Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 16:16-24 (May 5, 2026)

May 5, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 16:16-24

Blessing and Peace from our Lord Jesus Christ who has guided the Church with His Holy Spirit for nearly 2000 years now. May He guide us all in the days ahead that already seem to be filled with so many things that are moving against our Savior every day. I pray that the joy we know in one another as Christ's children will continue and give His Church greater strength to act with grace and forgiveness, rather than a seeking of power and wealth and telling "others" that they are not the true children of God because of their race, sexual identity, ethnic heritage, or even their accents and the color of their skin.  These "communities of faith" are often led by people who are charlatans, with lives filled with hatred, who can say all the right words, but never have any intention of even trying to love God above all things, and their neighbors as themselves.

Today in our passage from Acts, Paul and Silas run into some serious trouble over the healing of a woman who had the ability to guide other's lives by her oracles and use what may well have been ventriloquism to make others think that the gods were guiding them. She met Paul and Silas and followed them around proclaiming at every stop, shouting with a loud voice, that Paul and Silas were slaves of the most high God, and were proclaiming the way of salvation for all people. As you might guess and became more of a circus for Paul and Silas, with her undoing their work at every place in which they stopped. So, Paul said to the spirit who inhabited the woman, "In the Name of Jesus Christ, come out!"  And it did! And this is where the real trouble started for Paul and Silas, because this woman was a slave who was making her owners a great deal of money, but now that she no long had that spirit in her, she was unable to entertain others and bring money to her owners.  Needless to say, they were furious with Paul and Silas, and with others who did not like what Paul and Silas were doing, they went to the authorities and proclaimed that Paul and Silas were causing upheaval in the whole city, and preaching things that no one ought to have to hear.  We need to know, that there was always concern in Roman communities, just like Philippi, that some group of people might rebel against the empire, so the chief magistrate took the two men into custody, tore off their clothing, and caned them in a fashion similar to punishment used in some south east Asian countries still today.  The chief magistrate certainly knew that if Paul and Silas could cause such problems, to allow them to continue would probably mean his job. After they were beaten, the jailer was told to keep them extremely secure, probably with shackles around their ankles, wrists, and necks. They were going nowhere and had certainly been effectively and brutally restrained. It always seems to be the reality that when True Christian people bring the good news of God's love and compassion, forgiveness and justice, in the face of those who were only in it for the money or the power, that there is a violent reaction by their communities of followers, who have come to believe the false truth of what people who are a part of that on-the-surface-truth, being led by people who have never intended to allow the heart of Christ to live in their lives, are drawn away from the True Love of God in Jesus Christ, and claim that we who are the True Believers in Christ are flawed and broken beyond the help of the charlatans.  So, this is where this passage stops, but there is something coming that indicates the power of God to overcome the barriers that false teachers try to put in the way. This should be good news for you and me. When thousands of people flock to the worship and falsehoods of those charlatans it ought to tell us that too many people have ignored the truth that the Spirit shares with those who are the Truly Faithful ones in Christ, and we must trust in the real power of the God who has chosen us to be grafted onto the branch of people He has elected.  More to come my friends.

With the love of Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 16:11-15 (May 4, 2026)

May 4, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 16:11-15

Good morning my dear friends who are studying along with me in the Acts of the Apostles. I hope that you had a good weekend and that your favorite basketball playoff team is still in the running. I've watched a few of the 7th games and they get intense! Please hold Pastor Ron and Becky in your prayers for their travel to Minnesota and home in Eagan. Becky will have some further treatments for a health condition which she has, and then off to her grandson's middle school graduation in Brooklyn, NY, and Pastor Ron has a class reunion for his senior class of 14. Yes, it was a one room schoolhouse, and throughout elementary and Junior High he rode his horse to school. Ah, life in the Dakotas! Please pray for the dog Bubbles who has had to return for more surgery after she had severe bleeding issues. She is back in Mexico today for further work.

