pinakidion.*

Thank you for your generosity. You know who you are.

The Unity Plan is still a bad idea. Tonight, my old church in NC is going to announce that they are not signing it. I doubt they will post something on their website. Just in NC, you have five churches - two that signed it (Greenville and Fayetville), one that will not sign (Triangle), one that is ambivalent (Triad), and a final one that no one knows what they will do (Charlotte). Relationships were strained a couple years ago, but they were meeting together sometimes. This UP did not help, especially with the mentality of “we have to know who’s committed in order to know who we’re responsible for.”(sic) Now a big question when they get together is, “why did you/why didn’t you sign?” That is assuming that they still meet monthly.

The admonition to form a regional group may or may not be heeded - all of them are sending folks to Beachstock. (Ironic.) Point is that this plan has exacerbated problems that were already there. They had problems before and all five churches need to work together to work through them - however - trying to separate the sheep and the goats pushes them further apart. Is Triangle the goat now for not signing? Is Fayetville a sheep for signing? Is the Triad righteous for not saying which way they will go? Personally, I think their issues are theological and historical - if it is worked out, it will take quite some time.

In 2004 at the Dallas M.O.A.C. I spoke to leaders from churches in NC and VA. The idea of forming a regional group or even calling Mitch to offer encouragement seemed a distant hope. Things have changed some and I hope that the differences can be worked out despite the UP. Oddly enough, the only person that said they would call was Wyndham Shaw, the man that baptized Mitch.

What I have come to peace with, is that the church I attend has signed it. I do not agree with their decision. I believe it was the wrong one. I believe that the rationale behind signing it is not valid. Despite that, I can accept that they have signed it and that I can be respected for disagreeing. I disagreed with the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign and we worked through that. I am at peace with the fact that I want some kind of relationships with the people here, even if I place membership elsewhere.

I am not at peace that this was done in the first place - but I have chosen to give up fighting about it. There is a time to pursue and a time to give up. I give up. I think all the people that are going to sign, except NY and San Antonio have signed. Given that, the UP is hardly a mandate, especially from the US churches. I think that fact will void the UP and something like what I and others have proposed will be done. Even if everyone suddenly signs, then I will move on. I have said what I needed to say about it.

John Engler had once said that some find peace within the ICoC subculture by forming their own little ’safe’ groups of trusted friends. It allows them to stay a part of the church while not agreeing with decisions and events elsewhere. That is my separate peace that I have acheived. When my wife and I move in a few years, the likelihood that I will be a part of the ICoC congregation there is almost zero. I do not want to fight these battles all over again. I’d rather go somewhere with a different set of problems.

Knowing this has allowed me to live my life in what I percieve as a healthy and honest way.

I understand the pros and cons of celebrating a spiritual birthday. I understand that within the ICoC subculture, spiritual age was a yardstick of maturity - or a means to berate you for not being spiritual enough. (Your ten years old as a disciple and you still struggle with that? How do you think God feels about you?)

However, I still use this time to think about my life and reflect on my Christian walk. Considering recent events, it seemed good to continue this tradition. I didn’t do this last year, — it was the first time in 14 years. Today at 15, I think about a few things.

Ambivalence is not always healthy.
Love covers a multitude of sins.
Blessings come at the perfect time.

Ambivalence Is Not the Solution
I have become cynical about certain things over time. I try to be positive(whatever that means) and hopeful, but ultimately cannot sustain it for any length of time.

I’ve learned that cynical people are usually those that used to have to grandest dreams and hopes. A person doesn’t become jaded without something to be jaded about. Proverbs says that a dream deferred makes the heart sick. I believe a symptom of that sickness is cynicism. The grander the dream, the deeper the wound. At some point, a person can even become snide.

