Paul's Greece Misson- From Philippi to Corinth
Philippi, Thessaloniki, Berea, Athens & Corinth
Christians should be experiencing that special adventure that God has for them.
We often settle for a rather boring experience in the Kingdom of God. We attend church, read our Bibles, deal with our problems, and try to make it through the day, through the week.
The reality is when we give God permission to have our day, have our time, have our thoughts, and use the resources that He has given us, especially our time, He will usually take us out of our comfort zone to doing things that are risky, things we don’t necessarily want to do.
If we take the risk, like talking to that neighbor or inviting someone you just met for coffee, or saying sorry to your friend, or stopping and listening to someone else, then often amazing things result. We finish the day in awe of what God did when we allowed Him to have our day.
Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke are on an adventure that they didn’t plan.
This is what happens when you catch that God driven wave- you don’t want it to end.
God often has disregard for our plans. Indeed, the Bible says
The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
And
You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21 NLT
God does want us to make plans. He gives us wisdom, and He allows us access to His mind through our prayers. He speaks directly to us through His Word and audible voice.
But I have often found that my plans fall very short of God’s vision for the moment. His plans for my life have always been bigger that my own. It has taken me years, but I have discovered when my plans fall to the ground, usually God has something much better in mind.
My first realization of this principle was my first trip to Honduras in November of 1984. It was to be a two-week trip to deliver relief supplies to an indigenous group called the Miskitos who had been driven from their communities along the Coco River in NE Nicaragua by the Sandinista-Contra war raging in Nicaragua. Now over 20,000 Miskito Indian refugees were living in the remote swamps and savannahs of neighboring Honduras.
Rio Kruta Honduras November 1984
Michael, Turman and Dan
The first ‘disregard’ was our container of cargo did not arrive in Honduras in time for us to take it out to the Miskitia. It was stuck in a warehouse in Houston. Our relief team became a medical team with a doctor and nurse and some meager medical supplies.
On my return to the U.S., rather than fly on to Maui I stopped in Houston to visit Joe Tanner, fellow Naval Flight school student in Texas and later my roommate in Vail Colorado. When I went to Maui in 1982, Joe had been hired by NASA as one of their pilots and lived with his wife Martha in Clear Lake.
It was that week in December that God set into motion a free container to ship the cargo to Honduras, money to cover the warehouse cost, a pilot bringing his Seneca to Honduras to help us move the cargo, and a mission ship to take additional relief cargo from Florida to Honduras. Amazing things were happening!
Instead of two weeks, it took us six months to bring that container of cargo into Honduras and out to the remote eastern region of Honduras and into the hands of the refugees in many communities along the Kruta and Coco Rivers.
By the end of May 1985 we were done, or so I thought.
That’s when a refugee named Augusto Vicente, who as a teacher before the war Nicaragua, came to us asking him for help in starting a school. Augusto told us that the children in his community has not had an education since the Sandinista revolution took over the government of Nicaragua in 1979.
Cuban teachers came out to the Coco Rive and took over the schools, teaching Miskito children a very militaristic, atheistic curriculum. For example, I had a copy of the 2nd grade math book that used images of hand grenades and assault rifles to teach addition and subtraction.
This and other issues forced the Miskitos to resist, and that is when troops began arriving in the communities along the Coco River and burning homes, killing cattle, and cutting down the coconut and citrus trees.
We bought some cases of notebooks, pencils and chalk, some blackboard paint, and pieces of plywood and gave them to Augusto. With these resources, Augusto began teaching classes in Sawa in the summer of 1985. More communities began asking us for education help, and in 1986 we began four more schools, training teachers and purchasing curriculum. That in itself was an incredible miracle.
Sawa Honduras school 1986
In 1987 we had 12 primary schools in refugee villages. When the war ended in 1990, we were coerced by the new Minister of Education to move across the Coco River (the border between Honduras and Nicaragua) and become the community school.
Soon we had 14 schools and over 2000 students. Since then we have educated tens of thousands of Miskito youth and adults.
Srumlaya Honduras school 1988
God’s plan for these refugees was much bigger than ours.
