Beyond the Stained Glass

Windows made of colored glass are beautiful, but there’s one problem: You can’t see out.

“When God closes one door, God opens another.” It’s an old saying, but it doesn’t come from the Bible. It’s one of those inspirational adages that you may have found to be true in your own life.

The apostle Paul had some experience with those words of wisdom. As a prologue to today’s reading, Paul was traveling with his associates, Timothy and Silas, through the land mass known as Asia Minor — better known today as Turkey. They began in Antioch — located on the Mediterranean, right where present-day Syria and Turkey come together — and worked their way up, in zigzag fashion, towards the northwest corner.

 

A Holy Change of Plans

The church in those Greek colonial cities was growing like nobody’s business. Paul and his companions were confident that they were part of something much bigger than themselves.

But the old formula suddenly stopped working. No one knows exactly what led them to think so, but their forward...