Over the past year, I have been snide and cynical. (Despite the rhyme, cynical and critical are not the same thing.) I have also been naively hopeful. Being eternally optimistic at heart, I switch between the extremes of big dreams and shattered hopes. I have these great visions and hopes for the future and when they do not come to pass, it is difficult to accept. One of my largest character flaws is lack of follow-through. Sometimes the vision fails because I do not get enough people on board at the beginning to sustain the project. Sometimes it is all in my head and I am unable to transfer the vision to anyone else. Everytime, though, I am greatly disappointed that it did not work out.

One solution is to not hope at all. It’s unrealisitic to try for this one and probably unhealthy. Another solution is to attempt to scale back the grandness of these hopes and visions. Easier said than done, I don’t have small ideas that gradually build up in scale, they arrive half-baked and huge at the start. Of course, being prone to getting carried away, the idea gets larger from there, despite starting out too big in the first place.

The best way to deal with this is to break the grand vision into smaller visions. It keeps me from overpromising and it keeps me focused on follow-through.

For example, this year I wanted to embrace unity in my Christian walk. On aspect of this unity is community involvement with people that claim the name Christian. To that end I spoke to various people within and without the Restorationist Movement. The most positive interaction came from a group here in town called Bridging the Gap Ministries. I can now connect this group, largely African-American, to the church I attend, largely white. Bridging the Gap does things in neighborhoods that many are afriad to visit. My neighbor, a barber, has worked in these neighborhoods for awhile as well. One connection brings three sets together - that it the essence of unity to me. Things have flagged of late with BTG, so I need to put some time into that connection and do what I can. However, it is manageable and involves a couple hours over the next two weeks.

My mother and step-father are part of an aging, but active group known as the International Order of Odd-Fellows. If I became a member of this group, I would have international connections to all kinds of people dedicated to helping others. I would be a fifth generation member, something of prestige within the orgnization. The benefit of the Odd-Fellows is that they are eager to be involved and tend to have money going unused year after year. Connect people that have money and motivation to help others with another group that is already actively helping others and you have something to build upon. Considering the benefits, this costs me two meetings a month and some weekly phone calls. When I think about building unity, I think about people doing this very thing: making connections from church to service group to parachurch group. If only the people in these three groups did this, I believe that we would eventually connect with the Rotarians and Kiwanis, not to mention people from all around the city that just want to help.

All of this is just a part of Christian unity that can demonstrate that people calling themselves Christians can make a difference in the community. As far as deeper unity within the church, my efforts thus far have not been as successful. I plan on attending classes taught at Christ Community Church at the invite of a friend. The president of Grace University, where my former minister was trained, is teaching a class on comparative religions. Considering that CCC has some roots in the Restoration Movement (think Willow Creek), I hope to make some connections there either through Grace University or through CCC. The worst thing that can happen is that I attend a free class with lots of good information.

Another aspect is akin to church unity. In that regard, I am finished with contacting people all over the ICoC subculture. All I have accomplished to that end is antagonizing so-called leaders in high places. They are not able to help me at this time, so I am going elsewhere. As Jesus said, those that are well do not need a doctor. True there are exceptions, so I do not want to hinder them in any way. Major folks from Abilene and Pepperdine are quite accessible and tend to be thinking about unity quite a bit these days. I stay in touch with them as I am able through listservs. Folks from the Willow Creek Community Church (like the CCC mentioned earlier) are also interested in unity. I frequent some websites with other like-minded people and viola, the stage is set for doing something rather than talking about something.

That doing something starts small, like a study group that meets together, or a community project, or something else. It can be anything, even a picnic. Ultimately, it would be great to have a monthly (at least!) worship service altogether. More than anything, just have an event that can lead to relationship building. I support the church I attend hiring a NON-ICoC minister and a ton of them have applied. It may not happen, but it would be great.

More later.

My wife is reading this book and it shaped her thoughts for communion yesterday. As an aside, I have to mention that I did not introduce her, nor did anyone else. Those within the subculture know what I mean.

The flash player below will play her communion.

