The Apostle Paul Essay Example for Free

The Apostle Paul Essay This report paper will be on the life of Paul. We will look at many various different facts about this influential man of God. We all know the apostle Paul was used of God in a miraculous way, but this paper will take a behind the scenes look at some areas. I also endeavor to make this paper come alive and reveal things about the apostle Paul that maybe have never been discovered by the average reader and possibly forgotten by the veteran Christian. The Author of Acts First, let me begin by saying that in Acts class we learned the importance of Acts for the local New Testament church today. When the church is of course if we would just be reminded to get back to the book of Acts then we would see many of our church problems disappear in no time at all. Contrary to what many baby Christians believe the Apostle Paul did not write the Book of Acts, but rather we learn that Luke wrote it. This was Luke’s second treatise as it is written. Paul’s Transition The Apostle Paul that we know at the end of his Epistles is not the same as when we first meet him in the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul came a long way from where he was to where he ended up. The Bible tells us that he would persecute the Church passionately and without regard for the Believers. The Apostle Paul was arguably the world’s most influential missionary (obviously not counting the Lord Jesus) to ever walk planet earth. Paul was not always his name but actually he was called Paul only after his conversion. Paul’s first and original name was Saul. Saul was a terror to the church and a modern day widow maker in his heyday. We even see Saul there early on when Stephen the martyr was being slain by his adversaries. We read the account firsthand in Acts the seventh chapter verse fifty-eight the Bible says: Act 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young mans feet, whose name was Saul. Paul’s Childhood Before we get to far ahead in the story let me give a little bit of history of Saul from Tarsus. Saul was born either very close to the same time that Jesus was born or within a few years of His birth. He was born and lived in the city of Tarsus. Tarsus was a roman providence in the southeast of Asia Minor. This undoubtedly was beautiful lush gardens and beautiful scenery for Saul to enjoy growing up. Paul’s Schooling Saul enjoyed great scenery growing up but more importantly because of where he lived he received the best education of that day that money could buy. Saul from an early age was already leaps and bounds ahead of his peers academically. Saul had a sharp mind and we will see he used that later on his ministry, and the writing of Romans which I believe was written by the Apostle Paul. Paul was living the all around Jewish dream people would say as they heard about all he had. Paul’s Family We do not know much about the history and background of Saul’s family. We do however know that his dad was of one of the strictest tribe of the Jews. He was a Pharisee and also of the tribe of Benjamin. He had nothing but pure unmixed non tainted blood in their thinking. Paul’s Religion Act 23:6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. His father was a Roman citizen, but we do not read in the Scriptures if the apostle Paul was wed or not. Saul grew up and finished his preliminary studies approximately at the age of thirteen. After this beginning he would gone to a prominent Jewish school to study law. Saul was privileged to have been able to study under the significant rabbi Gamaliel. It was here that he spent an immense amount of time pouring himself into his studies and where he learned many things. Historians tell us that Saul was already gaining political prowess and prestige rapidly ahead of his peers. Many people believe that Saul was already heavily involved in the Sanhedrin. Saul became an extreme activist and zealous about persecuting the church. This was partially ironic because we already know that Saul trained and learned from Gamaliel who taught the exact opposite of that. We see him standing up as one of the council saying: Act 5:34-35 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. Act 5:38-39 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Paul as a Persecutor Now that Saul was intent on persecuting the church he looked for Christians everywhere. Saul was a man that did no task half way. Saul would give everything in life one hundred and ten percent as we see evident all though the study of his life. Saul discovered one way or another that there were Christians in Damascus and so after a discussion with the chief priest he received orders or permission to take care of business. Saul was so dedicated that we see he is willing to make the one hundred and thirty mile trek to persecute the church. The chief priest gave him permission to go to Damascus and bring both men and women bound back to Jerusalem. Paul’s Conversion On this trip to Damascus is where Saul gets confronted with the truth and converted to the truth. The Lord stops him in his tracks and on his path by shining a bright light around him. The Lord asks him a question from Heaven,† Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Saul falls to the ground under the power of the light and asks, â€Å"Who art thou, Lord?