Paul's Letter To Timothy

Paul had a special relationship with Timothy.  He might have been the only father figure to Timothy, certainly he was on the only source of Hebrew teaching the lad had!  So, Timothy, half Jew, half Greek, but a heart sold out to the God of his mother's people.  And Paul wants him to pastor the Ephesus church and writes him a letter of instruction ...

1 Timothy 1:1-2

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

² To Timothy my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

To build a strong church, you have got to take your directions from this little book.  Paul had the authority of an apostle - one sent by Jesus, one whom had seen Him risen, one whom had devoted his life to the Gospel of Jesus.  That authority then is of God.  And as such, Paul taught, as Timothy was to, the Bible - not popular opinion.  What generally got Paul in hot water and may have even brought him death at one point!

We can only find our hope in Jesus.  There is no other basis for hope in this life, nor in the next.  And that hope is in the resurrection from death, as demonstrated by Jesus.  Not in a faster chariot, better horses, more concubines, wealth, etc - all of the things man seeks and brings sin with it!

Basing all upon Jesus, we are actually reaching ahead into the days of prophesy but also reaching back into the Torah and Jewish tradition.  Did I hear someone choke out there?  Yes, Christianity is supposed to be Judaism extended to the Gentile as well as the "completed" Jew!  For all of the horrible theology of the western world today, the thought that salvation is not extended to the Jew is flat racist!  The thought that Christianity is anything other than the continuation of what God started under Judaism can only be defended without the Bible!  The Bible is clear - you as a Gentile believer have been been grafted in to the root stock of the vine God planted - His people.  We are not replacements, we are not now "His People", the Jews still are!  But, we have got to reach out to the Jew and show them the way back to their God!

We are to rejoice in what God has given us.  And He makes available to us all we need but we often confuse desires with need and His plans.  It is the self satisfying ways of Western Culture which have led today's believe away from God and into the trap of materialism and once there it is darn hard to escape!  Even if your eyes are finally opened, just the task of getting out past debt can be a life long challenge.

The point of this post is that I had been speaking with a guy from my church, whom is burned out on Church, on people, on everything.  Why?  Because he has forgotten the basics of what the Church is based upon and now must reorient himself back to the basics.  It also means he is going to be kicking some tushes at the next business meeting because we have placed encyclopedias of trash upon the very basics of what we are to be ...  :)