Another time when my plans were disregarded was when I decided to apply to a school in Jerusalem in 1994 to get a masters in Archeology. I was a History major at Miami University and love the study of humans down through the centuries. When I became a follower of Jesus in 1981, Craig Englert of Hope Chapel Maui took me under his wing, and taught me how to teach the Bible. He encouraged me in my teaching, and I think he was disappointed that I ended up working with the refugees for such a lengthy period. He would often tell me “Don’t neglect your teaching gift.” After working with the Miskito refugees for 10 years, I thought it was time to follow his advice. That’s when I did my research and found out about the school in Jerusalem.
When I was filing out the application, a strange thing happened: The Lord said very distinctly “No.” At first I didn’t understand why He would say ‘No”, but I could not continue with the application. It was a few years later that I was sitting on the porch of Truman’s house in Sawa Nicaragua and I asked him “Truman, tell me something you want to do before you die.”
Without hesitation he said “I want to go see where Jesus lived.”
Surprised, I exclaimed “So do I!”
Truman continued: “Nobody from my culture has been to Jerusalem. Many think Jerusalem is in Heaven and not on Earth, so I want to go, see it, and tell my people about it.”
“Ok. Let’s pray that God will allow us to go.”
It was a series of miraculous events in 1997 that allowed us to take Truman, Augusto and Onofre to Israel, along with Craig and Kathy Englert. That’s when we met our guide Dr. Randall Smith, Ph.d Hebrew University in Rabbinical Literature, currently teaching and certifying all the guides for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. It was an extraordinary trip for the Miskito, and especially us from Maui and we became friends with Randy on that trip.
Truman, Michael, Onofre and Augusto Jerusalem 1997
Wadi Qelt Israel November 1997
In February 1999, Randy visited us in Vero Beach Florida, and invited us to come to Jerusalem and work with him on a Biblical Studies project. We accepted and returned in July, living in an apartment in downtown Jerusalem for three months. We returned in 2000 for another six weeks, and again in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2023. In between, we traveled with Randy and Dottie to Biblical sites in Italy, Greece and Turkey. In the process these two have become life long friends.
It's now obvious why the Lord told me not to fill out that application. He had a personal tutor lined up for me that has resulted in this Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces project.
God’s plan for our ministry was much bigger than ours.
The disciples at Antioch were about to learn this very valuable principle of ministry.
36 After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” 37 Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38 But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.
39 Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. 41 Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there. Acts 15:36-41
Paul makes a plan for him and Barnabas to go on the second mission trip, to revisit the new believers in each of the places they went before. Barnabas wants to again invite his nephew Mark to be part of the team, but Paul “disagrees strongly”.
The result was a split in the team, and Paul chose a recent arrival from Jerusalem (Acts 15:27-34), a prophet named Silas, to be his ministry partner. Now there are two teams on the road, something neither Paul nor Barnabas considered before. In addition, the spiritual giftings of Silas, as well as his Roman citizenship, will come in very handy down the road.
Principle: Sometimes God will use disagreements between ministry partners to further expand His ministry.
Paul went first Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, 3 so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.
4 Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day. Acts 16:1-5
Does it seem unusual that after the Council in Jerusalem where Gentiles were told that they didn’t have to be circumcised, that Paul arranged for Timothy to undergo that painful procedure?
Paul’s focus was on ministry, especially to his own Jewish people. He wanted nothing to negatively affect that. Paul also knew that having a young disciple along would be an excellent opportunity to train another missionary. Timothy was now entering into his life calling. He would experientially learn how to be effective in cross cultural ministry and develop the disciplines that would make him effective in being a minister of the Gospel. Paul reminded Timothy of this principle in his second letter:
2 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. 2 Timothy 2:2
Principle: Always be on the lookout for that young person whom God will bring into your life who will benefit from your life and ministry experiences and be equipped for their own.
6 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. 8 So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.
9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. Acts 16:6-10
At Troas Paul had a dream of a man requesting that they come over to Europe and begin a work there. Perhaps Paul never considered that he would be the one to bring the Gospel to the continent where Christianity took root and became the strongest missionary-sending culture in history. We also notice the pronoun “we”. Luke is now part of the Paul/Silas/Timothy mission team. What follows is an eyewitness account of the incredible launch of ministry in Europe.
