C.H.E. Sadaphal's Blog, page 12
January 8, 2016
THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD II: EMPOWERMENT: A FOCUSED BIBLE STUDY OF ACTS 16:13-15
“And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us” (Acts 16:13-15, NASB).
In Part I, I discussed the power of God’s Word to impute purpose. Here, as we continue the story in Acts 16, we will discover the power of God’s Word to build up others and empower them, breaking many intangible chains in the process.
Paul and Silas arrive in the city of Philippi, which is in modern-day Greece. The duo springs into action and seek out “a place of prayer” where Jews in the city would presumably congregate. Here is where the text gets very interesting. When we, in 2016, read, “and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled,” we casually brush over it as an incidental detail. Yet, for the audience who originally read (or heard) this passage thousands of years ago, this verse would have been an earth-shattering, cataclysmic revelation. This verse would have been as shocking as when Darth Vader told Luke Skywalker, “I am your father.” This verse would have been as shocking as when you found out that Bruce Willis was dead the entire time in The Sixth Sense. Why? Because in antiquity, Jewish men (Paul was a Jew, and Silas was half-Jewish) were not supposed to talk to unfamiliar women, and they certainly were not supposed to talk to strange women in public. (This is why Jesus reaching across the aisle and speaking to the Samaritan women at the well in John 4:7-38 is such a big deal). To do so was a blatant violation of the social rules of the day. In fact, in this time in the world, despite differences in language, culture, or nationality, a common stigma that was pervasive was that women were inferior, third-class citizens. Men, therefore, had “no business” conversing with women they were not affiliated with. Yes, this was a sad state of affairs, but that was the reality in which they lived.
The power of God’s Word breaks the chains of social stigma.
Paul and Silas were evangelizing to a marginalized, disenfranchised group—an act that was considered extreme radical behavior. They realized that when you embrace the power of God’s Word, it tells a story worth sharing, and those who are traditionally oppressed will appreciate the empowerment of the Word the most. Ironically, the church in the 21st century tends to be characterized by who it doesn’t associate with. In contrast, the “church” of two men back in the 1st century was characterized by evangelical radicalism and who it did associate with. Some men have since used the church to oppress, for example, women and people of color. As times change, so does the focus of the oppression, but the basic principle remains constant. Many fail to see the overriding theme woven into the fabric of time and sadly use God’s Word to enforce social stigmas instead of breaking them. The power of God’s Word breaks the chains of social stigmas because such stigmas are temporal and a creation of humankind. God’s Word is eternal and is revealed directly from the divine.
The power of God’s Word breaks the chains of inhospitality.
Paul and Silas may have thought that they were radical in engaging strange women, but Lydia subsequently leans in and takes it up a notch. After The Lord opens her heart to receive the Word, she and her entire household get baptized. She then tells Paul and Silas, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.”
Lydia was a Roman. She was also rich, suggested by her trade and the reference to the household she lived in as “hers.” Roman society back then was very regimented based on class, so if you were rich, you didn’t fraternize with “commoners” who were “beneath you.” The lack of social mobility was a symptom of this dynamic. Hence, Paul and Silas weren’t supposed to be talking to Lydia. Lydia, in turn, wasn’t supposed to be talking to the “common” Paul and Silas. But after Lydia becomes empowered by the power of God’s Word and the chains of social stigmas are broken, Paul and Silas are no longer “unfamiliar” and “common” men. They have now become fellow brothers in Christ who engage with their sister in Christ. Lydia takes the bold leap from public conversation to private fellowship and thus invites them into her home in one of the ultimate expressions of Christian neighborliness: hospitality.
And to demonstrate just how radical this was, the text says that Lydia “prevailed” upon Paul and Silas to stay with her. Prevailed comes from the Greek word parabiazomai, meaning to compel contrary to nature and right. Everything that the world taught Paul, Silas, and Lydia said that they were all incompatible. The world said that they come from different realms, and that each should stay within his or her own domain. But the power of the gospel breaks these artificial restraints and transforms incompatible strangers into hospitable neighbors. The power of God’s Word breaks the chain of inhospitality and compels all three people to realize—against their “nature”—that we all ought to treat others how we would like to be treated. Hospitality is the external expression of this internal belief.
The power of God’s Word builds up others, who then go out and build up others.
