That Guy

So I have been on this Paul kick. I missed a day in proverbs and since then I have been reading in Acts. I started out there after my slight blow up of frustration about \”guys group\” and some of the guys in it. I realized through talking to c and reading about Paul and Silas that its not just about a group of guys but the relationship that each guy has with each other that creates change in your life. There is a sense of respect that you can see and there is a sense of trust that cannot be explained. I have that relationship and it is no longer defined as a group. Its a Silas. Or Timothy. Or Barnabas. Anyone else that had this relationship like this with Paul. They didn\’t sit in a circle indian style and talk about their feelings and then at the end come out as better men. They cared about each other enough that they didn\’t need the circle to impact each others lives. They did it on a daily basis. They did it probably on an hourly basis. They lived their lives together for one purpose and that was to spread the truth about Jesus no matter the cost. Even to the point of imprisonment. That type of support can only be given if you are literally living your spiritual and physical life with someone else. Which brings me to \”that guy\”.

\”That guy\” is Paul. You know who \”that guy\” is. He is the guy that\’s standing in front of the store or at the fair or on the corner who looks homeless. He is the guy that you pass everyday and sometimes you avoid because you know what he is going to say. He\’s that guy that\’s got the refrigerator box draped over his body that has the words \”repent or go to hell\” painted on it. Its that guy. And after reading more and more about Paul\’s life in Acts I have come to the conclusion that Paul was that guy!

Just a nibble of what I have been reading:

(NIV)Acts 20:20-21
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. [21] I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

This passage is what kinda have me the idea of \”that guy\” but through out the rest of this chapter and chapters before you can clearly see that Paul was that guy. Its kinda eery feeling because I have ridiculed that guy. I have avoided him and believe me when I say that I wouldn\’t be caught dead with a board on my front and a board on my back that read repent or hell. What if people who knew me saw me? Ugh! How pitiful!? Paul may not have walked around Macedonia with a refrigerator box as an outfit (because they didn\’t have refrigerators) but the way he acted and the way he spoke about Jesus he probably would have looked like he had a billboard strapped to the front and back of him.

I don\’t know why I have become so fascinated with the life of Paul but he amazes me with his boldness, his relationships, his faith, and most of all I think that I am impacted the most by the transformation that occurred in his life. It shows the incredible power that God has to change anyone\’s heart and the way Paul preached proved that he believed in that power.

I suck! I have the crappiest thought life that I have had in a long time and things clutter my life. I wish I lived in simpler times where I am not bombarded with the next new thing, or the hottest trend. Technology consumes me… actually convenience is what kills me. Everyday it seems like something new comes out that makes me more lazy. Its ridiculous how convenient the world is becoming witch technology. I can literally do everything from my phone. From blogging to facebook to email. I can even talk to my phone so I don\’t have to use my fingers to type. Wow talk about lazy. I can talk to my phone and tell it to find the closest pizza hut. Then I press one button and it dials the number and I can have a hot wing pizza at my door in half an hour. Like looking up the number in the phone book and driving 2 minutes to pick it up was too hard. I have become a slave to convenience and I don\’t know how to run away. It seems like the easier it gets the harder it is to give up especially since my phone is not evil. Its just the priority that I give it and how I use it. I mean its not terrible, I just think as my relationship with God grows the higher and higher my standards get and I start to realize things that have always been there, they were just hiding in the back corner behind other issues.

I haven\’t met with E in a while and it was like this last week as well. I need it all the time. I am not strong enough to do it on my own. I need a Silas that can be a constant factor. The less I feel like I am living spiritually with some one or along side them the easier it is for me to rationalize myself and let little things go. Like I was talking about before witness thought life. I think that\’s part of why its as bad as it is. I have let little things slide over and over to the point now where the thoughts that I entertain are not appropriate.

Enough rambling. God help me to make an effort to be a better silas so that I can have a better Silas. Instead of blaming others or complaining cuz I don\’t have, help me to be. God also help me to be \”that guy\”. Not walk around with a refrigerator box, but the way I live my life broadcasts who I am and who I represent like I have two billboards attached to my front side and my backside. Help me to be \”that guy\”.