Principle: Often God’s plans are much bigger than our own.
11 We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis. 12 From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days.
Neapolis is now called Kabala, and it is a picturesque fishing town with a beautiful harbor. We had lunch at a café at the harbor with our study tour group.
Neapolis is now called Kabala, and it is a picturesque fishing town with a beautiful harbor. We had lunch at a café at the harbor with our study tour group. Neapolis is where the Via Egnatia begins. It is a Roman road that connects Macedonia with Rome. You can still walk on the paving stones. The Romans built their road ‘to last forever’.
Via Egnatia
Via Egnatia
Via Egnatia Flowers
Philippi
Philippi Forum
Philippi Amphitheater
There is a prayer that many Jewish men, especially the Pharisees, began their day. It went something like this:
“Lord, thank you for not making me a woman, a slave, nor a gentile.”
Saul the Pharisee probably uttered those words often in is Christian persecution days. This prayer would come to life for Saul/Paul in what came next.
13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.
The 'Lydia' Stream
14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed. Acts 16:11-16
It was a custom among Jews that if there were not enough men for a synagogue (10 was usually the minimum), then any Jews living in a community would meet for prayer at the nearest steam, lake, or river.
Laura and Craig contemplating the moment
The mission team joined a group of ladies and began to share. God ‘opened’ the heart of Lydia, and she understood her need for a savior, saw the beauty of God’s plan for her salvation, the compassion of God for her life, received Jesus as her Lord.Her business in purple cloth, used by the wealthy, obviously was very profitable. Her acceptance of Jesus as her Lord was genuine, and she placed her resources at the disposal of her King by providing the team with hospitality.
Lydia is from Thyatira, a city famous for red and purple dyes. We were there in 2001 during our study of the Seven Churches of Revelation.
Thyatira
Thyatira arches
Principle: It is a good practice that as we begin our day of ministry, we ask God to open the hearts of those we encounter. He is the only one who has that ability.
Lydia insisted that the Mission Team stay with her and enjoy her hospitality. This is a sign of genuine faith that we should look for in any who profess Jesus as their Lord- they become givers rather than just consumers.
Now the team has their base in Philippi and continue the ministry. All is apparently going well until one day something unexpected happens.
16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.
19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”
The Team is being harassed by a slave fortune teller. She is in bondage to the controlling spirit, as well as her master. In modern terms, perhaps we should think of her as a “drug addicted human trafficked prostitute”. Paul is either irritated by the manner that the spirit controlling the girl speaking through her, or he had compassion on the trafficked girl and her situation, or both. He commands the spirit to leave her and it does! She has had a dramatic encounter with the power of God.
Now she is free from that oppression and is useless to her masters. Perhaps now even her economic situation changed. In any case her masters are enraged and move against Paul and Silas.
22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
Philippi Jail
Paul and Silas are beaten and bloody and suffer further by having their feet clamped in uncomfortable bindings. These men are Roman citizens, and what just happen is a not allowed under Roman law!
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer is probably a retired Roman centurion. These government jobs were given to retired legionaries. He is an honorable man, who knows that Roman law has placed the responsibility of these prisoners in his hands, and if any escape, he will pay for it with his life. Rather than await a long public judicial trial and execution, he decided to that his own life and spare his family the humiliation. With this earthquake and the open doors, he is sure that some of the prisoners have escaped.
Imagine his surprise when Paul cries out “Don’t kill yourself. We are all here.”
Perhaps these are the jailer’s thoughts:
“Why would these prisoners whom we have beaten and tortured not want to escape, but instead have decided to save my life by remaining in the jail? Who are these men?”
Something that Paul and Silas did caused the jailer to have a sudden change of heart.
29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. Acts 16:16-34
Paul and Silas were praying and singing worship songs to the Lord when a massive earthquake occurred. It makes you wonder what these two were praying for.