The remainder of Acts 16 tells a compelling story where Paul and Silas go through a lot. At the end of their tribulations, where do they end up? Back in Lydia’s house, which now serves as a welcoming, hospitable place for fellow believers. Acts 16:40 says that after Paul and Silas leave jail, they “entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.” Remember that the city all of this is happening in is Philippi. It would be plausible to conclude that Lydia’s house served as the starting point for the Philippian church, an institution that Paul would later write that he adored and celebrated.
Regardless, the simple point is that had Paul and Silas not been empowered by God’s Word, they would not have spoken with Lydia in the first place, and thus her house could not have subsequently served as a place for the encouragement of fellow believers. All these men did was take a little initiative across the aisle toward a group that everyone else would say is “unworthy.” This set off a chain reaction that not only built up others, but also demonstrated the empowerment imputed to all those who embrace God’s Word.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
January 7, 2016
MADE TO STICK: WHY SOME IDEAS SURVIVE AND OTHERS DIE by CHIP & DAN HEATH
The bottom line: An easy-to-use formula on how to identify and create successful, “sticky” and transformative ideas.
Some ideas are very “sticky” meaning they are lasting, generative, and convey an important message. A classic example is: “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.”
In Made to Stick , Chip and Dan Heath explain why ideas stick, and provide the reader with a “sticky blueprint.”
Essentially, sticky ideas are never a matter of happenstance, but all share six common traits. With a keen understanding of all six traits, you will be able to produce stickier ideas and subsequently revitalize the way you express yourself and transform those whom you lead with positive results.
Made to Stick empowers anyone with the right insights and the right message to make any idea “stick.”
The book proceeds linearly through the sticky blueprint: the acronym S.U.C.C.E.S. Hence, in order to make an idea sticky it has to be simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and tell a story. The peculiars of each trait are explored in comprehensive detail within each chapter. Generally speaking even though this book is 250+ pages, it is a very quick read.
Made to Stick is one of three books written on transformative change by the Heath brothers. The other two books are Switch: How to change things when change is hard and Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work. There are many areas of cross-over between the three selections, and I have derived the most value from each book after considering it in context of all three.
Hence, Made to Stick helps you to start your journey with a bold idea that anyone can latch onto.
Switch reveals how to materialize that idea into tough environments. Finally, Decisive equips you with the tools to navigate fuzzy terrain in the midst of your path to something revolutionary.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
January 1, 2016
THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD I: PURPOSE: A FOCUSED BIBLE STUDY OF ACTS 16
“As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:4-10, NIV).
In Acts chapter 16, we find the apostle Paul in the midst of a missionary journey. He is accompanied by Silas (and eventually Luke), and they are traveling through what is now known as Turkey. Ultimately, God has willed that the men end up in Philippi, which was is in the area now known as modern-day Greece, but the men at the beginning of Acts 16 are not privy to this fact yet.
The power of God’s Word imputes purpose.
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines purpose as “the reason for which something exists; determination.” The prophet Isaiah (43:7) already gave God’s elect their purpose: to glorify The Lord. An individual Christian’s purpose therefore becomes the specific means by which he or she will glorify God. That purpose could be to preach Christ. It could be to be a biological and spiritual mother to sons and daughters who are raised to be God-fearing men and women. It could be to evangelize. It could be to show the love and light of Christ to the disenfranchised. The point is that God’s Word tells us what our general purpose is, but we, as members of the body of Christ, will each tackle a specific task to bring glory to God. And, because our purpose is assigned by an eternal God, it always has eternal value.
This is why, in my humble opinion, every Christian needs a theocentric (God-centered) mission statement for life. What specifically are you called to do to serve The Lord and bring others closer to Him? A mission statement answers this question. This statement is never created solely by you but arrived at after sincere prayer and fellowship with God. It may take a while and be difficult to formalize, but once it exists, it brings clarity and focus to your entire existence. No longer will you ever waver between opinions; rather, you will have one exclusive opinion by which you can judge life.
I would dare say that Paul’s purpose was to preach and teach the truth of God’s Word. I emphasize the truth because Paul had no tolerance for anyone who deviated from the Word. The Word is what gave him strength, and he clung tightly to it throughout his life. He goes as far to say that anyone who preaches false doctrine is to be accursed (Galatians 1:9). In fact, Paul wrote much of the New Testament, where he explained to many churches behaving badly what God’s Word actually said and how they ought to straighten up accordingly.
