Yesterday son Brian and I attended our annual Father-Son Birthday Baseball Game and saw the Rockies rock the AZ D-Backs handily. Despite the rock-n-roll weather (game ended with a storm and a big scramble for cover) we enjoyed the afternoon.
A special event for me came as Brian dropped me off at Union Station to board the Denver Light Rail and ride it twenty miles south to where I’d earlier parked my car. It was an adventure! Union Station was a beehive of a thousand people in the Depot and in the dozens of shops and restaurants. I found it a comfortable and safe experience, although it might have been different had it been late that night.
After securing my ticket, I hunted down the boarding intersection to the north, hidden among a half dozen construction sites. For this I was aided by a kindly older lady with a huge umbrella who walked me a block and a half north to make sure this confused old traveler got to the right street.
The train ride was noisy with laughter from young adults who’d also attended the game. The car was muggy and bouncy, interesting and enjoyable. A courteous young man I asked made sure I got off at the right station where I found my car and drove home. Back on the freeway, I gave thanks for the peace and quiet of a smooth ride those last ten miles. We may use Light Rail in the future, so this ride was part adventure and part investigation.
The Apostles had no trains or cars as they took the message of Jesus out into the world. Just their feet and occasionally a boat got them there. What amazes me is how hugely successful they were. Biblical history tells us that within a mere two to three months of His resurrection, perhaps ten thousand people became followers of Jesus. The Holy Spirit inspired the early witnesses who saw Jesus alive again, and their words spread like wildfire, moving masses of Jews and Gentiles to leave their old religious ways and follow Jesus.
All those early believers did so at great risk to their lives. In the coming decades, they were arrested, tortured, fed to the lions and burned in the arena. A person isn’t willing to die for a passing fancy. Something about Jesus changed them and also the history of the world forever. That’s why Christians still gather to worship God, wherever believers hear and rejoice in the Gospel of the resurrected Jesus Christ.
”For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)
Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com
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