Guest Blog written by: Colin Raynor

Paul was a missionary.. In today’s reading, we read about all the places Paul went and even plots to kill him for his faith.  But the statement Paul was a missionary isn’t about the places he went.  In today’s Christian world when we think missionary, we think about people going off to other countries to tell people about God…. but thats not what a missionary is. Paul sets the definition in chapter 17 verses 16-34. How often are we waiting?  We wait for food, we wait at the doctors office, we even wait for our phones to load, etc..  In those times you and I wait, I know for my self I have had the Holy Spirit “provoke” me to share who Christ was.  In verse 16 it says “now while Paul was waiting for them (Timothy and Silas) at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.”  Paul got this same provoking feeling, and he didn’t let fear get in his way. Many times when we get that Holy Spirit nudge, we think of what people will say about us or think of us as.  Just like today people heckled Paul.  Verse 18 says “what does this babbler wish to say…He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities.” What I admire about Paul is that didn’t stop him.  He knew what his purpose on this earth was, and he pursued it like we should every day.