I just finished reading the book of Judges which is typified with the cycle of the Children of Israel falling into sin. They are punished by God through another nation or judge. The people then repent and find deliverance. Yet, they fall back into sin once again.

The final verse of the book, Judges 21:25, gives a summary of the problem.

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The Israelites are typical of people throughout the ages. We want to do what is right in our own way of thinking.

Rightness and wrongness are not determined by our feelings or opinions. It is determined by God’s Word.

In the book of Judges the people did not just do wrong to rebel against God; they justified their actions. What about us today? Are we trying to justify our actions by our own thinking? You may not think that you are going against God and His Word, but any time you think your situation justifies your disobedience to the Bible, then you are falling into the same trap of sin that the Children of Israel fell into. According to the cycle in the book of Judges, the next step in your life is judgment. Consider carefully how you proceed from here.

In Mark 15:21 we read:

And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

It is interesting that the two boys are mentioned as if they were known to the readers. Simon, their father, was a “passer by” when the Romans compelled him to carry the cross of Jesus. He was from the modern country of Libya.

Could he and his family been in Jerusalem because they had heard of Jesus and were seeking to learn about Him? Or, was this encounter with the Lord what set this family on a quest to know the Lord and become known to the early church?

Mark mentions this family as if they were friends of the readers. A Rufus is also mentioned in Romans 16:13. This might have been the same man. Paul, many years after the cruxifiction, sends his greetings to Rufus.

Simon seems to be a common name in the Bible. Rufus is only mentioned twice. There are various Alexanders mentioned in the Bible. But it doesn’t seem that any of them would be the Alexander mentioned in Mark 15.

Whoever they were to the early church in Rome or Jerusalem, they seemed to be well known at the time.

Have you been in churches and seen people over and over, but never really known who they were? Not everyone has a public ministry, but each should be involved enough that other people know them. As I prepare to leave a church I have been in for a year and a half, I am surprised by the handful of people who I have seen at church on a regular basis, but I have no idea what their name is or what they do. They are never at church for anything other than to slip in unnoticed and slip out before people can get to know them.

Do you feel like you are lost in the crowd at church? Maybe it is not because everyone is rude and doesn’t want to spend time with you. Maybe it is because you have not made an effort to hang around for a few minutes and meet other believers.

The Book of Missionary Heroes was one I saw recently offered on the Kindle for free. I was surprised to find in it a very well written book. The vast majority of the missionary stories were new to me. Most of the missionaries mentioned were men and women I had never heard of either. Because of this, it was not a re-telling of many familiar tales. It was an encouraging timeline of how the Gospel has propagated throughout the world.

The author, Basil Mathews, starts by telling the story of the Apostle Paul and how he shared the Gospel with cities and countries near and far. However, the story of Jesus did not stop with the distance Paul could carry the message. It continued to spread to western Europe and eventually around the globe. This book uses the premise of a relay team carrying the baton from one point to another. The author traces the baton of the Gospel throughout history by giving snapshots in time of how the baton was taken from continent to continent and little islands in between.

It is not an unbroken chain from person to person and country to country, but this book gives the reader a sense of how the Gospel spread from one location to another. Where he does connect the links it is amazing to see how God brought people together at one time in their lives which ignited a greater passion for sharing the good news with the world.

I don’t know the history of all the missionaries mentioned in the book. It seems that some would not be considered Baptist (as I am), or even Baptistic. The love of God and the truth of the Gospel is shared nonetheless.

Each story is relatively short (about 10 pages per chapter in the print book). There are 28 chapters which each containing a story. Some stories are continuations of the previous chapter, yet all the chapters stand alone in their content. These would be great stories to read for a mission group in church.

You can get the Kindle version for free. The version for the Nook is $0.99. But the print version is over $20! Time to buy that ebook reader you have been considering. You can also get the Kindle software for smartphones or for reading books on your computer screen.

The Book of Missionary Heroes is worth the effort to read. You will be encouraged as to how God used various people to share His story with the world.

Summary of the Book of Ezra

Ezra is the first book in the post-exilic period of Israel. King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Israel and carried the Jews away as captives in 606 BC. Israel was under Babylonian control until approximately 536 BC when the Medo-Persian Empire took control. The book of Ezra begins its history at the beginning of the Medo-Persian rule.

