Once Upon a Time… The End

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Acts 18:1-26

 [God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

“Once upon a time” is the proper way to start a story.

 

Of course, we all have a story to tell. It’s a story about events, circumstances and people whose lives have intersected with ours. People who have had an impact on us, and we on them. For me, it was people like Greg, Lynn, Ken, Allan, Dick, Mark, Bob and others. You can probably come up with your own list for your story.

 

People come into our lives and we have no idea how their life will change ours; or how we will change their life. This was the case of Priscilla and Aquila, husband and wife, and Paul, with whom they happened to cross paths.

 

Priscilla and Aquila had lived in Italy but were deported when all the Jews were forced to leave. They went to Corinth where they met Paul during his third missionary trip. Because they were both tent makers, they hit it off and worked together. Not only did they make tents, but they also spread the Gospel.

 

When Paul left Corinth to continue his missionary trip, Priscilla and Aquila went with him. Their next stop was Ephesus, where eventually Priscilla and Aquila stayed when Paul left.

 

While in Ephesus, a Jewish believer named Apollos arrived and began to speak boldly about Jesus. However, his understanding of the Gospel was incomplete. Here’s how God used Priscilla and Aquila in his life.

 

²⁵ Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.            NIV

 

Priscilla and Aquila were also well known throughout the Christian world because they had been committed to sharing the Gospel. Paul spoke of them as his “co-workers in Christ”; all because they crossed paths in Corinth with Paul.

 

“The End” is the proper way to finish a story. 

Back in the day, all the movies finished with a big finish which included the words “The End” prominently displayed on the screen. But for you and me, as long as we’re still kicking, our story continues; it’s not “The End”.

 

So the question for us, is who has the Lord brought into our life? Whose life will we build into today for Jesus?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

A Lifetime of Being Faithful

A Series on Women in the Bible

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

Luke 1:5-25; 1:39-45

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

 

 

Father Greg Romanski

Greg Romanski and I grew up about a block apart from each other in Orchard Hills, a subdivision of St. Louis, Michigan. I have many fond memories of Greg as we were the best of friends for many years.

 

That is, until his junior year of high school when he moved to a Catholic school that was about thirty-five miles away. It was his first step to becoming a priest. After that, we visited each other a few times, but otherwise, it has been about fifty years. I had planned to visit him this summer, until I read that he had passed away.

 

By all accounts, Greg had served the Lord faithfully for decades. Although he had his shortcoming, and he wasn’t rich or famous; he did touch the lives of countless people, and loved God. You can’t ask for more than that.

 

The same seems to be true of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Her story unfolds like this.

 

⁶ Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. ⁷ They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.   NLT

 

On one occasion when Zachariah was serving as a priest, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and promised that he, and his wife Elizabeth, would have a child. As unbelievable as this promise was, it came true.

 

²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”         NIV

 

Luke 1 weaves together the stories of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, and Elizabeth who gave birth to John. Both of them were pregnant when the following interaction took place.

 

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear…

⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”       NIV

 

Like Elizabeth, we too will be blessed if we believe that the Lord will fulfill his promises to us. The promise to always love us; to always be with us; to always be faithful to His word. Therefore, let us live a lifetime of being faithful; like my friend Greg.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

Father Greg and his brother Jim

Rev. Gregory Romanski, a Catholic priest for 43 years, died on Good Friday, April 10, 2020 in Austin at the age of 71. He was born on February 10, 1949 in Alma, Michigan to Alex J. and Helen L. Romanski. Rev. Romanski attended Villanova University and Washington Theology University.
                                                                             
Rev. Romanski was ordained for the Paulist Fathers on May 14, 1977 and served in parishes in New York City and Greensboro, North Carolina before coming to Austin in 1989. He was affectionately known as Father Greg by his parishioners. 

 

 

 

For Such a Time as This

A Series on Women in the Bible

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

Esther 4:1-17

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

 

During spring break of my sophomore year of college, my high school girlfriend, and fiancé, broke up with me. When I returned to school, which by the way, there were ten guys for every girl; my prospects were slim to none. I felt hopeless and depressed to the point where I almost flunked out of school.

 

The following summer, my degree program required a summer term of field work. There was a guy in the program who invited me to church with him where, low and behold, there were pretty girls everywhere. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

 

One night, my friend shared with me about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For such a time as this, Ken Baker, had literally changed my life forever.

 

The book of Esther tells us the story about how her cousin Mordecai raised her as his only daughter because both of her parents had died. Mordecai and Esther were exiled to Persia.

 

During a festive banquet for many high officials, King Xerxes was humiliated by Queen Vashti. As a result, he deposed her, and sponsored a beauty contest to choose the next queen.

 

Scripture tells us that Esther “had a lovely figure and was beautiful”. Because of this, she was forced to participate in the contest. After a yearlong of beauty treatments, she was taken to the king’s bed. Following this, he made her his queen.

 

The situation became desperate when Haman, who was the most powerful man in the king’s service, manipulated King Xerxes to decree that all Jews be killed. 

According to my NIV study Bible, these events “threatened the continuity of God’s purposes in redemptive history. The future existence of God’s chosen people, and ultimately the appearance of the Messiah, were jeopardized by Haman’s edict to destroy the Jews.”

 

Mordecai sent this message to enlist Esther’s help.

 

¹³ “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”             NLT

 

Making a bad situation worse, Esther had never disclosed to King Xerxes that she was a Jew. Plus, by law, anyone who went into the king’s presence without an invitation, was subject to death.

 

For such a time as this, Mordecai told her. The Lord had placed her in just the right place, at just the right time. Esther risked her life, and faithfully submitted to the Lord, changing the lives of a whole nation. My friend, Ken Baker, faithfully followed the Lord, and changed my life.

 

Where has the Lord placed you, for such a time as this?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams