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Thoughts to ponder and words of encouragement from Pastor Tony Bulawa

  • Mountain Side Baptist Church, Surprise, Arizona
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    But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:2

     

    In Acts chapter 20, the apostle Paul is meeting with the elders of the Ephesian church for the last time in his earthly ministry.  He is now close to prison and his final years in Rome before losing his head at Nero's command.  Beginning in verse 18 through verse 35, he outlines that which was accomplished in his three years of ministry in Ephesus, he speaks of current events, and looks to the future with them.  In verse 24, Paul summarizes this all very well.  In this verse, he speaks of things Past, the Present, and then of Pressing on.

     

     

    First, we see Paul speaking of things in the Past.  Specifically, he speaks of 'the ministry which he received'.  When Paul spoke these words to the Ephesian Church leaders, he had already been 'in the ministry' for some twenty-six years.  For twenty-six years he had been running the race of this ministry.  For twenty-six years he had been pressing toward the mark, setting the example and calling others to follow Christ.  For twenty-six years Paul had been preaching the Gospel, planting churches, and preparing people for the ministry.  For twenty-six years he had been faithful.  We live in an age when it seems many have difficulty being faithful for twenty-six months, or even days.  So we can benefit from finding, what it was that kept Paul serving God faithfully for so long.  We find the answer in this verse.

     

    As we read, we find that Paul never lost sight that God had 'put him in the ministry'.  Paul says he 'received' this ministry 'of the Lord Jesus'.  Today, it seems 'the ministry' is a great many things to different people.  Some see 'the ministry' as a calling to be an activities director, others are administrators, and some are athletes looking for an excuse to spend their days golfing.  There are yet others who see 'the ministry' as their opportunity to be 'their own boss' while yet others enter because they have some 'Little House on the Prairie' romantic notion attached to their 'calling'.  But to Paul, 'the ministry' was a gift he 'received' allowing him the privilege 'to testify of the Gospel of the grace of God'.  In a very literal sense Paul was saying he had been entrusted with the task of earnestly and solemnly affirming the glad tidings of the grace of God.

     

    'Glad tidings of the grace of God', that's a wonderful way describe the Gospel.  The world has its idea of what glad tidings are.  It might be an unexpected refund from the IRS, a rebate from a mortgage overpayment, or a raise at work.  Theses might be good news, but they are minuscule in comparison to the 'glad tidings' of the Gospel.  What could be better news than the message of eternal life in Christ?  Those who gladly fulfill the ministry of the Gospel have the wonderful privilege of going to those who are 'condemned already' because of their sin of unbelief in Christ as the sole Saviour of the world (John 3:18), proclaiming that Jesus Christ gave His life 'that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life' (John 3:16).  This is what Paul had been doing for twenty-six years.  According to Acts 9:20, just three days after accepting Christ as his personal Saviour, Paul 'straightway preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.'  Paul continued this ministry of proclaiming the Gospel everywhere he went, from Jerusalem to Thessalonica, from Corinth to Ephesus.  This is what he encouraged others like Timothy and Titus to do.  And this ministry that Paul saw as a gift (for he had 'received' it) is the same ministry we are called to today.  No doubt 'the ministry' entails many other things, not as exciting as seeing a lost soul come to Christ.  In fact much of 'the ministry' is just plain hard work.  But when we keep the ministry in a right perspective, seeing it as a privilege to participate in rather than a chore to be accomplished — when we see it as a gift received from God — it will go a long way to helping us stay faithful in the years to come!

     

    After speaking about the past, Paul moves on and mentions the Present.  We see this in the phrase 'none of these things move me'.  This present tense phrase is tied directly to what we read in Acts 20:22, 23.  In those verses Paul testifies that he is 'bound in the spirit' to go to Jerusalem, where 'bonds and afflictions abide' for him.  Paul was saying, I know what this part of the ministry is going to cost me personally, but nonetheless, 'none of these things move me' – I've counted the cost and taken into account the dangers, and I've decided that nothing is more precious to me (including my own life) than finishing my course and completing the ministry which I have received.  Today it seems we are surrounded by ministries that once fought the good fight and stood for the truth, but today they've been 'moved' – they've charted another course looking for bigger budgets, grander buildings and more bodies to fill them.  Many today have been 'moved' from the 'old paths wherein is the good way' (Jeremiah 6:16) and have chosen 'new carts' (2 Samuel 6:3 – 7) to peddle their version of ministry on. 

     

    Some time ago, I was speaking with pastor friend, who has faithfully served the Lord in New England for over thirty-five years.  We spoke about the trend of ministries moving toward the world and the things of the world.  If I can paraphrase my friend’s thoughts on the matter, it would be: after over twenty-five years of ministry, why would I move because of someone’s lack of convictions?  As we consider other situations, we find ministries that held the line for years, but now are riding their laurels’ and coasting to the finish.  For twenty-six years Paul had faithfully served the Lord through full and lean times – through abounding and abasing times (Philippians 4:12).  How could he move from those convictions built over more than two decades?  Paul understood something vitally important to the success of any ministry:  The great need of any ministry is to be faithful in the present.  Faithful ministry in years gone by is no substitute for faithfulness in the present!  And, for those who hold off, looking to be faithful someday, too often they find that ‘someday’ never comes. 

     

    In Acts 20:24, Paul spoke about the past, the present, and then he declared ‘I’m Pressing on’.  We read this in his statement:  ‘so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus’.  The words ‘so that’ in this phrase carry the idea of ‘in order that’.  So, Paul tells us why he had stayed faithful for twenty-six years.  He explains why he could not be moved from his path in the present.  Paul says he did it all with his eye on the finish line, and he desired to cross that line with ‘joy’. 

     

    When I was working in the prison system in Connecticut I met many men who were coming to the end of their life with a multitude of regrets.  There were many who were going to cross the finish line with children they had never really known, families they hadn’t led.  From time to time, I have the sad occasion to meet with men and women who once ran the course of the ministry, but somewhere they tripped and as they draw closer to the finish line, their life is filled with regrets – there are too many “could have, should have, would have’s” in these lives.  Somewhere in the past, they stopped serving faithfully in the present, and today they are finishing their course, but without joy. 

     

    As I think of finishing the course of ministry with joy, I can’t help but think of the privilege I had of knowing, learning from, and calling Dr. Bob McKeever my friend.  For decades Dr. McKeever, and his dear wife, stayed faithful to the Gospel ministry.  Dr. McKeever never strayed from preaching the Gospel message, he never staggered at the challenge of planting churches, and he never was selfish with his time as he prepared others for the Gospel ministry.  Even when cancer riddled his body, Dr. McKeever was faithful and kept pressing toward the finish line.  Just days before Mountain Side Baptist Church held it’s very first service, the Lord so fit to call Dr. McKeever home to heaven.  I was to have the privilege of serving as a pallbearer at his home going celebration but that would have delayed the start of MSBC.  In the end, I believe it was a greater honor to the memory of Dr. McKeever that I missed the funeral in Connecticut but was in Surprise, Arizona for the first scheduled service of MSBC, as God used us to plant this ministry for His glory. 

     

    In the race of life, everybody is going to cross the finish line.  The only difference is some cross filled with regrets, while others cross with joy.  The fact is, you can't die right if you don't live right.  My prayer is that the Lord will give me many more years to serve Him, and that by His grace I will stay faithful in the present so that one day I might finish my course with joy, like others before me.

     

    As we consider finishing the course ‘with joy’, we do well to notice the word ‘with’ that the Holy Spirit chose in Acts 20:24.  This word doesn’t hold the idea so much of being ‘accompanied by or possessing’ as it does ‘being amongst’ or ‘in the midst of’.  The implication is that Paul wanted to be ‘in the midst of joy’ when he finished his course.  I think we can safely say that Paul was looking forward to the ‘presence of the Lord, where there is fullness of joy’ (Psalm 16:11).  We see in this, that Paul knew one day he would cross the finish line of life, but until he did, his desire was to stay faithful in the present -- day by day.  What joy Paul must have had when the Holy Spirit allowed him to pen those sweet words of 2 Timothy 4:7 ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith’!

     

    I close this article with one final thought about finishing with joy.  As we run the race, let’s remember that, as Christians, we aren’t racing against each other, but the race is for souls – men, women, boys, girls, young people who will only be won if we stay faithful in the present so that we can finish the course with joy.  Would to God that in ten, twenty, thirty or more years, if He tarry in His coming, the Lord will allow us to have been faithful in the past, stay the course in the present, and press unswervingly to the finish line that we might finish with joy and for His glory!

     

     

    • 28 April 2011
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  • Tony Bulawa's Space

    Tony Bulawa is the Pastor of Mountain Side Baptist Church in Surprise Arizona. He serves the Lord at MSBC with his wife Paula and their four children. Prior to serving in Arizona, Pastor Bulawa and his family served as church planting missionaries in Quebec, Canada. Pastor Bulawa and his family are originally from Connecticut where he served in the law enforcement community for eleven years before entering the full time Gospel Ministry.

  • About Tony Bulawa

    Tony Bulawa is the Pastor of Mountain Side Baptist Church in Surprise Arizona. He serves the Lord at MSBC with his wife Paula and their four children. Prior to serving in Arizona, Pastor Bulawa and his family served as church planting missionaries in Quebec, Canada. Pastor Bulawa and his family are originally from Connecticut where he served in the law enforcement community for eleven years before entering the full time Gospel Ministry.

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