Author of Ezra

Ezra is the author of the book and is also the main character in the story starting in chapter 7 (Ezra 7:1, 11, 25, 28; 8:15-17, etc.). Though the book does not specifically claim Ezra as the author, the writing style changes from third person in chapters 1-6 to first person for the rest of the book. This coincides with when Ezra became the leader of the people out of Babylon headed to Jerusalem. He was a priest and the son of Saraiah (7:1-5). Ezra was a scribe which are sometimes called lawyers in the New Testament (7:6, 21). He was a godly man (7:10).

Date Written

The book was written shortly after Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 BC. It covers the history of Israel for the years 536 to 456 BC. The book starts where the book of 2 Chronicles ends and is a continuation of that book which is apparently written by the same author.

Ezra, like the books of Chronicles, was written some time between 460 and 440 BC.

Purpose of Ezra

While there is no specified audience (like the other historical books), Ezra is clearly writing to outline the history of the re-establishment of Jerusalem. This book covers a period of about 80 years. The book opens with the first wave of Jews returning to Jerusalem. Then 78 years later there is a second group who came to the city to rebuild.

The first group was led by Zerubbabel and is covered in chapters 1-6. Ezra led the second group in chapters 7-10. Read the rest of this entry

Paul is talking to the church in Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. He asks for prayer in three areas for himself and his fellow missionary partners in verses 1 and 2.

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

God’s Word Would Have Free Course

Paul asked the people to pray that the Bible would have “free course” as the missionaries go out to preach. This phrase carries with it the idea that God’s Word would run freely and swiftly in the places it is preached. That the Bible would not be hindered in its mission.

Pray for missionaries (and anyone preaching the Gospel) that the Bible will accomplish its task. Pray that as it is preached it will freely penetrate the hearts of men.

God’s Word can be hindered because of worldly influences over the lives of the hearers. Culture, superstitions and human nature are factors in keeping the Bible from being accepted. Religion can play a role in hindering God’s Word too. When people have been taught half-truths concerning the Bible, it can cause confusion in the mind of the listeners. They may be convinced that they are just fine before the Lord because of the good deeds they have accomplished. The truth is that we are wicked sinners who are in need of a Savior.

The Bible Would be Glorified

The people in Thessalonica should pray that God’s Word would be glorified—honored or lifted up. The idea is that the Bible should have value placed on it. The Bible is often de-valued, not by the hearers, but by those who are preaching it. When a missionary does not place proper value on the importance of the Bible, then those who are listening to God’s Word being preached won’t value it either.

It is important for missionaries to maintain a proper testimony. No one expects the missionary to be perfect. He is a redeemed sinner like anyone else in the church. However, people do look to pastors and missionaries as examples of how to live. When a leader does not value God’s Word enough to obey it and preach it with authority, then it is hard for the followers to do the same.

God Would Protect Them From Wicked Men

Finally Paul asked that the church pray that they would be protected from wicked and unreasonable men. Our warfare on this earth is not with flesh and blood; however, spiritual warfare is often manifested through people.

Pray that missionaries would be spared from people trying to hinder the work. Missionaries face daily trails just like anyone else in the churches back home. However, every struggle seems to be magnified when working in another country. Roadblocks in ministry can be seen as personal attacks on the missionary. Of course this is often a matter of perception. But it is easy for a missionary to get discouraged and the work of God to halt its forward progress.

As a missionary in Mexico I was involved in an accident which resulted in me spending several hours in jail. I had no opportunity to personally argue my side of the story. In Mexico the law is that you are guilty until proven innocent. I spent 7 hours waiting for my innocence to be proven by the testimony of others and by the evidence available. Fortunately I was released with no further problems. But that could have gone another way. I could have been wrongfully charged for something that was truly a freak accident. I believe God spared me from that because of the prayers of supporters. God saved me from the hand of people who had no interest in my success as a missionary.

Do you pray for missionaries? Paul asked that the church in Thessalonica pray for him and the other missionaries with him in these three specific areas. Will you pray for the missionaries you know that God’s Word would accomplish its task, that it would be glorified and that the missionaries would be spared from wicked and unreasonable men?