54. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. He has taken Christian as his second name.
8 November 2020
The Antioch Chalice, first half of 6th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Wmpearl • Public domain
Acts 11
26 The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Acts 11
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Acts 9
Saul’s Conversion
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
Acts 13
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul.....
Acts 9 deals with the conversion of Saul, “a Pharisee of Pharisees”, who “intensely persecuted” the followers of Jesus.
Acts 11 mentions Barnabas went to look for Saul, and the two met with the church in Antioch where the disciples were for the first time called Christians.
Then in Acts 13, Saul was also called Paul, the first time that would mark him as the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Acts 9
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”
We could say that in a matter of three chapters in the Books of Acts, Apostle Paul in a short period turned from a chief persecutor of believers of Jesus Christ to a defender of the Christian faith.
There is actually a long story behind the events stated in those three chapters in the Book of Acts.
“Following his conversion, Paul met with much skepticism from the Christian community, something that was to be expected. After three years in exile in Arabia, he returned to Damascus and then to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and James, the Lord's brother, who had become a leader in the church. He then went back to his hometown in Tarsus and made tents until, about seven years later, Barnabas sought him out and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord has need of you!”
Acts 9
16 “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Dr. Sala continues:
“Paul and his travelling companions made three extensive missionary journeys and, in the process, planted the flagship of Christianity in many a town and a city. He discovered how it was to be on the receiving end of a jail sentence and was often abused and imprisoned for his faith. Writing to the Corinthians, he opened his heart, saying, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
Tradition says that Paul sustained two long periods of prison, once for almost two years under house arrest in Rome, where he wrote letters to the churches, and then a final imprisonment about A.D. 67, when he was martyred. Paul's goal: “Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20-21).
What a man! He's one to whom we are all indebted.
Insight: What has happened in the past isn't important, for when a person becomes a Christian, everything changes (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
Application: How many years had Paul spent in preparation before he really began his ministry as a believer?
How many years had probably elapsed between his conversion and his ministry? What does that tell you?”
I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior in 2004, no specific date, as it was in the course of one-on-one Bible study with Pastor Dan Guzman at home in Lipa City. I went through water baptism in early 2006. That time, I would read Our Daily Bread; later I noticed its Bible in a year series which includes both Old Testament and New Testament. Then I came upon an issue that the Bible in a year series was chronological. Later I began to have the desire to have my own personal devotion. In 2017, our church (http://pcf.org.ph/) embarked on the 90-day challenge which included Bible reading at two chapters a day, starting with the Book of John, and having personal reflection on the assigned reading.
Since then, I have gone through the whole Bible once, and on the second cycle, I was led to start the blog this 24 August 2020.
The title of the blog series, “Wala ka sa Lolo ko”, and my adopting the second name “Christian” as a blogger, were spontaneous.
Faith is a journey. I would regard my long season of severe affliction as the beginning of my faith journey. I would not be at this point writing about God's grace if I did not experience serious failure that my abilities counted to nothing, yet the Good Lord provided for all the needs of my family at that very crucial stage that I was at my wit's end.
In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
In time, one day my children's children will say, wala ka sa Lolo ko, he has taken Christian as his second name. Amen.
God's abounding grace be yours. Amen.
Maraming salamat.
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