Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Jan. 26- UA 17

The Unexpected Adventure- UA 17- "The Cowboy Who Almost Shot Me"   2 Corinthians 11:26-27; Acts 20:24


In Day 17 of UA, Middelberg tells of a time as a young Christian he had a friend fly him up to the North Dakota badlands at night so he could find his unsaved friends on a hunting trip and witness to them.  He can't find them, camps out in a field and ends up meeting the crusty landowner who invites him back to his log cabin rather than shoot him.  The point of the story is that witnessing might be spontaneous and dangerous, but God will protect and provide.  Neat story.  Encouraging truths.  But unlikely for most of us.  However, his story, along with the verses from 2 Corinthians did get me to thinking.


After reading and rereading 2 Corinthians 11:26-27, I tried my hand at composing a DLM Translation.
(The DLM is in read, Paul's story in black.)


26 I have been constantly on the move (consistently sedentary). I have been in danger from rivers (streets with a bit too much rain to go to church), in danger from bandits (having to look at the homeless person standing at an intersection), in danger from my fellow Jews (church members who might disagree with my beliefs on pre vs post trib), in danger from Gentiles (people who don't go to church, but really are not too worried about my beliefs); in danger in the city (Yeah, like Springfield is a dangerous city.), in danger in the country (not in America), in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers (people who might snicker at my beliefs behind my back). 27I have labored and toiled (gotten up a bit early to spend 20-30 minutes a day in prayer and Bible study) and have often gone without sleep (hitting the snooze button for the fifth time); I have never known hunger and thirst and have not once often gone without food; I have been cold and naked (warm and clothed).


Sorry the above DLM translation is a bit of a mess.  In my mind it was going to look much more coherent.  


The point is that I have never really suffered for Christ.  I know that not everyone is called to live with lepers, move to Haiti or work with inner city homeless, but shouldn't all Christians who are sold out to Christ have some physical or emotional stripes to show for our Kingdom work?  
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1 comment:

  1. Bob and JoJanuary 27, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    I really like the latest blog. I have wondered how to type something and then mark it out like you did. Sometime........

    The idea of suffering (being mildly inconvenienced) for my belief is on I have puzzled on. Some Christians want to be somewhat persecuted for their beliefs...or at least for their church work. On several occasions I have heard people say, when some church program or plan seems to hit a snag, something like "This must be a good idea. Satan is trying to stop us." And they attribute to Satan the consequences of their own poor planning or near-stupidity. Mild persecution brings its own reward of self-congratulation.

    The other side of the coin is where you seemed to be this morning. I don't think God wants us to go looking for opposition, any more than He expects us to stand fast in the face of it.

    I think you are on the right path of being more alert to the need to be more open and aggressive
    with witnessing. For me, I think any move I make in that direction may first result in activities on my calendar being erased or marked out as I let God have final control of my daily plans.

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