Murderer to minister

Transformations are beautiful. I love shows like the Biggest Loser, because it shows changed life. Every person who tries and listens to what they do on the show changes their life for the better. I think it’s the reason health pills focuses so much on people who lose great amounts of weight. Why they showed Jared wearing the huge pants he used to fit into is a huge change video. Christianity is about transformation.

Paul was once a murderer of Christians and now he is one. Paul used to be called Saul and Saul was one of the people known for trying to stop the church from going, he was one of the people that persecuted the church. For people following Christ he had them thrown into jail. He did not approve of Christians and what they stood for. He was one who witnessed Steven being stoned to death. He was not a good person towards Christians and was looked as one if not the main enemies of Christianity.

1 Corinthians 15:9…

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Paul realizes the wrong things he did, but he changed. Verse 10…”But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not with effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Now Paul is not gloating here. This dude traveled more, suffered a ton more opposition, wrote a ton of the New Testament and created more churches. He knew it wasn’t him but God that caused all this to happen.

A murderer to a missionary. What an amazing story. All the time it’s amazing to see the transformation of Christ. At Central Michigan University, there was a guy that was a standout guy. He was an awesome person someone who everyone in the class just enjoyed. On the outside it seemed like this guy would be the party of the campus. Then we talked about faith and I told him I was a Christian. He said that was awesome and he was too! He said he owes the rest of his life to God. He went on to tell me his life story.

He went through high school and the start of college as a big partier. It got to the point he started hitting harder drugs on a consistent basis and it was starting to destroy his life. It was while he was getting high as he realized he was starting to get addicted to this. He said he never prayed and was at a point while getting high that he prayed. He said God I need you to take this from me otherwise I am going down a road I can’t travel back from. At that point he felt the presence of God with him and it changed him forever. He no longer had the desire to get high anymore. He started attending church and the reason he is still here today and doing well is nothing short then the grace of God.

God can transform. Jesus gives us grace to overcome what once held us down. I have seen God transform some of the most vilest/worst people and give them a second chance. God turned Paul from a murderer of Christians to an amazing apostle of Jesus. God can transform us when we give our lives over to him.

Faith is powerful and can change us for the better. If you need a fresh start, another chance at life or the opportunity to make a difference in your life or others, Jesus gives us that chance.

Jesus transformed me and can do the same for you. Have a great day.

Rejection

Life can be full of rejection.

I was a good student in high school.

I stress good not great.

I left high school with a 3.1 GPA.

I wanted to go to Michigan State, Central Michigan or Western Michigan.

I was a realist and knew that most likely I would start out at Lansing Community College because of cost.

Between my extra curricular activities (Captain of two sports teams, student council member for four years etc) and grades I thought I was good.

One thing kept me from this, the ACT.

I am an awful test taker.

While taking the ACT they give a two minute warning for each section, I would only have 1/3 of the questions answered by then.

The result was a 15 then a 16 on the retake (The ACT is on a scale of 36).

That led to a lot of rejection from schools.

MSU rejected me along with CMU and the only university that would accept me is Western Michigan.

Weak.

Rejection is never fun, but what do you do when you’re rejected?

Do you try to improve or succumb to the pressure?

I went to LCC and originally struggled as they found out I had ADD/ADHD and soon improved afterward.

I graduated with my undergrad with a GPA of 3.6 later that improved to a 3.9 with my master’s.

It’s not easy, but improving off rejection is tough and awesome.

Part of dealing with rejection is do you believe what you are going for?

Are you willing to work through what you could get rejected for?

Paul’s life was about to be summed up for what he was about to face.

He was about to face a huge opposition and he was warned of what was ahead of him.

Acts 21:10-11…

“After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.”

People were in tears over hearing what was going to happen to Paul.

Paul responded stating why weep and break my heart? He was willing to be bound and also to die for the name of Jesus.

He didn’t care about the dismissal of others.

He knew what he stood for.

Paul wasn’t afraid of the rejection that could and would take place.

Paul’s faith in Jesus was stronger than any opposition.

Jesus is someone I would die for.

In life, what do you stand for?

Who do you represent?

Are you willing to die for a willing cause?
We will all face rejection.

How do you respond to rejection?

The response to rejection shows what you are truly made of.

Don’t let rejection own you.

I might be rejected for Jesus and a biblical worldwiew yet I stand for it.

Paul stood and face great punishment for Jesus.

What are you going to do when faced with rejection?

Have a great day.