The power of God’s Word gives you purpose that makes sense of your life experiences.
Paul always had a purpose, even when he was fighting against God. Here, in Acts 16, Paul is a “good guy” fighting for Christ. But, Paul used to be a bad guy. He used to be called Saul, when he was a well-renowned Pharisee, or a Jewish legalist with a fiery zeal for God’s Word. Saul was dedicated to God’s Word, but he used it as a weapon to condemn those who did not adhere to it. He also actively persecuted Christians and was instrumental in the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen (Acts 6:8-8:1). After Saul met Christ, Saul was transformed and became Paul. Paul was dedicated to God’s Word, but instead of using it to hurt people, he used it to liberate them. Hence, Paul’s mission statement made sense of his life experiences because his training as a Pharisee actually equipped him to fulfill his life’s ultimate calling. How this applies to you today is very simple: We all serve a sovereign God, and nothing escapes His will. Everything happens for a reason, and you are by no means a “mistake” or “accidental.” Your life experiences are by no means “mistakes” or “accidental.” They all serve a purpose, and that purpose fuels your purpose.
The power of God’s Word gives you purpose that cannot tolerate complacency.
Acts 16:5 says, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.” Verse 6 says, “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Many in church leadership today would stop after verse 5, which basically says, “Things were going well. More people were coming to church every Sunday, and the church leadership succeeded in bringing others closer to Christ.” After all, if things are going well, what reason is there to go further and to pusher harder? That reason is purpose, and purpose is allergic to complacency. This is why in verse 6, after everything was hunky-dory, Paul and Silas keep it moving because they are driven by the purpose of preaching and teaching the truth of the gospel. And, this purpose isn’t result-oriented. It’s process-oriented. Despite the fact that that the two left an area of prosperity and were “kept by the Holy Spirit” from going in a particular direction, that didn’t discourage them, because the process of spreading the gospel mattered more than the outcomes. Hence, it doesn’t matter if you fall. It matters if you get back up. It doesn’t matter if 10 or 10,000 people show up to listen to you preach. It matters that you preach sound doctrine. It doesn’t matter if you’re rejected when you evangelize. It matters that you evangelize.
The power of God’s Word gives you the courage to act.
The Holy Spirit regenerates us and empowers us to respond to God by faith. Faith turns us toward God, and purpose empowers us with the confidence to take the steps toward Him. Our chapter is from the Book of Acts, which is filled with acts. In other words, people were always doing something. No one in Acts ever woke up late and wondered, “What am I going to do today?” No one ever looked at the clock and wondered, “When is my shift going to be over?” No one ever asked, “How much vacation time do I get?” Everyone realized their purpose and embraced the call to serve God’s purpose and make His invisible kingdom visible. This didn’t cultivate inactivity but lit the fires of action.
Internal faith is what animates external purpose. Yes, we are justified by faith alone, but that faith is never alone. Furthermore, the Book of James tells us that faith without works is dead. Otherwise, if you say you believe but don’t act on that belief, what good is that belief? Consider a Muslim, a Christian, and a Buddhist who all say they have “faith.” If none of the three act on their beliefs, how can they be correctly identified?
God’s elect are all members of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation (I Peter 2:9). That isn’t a call to pride or self-promoting exceptionalism, but it carries with it the responsibility to act in service to God and to our neighbors. And, if you’re concerned that taking the first step is not what God wants you to do, let not your heart be troubled, because as Acts 16:6-7 reveals, no one is capable of overriding God’s sovereignty. So when we act with purpose and flirt with the boundaries of our “freedom,” He will always re-direct us.
Want more? Join me next week for The Power of God’s Word: Empowerment.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
“Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made” (NASB).
THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD I: PURPOSE
“As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:4-10, NIV).
In Acts chapter 16, we find the apostle Paul in the midst of a missionary journey. He is accompanied by Silas (and eventually Luke), and they are traveling through what is now known as Turkey. Ultimately, God has willed that the men end up in Philippi, which was is in the area now known as modern-day Greece, but the men at the beginning of Acts 16 are not privy to this fact yet.
The power of God’s Word imputes purpose.
