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A Trinity of Neglect :: Readers’ Choice

From John: I am thrilled to begin Readers’ Choice this year with a selection from a ministry mentor of mine. Bruce is in my prayers regularly for his health, but I regularly get group texts that he is praying for me, among many other friends. Bruce is certainly one who puts love and faith into action. It is a privilege to know him and be prayed for by him, and by other Park Forum readers as well. Thank you all.

Selected by reader, Bruce, from Louisiana
I love this. It certainly reminds us that loving others requires action not staying in our comfort zone, investing time not hiding our gifts, and doing the right thing not just thinking about it.

Matthew 25.37-40
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

1 Timothy 4.13-15
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.

Reflection: A Trinity of Neglect :: Readers’ Choice
Originally posted, January 25, 2019
By John Tillman

Matthew 25 is famous for the sheep and the goats parable. But really, the entire chapter is about people who shirked their responsibilities to themselves, to their master, and to others. The foolish virgins, the wicked servant, and the goats are a trinity of spiritual neglect.

Pray this weekend through the three stories. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you warning signs if you are following the path of one of these neglectful souls.

May we avoid the neglect of The Foolish Virgins…
We need not stumble into extravagant sin to endanger our relationship with you, Lord.

The virgins excluded from the banquet were not lascivious, or lustful. They were not greedy or cruel. They simply were irresponsible and unthoughtful.

May we never fall into the dim thoughtlessness of complacency, and may we regularly refresh ourselves with the oil of your Holy Spirit to brighten our lamps when called on.

May we avoid the lazy apathy of The Wicked Servant…
We need not squander your blessings to use them unworthily, oh Lord.

The servant given one bag of gold didn’t lose it, or gamble it away. He didn’t try to steal it. He just didn’t try to use it. The servant failed to understand, and so do we, that the king wasn’t investing his money with people. He was investing in people with his money. The king expected growth in the servant. Growth of the gold would only be a side effect. He would have found more mercy in the master had he tried and failed, than in failing to even try.

May we dare to step out with whatever seemingly insignificant gift he has given us. You, oh Lord, do not despise small beginnings or small gifts well and truly used in faith.

May we avoid the careless denial of responsibility of the goats…
We need not be ignorant of you, Lord, to miss Heaven. We need only be uninvolved and unconcerned for others.

The goats didn’t actively cause hunger, or thirst, or homelessness, or refugees. They didn’t cause nakedness, or crime, or unjust punishment, or oppression, or sickness. They just didn’t do anything about it. This was enough to show that Christ had no place in their lives and they had no place with Christ in his eternal life.

Dwell with the Holy Spirit this weekend, asking him to enlighten you about areas in which you may be prone to following in the missteps of the virgins, the servant, or the goats.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Our iniquities you have set before you, and our secret sins in the light of your countenance… — Psalm 90.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 16 (Listen – 5:59) 
Acts 20 (Listen – 5:22)

This Weekend’s Readings
Judges 17 (Listen – 1:50), Acts 21 (Listen – 5:55)
Judges 18 (Listen – 4:39), Acts 22 (Listen – 4:26)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Submit a Readers’ Choice
We still have room for your voice. What post comforted you?

Submit a Readers’ Choice
Let our community hear how your faith has grown. What post helped you see your work in a new light?

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Hope Sees Us :: Editor’s Choice

Luke 19.4, 9
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
…Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house…”

Reflection: Hope Sees Us :: Editor’s Choice
By John Tillman

The post quoted below, Hope on a Limb, was originally published on December 5th as a part of our Advent series. It struck a chord and resonated, picking up so much traffic in the remaining twenty-five days of December that it was our most viewed page on our entire website in 2018. Seven more months have passed and it is still keeping ahead of other posts. People are still looking for hope.

The post is about hope and where we place it. But it is also about how Jesus is not the king that our flesh cries out for. Instead, Jesus is the king that our broken and busted souls need.

As much as we do not understand why Jesus chooses to, he still loves us. Our problem is that we don’t like all of the people whom Jesus also loves…

“He gave the gift of his presence, salvation, and peace to Zacchaeus—a traitor, a government thug, and a corporate thief.
He gave a warning parable about an unwanted king, “because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.”
He gave, in his parable, more resources to the already rich, over the objections of the crowd.
Then he ran the rich and powerful out of the Temple in order to give it back to the outcasts, the foreigners, the blind, and the lame.

Jesus is, for some, the unwanted king of the parable. His Advent will frustrate those who wait for earthly adulation and success.

But Jesus is for others, the yearned-for King of Glory. He endlessly supplies those whose hopes rise higher.

What we hope for in Advent is not a political power broker.
What we hope for in Advent is not a market economist.
What we hope for in Advent is not a government regulatory watchdog.
What we hope for in Advent is not a resource of earthly wealth, success, fame, and power.