/AsySound.swf?http://pinakidion.us/wrath.mp3

I am very proud of her for wanting to share something so deeply personal in order to talk about her wrestling with God.

For those that want to know the conclusion before the details, here it is:

I’m staying for now. I better understand the perspective of the board and the minister - we actually want the same things and have a very similar line of thought on almost everything. It’s funny that with the same thoughts and reservations, one side can conclude “Sign it because it doesn’t hurt us” while the other side concludes “Don’t sign it because it can only hurt us”. The real work of any kind of unity requires us to work together despite two different conclusions.

I took a stand for something I strongly believe. I also committed myself to working it out until I got an answer - and that answer could have been that I leave the church I attend. I wanted a certain answer, but I was and still am willing to accept that an agreement cannot be reached (thus I leave). I feel like the minister did the same - he strongly believes in togetherness and family. He was committed to me as a friend and wanted to understand why I am outraged at the UP. He was hoping that I wouldn’t leave, but would be my friend either way.
Read more…

I’m writing this because I have good friends that ask about me. I want to write it only once, instead of several times in individual emails.

I have not written in seven days. Not much has really happened in those seven days, thus nothing to really write about. Kelcy’s site is dead for nine days, now. I update the scoreboard as I find out who’s on one side of the line and who’s one the other. Nonny’s not up to much and even the Delphites are not as juiced as usual.

I’ve written about Ephesians, but it’s on paper. That dooms it from appearing on the site as I am a terrible transcriptionist. I’ll try. I plan on adding the study of 1 Thessalonians and Galatians as well.

I did not write about the Chick-Fil-A(TM) Chronicles yet, my buddy beat me to it..

Mostly, my employer has been in the national news, so I’ve been on the down-low. The last thing I need is for the national media to start contacting me. I don’t think they would, but why invite trouble at this point? If I had this or the church issues to contend with, well, bring the noise. With both, however, I do not feel up to the challenge. First I’ll deal with church issues, then maybe the local and national media.

I meet with the minister tomorrow morning. Either way, the previous posts will return along with the conclusion of the matter. I did a little posting amongst the Delphites, but mostly to defend the minister from some off-the-wall accusations.

My son is doing well, he’s up to three hours a day with the hearing aid. He continues to laugh about so many things that I have started laughing a bit as well. I keep trying to tell him that mommy and daddy are beyond broke, but he just thinks life is grand. I agree.

I am pensive these days. I think too much, but that surprises no one. I enjoy my son and my wife. I’m glad to live in a place with some greenery - my son loves to touch the saplings planted in our yard. It’s our afternoon ritual.

As I embark on working two jobs, I still believe that I’ll have time to write. Writing keeps me sane, for the most part, so it is like breathing to me.

For the past few days, I’ve been writing information for a magic/superhero system for the Action! System RPG. I think my ideas are a bit different without being overly complicated. The meme for the magic system is based on a more Japanese cosmology. It makes for some interesting situations. For example, there are healers that treat wounds and healers that treat disease. There is no all-in-one-healer/medic class as seen in most games. (Consequently, there is not one spell that heals all diseases. I always hated that about D&D.) There are also only five schools of magic, based on elemental focus. Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Void. Earth spells deal with the earth, but also with healing wounds and the body. Air deals with the mind, but it also deals with growth of all kinds. Fire spells deal with light and heat, but also deals with animals of all kinds (except marine creatures). Water spells deal with plants, in addition to blood, healing diseases and marine life. The Void deals with those things outside current perception, the stars and other celestial bodies. Unlike many other systems, a person can have more than one focus. The schools serve more as a means of classification than anything else.