The New Oxford American Dictionary defines purpose as “the reason for which something exists; determination.” The prophet Isaiah (43:7) already gave God’s elect their purpose: to glorify The Lord. An individual Christian’s purpose therefore becomes the specific means by which he or she will glorify God. That purpose could be to preach Christ. It could be to be a biological and spiritual mother to sons and daughters who are raised to be God-fearing men and women. It could be to evangelize. It could be to show the love and light of Christ to the disenfranchised. The point is that God’s Word tells us what our general purpose is, but we, as members of the body of Christ, will each tackle a specific task to bring glory to God. And, because our purpose is assigned by an eternal God, it always has eternal value.
This is why, in my humble opinion, every Christian needs a theocentric (God-centered) mission statement for life. What specifically are you called to do to serve The Lord and bring others closer to Him? A mission statement answers this question. This statement is never created solely by you but arrived at after sincere prayer and fellowship with God. It may take a while and be difficult to formalize, but once it exists, it brings clarity and focus to your entire existence. No longer will you ever waver between opinions; rather, you will have one exclusive opinion by which you can judge life.
I would dare say that Paul’s purpose was to preach and teach the truth of God’s Word. I emphasize the truth because Paul had no tolerance for anyone who deviated from the Word. The Word is what gave him strength, and he clung tightly to it throughout his life. He goes as far to say that anyone who preaches false doctrine is to be accursed (Galatians 1:9). In fact, Paul wrote much of the New Testament, where he explained to many churches behaving badly what God’s Word actually said and how they ought to straighten up accordingly.
The power of God’s Word gives you purpose that makes sense of your life experiences.
Paul always had a purpose, even when he was fighting against God. Here, in Acts 16, Paul is a “good guy” fighting for Christ. But, Paul used to be a bad guy. He used to be called Saul, when he was a well-renowned Pharisee, or a Jewish legalist with a fiery zeal for God’s Word. Saul was dedicated to God’s Word, but he used it as a weapon to condemn those who did not adhere to it. He also actively persecuted Christians and was instrumental in the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen (Acts 6:8-8:1). After Saul met Christ, Saul was transformed and became Paul. Paul was dedicated to God’s Word, but instead of using it to hurt people, he used it to liberate them. Hence, Paul’s mission statement made sense of his life experiences because his training as a Pharisee actually equipped him to fulfill his life’s ultimate calling. How this applies to you today is very simple: We all serve a sovereign God, and nothing escapes His will. Everything happens for a reason, and you are by no means a “mistake” or “accidental.” Your life experiences are by no means “mistakes” or “accidental.” They all serve a purpose, and that purpose fuels your purpose.
The power of God’s Word gives you purpose that cannot tolerate complacency.
Acts 16:5 says, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.” Verse 6 says, “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Many in church leadership today would stop after verse 5, which basically says, “Things were going well. More people were coming to church every Sunday, and the church leadership succeeded in bringing others closer to Christ.” After all, if things are going well, what reason is there to go further and to pusher harder? That reason is purpose, and purpose is allergic to complacency. This is why in verse 6, after everything was hunky-dory, Paul and Silas keep it moving because they are driven by the purpose of preaching and teaching the truth of the gospel. And, this purpose isn’t result-oriented. It’s process-oriented. Despite the fact that that the two left an area of prosperity and were “kept by the Holy Spirit” from going in a particular direction, that didn’t discourage them, because the process of spreading the gospel mattered more than the outcomes. Hence, it doesn’t matter if you fall. It matters if you get back up. It doesn’t matter if 10 or 10,000 people show up to listen to you preach. It matters that you preach sound doctrine. It doesn’t matter if you’re rejected when you evangelize. It matters that you evangelize.
The power of God’s Word gives you the courage to act.
The Holy Spirit regenerates us and empowers us to respond to God by faith. Faith turns us toward God, and purpose empowers us with the confidence to take the steps toward Him. Our chapter is from the Book of Acts, which is filled with acts. In other words, people were always doing something. No one in Acts ever woke up late and wondered, “What am I going to do today?” No one ever looked at the clock and wondered, “When is my shift going to be over?” No one ever asked, “How much vacation time do I get?” Everyone realized their purpose and embraced the call to serve God’s purpose and make His invisible kingdom visible. This didn’t cultivate inactivity but lit the fires of action.
Internal faith is what animates external purpose. Yes, we are justified by faith alone, but that faith is never alone. Furthermore, the Book of James tells us that faith without works is dead. Otherwise, if you say you believe but don’t act on that belief, what good is that belief? Consider a Muslim, a Christian, and a Buddhist who all say they have “faith.” If none of the three act on their beliefs, how can they be correctly identified?