The king we hope for brings healing.
The king we hope for brings peace.
The king we hope for brings love.

In the season of Advent, we climb out, hopefully, on a limb with Zacchaeus.”

Not just in Advent, but in every season of the year, if we climb out on a limb searching for Jesus, he will come by. Hope sees us out on that limb. He will call us down. And he will make himself at home at our table.

Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” — Matthew 11.28

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 15 (Listen – 3:13) 
Acts 19 (Listen – 5:47)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Submit a Readers’ Choice
We still have room for your voice. What post made you want to share?

Submit a Readers’ Choice
Let our community hear how your faith has grown. What post challenged your faith?

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Servants in the Age of Showboats :: Worldwide Prayer

Acts 18.26-27
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

Reflection: Servants in the Age of Showboats :: Worldwide Prayer
By John Tillman

The book of prayers that our Worldwide Prayer series come from was published in 1998. I have read through this book before, but this prayer jumped off the page at me as if it was voiced yesterday.

How deeply damaged is our idea of what a leader is! We cannot seem to cease from grasping at the hems of emperors and kings rather than at the hem of the humble carpenter of Galilee. Whether in politics or in the church, so many of our leaders lead in the opposite way that Jesus described to his disciples, each lording their power over one another.

Truthfully, our emperors have no clothes. They think they are rich, but they are poor, blind, and naked. Our true leader bids us follow him through tears, blows, blood, and shame, carrying our cross. May we set our face toward our Jerusalem and in his power and with his mercy, humble ourselves and follow him into servitude.

Servants in the Age of Showboats
A prayer for servant leadership from the USA
Dear Jesus,

We live in an age where the proud, unethical, immoral showboat leader is honored and glorified. We have seen how this type of leadership has affected our witness to the world. We are praying for leaders whose greatness is evident through their love for you and their service to people. We pray for a revival of servant leadership around the world.

We pray for the relationships of our leaders.

  • That each leader will keep in constant contact with you
  • That they will only seek your approval
  • That they will not waste time judging others
  • That their hearts would be open, listening, and faith-filled

We pray for the actions of our leaders.

  • That they would not avoid difficult decisions to win approval or to be liked
  • That they would be willing to sacrifice and take risks for the building of your kingdom
  • That they would never stray from the mission you have called them to
  • That their “personal experiences” would help them to see their gifts more clearly and rely on you

Lord, give us leaders who will…

  • Know when it is appropriate to shout and cry as long as those tears spill over into appropriate action in your name
  • Be totally passionate and righteously committed to excellence for the glory of God

In the name of Jesus, who taught us how to lead as servants.

*Prayer from Hallowed be Your Name: A collection of prayers from around the world, Dr. Tony Cupit, Editor.

Prayer: The Request for Presence
To you I lift up my eyes, to you enthroned in the heavens. — Psalm 123.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 14 (Listen – 3:35) 
Acts 18 (Listen – 4:06)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Read more about Resisting Herods
The Herods epitomize the kind of people that the Jesus community is so often drawn to in hopes of gaining their approval.

Resisting Herods

Read more about The Context of The Widow’s Mite
This scripture has more to say about unscrupulous religious leaders than about generous poor people. It tells us that judgment is coming on leaders who take advantage of the poor.

The Context of The Widow’s Mite

Readers’ Choice Submissions

It has been so good to hear from many of you about posts for Readers’ Choice, but we still have some room in August for your input.

Share with our community about the post or posts from the past eleven months that have challenged and comforted you.

Follow the link to fill out the form. Please limit your submissions to posts published this calendar year, between September of 2018 and today.

For any questions contact John Tillman at john@theparkforum.org

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A Berean Palate

Acts 17.11-12
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

Reflection: A Berean Palate
By John Tillman                                                                                                                                     
The contrast between the Bereans and the Thessalonians has come up in our devotionals before. Despite the Thessalonians having two epistles in the New Testament, Luke tells us in Acts that the Berean culture was more intellectually mature. Maybe Thessalonica just needed more help.

Truthfully, most of Paul’s letters were intended to be read by all the churches in the area. So Thessalonian letters were likely read to the Bereans as well.

But as for us, there is little doubt that our modern culture is more Thessalonian than Berean. 

The Thessalonians were prone to being riled up by exaggeration and falsifications. Just like we are. From our earlier post on this topic:

“If you think people today are more sophisticated, more cultured, or more intellectual than those of the ancient world, you have been paying attention neither to ancient history nor to Facebook.”

The Bereans’ nobility is specifically related to their openmindedness, and their mature evaluation of new information according to the scriptures. We may need this discipline now even more than they did.