Any given spell is invoked with its elemental focus. To that focus is added a verb that describes the action. To the verb is added an object to receive the effects of the spell. The last word gives some indication of the effect desired. The subject is assumed to be the caster. Only extraordinary wizards can cast a spell ‘as someone else’. Spells use their own language and wizards converse in that language frequently. Fortunately, a wizard must first learn to invoke magic with la kela lenge, the magical voice and focus the energy through a token (such as a wand or amulet) to cast a spell. To start a small fire (say for camping), the wizard would invoke la kela lenge, focus energy through a wand (or other token), say muta ambas hakain muja (create very small fire over there) and make an appropriate gesture pointing to a specific place, thus igniting the pile of wood (or whatever you point at) for the campfire. If the wood was green or it was otherwise wet, the wizard may change the last word to mbala to produce a slightly stronger effect. In actual play, you do not have to use Lengo (the language).

So, I’ve been busy, just not around. Needed to have some mental play before getting down to bid-ness, if you know what I mean.

See you soon.

Some time ago,

I’m behind on the [Ephesians] meme, but I will catch up by this weekend.

No progress in other areas, due to my lack of availability. I asked the potential new minister what he thought of the UP and I heard a speech about the silent majority needs to overpower the vocal minority. Ugh.

My buddy has really started work on the Chick-Fil-A chronicles, click on the tool link at the top of the page to read on.

Dark place last week, I admit.

Yes, I took my posts down - I was afraid of outside involvement again. Serves me right for publishing my thoughts and feelings in a public place. I’ll put them back up once current talks with various people conclude. I hate doing things this way, but in a culture of “calling people without first calling you” what can you do?

I get to church yesterday and someone says “I found this envelope with your name on it.” In the envelope was $100 cash.

I know, it’s not like someone is paying me to attend, it’s just that this is the kind of people here. Good people that understand Christ-likeness. I want to be more like my friends and family here.

My friend and former roommate has begun the Chick-Fil-A Chronicles on his site.

I wrote about this trip here amonst other things going on that week. Ah, the chickeny goodness.

Soon, the story of a Chick-Fil-A in Charleston, WV.

The saga begins…

There’s a lot of buzz about the recovered Gospel of Judas. In a made for TV style, the National Geographic Channel promises a tell-all show this Sunday night.

The Cainites are not new to Christian historians. Since they considered the god of the Old Testament evil, anyone punished by this god was revered. It’s no surprise they revered Judas Iscariot as well. The New Advent website provides the following definition:

A Gnostic Sect of the second century was called Cainites or Caianites. They regarded all characters held up to retrobation in the Old Testament as worthy of veneration, as having suffered at the hands of the cruel God of the Jews; hence Cain, as the first man cursed by Hysteraa, the Demiurg, claimed their special admiration. This sect of Antinomians never found many adherents, and Hippolytus at the beginning of the third century dismisses them with the bare mention of their name.

Talk about rooting for the underdog…

The fact that this is touted as a rival to the accepted Gospels demonstrates large-scale ignorance of how the New Testament was formed in the first place. I am hopeful that this national interest will spark some educational opportunities to learn about canonization. I think our national skepticism can easily question the decisions made by various councils. I’ve been there myself.

I used to use a table like this one to read certain extrabiblical books and try to come to some decision on my own as to their canonicity. After all, if Irenaeus the Shepherd of Hermas to be biblical, it must have some value. I also marveled at all the books that Clement considered canonical enough to cite in his works. He cited obscure books like the Gospel to the Egyptians and others. I was ready to dive into all of these to make up my own mind.

Then, in Greek class, my professor began telling us about Julius Africanus. He wrote a history of the world trying to come up with a date for creation. He also wrote a few other things here and there. Of interest to our professor, though, was a letter to Origen. Tersely and forthrightly, Julius chides Origen for preaching from the Book of Susanna, a book in the OT Apocyrpha. Origen’s response was not overly critical, but in a roundabout way, Orgien basically says that he can preach authoritatively from it if he wants to. He can discern the difference between the recommendation to read it and the admonition to avoid teaching from it.