God’s elect are all members of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation (I Peter 2:9). That isn’t a call to pride or self-promoting exceptionalism, but it carries with it the responsibility to act in service to God and to our neighbors. And, if you’re concerned that taking the first step is not what God wants you to do, let not your heart be troubled, because as Acts 16:6-7 reveals, no one is capable of overriding God’s sovereignty. So when we act with purpose and flirt with the boundaries of our “freedom,” He will always re-direct us.
Want more? Join me next week for The Power of God’s Word: Empowerment.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
“Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made” (NASB).
December 31, 2015
SWITCH: HOW TO CHANGE THINGS WHEN CHANGE IS HARD by DAN and CHIP HEATH
The bottom line: A game-changing & empowering book full of precise prescriptions on how to change people and things both big and small.
Lasting change—whether on a personal, local or institutional level—is hard. Experience validates this sobering reality, and Switch explains that human beings are engineered to do the bidding of the status quo. Hence, making a switch will be tough, but it’s far from impossible.
Switch by Dan and Chip Heath focuses on three general prescription areas that anyone can follow to make a change. What the reader is left with is a keen understanding of the formula successful change follows and how to apply that formula to their unique scenario.
The prescriptions are directed at the three barriers in existence that deter change: the “Rider” or the overly critical, rational and analytical mind who tends to focus on why things will not work; the “Elephant” or the emotional, fickle, short-term oriented animal that gives our switch legs but is hard to get moving; and the path, which is the course the Rider and Elephant take in order to get to their desired goal.
Switch provides clear advice and detailed suggestions on how to whip the Rider into action, motivate the Elephant and chart a path that everyone can follow. The suggestions are not based upon empty rhetoric but scientific data and research from the fields of psychology and sociology. Generally speaking, the Heaths do a fantastic job of boiling down major themes and ideas from psychology in succinct, plain explanations. And no, Switch is not written like an academic research book. The authors bring all of their ideas to life using real-life examples and inviting you to apply your knowledge in several “Clinics” located throughout the text. The frequent stories aren’t “fluff” but help to animate the author’s actionable advice with practical and everyday examples of transformative change.
Without a doubt, this book has quickly become one of my favorites of all-time. I was so moved and inspired by the authors’ compelling narrative that I bought every other book by Dan and Chip Heath: Made to Stick and Decisive. Ultimately, whether you are looking to change yourself in a small way or lead many others down the path toward big change, Switch offers plentiful raw material to fuel your transformation.
Switch does what all great books do: change the way you see the world and give you the inspiration to execute that change.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
December 30, 2015
A C.H.E. SADAPHAL SERMON: CHAIN REACTIONS (ACTS 16)
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The new year is just around the corner. 2016 presents new life, new possibilities, and fresh new ideas. But, sometimes tackling big change can be very hard. Small changes are much, much easier. And, many sequential small changes can result in chain reactions whose results far outweigh the effort put in.
In this C.H.E. Sadaphal sermon, learn what the apostle Paul in Acts 16 can teach us about chain reactions.
There, we find Paul taking simple, small, everyday steps that led to a bunch of chain reactions that forever changed the world. What does Paul teach us about how we can start our own Christ-centered chain reactions today?
There are three basic points:
Chain Reactions Ingredient A: Act With Purpose.
Faith animates our purpose and purpose compels us to act. Without action, our faith is void. Learn how you can discern your purpose and what GPS has to do with God’s will.
Chain Reactions Ingredient B: Build Up Others.
People think the church is a conservative institution, but the original church was as radical as you can get. Find out what Darth Vader has to do with effective evangelism.
Chain Reactions Ingredient C: Choose Christ.
Everyone has heard the story about the jailer in Acts 16, and everyone knows that chains were broken. But, what people don’t know is that the ones in chains were already free and the ones outside were already in jail. Discover a bold new way of looking at self-identity, adverse circumstances, and how your expectations not being met is good for you.
The video above can also be found by following the link here.
This sermon was performed at Deeper Life Christian Fellowship in Richmond Hill, Queens, NY. Dr. Sadaphal is scheduled to preach on the last Sunday of every month for the foreseeable future. For more information, please click on the Contact tab above.
For more on basic Christian doctrine, please click on the Category tab What Christians Should Know to the right.
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God Bless.
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