† and Jesus replies to him by saying,† I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Right away Saul falls under intense conviction was converted and immediately asks the Lord what He would have him to do. On a brief side note this is an incredible testimony to the conversion and character of Saul. He would do everything one hundred percent and never give up until the Lord moved him and we see that every time he goes through a difficult situation (which was quite often) in his ministry. Saul’s name was eventually changed to Paul later on (which is the Gentile name) and he is temporarily blinded by the bright light. He fasts and goes without food or drink for three days. Scholars speculate it was there that he agonized and struggled but returned victoriously. A few days later he received his sight after Ananais put his hands on him and he was baptized. Paul’s Ministry He writes and informs us in Galatians that after his salvation experience he spent some time alone in the desert area of Arabia. After a period of some three years Paul is now charged up and ready to go. Many people speculate as to what exactly Paul did for those three years. We believe with research that is it safe to say that the Apostle Paul was deep in studying and learning more and more. Paul was a Pharisaical man before, but now after dealings with the Lord we see him as dry sponge soaking up the wisdom of the Word and becoming reading to dispense of it. Three years later he returned to Damascus and was ready to now preach boldly. Unfortunately they did not receive him kindly and he was forced to flee for his own personal safety. He left and went unto Jerusalem only to face the same result three weeks later. Paul was beginning to face the beatings and persecutions and torture that he had so readily dished out to the people to whom now he was called to minister. Paul was undergoing life altering events that did not even seem to faze him in the least possible way. The Apostle Paul was starting to really emerge and became quickly one of the leading missionaries for the faith. We see the church at Antioch catch spiritual fire and become burden for missions and those around them. They decided to send John Mark, Barnabas, and Paul on their very first missionary trip. This would revolutionize missions for ever after. Paul’s First Missionary Trip These three men would begin sailing from Seleucia across to Cyprus which was approximately eighty miles to the southwest. It was on this journey that Saul would no longer be called Saul but rather the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul took the lead role on this trip and took charge. They trekked across the mainland, and unfortunately for whatever reason John Mark left the missions field. The absence of John Mark would become a sore spot between Barnabas and the Apostle Paul in the future. However, the trip continued and they passed though Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. They turned the world upside down with their passion and mission trip. As they returned back home they retraced their steps visiting babes in Christ along the way and encouraged many churches. They would ordain elders within the church to act as an overseer in their presence to make sure all things would continue as they were. From the city of Perga they sailed unto Antioch. Paul’s Division After a while being in Antioch the Apostle Paul proposed that they return and check up on their brethren to see how they fared. The planning was going great and the trip was sure to be even bigger and better than the first until it came to a screeching halt. For the aforementioned reasons there was a sharp division between the two. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, his cousin, and give him another chance, but the Apostle Paul was quick to remember what happened last time when John Mark bailed on them. The division was so sharp that they parted company Paul’s Second Missionary Trip Paul began his second missionary journey with a new missionary partner, Silas. Barnabas took his cousin and went on a missionary journey separate. The Apostle Paul began this missionary trip about A.D. 51. Each missionary tour that Paul took he wanted to stay out a little longer and go a little further in to the mission field. After each missionary trip he would return to Antioch give reports to the churches and check up on and encourage the brethren. Paul’s Third Missionary Trip On this third missionary trip he toured the upper coast of Asia Minor as he made his way slowly to Ephesus. As we said earlier each trip the apostle Paul wanted to stay longer and longer on the mission field and this trip was no different. He tarried there with the brethren for three years ministering to them. Like the other trips he suffered much persecution here as well. It seems that this trip might have had the most severe torture as Paul was getting older the beatings were becoming more severe and the hurled rocks would only hurt that much more against his bare sun beat back. Paul suffered so much on his mission’s trips yet he always wanted to do more and he maintained a joyful attitude despite his circumstances. Conclusion The Apostle Paul was a man that experienced great transformation in his life. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisee’s and Hebrew and on his way to Hell. God miraculously saved him on his way to persecute the church and turned his life around. Paul was a zealous man with a lot of passion whatever he did and the ministry was no different. Paul went on multiple missionary trips leading many people to Jesus. He challenged the churches, established order when necessary and revolutionized missions. The Apostle Paul is someone we should model our missions after. He had a desire to please God and did whatever it took to lead the churches in the way of truth. Paul truly lived a life that daily was â€Å"back to Acts†. And He was a real man because he preached Christ and Him crucified. May we all be as dedicated to the cause of Christ as we saw in this paper that The Apostle Paul was to Jesus Christ his Lord and Saviour.

