As we continue our journey to find a good way, I ran across a blog by James Jansen that has given me a whole new perspective in some ways of how we do this business of finding a good way and  sharing it with other people. At the end of this blog will be the URL to Mr. Jensen’s blog site. I highly recommend that you read his blog. It is excellently written and full of some very interesting facts. I learned a lot from it and part of the job of the Pew in my opinion is to share with you all the wonderful things that are available to us here on the Internet, who want to study the word and who want to learn more about the Bible and about Jesus Christ. 

Jesus’ ministry primarily took place in Galilee and Judea, with some activity in Samaria and beyond. He started in Galilee, preaching in synagogues and healing the sick. Later, he journeyed to Judea, including Jerusalem, where he was crucified. Historical writings and many of the biblical scholars point to the fact that Jesus’ main ministry was in Galilee, Judea and Samaria. There were some areas beyond Israel in which he traveled. Galilee is an area that Jesus spent a significant amount of his time in including towns like Capernaum where he performed many miracles. It was here also in Capernaum that Jesus gathered his first disciples. Jesus traveled to Judea, including Jerusalem for various Jewish festivals, including the Passover. We know his final week, including the last supper and crucifixion took place in Jerusalem. Jesus was always pushing the envelope as we would put it today, he traveled to Samaria interacting with the Samaritans, who were disliked by the Jewish population. In his travels outside of Israel. He want to places like Tyree, Sidon and the Decapolis, where he healed the Gentiles. The Decapolis was located east and southeast of the sea of Galilee. This was a group of cities that were geographically close, but they were culturally distinct from the surrounding Jewish settlements. The term itself is derived from the Greek meaning 10 cities. One of the things that I’ve come to realize was,  while Jesus was not what I would call an activist, he certainly was not a pacifist of no action at all. This area which was north west of Jordan, southern Syria and northern Israel, the cities were known for their great culture, language and urban organization. They were a part of the Roman empire, but they enjoyed a degree of anatomy and self governance. In the new Testament this area is mentioned in the gospels and it’s associated with Jesus’s ministry and as would be expected, there was a degree of cultural tension between the Greek Decapolis cities and the Jewish populations of the region. Having shared all this with you, let’s get on our way to the “Good Way.”

We’ll start by going back to the title of this blog at the very first when we are looking at the fact it only takes just a few good people to reach the many. I guess I will amend that a bit and simply say that it takes a few good people who love the Lord to reach many. That’s a bit of what we’re going to be looking at for the next few weeks. We’ll start with the ministry of Peter. We all know that Peter was a prominent apostle of Jesus, he was known for his leadership within the early church. Of course, we read of Peter all throughout the gospel of Jesus’s early ministry, but we find him prominently mentioned in the book of acts, particularly for his preaching at Pentecost and then his ministry in Jerusalem. Peter’s ministry included, preaching and healing and leading the early church. He wrote two books in the New Testament first and second Peter, his ministry was marked by a bonus in faith and the focus on the gospel. I apologize if we become too redundant here, but Peter deserves more than just a paragraph or two. The early church had just a few good people to take the message too many. Peter’s role was a prominent one after Pentecost and his leadership in the early church, his bold preaching and working to expand the church to include the Gentiles is something that we need to recognize. He had both successes and setbacks, including periods of persecution and personal failures, but ultimately remain a steadfast follower of Jesus. Here is a little more detail to what we’ve been reading for you. Up to now we had Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost that led to the conversion of approximately 3000 people, as he and those who came down from that room on that day filled the street and proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus and called for repentance. We should know that at this period of time in the history of the church as it first began, was very perilous time and Peter took a huge, huge gamble standing out in the crowd, preaching in the manner that he did. It is from this speech that he became a key leader in this growing Christian community and particularly there in Jerusalem. Some of the things that marked Peter’s ministry were a series of miraculous healings and demonstrations of God’s power. An example of which would be the healing of the man at the temples beautiful gate. One of the more important things that Peter did was he played a role in including the Gentiles in the Christian faith notably through his encounter with Cornelius and his family at a later date. It’s worth repeating that he faced opposition and persecution all along the way, including imprisonment, but he remained as we’ve said before steadfast in his faith. His two letters First and Second Peter offer guidance and encouragement to believers, especially those facing trials. Sadly, he was crucified upside down in Rome, a testament to his unwavering faith. As I wrote earlier, we’ll spend the next few weeks writing about the few who took the word, the message and the gospel to many. Next Week: John

Life is Good

jk

I am so grateful for those who give their time and abilities… “The Few” that give to so many. Read this Blog, you will be blessed…

https://www.jamesjanzen.com/blog/geography-101-the-triangle-of-jesus-ministry