That got me thinking - here is the great Origen and this obscure guy from Emmaus. Where did he get the confidence to chide Origen? He simply trusted that his earlier predecessors did their due diligence in determining the canon. It also got me thinking that surely God would not allow the Bible to stand for centuries only to get one book wrong. I realize that the NT wasn’t officially canonized by the time of Julius Africanus, but the disputes were much smaller by then. (Earliest NT canon that matches the current accepted NT is 354.) In any case, God knows the message He wants to impart. Either he will allow his message to be obscured or not. Like Julius, I choose to believe that God knows what he is doing.

Granted, I don’t think this act of faith excuses good research, but let’s face it. With all the things that can be researched, is this a higher priority than trying to understand the current canon, first? After almost twenty years of study, I don’t think I have understood the present canon well enough yet! I’ve done my little foray into it and I’m content to stick with what we’ve got.

But that doesn’t make for good television. Ask Dan Brown.

The Scoreboard has been updated as of today for those that need to know who is on which side. After all, some need to

have an awareness of those churches that want to take part in an active fellowship amongst one another.

Unity Proposal Q&A - Feb 23, 2006

In the next week or so, there should be another rewrite of the question of this being a creed. There will be a few more no votes and a lot more yes votes coming in. Whatever.

I basically wanted to have a post saying that my continued interest in the ICoC is waning fast. I plan on writing more about expositions, computer stuff, and my life in general. The ICoC blew their big chance and this is the beginning of the end.

I also do not plan to comment on the church I attend. I do not consider myself a member, but a visitor, so their business is solely theirs. If I speak (doubtful) I’ll let you know. My wife is giving communion on Sunday, so I plan to have that here. (No, I’m not doing it with her or even introducing her on stage.) If things change, I’ll let you know. I’m teaching the 3rd and 4th graders this summer, so you can hear the sermons on the church’s website like I will. Please do not ask me about the church I attend.

Some have said to me that there is no such thing as a perfect church and they are right. I am not looking for a perfect church. I am looking for a church with a set of problems I can live with. Telling me that I shouldn’t leave because there’s no such thing as a perfect church is like telling someone to stay at their present job because there’s no such thing as a perfect job. Besides, I’m not leaving - I believe that unity is relational and I intend to keep these relationships as God allows.

To that end, I believe in unity. I want to be unified with brothers and sisters everywhere. I can be unified with some ICoC congregations because I am no longer a member. I want to be unified in the sense that I know there are Christians in the ICoC and I believe that with all my heart. I do not agree with all their doctrine. This is the same kind of unity I feel towards my brothers and sisters in the mainline chruches of christ. They have doctrine I do not agree with, but they are baptized for the forgiveness of sins, just like me.

I believe in being a member of a church - relationship with God is individual and corporate. Without some kind of corporate worship and fellowship, a large part of Christianity is lost. I will eventually be a member somewhere - it may even be the church I currently attend. Right now, though, it will just take some time.

I have a great hope of Heaven and a great hope of unity here on Earth. I plan to pursue it as best I can.

POSTSCRIPT
I appreciate the comments. I feel like I need to say something, though.

I am not doing this just to prove a point. I’m trying to do what I believe is right for me and my family. I’m not looking to be some model of any kind. The situation is fluid and could change drastically at any time. The end result of this may be that I end up being a member again.

As I said before, I write my feelings here, but rarely write about my actions. This is a psalter, not a documentary. I want to be resolved about this, not just heard. I’ve been heard. I respect what one deacon has shared with me about his persepctive. I could very well be in the wrong, though presently I do not believe I am. I realize that I am putting some people that do not care about the UP in an awkward position. These people are my friends and have been very good friends to me since I moved here - thus this is difficult. I hope it can be resolved in a way satisfactory to everyone. I believe in the ability of most folks here to work issues out. I am not simply going to walk out.

Praises to God
From the beginning of this letter, Paul offers praise to God. Not just God, the Father(1:3-6), but also God, the Son(1:7-12), and God, the Holy Spirit(1:13-14).