Perhaps Silas the prophet had received a word from the Lord that there would be a massive earthquake, and that they would be freed. Perhaps he proclaimed this word out loud, so that all the prisoners and the jailer could hear. The crucial moment for the jailer was when discovering the prison doors were open, that not one prisoner had attempted to escape. Paul and Silas seem to be responsible for that.
The hardened combat veteran who had undoubtedly taken many lives in his career in the Legions suddenly was awestruck by the concern that these strangers had for his life.
After Paul and Silas explained to ‘his household’ what it means to be a follower of Jesus, they were all baptized.
The ministry in Philippi really took off as a result of an experience wasn’t on the Mission Teams’s schedule.
I was in the ancient city of Philippi a few years ago, standing in the ruins of a Fifth Century church. I marveled at how this prison experience resulted in a church that lasted since then and spread throughout the rest of Europe, eventually to North America, then to Hawaii, and finally to me.
Philippi Church Ruins
Principle: Faithfulness in the Mission will have far reaching impact well beyond our lives.
35 The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!” 36 So the jailer told Paul, “The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul replied, “They have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison—and we are Roman citizens. So now they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves to release us!”
38 When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 So they came to the jail and apologized to them. Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city. 40 When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town. Acts 16:35-40
There were huge advantages to having Roman citizenship. The city officials had to apologize to Silas and Paul, and escort them out of the prison. It was decided that the former prisoners would proceed on the journey, while Timothy and Luke stayed behind with Lydia, the jailer and his family, and the rest of the new believers. Now there were two teams, one evangelizing, and the other helping the Philippians learn what it means to follow Christ.
Imagine sitting in the home of Lydia in a gathering to worship the Lord Jesus. Sitting on one side is a slave girl and on the other a Roman jailer and his family. Lydia is a wealthy merchant, selling only expensive fabric to the elite of society. The former Roman legionnaire is now working with criminals in a filthy prison. The slave girl does chores for her master, who can order her to do anything he wants.
From the top of Roman society to the bottom, from impoverished to the wealthy, men and women, all are meeting together!
This was unheard of in Roman and Greek society.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
Principle: Although the Christian Church has been accused of being an exclusive club, the reality is it has been the most inclusive organization in all human history. All are welcome.
Let’s understand the varying methods that the Holy Spirit reached these three different individuals.
- Lydia was convinced by hearing the Word.
- The slave girl experienced a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit.
- The jailer was stirred not by words, or an encounter with God, but by what the disciples did.
Paul and Silas had the need to get out of that jail, but saw the jailer had a greater need- his life. They chose to serve him, rather than themselves. Service to others is often the open door for the Gospel in the lives of many.
Rodney Stark, in his exciting book The Rise of Christianity, documents how the care and service that Christian gave during the plagues of 160 AD and 250 AD to the populations of Roman cities, which were reduced in population by over 35%, resulted in rapid growth of the Christian communities. They prayed for and gave food and water to those who caught the plague, and as a result, many Christan caregivers died, fearless of death. This resulted in many pagan survivors of those plagues to turn to Christ because of the care they received.
Stark estimates that there were less than 10,000 Christians in the Roman Empire at the end of the First Century but by the middle of the Fourth Century, there were over 33,000,000 Christians, constituting over 56% of the population of the Empire.
Principle: The Holy Spirit will use whatever He thinks best to reach that person in front of you. Sometimes it will be simply speaking God’s Word. Other times it will be our prayers and experiencing God’s presence that will touch them. Most often it will be how we care for them and model the ‘others centered life’ in our communities.
After Paul was escorted out of Philippi, he and Silas continued on the Via Egnatia toward Thessalonica.
Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women. Acts 17:1-4
Thessaloniki Harbor
Ruins of the Ancient Agora
Ancient Cardo
How did Paul and Silas make disciples in Thessalonica?
He describes seven of their methods in his letter to this congregation. It an extraordinary historical document that should be read by everyone who is called by God to make disciples. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
1 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.
They proclaimed the Gospel boldly, even though there was opposition.
3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.
4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! 6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.
They didn’t deceive or manipulate the people in Thessalonica. They trusted God to build the Kingdom.
They weren’t looking for praise or approval but pointed the disciples to Christ.
7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. 8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.
