Monday, November 11, 2013

Get under the Waterfall...and Stay There!

Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible (Eph 6:24).

As he signs off, Paul gives us a good shake to make sure we were paying attention to what he’s written.  He points us back to God’s grace.  He points us back to Jesus’ undeserved goodness.  This letter starts with grace.  This letter ends with grace.  This letter drips with grace.  In a first century “Hello, McFly!” moment, the apostle grabs us by the ears and makes his point.  “Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible” (v24).  Grace.  Grace!  GRACE!!!

Back in the opening lines of his letter, Paul works his tail off to get us to see God’s goodness toward us.  God didn’t just “like” our status on Facebook.  He didn’t just give us a retweet.  He didn’t just drop us a card in the mail.  He drenches us in His overwhelming goodness.  Or in the words of the apostle, “According to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon us” (Eph 1:7-8).  Paul’s purpose is to get us to stand under the waterfall of God’s grace.  Only then can we have any clue about all that He has done, is doing and will do for us.  Now at the end of this letter, the man from Tarsus doesn’t want us to experience the exhilaration just once.  Don’t just stand under the flow for a moment.  This is so much more than a vacation photo op.  He wants us to stay there.  

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

In case you’re just jumping onto this Ephesian party wagon and are new to the story, let’s get you up to speed.  Paul’s in a Roman slammer waiting for his appeal.  The pastor over in Colossae hunted down the apostle for help.  A group of spiritual hucksters have stirred up a truckload of trouble in his church.  They’ve fooled Jesus’ followers into believing Christ might be good but He’s not God.  In order to ensure our place in God’s kingdom, they say we need to follow a complicated list of religious rules and regs.  And lookie there, they just happened to have it with them.  Imagine that!  After writing a letter to the Colossians in order to get them back on track, Paul fires off another to his friends in Ephesus.  They’re just 100 miles up the road from Colossae.  If his letter to the Colossians is treatment for the disease, Ephesians is an inoculation against it.  The apostle knows that when we understand who Jesus is, what He’s done and who we are in Him, there’s very little chance we’ll buy any of this spiritual snake oil.

That means constantly realizing the scope of God’s grace.  This is that great Greek word charis.  It means an overwhelming and undeserved goodness.  It’s unexpected pleasure.  It’s unmerited favor.  It’s kindness given for no reason.  The Bible is a collection of letters and writings over the scope of 1,500 years that tell the story of God’s overflowing grace.  He creates the universe out of His goodness.  He creates people out His irrepressible love.  And even after we jack it all up, He’s coming back to fix it all because of His crazy good kindness.  Just as Ephesians is all about grace from beginning to end, so is the entire length of Scripture.  

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

Paul ends his letter with the phrase “Grace be with you all” (v24).  Hmm.  That seems familiar.  VERY familiar.  Flip back to the opening lines of this note from a Roman jail.  The apostle kicks this thing off by wishing “Grace to you” (Eph 1:2).  Similar.  But different.  He sends his wish of God’s grace at the beginning of his letter.  Now at the end, he wants us to know and live in the light of God’s grace.  Once we realize all that we really need we already have in Jesus, we can experience His grace.  Take one long, last drink of God’s goodness that the apostle has gone to great lengths to explain in this letter.  Start with the Tsunami of Blessings in Ephesians 1:3-14, that amazing run-on sentence where Paul bubbles over as he becomes so excited about all God has done for us.  He blessed us, chose us, predestined us, adopted us, redeemed us, forgave us, lavished riches on us, made His will know to us, given us an inheritance, predestined us (just in case we missed it the first time!) and sealed us with His Holy Spirit.  His entire purpose is that we would have “the eyes of our hearts enlightened” (Eph 1:18) to all that God has done for us.  Live in light of God’s “grace with you” (v24)!  His grace just doesn’t stop!