God the father is praised to “the glory of his grace”(v.6) which has been present since creation. God knows what he is doing and more than that, he enjoys it. When he called men to be reconciled to Him through Jesus, it wasn’t from a sense of duty or from exasperation pushing Him into saving mankind. No, it is God’s “pleasure and will” to save us through His son. Throughout this passage, it is clear that God knows what He is doing, and He enjoys doing it. What he is doing/has done/will do is to reconcile mankind to himself through his grace.

God the Son is praised because we are redeemed through his blood. Through his blood we are able to know God and his grace. Through his blood, we are also forgiven of our sins. We are not just forgiven, but forgiven according to His grace. In other words, This grace is ‘lavished’ on us ‘with all wisdom and understanding’.

God the Spirit is praised as a seal. In the more modern experience, a seal marks ownership and authenticity. A letter sealed in wax indentifies the author by the impression of his/her ring on the seal. It has been argued that the Holy Spirit, in effect, shows the christian as belonging to the father because of the signet seal on our lives.

However, the seal in this case is linked to inheritence. The Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Basically, the Spirit promises that the rest of our inheritance is coming to us. First, God chose, then at salvation, He made men and women His children. Finally, in the resurrection, the earthly body will be reedemed. The inheritance is the full redemption of mankind, body and soul. This redemptive work began at the creation and will end with the final resurrection.

Praise of the Ephesians
Paul spent almost three years in Ephesus - it seems strange that he would have heard about their faith. It’s possible he’s referring to those who came to Christ since he left. It’s more likely that this refers to other recipients of this circular letter. This is similar to praying for a friend of a friend - you may not know who you are praying for, but based on the word of someone you actually know, you offer prayers to God. Epaphras visited Paul in prison and told him of everything happening in Asia. Since Paul wrote Colossians at the same time and included that letter with this one, it is likely he heard about the Colossians faith through Epaphras.

More importantly, Paul prays that they(readers of this circular letter) may grow to know God better through wisdom and revelation. Wisdom usually comes over time, revelation came at the urging of God through individual Christians in the church. Paul makes it a point to pray from both, not just the euphoria of new insight, but also from the patience and perseverance that comes through wisdom.

Feel the Power
Paul prays that they may be enlightened in the hope of their inheritance and in the great power for believers. Inheritance was touched on earlier, but Paul goes to great lengths to talk of this great power. This power raised Jesus’ body from the dead - it gives life. This power raised Jesus to the right hand of God - it has authority. How much authority? It raised Jesus above all titles of the present, and future. Remember that the Ephesians burned thousands of magical scrolls - they believed in all kinds of celestial beings, not just angels and demons. Paul is making the point that Jesus is above all of them, no matter what they imagine the other celestial beings to be.

More in Chapter Two

I found a blog entry elsewhere about the proliferation of awful Christian merchandise. It reminds me of a book my wife and I are reading about raising our son.

Dr. Kimmel questions the value of insulating our children inside an artificial Christian culture. In other words, they can listen to rock, but only Christian rock. They can listen to the radio, but only Christian radio. All the board games are Christian, the video games are Christian, etc.

Based on my own experience, it looks like American Christians are trying to create their own pocket universe inside of our culture. The thing is, the pocket universe is incerdibly similar to our own, but usually of B-Rate quality.

More later.

When I was in college, I took an African literature class taught by Chima Nwankwo. He was raised in Igbo villages in west Africa in what is now Nigeria. When we read “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, he sang the Igbo parts and translated them for us.

We compared two authors writing political novels about their respective home countries. One writer had left her country 15 years before the publication of her novel. The other was still in his country. As we discussed these books, the discussion turned to what it means to fight for change. I will never forget what Chima said…

He said that since the author had left, she had no business trying to fight for any change. She had left the struggle and has now become willingly disconnected from the conflict. Her only information is second-hand. If she had wanted to evoke change, she should have stayed.

