From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

Have you ever wondered what the Early Church looked like? What kind of people were they? What kind of work did they do? Luke gives us an insider’s look at the kind of people that made up the church at Philippi, located in modern day Greece. The first convert was a business woman named Lydia. She sold purple cloth and was evidently very successful. She was able to have Paul and his team stay at her house and her home became the first meeting place for the Philippian Church. Luke lets us know that she, “and the members of her household were baptized.”

The next convert was a slave girl. She was possessed of an evil spirit that allowed her to tell people’s fortunes. Luke tells us that she made her owners, “a great deal of money.” When Paul set her free from the evil spirit, this set off a riot in which Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail. The slave girl is not mentioned again in Acts. It is very likely, however, that the Philippian Christians purchased her freedom. We don’t know this for sure but Luke’s knowledge of the events possibly came from the girl herself.

To be continued…

Second Place this week goes to this winner out of Russia: Vladimir Putin Ridiculed After Demanding Russians Have More Sex to Halt Declining Population. Evidently, there are only 142 million Russians right now and that just isn’t enough! Putin wants to raise that number to 154 million. And we all know where baby Russians come from. Putin has proposed giving the equivalent of almost 300 dollars, free kindergarten, and cheaper housing to mothers who have another child. We in the United States are way ahead of the Russians and have had this program for years. It is called Welfare.

And The Story of the Week winner is: Man Arrested for Burglary After Being Shot by Ex During Attempted Break-In. This headline comes out of Illinois. It seems that Chauncey was a bit of a slow learner and just could not accept that it was really over between he and his ex-girlfriend. And even though she would not open the door when he showed up, Chauncey was so convinced that she wanted to see him, he tried to break through the door. The ex-girlfriend put an exclamation point on her break-up note by shooting Chauncey as he was breaking in. He ran out into the yard and collapsed. He was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and the police said that he will be arrested after he is released from the hospital. Hopefully, Chauncey can take a hint.

This parable cuts across the grain of our society. So many people want and expect authority to be given to them before they have proven themselves. The Kingdom principle is that faithfulness with responsibility leads to authority. We will never be given true authority until we have shown that we can be responsible with whatever tasks we are given. Work hard and serve where you are planted. That work and service will produce the seeds for your future growth!

Jesus didn’t say, “O you of little talent.”

He didn’t say, “O you of little money or resources.”

He didn’t say, “O you of little education.”

He did rebuke Peter and the other disciples for having little faith. There are some things that we can’t control. Jesus seems to be saying that one of the things that we can control is our faith. He expects us to take active steps to strengthen and develop our faith.

What are some ways that we can develop our faith?

While it is possible for managers to be leaders and for leaders to be managers, their functions are very different. Leaders cast vision, set a course, and point the organization in the way that it needs to go. Managers then oversee the process of getting from Point A to Point B. Managers make sure that the right resources are in place, both human and otherwise. They also make sure that the right systems are set up to ensure success. 

Second Place goes to this headline out of New Jersey: Intended Victims Fight Back During Cellphone Robbery, Killing Would-Be Thief. It seems that 30 year old Glenn approached two college students and asked to use their phone to call a ride. One of the students offered to call someone for him. That wasn’t good enough for Glenn. He punched the student in the face and grabbed for the cellphone. The other student, a former high-school wrestler grabbed Glenn to keep him from hitting his friend again. The wrestler put Glenn in a headlock and the other guy called the police. The wrestler must have had a really good lock on Glenn, because when the police arrived, he was uncounscious. Glenn, the would-be robber, was pronounced dead a little while later. He had an extensive arrest history for Aggravated Assault and Theft. Well, society does not have to worry about him anymore!

For this week’s winner, we head North to Kentucky and this headline: Cops Bust Naked Burglar Covered In Chocolate, Peanut Butter. The police responded to a report of a burglary at a grocery store and found Andrew, pictured at the left, wearing only a pair of black boots but covered in peanut butter and chocolate. He had discharged several fire extinguishers, spread more chocolate and peanut butter in the manager’s office and used several bottles of Nyquil to spell “SORRY” on the store’s floor. Andrew was charged with Burglary, Indecent Exposure, and Criminal Mischief. I guess Kentucky does not have any 24 hour Wal Marts. If they did Andrew would have fit right in with most of the other shoppers in the middle of the night.

Too often, depending on which flavor of Christianity we subscribe to, we seem to see this verse as an “either/or” presupposition.

“Those crazy Charismatics only talk about the power of God and their experiences. They don’t have any substance.”

“Those boring, stiff Evangelical/Reformed/Traditional brothers and sisters know their Bibles but they are scared to show any emotion where their faith is concerned. They have solid doctrine and zero power.”

Why does it have to be either/or? Paul certainly wasn’t an either/or kind of guy. He was passionate about his love for the Scriptures. He knew the significant role that they play in every believer’s life. Paul told Timothy, “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.”

