Paul the Missionary

In Sunday school today, we went through Acts 17:16-34. It was a really good lesson. Paul has just traveled from Berea to Athens. The first thing that we see in the text is that Paul is first off greatly distressed that the city is full of idols. I could immediately relate to this from my trip to Thailand in 2002. I remember walking through the city of Bangkok and coming to a place where people were worshipping an idol on the corner of a busy street. When you first read “greatly distressed,” it is hard to understand unless you have been to a place such as this. I don’t know if distressed is what I felt or maybe more sadness and compassion.

The next thing we see is that Paul goes first to the synagogue as he usually did in his travels. He also goes to the marketplace and shares the gospel. In verse 22, we see Paul is not ashamed to stand up in the Areopagus. First, he doesn’t attack them but applauds them by saying “in every way you are very religious.” Next, he uses the idol they have set up “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD” to share the gospel. He says that the god that they call unknown created the world and everything in it and tells them that he can be known. We don’t know if they made the altar in case there was a god who they were afraid that they were leaving out or if it was a god who they did not know how to communicate with or approach.

So, Paul uses the doctrine of creation and then moves to the doctrine of providence. This says that God is the provider of everything. He holds everything together by His Word. This also includes the government. That brings us to verse 27 but I am having trouble with this verse. Two other things that we can pull from this encounter in Athens is that 1). God cannot be worshipped anonymously and 2). God cannot be worshipped in a manner inconsistent with His Word (Exodus 34, golden calf). I learned a lot from Paul’s mission trip here.

I went to work Thursday night and when I slowed down I got out of there as quick as I could. I then drove to a house where some friends live. That was one of the most fun nights I have had since I started school here. Friday morning I went to Evangel Christian School and talked to the principal about my new job. I start on Tuesday morning teaching two Spanish classes and a Business class from 9-12am. Hopefully, down the line, I can get a chance to meet the Senior Pastor at the church and possibly interview for the head coaching position. Soccer on the Joe Bowl Friday was awesome as well. I had a hat trick. We were balling like pros. Well, Friday night, we took a group to Sunergos Coffee and heard my buddy Nick Nye play guitar. It was awesome!! After that, Josh, Ken, and I went to our new hangout to play billiards. Saturday, I had to work at 5:30pm so I didn’t get much done. The kitchen crashed last night b/c it was so busy. They lost like three of my tables’ tickets and some of my tables were waiting like an hour for food. It was really frustrating. Well, I better head to bed soon.

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