That is has been eating away at me for some time. I am tremendously disappointed. I hope this changes soon.

It was a fun 14.9 years. True to my word, I will not be a member of a church that signs this sectarian agreement. I do not agree with the doctrine stated for salvation, nor do I believe that mandating extrabiblical practices aligns with Romans 14-15. You ask me to stand on one side of a line, I will.

http://www.disciplestoday.com/Headlines/060403_ChurchesAgreeUnityPlan.aspx

I was still talking to the minister about this, I didn’t think we had agreed to it, yet.

Heaven save us from ourselves.

It’s funny what is awful to me may be helpful to someone else.

The Salt Lake Christian Church is wrestling with the Unity Proposal. This is a church replanted by Kip. So far it is the only one I know that is even considering the plan.

Kip’s church in Toronto said that it was just talk. The folks in Kip’s church in Ireland and Chicago echoed similar sentiments. I have no word from Kyiv, but Kip himself says that “you can’t mandate unity” in his latest sermon.

So here is Salt Lake, the only one of Kip’s churches I know that is actually considering this proposal.

That must be a tough place to be. Like the All Nations Church of Christ in Georgia, these folks have tried to stay neutral in regards to Kip and the group of 84.

Don’t get me wrong, the agreement is still theologically bad. However, as God tends to bring good from bad things, something good may yet come from this for the folks in Salt Lake. The good may not necessarily be separating from Kip. The good may be examining who they are and making a statement, though I understand their wish to not be involved in the whole thing.

As my minister says often, “We live in interesting times.”

After ten years, Herb Sendek heads to Arizona State to be the new men’s basketball coach.

He became the coach the year I graduated, allowing all-around-nice-guy Les Robinson move into a role better suited to his talents, Athletic Director. I still remember Les giving me a pizza the first year he was coach. Robinson was brought in to clean up Valvano’s mess, not to win. Sure enough, he did just that. Sendek was brought in to win, and he did pretty well. He tried about seven different offenses in his ten years, it reflects his coaching prowess, I believe, to work with what he had rather than recruit into a specific system.

The search begins now - I wonder who will apply?

The church in Ephesus has an interesting history. Before getting into that, though, it is important to understand who the Ephesians were.

Ephesus was the greatest city in Asia at the time Paul visited there. It was an urban center on par with Corinth, Alexandria, Antioch, even Rome, itself. The harbour lead to the Aegean sea and served strategic purposes throughout history. It was also the seat of the Roman government at the the of Paul’s visit - this meant they also received money from Rome for various public projects. Ephesus was a beautiful city and comparable to Paris or Boston or Los Angelos in our time period.

It boasted the great temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Inside the temple, merchants dealt in goods from far and wide - archelogists have found goods made in Persia and India on the site. Oddly enough, the original temple was burned the night Alexander the Great was born, it was said that Artemis was concentrating on the birth of Alexander too much to defend her temple from attack. Herostratus only wanted to be remembered, yet ironically was overshadowed in history by a birth miles away. Because the original temple was destroyed, the new temple was constructed almost entirely in marble, thus earning a place among the seven ancient wonders.

Artemis was worshipped by the Greeks for centuries. Most of the ancient world identified her as a hunter, child of Zeus and Leto and twin brother of Apollo. She was usually indentified as the goddess of the hunt shown with drawn bow and arrow. However, the Ephesians had a unique claim to her that allowed the people to claim “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Little is known about the object, but, according to Acts, this image ‘fell from the sky’ and somehow became associated with Artemis. As she was worshipped as a fertility and earth goddess, this object may have conincided with a great harvest. This is purely speculation, however. Although the origin is lost to history, the mention of this object allowed the city clerk to get the mob’s attention before that acted against Paul (Acts 19:35).