Entrepreneurial Revolution :: Business, Entrepreneurs

Kuratko and Hodgetts (2001) mentioned that â€Å"we are having entrepreneurial revolution in this twenty first century†. This is the period where entrepreneurs will grow like mushroom after the raining season. On the other hand in Malaysia, according to department of statistic (2009) the number of people who become entrepreneurs have shown a reducing trend since 1982 to 2008 where it had gone down to 20.9% from 25.1%. This shows that many people prefer to work with private sector or government rather than becoming entrepreneurs. To increase the number of the people to become entrepreneurs especially the Bumiputra(native people), the government has launched many schemes and mechanism to increase their numbers. Education institution has been use as one of the mechanism to promote entrepreneurship to the student in middle and tertiary education. The creations of entrepreneurs are important because they have been proven to contribute to economy wealth and job creation (Turker and Selcuk, 2008). In 1999, Audretsh and Thurik conducted research on past data from 1984 to 1994 regarding the relationship between entrepreneur and job creation issue. The result showed that there is a positive relationship between the two where the number of job rate increases when the number of entrepreneurs increased. In Malaysia entrepreneurship course was started to be introduced in some universities in mid 90’s (Cheng et al.d, 2010). Then in 2007, Ministry of Higher Education made a policy that entrepreneurship course became a compulsory subject to all students in the universities irrespective of whatever faculties ,to encouraged more development of entrepreneurs from the university(Ministry of High Education Malaysia, report 2010). With this policy, universities have become the center to foster entrepreneurship. However unlike the situation in the west, here in Malaysia the situation is different where the number of people who actually become entrepreneur is small compared to the number of people who have taken the course. This is totally difference in other countries. In the United States, for instance, many of the graduates form companies after and during their universities. In the west the impact of the entrepreneurship education have been well known as mention by Ayers (2004) where the â€Å"graduates from Massachuset Institute of Technology have created more than 4000 companies†. In Harvard more than 50% of the students have involved in venture business (Anjan,2005). Similar effect also ha d happen in early research in Europe (Harhoff, 1999) .All these situations indicate that entrepreneurship can be taught through education.