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

And as they say in the infomercial, “but wait there’s more!”  Paul reminds us of our situation BC: before Christ.  We used to be stumbling around like spiritual zombies as members of the Walking Dead (Eph 2:1).  But our gracious God came to our rescue and brought us to life in His Son Jesus (Eph 2:4).  Just in case you might miss how good God and how little we deserved what He’s done, we read, “By grace (Gr. charis) you have been saved...For by grace (Gr. charis) you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:5, 8-9).  God has placed us under the waterfall of His grace so He could show off “the immeasurable riches of His grace (Gr. charis) in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7).  That’s because His grace just doesn’t stop.

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

Later we see that Jesus has blasted down all the walls between race, religion and culture and invited everyone to the party (Eph 2:14).  Through His death on the cross at Calvary, He brings both Jews and Gentiles together into one body we call His church (Eph 2:15-16).  This is a HUGE deal!  Jesus makes outsiders insiders (Eph 2:17-22).  And He handpicked Paul specifically to spread the Word to non-Jews (Eph 3:1-13).  If you’re not Jewish and Jesus has saved you, then you should be eternally grateful for this specific move of God.  I know I am!  The apostle goes on to tell his friends in Ephesus that God’s grace keeps on rolling.  He’s given us unlimited and mind-blowing power through the Holy Spirit living in every believer (Eph 3:16, 20).  That’s the only chance we have to wrap our brains around the massive scope of the love Jesus drenches on you and me (Eph 3:19).  That’s because His grace just doesn’t stop.

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

So is that all of His grace?  Is that all He’s done for us?  Absolutely not!  Check this out.  “Grace (Gr. charis) was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:8).  In what Paul describes as the Grace Parade, Jesus gave a group of spiritually gifted people to His people in order to give them everything they would need to live in the fullness of His grace.  These are “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” (Eph 4:11).  Jesus puts them in place to teach us, lead us and build us up in God’s Word so that we’ll be grow into unity and Christ-like maturity (Eph 4:15-16).  He gives.  And He gives.  And He gives.  And He gives.  His grace just doesn’t stop.

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

Once we position ourselves in front of God’s fire hydrant of goodness, it changes everything.  We become God imitators (Eph 5:1) who walk around loving others selflessly like Jesus did (Eph 5:2).  We become shiners of God’s light (Eph 5:8-9).  His grace impacts our marriages (Eph 5:22-33), our families (Eph 6:1-4) and our jobs (Eph 6:5-10).  God’s goodness impacts every inch of our lives.  Or as Paul tells the folks in Corinth, “His grace toward me was not in vain” (1Cor 15:10).  God’s no grace waster.

Get under the waterfall of God’s grace.  And stay there!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Keep the Main Things the Main Things

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 6:23).

Not too long ago, Elvis Costello asked the musical question, “What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?”  A couple of thousand years before, Paul told his friends in Ephesus that peace, love and faith are a VERY big deal.  In many ways, they are the main thing when comes to following Jesus.  The apostle begins signing off his note to the Ephesians by writing, “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v23).  Peace.  Love.  Faith.  He hits the highlights of his letter.  Peace.  Love.  Faith.  These are the main things.  As he wraps things up, he summarizes the big ideas.  Peace.  Love.  Faith.  

Keep the main things the main things.

Too many times I blow right past the opening and closing lines in Paul’s letters.  I want to get to the good stuff.  I want to get to the meat.  But the apostle doesn’t waste any words.  This IS the good stuff.  This IS the meat.  So let’s slow down.  And let’s dig in.  Because Paul uses these parts of his epistles in very important ways.  They almost always contain the big ideas.  The main things.  His letter to the Ephesians is no different.

From a prison cell in Rome, the apostle wishes “peace to the brothers” (v23).  This is so much more than a call for folks to stop fighting.  He uses the Greek word eirene, which means harmony, welfare, freedom from anxiety and tranquility.  In many ways, Paul is referring to the wonderful old Hebrew term shalom.  Throughout the Old Testament, this word describes the perfect rhythm of God’s original created order.  Think back to the way things were in Eden before we jacked up the whole deal.  Everything flowed together in divine synchronicity.  God created His handcrafted paradise for Adam and Eve to enjoy.  Other than one tree, our first parents could eat and savor every bit of God’s unspoiled goodness. And don’t forget about the fact that clothes had not been invented yet.  This is the perfect rhythm of our Creator’s original design.  Shalom.  Peace.  It’s completeness.  It’s contentment.  It’s the absolute opposite of the chaos that our sin brought on the scene.