They showed genuine love to the Thessalonians and developed intimate relationships.
9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.
They were diligent and hard working.
10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. 11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
They modeled the Christian life to their friends.
They encouraged and exhorted them to live a life pleasing to God.
Many of us here today have experienced this type of discipleship. Others have not, instead have been given a model of religious behavior and legalistic or hyper spiritual lifestyle.
How can we adopt and impliment these methods in our discipleship?
We recently expanded our Rio Coco Café at the Vero Beach Airport into the next two warehouse bays. As began painting the walls, and flight instructor named Rokas came from the flight school in the next building, asking us if we wanted any pictures printed on the wall. He and his partner Steven had recently purchased a machine from Germany that printed directly on a wall. They had recently finished their first two jobs, and were looking for work to pay off that very expensive machine.
Michael, Rokas, and Steven doing the Wall Prints at the Rio Coco Cafe
They came and began printing some of my photos from Maui and Utila. They created framing, flowers and foliage and suddenly stunning images filled our walls. The process took hours, and it’s amazing that you can be enthralled by watching paint dry.
While we watched the paint dry, we talked about many things with Rokas and Steven. We shared many meals with them while the machine was cycling up and down on the vertical rail and moving slowly along on the rollers. Each image took four to six hours. After a few days we invited them to or home for dinner. We told them how each of us had become followers of Jesus. Steven told us that a few weeks before we met him, he sensed that God was calling him to come to church. We invited them to come to Easter service at our church in Vero. Over the next weeks both made a decision to all Jesus to be their Lord..
We shared more meals with them, talking for hours as the paint dried. I invited them to our men’s group on Tuesday and Steven came. We prayed for more jobs for them, as the financial burden was stressing them both out. After those prayers, Sea World contacted them, and gave them a big contract to print on the round aquarium. That job paid for the machine.
Berea
That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. Acts 17:10-12
The Monument at Berea
Paul teaching the noble minded Bereans
The Jews of Berea were diligent and searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul was telling them was indeed true. As a result, their faith in Jesus was based on Biblical Truth, rather than just convincing preaching. These Bereans set an example for all of us to follow when we hear of things spoken of in the Bible.
Principle: We must do our own research! We must read it for ourselves.
Principle: We must understand the historical, cultural, political, and often geographical context of a passage to get its accurate meaning and true application to our own lives.
Peter Stoner (June 16, 1888 – March 21, 1980) was the Chairman of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena College and chairman of the science division at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. He studied the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah, and calculated the probabilities of one man fulfilling only eight of the prophecies would be one chance in 1017
Peter describes it like this:
"Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.
"Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom."
Quite the odds! The Bereans understood that and received the Good News.
Then, more trouble.
13 But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble. 14 The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15 Those escorting Paul went with him all the way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him. Acts 17:13-15
The Athenian Acropolis
Laura in from of the Parthenon
The south side of the Parthenon which show the exposion in September 26, 1687 when a Venetian cannonball hit the Ottoman gunpowder storage inside the Parthenon.
The Athenian Agora
The Acopolis from the Areopagus
Jason Spence, Randy Smith & Michael at the Areopagus
The Acts 17 text
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
19 Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)
22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. Acts 17:16-23
Who are the Epicureans and Stoics?
Epicurus (341-270 BC) concluded that “freedom from pain in the body and from trouble in the mind” is the ultimate aim of a happy life. Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one's lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid the suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure. Emphasis was placed on pleasures of the mind rather than on physical pleasures. He placed a great emphasis on developing friendships as the basis of a pleasurable life.
“Of all the things which wisdom has contrived which contribute to a blessed life, none is more important, more fruitful, than friendship." Epicurus quoted by Cicero
Stoicism- founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd Century BC. It is a philosophy of personal well-being and happiness (Greek: eudaemonia) through the practice of the cardinal virtue: Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance, and living in accordance with nature.
The Plague
In the 3rd Century B.C. there was a plague in Athens, and many were dying. Offerings were made to the various gods, but to no avail. Finally, a poet named Epimenides decided that perhaps there was an unknown god that might help.