Brian Montgomery

What skills do you believe manages should possess? A: Leadership, organizational and interaction skills, good communication. Planning Q: Why do you think Managers need to plan? A: You need to have agreed plans and goals; I?s how you measure yourselves and the business against planned targets Q: There are different kinds of Plans including, Mission statements, vision, marketing operational. What type of plans do you use in your business? A: In my division we use all of those, the company has our mission statement and vision, which we live but the operational plans are the day to day business for us.Q: How often do you refer to each of the plans? A: It really depends on the plan and situation but I would say at least weekly. Q: Do you discuss the plans with you your teams and why? A: Yes we discuss these in all of our meetings at different levels. Staff, supervisor and management meetings. Q: How effective do you think these plans are? A: There is always room for improvement, but at th is time they are good. They are achievable and relevant to the core business. Our plans have to be somewhat flexible due to the changing environment we work in. Q: What benefits do you think you get from each of those plans?A: The team get a sense of achievement, moving forward, setting new goals. We achieve then move the goals forward. It's great for the team to see the plan coming to fruition. Organizing Q: Why do you think businesses need to have organizational structures? A: Accountability and growth. Q: There are different kinds of Organizational structures in the workplace, Formal/informal, functional, and divisional and matrix. Which one or combination Of these is used in your business? A: would say Divisional due to the multiple sites. Q: What benefits do you think you get from those structures you use?A: loud say time is the biggest benefit. When you find something that works well at one site you can adapt that to fit another site. With not having to come up with a complete new system then have time to focus on other issues. Q: Do you see any drawbacks to any of the structures you use? A: Having too many sites sometimes mean you spread yourself a little thin. That's when you have to look at staff and co-leaders. Leadership Q: Why do you think leadership is important in business? A: Overall accountability, but part of that is ensuring that the whole team work together to achieve the desired outcome.Q: There are several types of adhering, Autocratic, Democratic Laissez-fairer, situational etc. Which of these do you use in your organization? A: Democratic for me, having said that there are occasions when time constants mean a directive needs to be the way to move forward quickly. Q:How would you describe your leadership style? A: Adaptable depending on the climate at the time and proactive. Q: What benefits do you think you get from this style? A: Success, great time management and good interactions with staff. This means we meet timeliness. Q:DO you see any drawbacks to this style?A: Sometimes if you don't stay focused on delivery, things can get interpreted Rooney. You really have to make sure you invest time on learning so everyone understands their part in the overall plan. Control Q: What does controlling mean for you? A: Guidelines are put in place sows have a structured approach. Q: What control systems are used in your business? A: Mainly Kepi's (Key Performance Indicators) Q: Why are controlling systems important in your business? A: So we can achieve and show that we have achieved. Q: What control functions that you use monitor your planning functions?A: The Kepi's are what shows how we are progressing against our plan and working towards our targets. With no Kepi's where are we really. 1 . The Planning Function of Management 1. 1 . A There are a variety of reasons that managers plan although to me the first reason would be to set the direction and priorities of the company or sector of the company. You want to ensure tha t everyone in the team is working towards a similar goal and understands what that goal is. 1 . 2. A Vision Statement: Describes what a company would like to achieve, their aspirations to be the leader or best at what they do.Mission Statement: This is really the overall aim of the company, it tells prospective customers who the company are and what they stand for. Strategic plans: these are the long term plans the company has to grow. The overall direction it wants to take to achieve its desired goals. Marketing plans: This is the companies plan outlining how they plan to achieve the strategic goal they set. Here they need to look at what they deliver how well and what gives them the competitive edge over others out there. How they show that information to prospective clients. Contingency plan: This is the ‘what if plan.As we all know â€Å"If anything can go wrong, it will. † Murphy's law With that in mind we need to put plans in place for possible events that were to originally planned for (the contingency plan). Operational plans: This is a short term plan often set at a lower level in the company to ensure the team or section of the company have a clear understanding of what they need to do in the short term to ensure the company as a whole is achieving its higher level plans. 1 . 2. B The company I studied has a variety of plans, they have a vision (what they want to be), Mission (Why they exist), Values(what is important to them).They also have a strategic plan looking at the goals of increasing contracts and turnover by a percentage each year for the next five years. They have a marketing plan, for how they plan to sell the business to prospective clients. All these plans are driven from their National Office. Then there is the operational planning side of things, this is how they plan their work week to week to ensure they carry out the work the client wants within the timeshare set. 1. 