Our social media feeds and the 24-hour news channels we frequent are like a neverending buffet of poorly-cooked, unsanitary, and ill-prepared foods. It is no wonder that uncareful consumers end up vomiting thinly veiled racism or totalitarianist dogma masked as a joke or a critique or a supposedly “logical” argument. We need to develop a more discerning palate concerning the articles, posts, and even memes that form the majority of our information consumption. If the posts we see were all simply political, that would be bad enough, but many posts, especially contentious political posts, either directly or indirectly address theological concepts. 

As Acts and much of the New Testament teaches us, “Fake News” is not new. Mobs and riots are not new. Hate-mongering political leadership is not new. What is new is that too many Christians care less about the facts, than they do about political victory. To this point, we often quote Ed Stetzer, who has said, “Facts are our friends.” 

May we develop a discerning, Berean palate that we not only apply to scripture but to our reading of our culture and our reading of all the information that algorithms and the hysteria factories called “newsrooms” can throw at us.

“Christians need to develop a more Berean attitude about not only the scripture we read, but the news we share. It’s hard to share the incredible news of the Gospel when the rest of what we share is in-credible.”

Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognize you as my disciples.” — John 13.34-35

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 13 (Listen – 3:44) 
Acts 17 (Listen – 5:28)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Read more about A Berean Take on Fake News :: Readers’ Choice
It’s hard to share the incredible news of the Gospel when the rest of what we share is in-credible.

A Berean Take on Fake News :: Readers’ Choice

Read more about Honoring The Truth
Seeking the truth is not only a spiritual quest. It is sometimes a civic one. Or a legal one.

Honoring The Truth

Readers’ Choice Submissions

It has been so good to hear from many of you about posts for Readers’ Choice, but we still have some room in August for your input.

Share with our community about the post or posts from the past eleven months that have challenged and comforted you.

Follow the link to fill out the form. Please limit your submissions to posts published this calendar year, between September of 2018 and today.

For any questions contact John Tillman at john@theparkforum.org

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Avoiding Avoidable Offense

Acts 16.15
When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Reflection: Avoiding Avoidable Offense
By John Tillman

Accommodating to the culture does not include compromising the gospel. The gospel is non-negotiable. Paul consistently defends the gospel, refusing to compromise with sin or affirm sinful behaviors. But he endlessly strives to accommodate to the culture of those he is reaching, adjusting his behavior and language. The gospel is offensive and counter-cultural in its nature, but Paul strives to avoid avoidable offense. 

In the rest of Paul’s ministry, he goes first to a synagogue to teach the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. Here in Phillipi, he goes out to the river to find a “place of prayer” and speaks to a group of women. The word proseuchē, which is translated as “place of prayer” is occasionally synonymous with a synagogue, however, many commentators believe its usage means there were not enough male Jewish believers to form a synagogue. 

What is unusual about this Jewish gathering, is the prominence of Lydia—not only a woman but a non-Jew. In all the other cities they visit, Luke neglects to name the male leaders of synagogues who either welcomed or rejected Paul’s message, but here in Phillipi, Lydia is given special attention. By comparison, later in the chapter, Luke leaves nameless the Phillipian jailer who also came to faith “with his entire household” as Lydia did. 

Lydia is also the first person scripture records as being baptized in Paul’s ministry (though we know there were others before her). She is also the first baptized Christ-follower in the European continent. Scripture tells us that after Lydia’s conversion she “persuaded” Paul and the others to stay with her. The word implies entreaty or compelling someone to do something they would not ordinarily do. Jews would not normally stay in the home of a non-Jew, not even a proselyte believer such as Lydia.

What we see at work here is the continuing development of Paul’s pattern of accommodating himself to different cultures for the sake of spreading the gospel. As Paul set out on this journey, he had Timothy circumcised, so as not to be an offense to Jews as they traveled. This was an accommodation to his intended audience. Paul was opposed to requiring non-Jews to be circumcised. And here, among the most Jewish part of Phillipi’s culture, Paul abandons Jewish customs that he upholds at other times.

Too often, perhaps, we confuse “boldly” proclaiming the gospel, with “rudely” proclaiming the gospel. This is a mistake Paul works hard to avoid. May we do the same.

Prayer: A Reading
And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it. — Mark 16.19-20

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 12 (Listen – 2:21) 
Acts 16 (Listen – 5:53)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Read more about Cringing at Culture or at Christ?
As we attempt to manifest Christ in our world and to our culture, we must allow the Holy Spirit to bring out in us the fullest picture of who God is.

Cringing at Culture or at Christ?

Read more about Balaam’s Success
Balaam coached Balak on a conspiracy to tempt Israel to sins that their culture was prone to.

Balaam’s Success

Readers’ Choice Submissions

It has been so good to hear from many of you about posts for Readers’ Choice, but we still have some room in August for your input.

Share with our community about the post or posts from the past eleven months that have challenged and comforted you.

Follow the link to fill out the form. Please limit your submissions to posts published this calendar year, between September of 2018 and today.

For any questions contact John Tillman at john@theparkforum.org