He devised a plan to bring hungry sheep into the city and turn them loose to graze. If any of the hungry sheep decided to lay down on the grass instead of eating it, Epimenides thought it must be a sacred place, and he set up and altar on that spot and sacrificed the sheep as an offering to the “Unknown God”.
According to Epimenides’ own account, this occurred in various places in the region, and other altars were built. Eventually the plague abated, and many believed that the Unknown God had indeed intervened.
Another Greek writer named Diogenes Laurtius mentions these altars: “Altars may be found all over Attica which have no names inscribed upon them, which are left as memorials to this atonement.”
Paul has made a historical and cultural connection with this group of philosophers on Mars Hill. Now they are listening.
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. Acts 17:24-29
Paul now makes even more cultural connections by quoting two ancient writers, Epimenides and Aratus. Epimenides wrote in his work entitled Cretica:
“They fashion a tomb for thee. O holy and high one…But thou art not dead, thou livest and abides forever. For in thee we live and move and have our being.”
Paul now is making the connection between their own poet’s words and the death and resurrection of the one true God, Jesus Christ.
Aratus (310 BC – 240 BC) wrote in his famous poem, Phaenomena, which describes the stars, constellations and other celestial phenomena.:
“Let us begin with Zeus, whom we mortals never leave unspoken. For every street , every market-place is filled with Zeus. Even the sea and the harbors are full of his deity. Everywhere, everyone is indebted to Zeus. For we are indeed his offspring.”
Paul is claiming the Creator is not Zeus, but rather Yahweh.
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them, 34 but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts 17:30-34
Through his cultural understanding, and knowledge of Greek literature, Paul reached into the minds of the Athenian elite. God made a connection to the heart of Dionysius, Damaris, and others, and they joined the Family.
According to Rodney Stark, the sociologist who wrote ‘The Rise of Christianity”, the congregation in Athens grew over the next two centuries, becoming one of the largest in Greece.
How did Paul do it?
Paul told them of a Bigger God that they all sensed existed. After all, where did the virtues of wisdom, courage, justice and temperance come from? He was appealing to their sense of a higher moral code than that of their gods or their culture.
Who is the source of this absolute moral code?
Why did Greeks have fear of their gods and death, when they all knew through Creation that there was a Creator of exquisite beauty and order?
Didn’t Plato himself teach that there were metaphysical forms with which we intersect with in our soul and spirit, the most fundamental being “the Good”, who was a perfect entity that was eternal and constant that existed outside our space and time?
Plato said that when we do good things that we intersect and participate with this “Good.”
Who is this "Good" form?
These Athenian philosophers were all very familiar with these teachings and concepts. Paul appealed to these intrinsic principles, and brought a message not only to their minds, but to their hearts. Yahweh is the Creator. He is the perfect entity that wants a relationship with mankind. He even became a man and lived among us so that we would have no misunderstanding who He is, and what He desires from us. His public execution on a cross and subsequent Resurrection proved his Divinity, and that all He said was true.
It was a presentation of the Gospel that was logical and culturally relative which penetrated the hearts of his listeners on the Areopagus.
The Life Science professor at Indian River State College is a lady named Sherry Hickman. She grew up in a wealthy family in Miami, but when she finished high school she went to Key West, where she worked various jobs as she was ‘living the Key West life.’
One of the bars she worked in had a singer/guitar player who would arrive so drunk that the owner would not allow him to play. He later sobered up and became famous for a song name “Margaritaville.”
Sherry decided to go to college, discovered she had an aptitude for knowledge and teaching and went on to get her Masters in Marine Biology. She married, had two boys, and moved to Vero Beach. She had a miraculous intervention on Interstate 95 while pulling her Airstream trailer where she was forced into a concrete barrier by a merging semi-tractor, realized that she and her two boys were going to die, took her hands off the steering wheel, prayed to God for mercy, and suddenly, somehow, they all passed thru the barrier, causing her two sons to scream out: “What just happened!!! How did we get through that barrier???”
That was one of her first steps in her process of knowing God.
