First of all, this is the best thing I've heard in a long time. SOOOOO GOOD. Listen to it... you'll feel like a superhero!
Simply amazing. Epic... yet whimsical. How does he do it?
Today... I got up... ate breakfast... started school, ate lunch, did personal finance and physics, and now I'm done.
I have an hour before I go babysit, so I thought I'd blog :)
Hannah's coming home today... and I'm going to the Green vs Garfield football game tonight with Kayt... We'll most definitely see Brandon there... he used to go to/play football for Garfield.
It's a GHS vs GHS. Cute, huh?
I'm excited for the football game tonight! I'm going to wear my "I ♥ Band Geeks" shirt. It's one of my favorite shirts. (I made it myself.)
Hm... not much has happened... NIPTO, I guess?
Acts 21:37-22:21
37As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?"
"Do you speak Greek?" he replied. 38"Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?" 39Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people."
This is slightly hilarious. Paul asks the commander if he can ask him something before he goes into the barracks and the commander asks him if he speaks Greek. And then he asks him if he was the basically crazy Egyptian guy who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists into the dessert.
Paul's like, "uh.... for one thing, I'm Jewish, and second, I'm from Tarsus. Now can I talk to the people?"
40Having received the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic:
Acts 22
1"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." 2When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.Paul gets the commander's permission and starts to speak to the crowd in Aramaic. They weren't expecting him, I'm guessing, to speak Aramaic. But he did. They got quiet and started to listen to him.
Then Paul said: 3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
Paul starts telling his story. How he was trained in law and persecuted people a lot. The high priest and Council can testify to that. He spills about all the crazy stuff he did.
6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
8" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
" 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
10"'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.
"'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' 11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
Then he goes into his conversion. How he saw a bright light and heard God's voice. How the people around him couldn't understand the voice that was speaking to him.
Paul got up, blinded, and was led to Damascus.
12"A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
14"Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
(I just had a mini panic attack when I heard bus brakes. But it's the high school/middle school bus!)
A man, Ananias, came to see him. He healed his eyes so he could see again and then told him that he had been chosen to tell people about God.
17"When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw the Lord speaking. 'Quick!' he said to me. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.' 19" 'Lord,' I replied, 'these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. 20And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' 21"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "
Paul went back to Jerusalem and was praying when he fell into a trance. He saw the Lord speaking to him. God told him to leave Jerusalem because they weren't going to accept him here.
Paul told God that the people that he knew knew that he went from synagogue to synagogue putting people in jail and beating them because they believed in God. And when Stephen was killed, Paul approved and guarded the clothing of the people who were killing Stephen.
God told him to go. The most dangerous (besides "follow me") command in the Bible. Go.
God sent him to the Gentiles. And voila! There he was.
I've gotta go get ready to babysit! But I might post a few pictures from the game when I get home. Don't count on it though!
Hope you're having a FANtastic Friday! =D
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