If you thought that it was a big deal that Justin Timberlake brought sexy back, check out what Jesus has done.  He’s bringing peace back.  He’s bringing shalom back.  He’s bringing God’s perfect rhythm back.  That’s why it’s one of the main things in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus.  Right out of the chute, the apostle tells his readers, “Grace to you and peace (Gr. eirene) from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:2).  This peace isn’t just an idea.  It’s a Person.  Jesus “himself is our peace (Gr. eirene)” and has smashed the walls divided all races, religions and cultures (Eph 2:14-15).  Christ showed up and “preached peace (Gr. eirene)” to both insiders and outsiders (Eph 2:17).  This makes a ton of sense when we look back at what the prophets said about the Messiah to come.  Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah announced that He would be the “Prince of Peace (Heb. shalom)” (Is 9:6).

The Prince of Peace isn’t just the embodiment of God’s peace, He gives us peace as a gift.  He gives us His peace so that we can begin to live in that perfect rhythm of God’s original creation.  We see the impact of this peace on our church.  A big part of walking in a manner worthy of Jesus’ calling on our lives is living “bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Gr. eirene)” (Eph 4:1-3).  An important part of God’s armor are the cleats which make us ready to share “the Gospel of peace (Gr. eirene)” (Eph 6:15).  Yeah, peace.  It’s kind of a big deal.

Keep the main things the main things.  And one of those things is peace.  God’s peace.

Next, Paul encourages his readers to realize and practice God’s “love” (v23).  Another one of his main things.  This is the Greek noun agape.  If you’ve been around the church for any length of time, you’ve heard this word.  The problem is that God’s idea of love is nothing like our culture’s definition of love.  Movies (especially romantic comedies) have corrupted the idea of love as simply the emotion of a deep and warm fuzzy feeling.  But that’s NOT God’s definition of agape.  This love is a choice that’s put into action.  This is a love that does.  This is a love with hands and feet.  Love isn’t just a feeling.  Love is a verb!  As a matter of fact, the verb form of love is agapao.  Want the greatest example of love the universe has ever seen?  “God shows His love (Gr. agape) for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).  Love doesn’t just feel.  Love does.

Love is one of the three main things in Paul’s letter to his friends in Ephesus.  Let’s hit the highlights.  “In love (Gr. agape)” God handpicked us for adoption into His family (Eph 1:4).  We used to be among the Walking Dead but God brought us to life in Jesus “because of the great love (Gr. agape) with which He loved (Gr. agapao) us” (Eph 2:4-5).  God gives us His Spirit so that we have a chance to wrap our minds around “the love (Gr. agape) of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:16-19).

Once we’re blown away by God’s love, we can’t help but love.  We’re to imitate God by walking “in love (Gr. agape) as Christ loved (Gr. agapao) us,” living a life of self-giving and sacrifice (Eph 5:1-2).   Over and over and over, Paul tells married men to follow Jesus’ example of love in action.  “Husbands, love (Gr. agapao) your wives, as Christ loved (Gr. agapao) the church...husbands should love (Gr. agapao) their wives...He who loves (Gr. agapao) his wife loves (Gr. agapao) himself...let each one of you love (Gr. agapao) his wife...” (Eph 5:25-33).  Yeah, so do you get Paul’s point?  Love is kind of a big deal.

Keep the main things the main things.  And one of those things is love.  God’s love.

The apostle makes the very important point that God’s love doesn’t travel by itself.  Elvis Costello missed on this one.  It’s “love with faith” (v23).  Paul uses the word pistis, which means trust, belief and assurance.  He’s encouraging us to place our faith in the only truly reliable Person to ever walk the planet.  Jesus.  We place our trust in the fact that He’s done for us what we could never, ever do for ourselves.  We place our faith in His flawless faith.  He was faithful to live the perfect life that I completely failed to live.  He was faithful to die the brutal death for my sin that completely deserved to die.  And He rose to a breathtaking new life that absolutely do not deserve.  I place my faith in who He is and what He’s done.  That’s why Paul writes, “By grace you have been saved through faith (Gr. pistis).  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).

