November 2010

I, Timothy Nathanael, a doulos of Christ, pray for Him to visit you in a way that will awaken your walk. Knowing that there is nothing we can do to gain our Lord’s favor, but one His favor has been bestowed on us, there is nothing more we should want to do except serve our King as fellow servants, not as kings lording over lands, more as loving harvest workers, working towards the goal of the kingdom which is to come. When Christ came, He set the example of what the church was to look like and how we are to live. Why do we fight for power and position in the Church as if our efforts would bring us glory in the life to come? Why do we evangelize to the church, trying to save those who sit in the pews and at the same time closing our doors to the sinners trying to get in? We sit around fighting over words and missing the message of the whole bible and when that person disagrees on the minor issues, we call them out as “unsaved heretics”. Then we call for the stake with a yell…”He’s not my brother…burn him”.

As I have told you many times before, Phish Bowl is a looking glass into where I am at; my heart is heavy over the condition of the Church. Do we not get it? He is coming back! Do not be caught asleep! I beg you, please! This world is dying! Run into His strong tower! Help to love the lost into the Church. Make our church a hospital for sinners where they can get true healing for the wounds of years of sin. Some will need I.C.U., some just a band-aid, but all will need the loving care of the Saints who have walked this path before, not as condemners, but as comrades in this battle against our enemy, Satan. It will not always be easy; you might even run into a fallen Saint who let sin invade his whole life and who looks beyond the power of redemption. They might need to be put in the Intensive Christ Unit. Please don’t throw them out with the corpses. The blood of Christ is all healing. Please open the window, open the doors and set a plate at the table for the one who is outside. If someone in the church sins, don’t be so fast to throw him out; set him apart for a time, work with him, and love him back to health.

I live with many wounds of years of sin. I close my eyes and see the ghosts of many that I have harmed. I’m told to get over it; Christ has set me free. But, God has chosen me to live out my fall daily with no peace. I am not feeling sorry for myself. So, to you who would tell me to get over myself…well, this is a Christian newsletter. Have you every seen your sin how God sees your sin? When singing “Amazing Grace”, is it a good song to sing or is it a hymn to God of what sin has brought us to and what grace has saved us from?

“Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner AND Christ is a great Savior.”

My love for Christ is to serve the men behind the walls on days that I want to and on days that I don’t want to, even when the enemy of the Church is telling me all I have done. I know I’m loved by Christ. I know He walks with me in the dark land. My eyes are on the Kingdom to come. Oh how I long for that day! I pray for you Saints daily as I also lift up the loved ones whom I left behind. God, please forgive their unforgiveness.

OK, to move on. As I said before, I am a firm believer in teaching the Bible book by book, verse by verse, and line by line. That is what we are going to do with the Book of Acts. I like the title which J. Vernon McGee gives this book: “The Lord Jesus Christ at work by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles”.

ACTS—IMPORTANT FACTS

• Author: Luke. He was a co-worker of Apostle Paul, who ministered with him in Troas and Philippi, accompanied him with the collection to Jerusalem, and was with him during his Cesarean and Roman imprisonments. We know he was a physician and some believe he may have come from Syria.
• Part two of a two-volume work: Luke’s Gospel is the first half of a single two-volume work. “Luke-Acts” is written in the style of the day. It was not uncommon for historians to write a “then” and “now” to record the set up to what was being done at that time in history. Both books stay consistent in sharing purpose, themes and theology.
• Central theme of Luke-Acts: Luke seeks to show that God’s great plan of salvation has come to fulfillment in the life, death, resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus the Messiah, and continues to unfold as the Spirit filled church takes the message of salvation from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

1. For lack of better words, The Age of the Spirit: The sign of the new age is coming of the Spirit in the ministry of Jesus and the early church.

2. The gospel is “good news” for all people, regardless of race, gender, or social status.

• Purpose in writing: The short answer: To defend and legitimize the claims of the church, Jewish and Greek believers, as the authentic people of God in the present age. To help believers grow in the faith and inspire their evangelistic zeal.
• Recipient: Theophilus, but intended for a larger Christian audience (i.e. “us”).

