“19 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all. 8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 19:1-10 ESV)

Redemptive thought begins where calculated and come-what-may deeds left off, where breakage took the helm, where some Deliverance was on order, mandated. It does Not, however, mean we the Redeemed concede to any and every entity Out There. Christ is a personal God insofar as it is against Him and Him alone we have sinned. More, it is His burden of proof in the World of Today, to establish, hey, I’m not ashamed of you my children. It is His burden of proof to establish that yes tears may come and so on and so forth, but He wants us Strong, stronger than even our best ambitions can imagine, strong for His Ministry, His Ministries, His Munitions of escalating the Truth Claim: Christ is One and the Same for All People.

More, Christ of our religion comes in a measured sense of Similitude when He encounters other religions of the world. Sure, the end game will measure some sociological or economical game of Survival of the… of the Fittest? Of as far as we Human Beings can ascertain, of the Main Thing, the Winning Horse, the Plea: not just Christian against Muslim, nor Hindu against Muslim, Christian against Buddhist, East versus West, but an oomph and shove as far forward-thinking as we can, of what each Individual Soldiers’ personal Encounter has taught: don’t Count on survival of the fittest. Push, for your experiential Gospel, your Jihad, your Mecca and your Canterbury, Nirvana, Center etc. Because it is a chattering class of people who Dictate where we go next. The pastor has spoken; we then are to Enact, because literally each little person’s voice matters.

When we are Redeemed, our Story Lines of Healings, of mighty oomph Personas, of those manically trying to do ten jobs when all that is needed is to be High and Lifted Up, beautiful and solo journey Focused, handsome and calm, our story lines Invite people of every aptitude and capability to come gather round, and to be stoically calm and collected, or smiley-faced dialog heavy and story-telling.

Our Redemption is not some sense, hey, I’m so broken, let me concede to my enemies. Because they must have it right, if only they Knew, knew of that fright factor of just how many careers or jobs past today I feel like I was embarrassingly naked in the employ of, silly and childish errors, toasts gone wrong, drunken escapades, silly oversights. These are yes what Redemption has saved us from, but so too our Dialog is with Christ Alone, who has a Forward Thrust already in action, in place, in effect, the Thrust of Defensive counterpoint and holding zones of Battle Lines held, not conceded, His gambit all about the Game and we… He not ashamed of our nakedness but rather Go Team and let’s get this pool hall gig, this bet laid down on the table, won. Let’s win, my friends. Because to lose is not cool.

More, our Concession to Christ: redeem me! Is a concession we adopt laughingly and knowingly, that our Enemy is too a Sinner, is too in Need of Grace from some Mohammmed or Christ or Buddha or Krishna or name-your-fashion. More, some folks live in a battle ground, in a contretemps, a holding pattern, a parrying Stature and Stance. To them, the fact an enemy is also and even more a Sinner, is abundantly Plain to See: see the enemy petulant, see them exhausted and lashing out, see them resentful, see them not quite love their sisters and brothers as well as they might. See them in short, sinful. And to some, Calvinists in particular, this slogfest is the day’s labor.

To others, and we hope to choose wisely our stance, there is Joy and Ecstasy of beloved coming-togethers and laughter and cousins just never hating on or frustratedly resenting another’s patent Sins, but being the Be All and End All of bemused love from on high. So our doctrines, our beleaguered friends and allies, our parents and kinfolk, our church mates and men’s or women’s ministries, these are in Hope of our Private and Personal frustrated pugnacious Onward Slog in Christ’s Name, being shared and no time to jest or laze about we have a War to Fight.