Our faith in who Jesus is and what He’s done becomes the one thing that draws us together no matter our backgrounds.  We’re to be unified in “one Lord, one faith (Gr. pistis), one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Eph 4:5-6).  God uses human leadership to build up His church so that “we attain to the unity of the faith (Gr. pistis)” (Eph 4:13).  Paul tells us to never forget to take our “shield of faith (Gr. pistis)” into battle as protection against Satan’s attack (Eph 6:16).  You see, our faith isn’t based on how much faith we can muster.  It’s not based on the strength of our faith.  Our faith is completely dependent on the Object of our faith.  That’s Jesus.  He’s totally and unshakably faithful even when we’re not (2Tim 2:13).

Keep the main things the main things.  And of those is faith.  Faith in Jesus.

Elvis Costello was close.  Very close.  

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Mail Man

So that you may also know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything (Eph 6:21).

There’s a mystic about the image of the High Plains Drifter.  You know, the character that Clint Eastwood made famous.  That lone dude who roams the land alone.  Relying on no one.  Solitary.  Self-sufficient.  Bringing law and order to every town along the trail.  There’s an image of the Apostle Paul that’s a lot like that.  Rolling into the city.  Kicking butt.  Taking names.  All in the name of Jesus, of course.  Then mysteriously moving on to the next town as everyone wonders, “Who was that man?”  

There’s only one problem with that picture of Paul.  It’s not true!  He was no Lone Ranger.  He was no High Plains Drifter.  He was rarely alone on his divine assignments.  You’ve probably heard of his partners, guys like Barnabas, Silas, Timothy and Titus.  But there’s another “go to” guy that doesn’t get the headlines.  Tychicus.  In several key situations, the apostle counts on Mr. T to get the job done.  This is one of those instances.  “So that you may also know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything” (v21).

Call him the Mail Man.  Because he always delivers.

Let’s set the scene once again.  Paul’s locked up in a Roman joint waiting for his appeal to be heard by Caesar.  He’s just gotten a surprise visit from Epaphras, the dude who planted a multisite church in Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea.  A group of spiritual hucksters have duped Jesus’ followers there into believing a lie.  They’ve fooled folks into thinking Jesus might be good but He’s not God.  According to these goobers, to ensure your place in God’s kingdom, you must save yourself by following a complicated list of religious rules and regs.  After writing a letter correcting the Colossians, he fires off another one to his friends in Ephesus, just 100 miles down the road.  The apostle knows that if we truly know our identity in Jesus, who He is and what He’s done for us, we won’t fall buy any spiritual snake oil.  

In a dark prison cell, Paul licks the envelopes of these letters and hands them to Tychicus.  The Mail Man.  He counts on Mr. T to deliver these crucial communications.  It will be Tychicus who will tell the Ephesians of the apostle’s situation.  “So that you may also know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything” (v21).  Writing under the influence of God’s Spirit, the apostle instructs and encourages his readers.  Meanwhile Tychicus will tell the folks in Ephesus how Paul is doing, what he looks like and his hopes for release.  

Paul gives the Mail Man quite a reference.  He gives him the apostolic seal of approval by calling him “the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord” (v21).  When you’ve got the Paul telling folks you’re legit, then you certainly must be the real deal.  He makes it clear to the Ephesians that he loves him some Tychicus.  As a matter of fact, he loves him like a brother.  This is a great reminder of just what it means to be a member of God’s family.  Paul and his handpicked courier come from completely different backgrounds.  The apostle grew up as a hardcore Pharisee in Tarsus.  He admits to being a former first-team all star in the Jewish big leagues (Phil 3:5-6).  There’s a better than even chance that Tychicus is a Gentile from Ephesus.  We see a couple of clues in Scripture.  First of all, he’s from Asia (Acts 20:4).  In that same verse, Dr. Luke describes Mr. T and Trophimus as some sort of Asian Dynamic Duo.  Back in Jerusalem, things went nuclear when Jewish hardliners thought the non-Jewish Trophimus went to “Hebrew Only” section of the temple (Acts 21:28-29).  So his buddy Tychicus is also probably a Gentile follower of Jesus.