Acts 1:1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;

5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." (NKJV)

1:1: If we look at Luke 1:1-3, Luke addresses his gospel to the “Most excellent Theophilus” who is a Greek (gentile) and uses a title that shows us that he was a person of high rank. In Acts there is no need to reuse it because Acts is a continuance of Luke.

1:2 Taken up refers to Christ’s ascension, the end of His earthly ministry.

1:3: The resurrected Jesus presented Himself “Not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God” (Acts 10:41). In the final chapter of his Gospel (Luke 24), Luke records some of these appearances. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus appeared not only to the Apostles and James, but even to five hundred brothers at the same time. Paul adds that among these five hundred, many were still alive, meaning that any one who needed an eye witness, could easily obtain it.

1:3b: “Kingdom”: The Kingdom of God was the central message of Jesus’ teaching during His three year ministry. It continues to be the central theme of His teaching after His resurrection. The kingdom, however, took a substantially different form than what his Jewish followers were expecting.

1:4: The Old Testament prophets announced the pouring out of the Holy Sprit in connection with the New Covenant. Isaiah 32:15 (“Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.”) looked forward to a time when “the Spirit is poured upon us from on high”. God says through Ezekiel that, “I will put my Spirit in you” (Ezekiel 37:14). On the day of Pentecost, Peter specifically connected to outpouring of the Spirit with the Prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 ("And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls. (NKJV))

Jesus gave His most extensive teaching about the coming Holy Spirit to His disciples on the night before He was crucified. (John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. 29 "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (NKJV)

We will stop for this month. Next month we will be covering Acts 1:6-11. I told you that I was giving this to you bite-sized, I hope you spend time with God on vv. 1-5 and also prepare your heart for vv 6-11.

Updates: Baseball is over…yeah! We made it to the play-offs, but was out in two games. For the most part, we had fun and made new friends. Just to note: I should never play, there is a good reason I was the last kid picked…I will stick to Harleys.

Work: Slow to none. We go in and make a tank or two and off for weeks. If this does not change by July 2011 (c.c.i.) D.O.C. will close our shop. Keep these men in your prayers. I have found that the men who choose to work full-time when in prison, have truly had a change of heart about their crime (sin) and want to make a difference in their lives.

Weight: 232# to 225#. It has been slow, but it’s coming off. Pray for my sister, Wendy, who has a bigger road to walk as she also is losing weight. Good job, sis. Way to go. I’m proud of you!

November 5^th is my son, Bishop’s, 17^th birthday. I guess he is not the little boy I last saw. He’s a man. Pray for his relationship with Jesus. If you have time, lift up my daughter, Brontë, and my former wife, Monique to our Lord, as I do 20 times a day. Happy birthday Pallie-pal. I love you.

Barb is back from vacation. She is so much a big part of P.B.M. So, when you see her, thank her and pray for Curt and Barb.

Bob was able to get down to see me. Until you are locked up, you will never know what a visit can do for a soul. (Go and visit some old person left in an old-age home. They need it!)

As for me, Phish Bowl Coffee House’s door is still open. It is hard these days. Turn over in our pod is daily and has turned into a prison. As we call it “politices”. Pray for daily refreshing. The sinful nature of this pod has weighted me down. Must fight the good fight!

And last, Brother Bobby G. was blessed by our Lord. After 7+ years of a 3 to life sentence, a judge set him free. Not to tell his whole story, he did not find some technicality in the law, but the law was not to give him life for his crime. He never said “I did not do this”, but, instead, “If God wants me in prison, so be it. I will do His will.”

So, I will close with this: I, Timothy Nathanael, a doulos of Christ, rightly sentenced to life in prison to do the work of our Lord Jesus Christ behind the wall. So, be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days to do good and forgive. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understanding what the Lord wants you to do. And give thanks for everything, good and bad, to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus the Christ.