The ministry in Ephesus began off-handedly. Paul and others (Timothy, Priscilla, Aquilla, possibly Titus(?) and Tychius) were on the way to Antioch from Corinth. Paul took a Nazarite vow in Cenchrea, thus shaving his head. When they stopped in Ephesus on the way, Paul went to the synagogue to preach. Although asked to stay, he continued to Antioch by way of Macedonia. Priscilla and Aquilla decide to stay in Ephesus.

Apollos, then only a disciple of John the baptist, arrives sometime after Paul leaves. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue to preach about Jesus. I can imagine the the members of the synagogue were suprised that God had sent two believers to preach, especially two believers that did not know each other, yet both preached that Jesus was the Messiah. Apollos did this for some time before Priscilla and Aquila heard of him. Finding that he did not know about the Holy Spirit, they taught Apollos about Him. With more complete knowledge, Apollos wishes to continue preaching in Achia - Priscilla and Aquila send him with letters so that he will be welcomed by Christians there and elsewhere.

Because of Apollos, it’s not surpising that Paul returns and finds disciples of John the Baptist there. It is possible they had only recently come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Like Priscilla and Aquila, Paul gives them ‘full instruction in the Lord’ and they are baptized.

At this point, Timothy had to be with Paul because Paul mentions this journey in both letter to Timothy (1Tim 1:3; 2Tim 1:18). He again preaches in the synagogue for three months. However, the reaction this time is much less favorable. When folks start maligning the Christian faith, he moves to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. Some believe that this was a midrash hall - in other words, a place where the pracitical aspects of the Jewish faith were discussed. It seems more likely, that Tyrannus was a teacher of rhetoric. As such, Paul would have been no competition to his students. Paul preaches here for another two years.

It is important to note that the effect of the gospel was large scale repentance from witchcraft. People publically burned their ‘magic’ books in public. Considering that Ephesus later became home to the cult of Isis, these magic treatises and books may have been Eqyptian in nature (Book of the Dead and the like). The value amounted to several years of wages. In order to capture the scale, I imagine this would be like everyone in Boston publicly burning their copies of Harry Potter books. (I am not condemning the books or saying that they are witchcraft, I just couldn’t think of a different wildly popular book series as an example.)

Paul mentions fighting wild animals in Ephesus, but Luke does not write about it in Acts. He is almost lynched by a mob that disbands only after the city clerk threatens to arrest the mob. The mob seems motivated by money - with hundreds not worshipping in the temple, business was not so good. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that some things are really motivated by money, but cloaked in religious piety.

From a Christian perspective, Ephesus enjoyed many ‘big names’ of the first century church. Apollos began there, Paul stayed for almost three years, Timothy stayed for longer. The apostle John lived there before his exile. If anyone had a chance to hear about Jesus from eyewitnesses, it was the citizens of Ephesus. Considering that the work was largely started by Apollos by reasoning with the Scriptures and continued by Paul who reasoned the scriptures for two more years, it is not suprising that John has to chide them in Rev 2 that they have lost their first love. As it says, they worked hard, they had good doctrine, but the heart was missing. Paul’s letter, thirty years before John’s, seems to hint that matters of the heart should be addressed.

As best can be determined, this letter appears to have been written around 62 AD while Paul is imprisoned in Rome. Two other letters accompany this (Colossians and Philemon). Apparently, a house church is now meeting in Philemon’s home and Apphia may be his wife. Considering the numbers of converts needed to begin a mob, it seems unlikely that the entire church met in Philemon’s home, especially if they met in the presumably larger lecture hall. I’ve been in a Roman house, it could easily hold 100-200 folks without alarm. Some histories place the membership of the church of Ephesus in the thousands, though it may not have been so high in 62AD.

Those that signed on will be published soon, you might think I’d be interested in who signs it and who does not. Well, that would play into the very problem this thing creates in the first place. Personally, I hope that so few people signed it that they decided to wait another week to publish the list. No matter what, though, it all starts tomorrow.

And it’s not an April Fool’s joke.