Today in our reading from Acts, we find Paul in Macedonia, and in conquered Roman cities there. Today we are considering Christ's first convert in Philippi. This city had a long history of being especially important economically, and its gold mines had played out already. Though conquered by Rome it was on the fringes of the empire. There were Jews there, but they had no synagogue and instead met along the river in the city. Just as a note Philippi got its name from Alexander's the Great's father Philip. So, Paul and Silas headed down to the river to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There they met the first person who would become a convert to Christianity. Her name was Lydia, and she was a dealer in purple goods. (cloth dyed purple) This color was very popular, so Lydia became a person of commerce and wealth in her city. That purple dyed clothing used the few drops that could be gained from a specific shellfish. The value of this clothing was very high. In a comparable cost today, it would sell for well over four hundred dollars of our modern money for a piece of clothing dyed in this way. Due to the desire for clothing of this color and value, it was worn by most of the people in this city, so Lydia was very wealthy. When Paul spoke to Lydia, she received his words and message and was converted to believe in Jesus Christ. I must believe that the Spirit was already active in Lydia's life, but Paul coming to her was the additional push for her to accept Christ. In fact, she and her entire household, which would have included servants and perhaps slaves, were all Baptized. It is after this that Lydia reveals her heart for the Lord. She invites Paul and those who are with him to remain as guests in her home. Peter himself indicates to new converts that they are to always share hospitality with other Christians and never begrudge their presence in their home. From this time forward through today, hospitality remains the hallmark of Christian generosity. Even though we primarily see men as missionaries in the texts of the Bible, it was clear that Lydia was the first woman to begin and maintain a Christian presence in Philippi. Hospitality is one of the greatest gifts of the Spirit when it comes to helping those who are on the edge of accepting Christ. This discovery in life is moved by the Spirit, and shapes the rest of the believer's life, just as it does ours. From daily prayers to food and housing, and gathering in the hope of Christ's love, we are all called to be very aware of the power of hospitality to transform lives. At church we see it in carry-in meals, in sharing resources for world hunger, for the global ark, for our community food bank, for filling the food cart in the narthex, to brining in free veggies from week to week, and in the words of kindness and love that we share.   Every one of us can be a Lydia in the lives of others. We just need to open our hearts and minds to the Spirit's guidance as She sustains our lives from day to day.

God bless you all. There will be two weeks of no Bible Studies from Monday, May 25th through Thursday, June 4th. Be sure to get it marked on your calendars.

With Christ Love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 53 (April 30, 2026)

April 30, 2026:  Thursday Bible Study on Psalm 53

Good morning on this beautiful day. Some of you may have had rain last night, but we live near Kolb and Golf Links, and we only had drops of mud on our cars. I was really encouraged by the clouds and the wind, especially around about 7PM. Please pray for Bubbles who is recovering from teeth removal and jaw surgery in Mexico yesterday. She recovered from distemper, but it created many bone structure issues in her face. Please also remember to pray for discernment as we all continue to listen to Christ's Spirit for how our congregation should move forward. I am confident that you will have another opportunity to gather, ask questions, and offer input about the process.

As all this proceeds please don't look and act like the people in the 53rd Psalm, that is our passage for today. According to this Psalm they could barely lift their heads or hardly grow in their relationship with God. Their countenance was downcast and sad, to say the least. They acted as if God was ignoring them, like He was dead. David witnessed this in his own people. What is it that brings us to such an apparent level of despair? The situation for David and his people, who were not a massive community who discovered that they had many enemies and battles to fight to protect the promised land which God had given them, were disheartened by the difficult things of their lives. So, they acted out how they were feeling mentally. Yesterday downtown, I saw a homeless man bent over a wheelchair, and there by his side was a lovely bulky boy pit bull. Usually, pitties are lively and happy animals, but not this poor little guy, instead he duplicated his owner's entire attitude, head down, sad face, shoulders low and hunched. This is an example of what happens when we are faced with thinking that God no longer cares about us, when our hopes disappear into sadness. David and his people did not have the amazing, good news that Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, had been resurrected! Instead, they were constantly surrounded by foes at every turn. In the economy in which we are living today, just looking at the people around you, are they downcast, living in a shadow most of the time, when in reality they should acknowledge the LORD, finding their hope and joy in His promise in the Resurrection of His Son?  We all need to allow the Spirit to move us much more closely to the One True God and discover that His Light and Love are never away from us. I know that there are people in our church family who find the conversations which are happening all too sad. But God is not absent in them, He is always with us, saving us from our despair, and shining the Light of Christ that the world needs so badly. Yes, I do get discouraged sometimes, but is not the promised new life which is ours in Christ enough to lift us into a spirit of joy?

Yes, I too have grief, but it is always surrounded by the new life which is mine in our Savior. We need to pray for the man and his sad pittie, we need to pray for our nation in all its polarization, knowing that Christ's truth will always survive and defeat the sin and brokenness which brings us to our knees. There is only one truth, and it comes from our Savior Himself. "You shall love the Lord your God with all of your mind, heart, strength, and soul" (And your neighbor as you love yourself.) This is the truth, which is always ours, and always our strongest advocate in all things is Jesus Christ!

NOTE: I will be stopping the Psalm study during the summer months because comments made have sounded like three studies each week is too much. So, I will take a three-month break, starting in June. There will be no Psalm study next week. I will be helping a member's adult child get home from college for summer break. We will be packing the van full to the brim. And drive will take about 6 to 8 hours including getting the van packed and unpacked.

Thank you for your time today. With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim