ripple effect: vacaville

Read Acts 15:22-41.

1. OK…so they are sending some guys to go along with Paul and Barnabas down to Antioch. Yeah, if my name was Judas back them, I think I would have gone by Barsabbas too. OK, so he and Silas went down with this letter basically explaining that those guys who were freaking them out about circumcision weren’t speaking for the church leadership. Good. And Barsabbas and Silas would back that up.
2. Again, I’m wondering why they still kept these particular rules: 1) don’t eat food sacrificed to idols, 2) don’t eat blook (darned vampires!), 3) don’t eat meat from strangled animals (veal?), and 4) abstain from sexual immorality. I wonder why these four were considered most important to uphold…
3. I’d be happy I didn’t have to cut myself down there too.
4. The two new guys encouraged everyone and were sent back, but Paul and Barnabas held it down.

5. Paul wanted to make sure that the preaching that they had down in the other towns had stuck. No problems there. It’s important to follow up with people. They can excited when they first hear the message; but, then, life has a way of smothering that fire.
6. OK…so the argument arose because Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along. Apparently, Mark had skipped out on them when they were preaching in Pamphylia; and that rubbed Paul the wrong way. They were so at odds that Barnabas sailed back home (taking Mark with him). Hmm… This is a tough one. I mean, you’d think that, as a representative of the church, Mark would have realized that he had responsibilities. But, then again, Barbabas seems to think that people are allowed to make mistakes and bounce back from them. I can see both sides here.
7. Paul took Silas with him to go and preach in those places, making sure that his work was continuing. (It’s kind of funny because one of the best big men in NBA history’s name is Paul Silas.)