All of our children had Sherry for their Life Science classes. Mikaela began taking her bags of our Rio Coco Beans coffee. That piqued her interest. A few years later, Arielle invited Sherry over for tea time. That’s when I began to engage her and ask about her faith, which she will tell you was non-existent.
Sherry is a thinker, and she began to ask me about my historical perspective of the Bible, and the rational basis for my faith. Meanwhile we invited her over for more tea time and some meals. She was processing. At some point it click, and Sherry received Jesus as her Lord.
Our families’ culturally relevant engagement of her on many levels culminated in an unmistakable encounter with God.
Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. Acts 18:1-4
Corinth with the Acropolis in the background
The Corinth Canal
The Temple of Apollo
The site of the Temple of Aphrodite
The Cardo and Bema Seat
Laura and the Temple of Apollo
5 And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”
7 Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God. Acts 18:5-11
The population of Corinth was culturally different than the Athenians.
They were more Sensual than Cerebral.
Paul’s approach to engaging them was different than his philosophical discussions with the Athenians, as he knew they would not respond to logic, but rather to feelings.
1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
How was the power of God manifested to the Corinthians?
I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift (Chrisma) you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:4-7
Chárisma is the instantaneous enablement of the Holy Spirit in the life of any believer to exercise a gift for the edification of others.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:4-10
These are some of the spiritual ‘chrisma’ that these Holy Spirit gives to all followers of Jesus:
Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, effecting of miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.
Paul adds to this list in the 12th Chapter of Romans:
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8
Service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership and showing mercy are also empowerments from the Holy Spirit given for the benefit of others.
Paul explained how the Holy Spirit works, and prayed for them to receive all His supernatural empowerments. They did, as we can tell from Paul’s letter to them three years later (1 Corinthians).
One thing we must note and take to heart from Paul’s message from God:
“Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9-10
In 2015, we met a girl from Israel named Gal at our Rio Coco Café on the island of Utila Honduras. She was working as a divemaster at one of the many dive schools on Utila. That day we chatted over a cup of coffee, and it was then that Gal pulled a joint out of her shirt and began to light up. She saw a look on my face and asked “Is it ok for me to smoke this here?”
“Of course not.” I replied, laughing. Marijuana is illegal in Honduras.
Gal became a regular at our café, and we all really enjoyed her. One day she asked us if she could work for us, serving in our café. At this point we had never hired any Israelis or other foreigners to be on our staff. I hesitated, knowing that this could cause some problems with our team. As I was processing this decision, I suddenly heard a quiet voice say:
“I have already marked her as my own.”
It was just like what God told Paul about people in Corinth. Gal definitely fit the Corinthian profile. We hired her then, and she help Laura in the kitchen. A year later, she returned from Israel to work another season with us. In the process she came to Vero Beach for a season, making friends with our Christian community.
Michael, Gal & Laura, Jaffa 2023
After that trip, Gal returned to Israel and went to an art school, and began making artisan wood products. I called her one day and she told me “I miss my Christian friends.” On another call, she told me “It would be much easier for me if Jesus just showed up on the bus and sat next to me. Would you pray for that?”
We have, and every time we go to Israel, we spend as much time as we can with her.
What do we learn about making disciples from this extraordinary journey into Greece by Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke?
1) Do our best preparation to reach that person in front of us where they are at.
2) Allow ourselves to step into their world, their thinking, and their experiences, to point them in the direction of God.
3) Serve the people we are with. Develop intimate relationships with them.
4) Speak God’s words when He directs without regard to opposition.
5) Model the Christian life through our morality, economy, hospitality, and focus on God’s mission to reach the lost.
6) Allow God to do His part, and open their minds and heart to Him, just as he did for Lydia in Philippi.
7) Bring them into the presence of God through our prayers for them, our worship with them, and by exercising the supernatural empowerments of the Holy Spirit to encourage and exhort them.
8) Remember God already knows who will be members of His Family, even if we don’t think they are. We must just do our part.
The Paul/Silas/Timothy/Luke Mission Team had an unexpected adventure in Greece. This adventure has resulted in the salvation of all of us. Yes risky, but remarkable.
Let’s live out our own adventure that God has designed for us.
Adventure: a risky undertaking; a remarkable experience.
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