance of 25,000 km (15,500 miles) in 663 days which is a long distance over a long period of time. Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, 3) notes, "In little more than 10 years, Paul established the Church in 4 provinces of the Empire, Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia. Before AD 47 there were no churches in these provinces; in AD 57 Paul could speak as if his work has been done and was planning to go further afield". It appeared that the strategy worked!

Soli Deo Gloria

Destination

By land (25 km/day)

By sea (100 km/day)

Journey total

Arabia

300 km (12 days)

 

300 km (12 days)

Syria/Cilicia

1,800 km (70 days)

 

1,800 km (70 days)

Jerusalem (AD 44)

1,080 km (45 days)

 

1,080 km (45 days)

Galatia

1,440 km (60 days)

980 km (10 days)

2,420 (70 days)

Jerusalem (AD 48)

1,080 km (45 days)

 

1,080 km (45 days)

Macedonia/
Achaia

3,110 km (125 days)

2,060 km (20 days)

5,170 km (145 days)

Asia

2,900 km (115 days)

3,210 km (35 days)

6,110 km (150 days)

Spain

1,000 km (40 days)

1,800 km (15 days)

2,800 km (55 days)

Crete

120 km (5 days)

1,300 km (14 days)

1,420 km (19 days)

Last journeys

900 km (35 days)

1,700 km (17 days)

2,570 km (52 days)

Totals (approximate)

14,000 km (8,700 miles) by land

11,000 km (6,800 miles) by sea

25,000 km (15,500 miles) in 663 days

Table Source: Adapted from Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 122.

"the most hope for the most people"

quote from The New York Times "The Morning" email:

Years ago, Ann Douglas, author of “Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s,” a seminal text on the subject of New York in the 1920s, told The Times:
“I have the unfashionable posture of loving my country. I don’t mean in the sense of the Pledge of Allegiance, but in that I believe America was founded on complex social, religious and political ideas and feelings, and that it is still the most exciting culture, the one where there is the most hope for the most people.”

The New York Times <nytdirect@nytimes.com>
Date: Sun, Nov 10, 2024 at 7:44 AM
Subject: The Morning: Revisiting the Harlem Renaissance
The Morning
November 10, 2024
"An American movement"  [the Harlem Renaissance]
By Veronica Chambers

"I'm Free" - Anne Lindgren Davison's Original Poem

"I’M FREE"
Anne Lindgren Davison

Don’t grieve for me for now I’m free,
I’m following the path God laid for me
I took his hand when I heard him call,
I turned my back and left it all
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work or play
Tasks left undone must stay that way,
I’ve found that peace at the close of day
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,
Ah yes, these things I too will miss
Be not burdened with times of sorrow,
I wish for you the sunshine of tomorrow
My life’s been full, I’ve savored much,
Good friends, good times, my loved one’s touch
If my time seemed all too brief,
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief
Lift up your heart, rejoice with me,
God wanted me now, He set me free.

© 1974, 2021 Anne Lindgren Davison
All rights reserved.

HISTORY OF "I'M FREE"

I wrote the poem "I'm Free" on June 22, 1974. I still have the original handwritten poem with that date noted on it. I had been to a funeral and consequently, began to think about my own mortality. Being 35 years old at the time -- a wife and a mother -- I did not want anyone to be sad if I died at that age. For me, all the big questions had been answered: "Would I marry?" "Would I have children?"

My mother tried to persuade me to obtain a copyright on "I'm Free," but I could not imagine -- at that time -- of it being of interest to anyone except for mortuaries! I finally applied for and received a copyright dated May 9, 1994 (registration number TX 3-837-377). When the Internet came into our lives, I found my poem listed on so many different sources: just enter the title of the first line in Google, and you will see what I mean! In most cases, my name is not included, attributed to "author unknown," or is listed with the name of someone else. Some persons included it on products and are profiting from it. It even was on a page in the memorial book that my family purchased when my mother passed away in 1995!

Some persons altered it slightly and used it on Web pages for loved ones or even for a champion quarter horse and beloved pets! I found it listed on memorials for Michael Hutchence (a rock star), a 9/11 memorial, Columbine High School, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (R & B group TLC), Kenny Irwin (NASCAR driver), Ossie Davis, and Whitney Houston.

I hired intellectual-property attorneys to pursue those who are profiting from my poem (such as Walmart and others). These efforts produced many letters back and forth but that is expensive with little results.

https://imfreepoem.org/ 

Saturday, September 14, 2024

"Lord, lead me today to those I need and those that need me."

From an interview by Alanna Nash with Amy Grant, AARP Bulletin, September 2024: 

What's the best way to motivate ourselves? My first mother-in-law taught me a prayer. She said,
"Lord, lead me today to those I need and those that need me." 

I said, "Man, what a way to approach a day:
'Lead me to those I need and those that need me.'" 

~ Amy Grant

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”

~ Alice Walker

Friday, July 19, 2024

"I love only that which they defend.”

Faramir:
“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers, the second of The Lord of the Rings trilogy


Faramir Quotes in The Two Towers

Book 4, Chapter 5

"Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo. […]
War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of NĂºmenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom."

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-two-towers/characters/faramir - accessed 11/14/2024

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

"If any man thinks ill of you . . ."

"If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him;
for you are worse than he thinks you to be."

~ Charles Spurgeon

Thursday, April 25, 2024

RE: World Situation

 “The principle cannot be denied: the fiercer the struggle against the injustice you suffer, the blinder you will be to the injustice you inflict. We tend to translate the presumed wrongness of our enemies into an unfaltering conviction of our own rightness.” 
~ Miroslav Volf  

"To triumph fully evil needs two victories, not one. The first victory happens when an evil deed is perpetrated; the second victory, when evil is returned. After the first victory, evil would die if the second victory did not infuse it with new life.
~ Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory

“The practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance.” 
~ Miroslav Volf 

“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners. But no one can be in the presence of the God of the crucified Messiah for long without overcoming this double exclusion — without transposing the enemy from the sphere of the monstrous… into the sphere of shared humanity and herself from the sphere of proud innocence into the sphere of common sinfulness. When one knows [as the cross demonstrates] that the torturer will not eternally triumph over the victim, one is free to rediscover that person’s humanity and imitate God’s love for him. And when one knows [as the cross demonstrates] that God’s love is greater than all sin, one is free to see oneself in the light of God’s justice and so rediscover one’s own sinfulness.” 
~ Miroslav Volf 

​“Whatever the reasons, when forgiveness happens it is always a miracle of grace. The obstacles in its way are immense.”
~ Miroslav Volf

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said . . ."

“ I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant”

~ Alan Greenspan


“government regulation cannot substitute for individual integrity.”

~ Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World


“Capitalism is based on self-interest and self-esteem; it holds integrity and trustworthiness as cardinal virtues and makes them pay off in the marketplace, thus demanding that men survive by means of virtue, not vices. It is this superlatively moral system that the welfare statists propose to improve upon by means of preventative law, snooping bureaucrats, and the chronic goad of fear.”

~ Alan Greenspan


https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1334.Alan_Greenspan - accessed 11/14/2024

Thursday, April 11, 2024

"If your Lord calls you to suffering, do not be dismayed . . . "

"If your Lord calls you to suffering, do not be dismayed, for He will provide a deeper portion of Christ in your suffering. The softest pillow will be placed under your head though you must set your bare feet among thorns. Do not be afraid at suffering for Christ, for He has a sweet peace for a sufferer."

~ Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theologian, one of the original Scottish Covenanters, and had an integral part of the writing of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Westminster Catechism