As we continue the teaching series on Acts, and the mission of the church, my thoughts today go to Acts 9:1-19 where we see God’s love and grace reach out to Saul the antagonist, transforming him to Paul the advocate for Christ and the good news of the Gospel!

A recent full-page ad taken out by Columbia University in the New York Times advertised seven fields of study in which a person can earn a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies: America Studies, Ancient Studies, Asian Studies, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, Medieval Studies, and South Asian Studies. 

Richard John Neuhaus spotted this ad and wrote an editorial about it, asking “Where is Christian Studies?” Ancient, Islamic, Jewish, and so on, but no Christian Studies.

Neuhaus ponders four possible reasons and then settles with this one:

“Nervousness is caused by the awareness that there are an awful lot of people who really believe in Christianity. The university is a cosmopolitan space where “religious traditions” can be subjected to critical examination but are not to be taught as though they might be, well, you know, true. 

Even in religious studies departments, faculty members who are Hindus, Buddhists, and believers in Mystical Crystals can quite openly profess their faith. Muslims and, usually Jews can, too. Nobody raises a question about their ‘proselytizing.’ Not so with Christians. 

The fear is that Christianity might be taken altogether too seriously. The absence of Christian Studies in the Columbia program, it turns out, is not an insult to Christianity. Those of the other faiths, however, might have reason to be offended."

I think he is right. We live in a land where the rising prejudice and discrimination against Christianity is a back-handed tribute. It's an honor. Giving Christianity a fair shake—a fair open hearing, a serious focus of attention—makes secular people nervous.

Christianity is a converting religion and has been from the beginning. 

The Pharisee Saul, who later became the missionary Paul, saw this very early. He saw Christianity as a threat to his own religion, so he attacked it with tremendous zeal—until the undeniable truth overcame him and made him one of the greatest converts Christianity has ever had.

I invite you to read and contemplate the miraculous conversion of Paul recorded in Acts 9:1-19. What was it like, and how can it encourage us today?

We have a guest speaker this Sabbath. I’m excited to be in the audience to enjoy the ministry of Pastor Dave Martinez. He and his wife are visiting us from Colorado.

May we welcome and celebrate the work of Divine Sovereign Grace in our lives and in the lives of those we love.

Blessings!

Your Pastor Duff