Paul also was a man who was not afraid of God’s power. He told the Roman Christians, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done–by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.”

Either/or? Not me. I want to be grounded and saturated in the Word and full of the Holy Spirit. Maybe that was what God intended all along.

Do you ever feel the tension to lean towards one side of the debate or the other?

Even though there was not a written policy that prohibited whites and blacks from playing professional baseball together, the Major League owners had an unwritten policy that kept America’s Pastime segregated. This forced black players to play in together in the Negro Leagues. Many of these players made a good living playing professional baseball. While the best black players were making money, their frustration was that many of them were good enough to be playing on the same fields with white and Hispanic players.

Satchel understood that taking Jim Crow on would be suicidal, so he let his extraordinary baseball skills be his voice. His skill and exploits became well known, even among white fans. After the regular season was over every year for both the Major Leagues and the Negro Leagues, both white and black players would travel and play exhibition games all over America. This allowed baseball fans, no matter the color of their skin, to see the best players, no matter the color of their skin, playing together. This allowed both the black and the white players to guage their skill as they played against each other. Satchel was a brilliant pitcher, no matter who he was pitching against.

Eventually, Satchel would get his chance to play in the Major Leagues. He was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1948 after Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in baseball. Paige was 42 years old when he made his Major League debut. Even though Cleveland picked him up late in the season, Paige finished with a 6-1 record and a 2.47 ERA. His best season in the Major Leagues was in 1952. At 46 years of age, Satchel compiled a 12-10 record and a respectable 3.07 ERA.

Satchel’s lifetime statistics are as good as any of the best pitchers of all time. The problem is that they are so incomplete. The Negro Leagues kept stats, but there are holes. Most newspapers did not carry boxscores for Negro League games. Satchel pitched in hundreds of exhibitions that left no score sheets behind. There were two years, 1938 and 1939, in which the author could find no stats at all on Paige, even though he had played both of those years. In spite of these challenges, the author was able to compile these numbers on Satchel Paige. He won 278 games and only lost 135 and recorded 3242 strikeouts.

Satchel is a good read. The author treats his subject with respect but does not airbrush his character flaws. There is also some interesting discussion on many other great baseball players including Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Dean, Bob Feller, Hank Aaron and many others. Satchel was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971 to permanently take his place beside the greatest of all time.

Second Place this week comes from Arizona: Woman Fights to Run for City Council Despite not Speaking English Proficiently. Alejandrina Cabrera wants to serve on the Phoenix City Council. The problem is that her, “English skills did not meet the level of language proficiency needed to serve on the council.” Is it just me or are we going insane as a nation? Some cities have proposed allowing illegal immigrants to vote. We already provide millions of dollars a year to illegals in free medical care, welfare, food stamps, etc. Now this woman who has limited English skills wants to run for an elected position. There are already parts of our great nation that look, smell, and sound like a third world nation. I even policed in some of those communities. Is the next step in our decline participating in third world politics? 

And First Place this week goes this crazy story out of Connecticut: Connecticut Cannibal Suspect to Appear in Court. Tyree not only killed someone, he ate them. Or at least parts of them. If you want all the gory details, you can Google the headline. It is not pretty. The story helpfully points out that Tyree has a history of mental problems? Really? I would have never guessed. You do have to feel for his family. Hours before Tyree killed and ate his victim, he told his cousin he was going to kill someone. Nicole just thought it was more of his crazy ramblings that he is known for. “Who the hell would think you could be related to someone like this?” she told the newspaper. ”I mean, I’ve heard of Hannibal Lecter, but I never thought I could have someone in my family who would actually eat someone.” I wonder how that family does holidays? Do you invite Tyree over for Thanksgiving or not? You would have to be very careful how you spoke to Tyree. Misunderstandings could be disastrous. And make sure you insert those commas! “Let’s eat, granddad,” or “Let’s eat granddad?”

“The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message and produce a huge harvest — thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.”

This would have sounded interesting to Jesus’ hearers. A harvest of one hundred percent was unheard of! What farmer could ever expect that kind of blessing? The point that Jesus is making here is that good seed, planted in good soil can be expected to produce a good harvest.

We know that the seed of God’s Word is good seed. If I want a good harvest of God’s blessings in my life, the real question becomes, “How good is the soil that I am planting the seed in?” Are our hearts hard like the path that some seed fell on? Are our hearts like the rocky soil that does not allow the good seed to take root? Are our hearts full of worries that are like the thorns that choke the young plants as they grow?

If we want a good harvest in our lives, it is important that we keep the soil of hearts soft and moist. This is accomplished by prayer, worship, and close communion with the Holy Spirit. We also must prevent bitterness or unforgiveness towards other people from having any place in our lives. I would love to experience a one hundred fold harvest in my life. How about you?