Let that sink in for just a moment.  Paul and Tychicus, the former Pharisee and the foreign non-Jew, are best buds.  Or in the apostle’s words, “the beloved brother” (v21).  Despite all of the racial and religious discrimination that was a big part of the day, Paul loves this dude like a brother.  A brother in Christ.  Do all your friends look like you?  Do they all have the same background?  Jesus is up to something crazy in His kingdom.  He’s busting down walls between races, religions, cultures, genders and nations (Eph 2:13-14).  He’s making insiders out of outsiders.  He’s bringing folks who are far apart and making them family.  He did it for Paul and Tychicus.  Let Him do it for you too.  You can almost see the big bear hug between these two before the Mail Man hit the road.  “Love ya, bro.”

The apostle also wants the Ephesians to know what an awesome servant of Jesus their letter carrier is.  He’s “the faithful minister” (21).  While we don’t know exactly what Tychicus’ ministry is, he seems to be some sort of special projects guy.  Whenever something big comes up, the Mail Man is on Paul’s short list.  And we see why.  He’s faithful.  That means a couple of things.  He’s placed his faith in who Jesus is and what He’s done for him.  Tychicus is a man of faith.  It also describes his never-give-up-never-say-die devotion to his assignment.  When the going gets tough, he gets going.  Paul sends him to Crete to relieve Titus (Titus 1:5; 3:12).  And in the months before his death, the apostle sends him to Ephesus one more time (2Tim 4:12).  There’s no doubt that’s why the man from Tarsus counts on the Mail Man.  Because he always delivers.

Flip back a few years and you’ll see when these two friends got acquainted.  During Paul’s second missionary journey, he was collecting money for the church in Jerusalem that had fallen on very hard times.  As each church contributed to the cause, they also sent along men to accompany the apostle for security and accountability.  “Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Seconds; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus (Acts 20:4).  So the T-Man was part of the bigger posse that traveled with Paul as he delivered the financial support from the churches of Asia, Macedonia and Greece to the home office in Jerusalem.  Like his mentor, Tychicus rarely traveled alone.  Here he makes the trip to Crete with Artemas.  Previously he rolled with Paul’s big posse to Jerusalem.  On the assignment to Ephesus and Colossae, the runaway slave Onesimus was his partner (Col 4:9).

As I mentioned earlier, Tychicus is the courier who delivers not just this note to Ephesus but letters to the church at Colossae as well as one to Paul’s buddy Philemon.  The apostle gives him a very similar glowing recommendation to the Colossians.  “Tychicus will tell you all about my activities.  He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.  I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts” (Col 4:3-4).  When the Apostle Paul vouches for you not once but twice, you must be the real deal.

Do you have a brother or sister in Christ that you can lean on?  Someone that you can count on?  Someone who’ll always deliver?  And are there folks who can count on you?  Are you a “beloved brother?”  Are you a “faithful minister?”  Are you someone who will always deliver?  Following Jesus is a team sport.  Paul and his boy Mr. T are proof of that. 

Monday, November 4, 2013

A Chain Letter

...for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak (Eph 6:20).

Don’t you just hate chain letters?  You know what I’m talking about.  Some so-called “friend” sends you something that promises ridiculous rewards if you’ll just send it along.  These annoying notes have been around for years.  They’ve survived the transition from snail mail to email and now to Facebook.  I’m beginning to believe that the only things that will survive the apocalypse are cockroaches and chain letters.  But there is one kind of chain letter that I love.  It’s the kind that Paul writes to Ephesus.  He tells the folks opening the envelope that it’s because of the Gospel “for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (v20).  

As the apostle wraps up his note to his Ephesian friends, he reminds them of his current situation.  He’s in the joint.  He’s in prison.  He’s behind bars.  And the reason he’s there is because he’s devoted his life to telling non-Jews that Jesus has thrown the doors of God’s kingdom party open to them too (Eph 3:5-6).  The resurrected Christ mugged Saul outside of Damascus and transformed him into Paul, His number one apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-5, 15).  From ambushed to ambassador.

In using the term “ambassador” (Gr. presbeuo), the man from Tarsus describes what it means to be an official representative for a king.  It’s to act as an ambassador or envoy sent on special assignment by the government for high level negotiating.  In this case, Paul’s an ambassador sent by the King of Kings.  Over in one of his notes to the Corinthian church, he lets us know that every one of Jesus’ followers are sent by King Jesus.  “We are ambassadors (Gr. presbeuo) for Christ, God making His appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2Cor 5:20).

There’s a big difference between Jesus’ ambassadors and those serving in embassies and consulates around the world today.  Modern ambassadors have diplomatic immunity.  That basically means an envoy can’t be arrested or prosecuted when on assignment in another country.  Paul didn’t enjoy diplomatic immunity.  He’s “an ambassador in chains” (v20).  He’s in custody in a Roman prison.  The Greek word halusis means exactly how it’s translated.  A linked, metal instrument that binds any part of the body, usually the hands.  In other words, a chain.  

The demon-possessed dude who lived in the Gerasenes graveyard was often “bound with chains (Gr. halusis) and shackles” (Lk 8:29).  An angel busted Pete the apostle out of the joint as “the chains (Gr. halusis) fell off his hands” (Acts 12:7).  When Roman soldiers took Paul into custody at the temple riot in Jerusalem, the commanding officer ordered that he “be bound with two chains (Gr. halusis)” (Acts 21:33).  It can certainly mean an imprisonment.  But most likely the apostle is in handcuffs.  He wants us to hear the chain rattle and clank as he writes and we read.  That’s what makes this a chain letter.  Linked In meant something VERY different in the first century!

But being behind bars wearing the latest in jail jewelry isn’t going to get in Paul’s way.  He sees this as an incredible opportunity to tell folks in the joint about Jesus, “that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (v20).  The apostle uses the Greek verb parresiazomai, which means to speak openly without fear or talk freely and boldly.  He holds nothing back.  While he might not have earthly diplomatic immunity, he holds the ultimate “Get Out of Jail Free” card.  He knows that no matter what happens on this side of eternity, Christ has come to eventually set the prisoners free (Lk 4:17).  That’s what allows him to speak boldly about Jesus.  

The former Pharisee pulls no punches in sharing the Gospel of grace.  This is full disclosure.  He doesn’t just tell folks what they want to hear.  He tells them what they need to hear.  In order for the Good News to be REALLY good, the bad news has to be REALLY bad.  And it is VERY bad.  We’ve fallen short of God’s perfect standard.  We’re more than good people who’ve made a few mistakes.  We’re sinners.  We’re rebels fighting against His kingdom.  As a response, Paul fires both barrels.  The bad news.  The Good News.  And he declares it “boldly” (v20).

This fearlessness has put Paul in prison once again.  It’s not his first time.  He and his sidekick Silas had the privilege of checking out the inside of Philippi’s correctional institution (Acts 16:24).  Jewish leaders cooked up a plan to nab Paul once he returned to Jerusalem.  That resulted in his arrest at the temple (Acts 21:33).  He probably spent most of the next eight years in custody before appealing his case to Caesar.  He was locked up in Judea for a couple of years.  He spent over a year sailing as a prisoner to Rome.  And Paul finished his bid in Rome for a couple more years.  There he had a chance to write a series of chain letters.  He wrote to the Ephesian church (Eph 3:1, 4:1), the multisite churches based in Colossae (Col 4:3, 18), as well as his friend Phil (Phm 1, 9, 13).  He’ll eventually be released only to be re-arrested and executed.  You can read the last letter he wrote before his death to his pal Tim (2Tim).  

These chain letters certainly aren’t annoying.  But they are convicting.  VERY convicting.  It’s very difficult for me to comprehend the kind of courage it takes to tell others about Jesus at the cost of incarceration.  I’m incredibly convicted by Paul’s passion and commitment to Christ.  He’s willing to go to jail for Jesus.  I’m rarely willing to share the Gospel with my friends at work.  Lord, give me the boldness, the openness and the courage to tell others about You.