3. From what observed I think overall the company st udied has some good plans at each level.My study was more focused on the operational plans and at interview and at first look it appears that the plans are sound and have some clear expectations of how things would be done in order to achieve the goals. Looking closer showed that there were some things that could possibly be done to make it more effective 1 . 3. B I was able to see the operational plans and how these were looked at from week to week. They have various focuses form current week to next and then longer focus into months ahead. I was shown the targets for completions of set work and the actual percentages achieved week on week against the plans.They have set themselves some high goals for the year and are close to achieving. I did notice from discussions that where they appear to fail is due to not cooking at the contingency side of things fully. A lot of the day to day jobs are dependent on weather or plant access and often there is no plan for what they will do if th ey cannot do that. This means that the overall focus then becomes more reactive than proactive. 2. The Organizing Function of Management 2. 1 . A Businesses need to have organizational structures in order to allow them to function effectively.This is because the structure defines the roles and tasks undertaken by staff. â€Å"An idea can only become a reality once it is broken down into organized, actionable elements. † Scott Belles 2. 2. The main kinds Of organizational structures are: Formal: Generally roles and responsibilities are set out in writing and staff generally don't venture outside their job description. Informal: Is how people work together in practice, day to day interactions. This structure generally develops alongside a formal structure. Divisional: Is where an organization is split into a number of separate units.These can be grouped according to product, market, geographical location or a mix of these. Each division is self-managed. Functional: Is where sta ff are grouped according to the function or role they perform Matrix: Is where staff are grouped by both function and product, often this structure is used for project work. 2. B The company I studied had a combination Of the Structures discussed. The company as a whole have a formal structure with an organizational chart to show the positions, with each position having a formal job description.But alongside that the staff have developed good communication and day to day talking to ensure the jobs are completed which is really the informal addition. The company has certainly got a divisional side to mainly based on location, and there is somewhat of a functional split at the location I looked at where hey have a roofing team with team leader, a handyman team with team leader, an industrial cleaning team with team leader and a commercial cleaning team with team leader. 2. 3. A The impression I was left with is that the mix of organizational structures works very well in this company. There appear to be a good balance between the formal and informal. The functional structure impressed me in that each of the individual teams had a clear understanding of their roles and took pride in achieving and meeting their targets. 2. 3. B During my visit I was able to see the organizational chart and some of the position descriptions. Away the team members within the office and how they interacted with the team leaders to get tasks achieved. 3. The Leadership Function of Management 3. 1 . A Leadership is important because without it a business will fail to function to its full potential. Leadership is the capacity to transform vision into reality. † Warren G. Bennie 3. 2. A To me the business I studied relies heavily on the democratic style of leadership, with a little delegating added to the mix. Democratic: There were a lot of notes from meetings with the manager and her supervisors and team leaders, where you could see issues discussed and he thoughts of the team wit h the decision made and agreed as the way to move forward. I noted from the tone used by the manager at interview and the dealings I saw with staff that she asked for their thoughts and input to assist in the decision making process.Delegating: I could often see actions for tasks or monitoring being assigned to the supervisor and team leaders. 3. 2. B Compared to the democratic style the autocratic does not look for a collaborative approach. Generally it is a more solely directive or authoritarian approach. Whereas the democratic style assists staff in feeling that they are a ajar part of the process and engaging them the autocratic would not be the way to get the best from a team. The team with the autocratic leader often feel less loyal, have less commitment and in the end, less satisfaction from the job as those with a democratic leader.Having said this a few of the staff I came across liked the go to work and be told what to do and how, although it was a minority. Although not i deal in my view there are occasions where autocratic works, this is usually in situations where an emergency has occurred and a decision needs to be made sooner rather than waiting to see if a consensus can be reached. . 3. A I believe that the leadership in the business I studied was adequate. There seemed to be systems in place and all those I spoke to or observed seemed to be aware of their part in achieving.

How Denouement Is Used in a Narrative

In a narrative (within an essay, short story, novel, play, or film), the denouement is the event or events following the climax; the resolution or clarification of the plot. A story that ends without a denouement is called an open narrative. Etymology From the Old French, unknotting Examples and Observations One might have thought that in choosing Jack and the Beanstalk, [Berwick] Kaler was returning to traditional narrative. Yet having found a plot, he contrives to lose it again pretty quickly. Though there is a character named Jack, and a fast-growing vegetable so rampant it threatens to crush the auditorium, any giants who came to the auditions with their fi-fi-fo-fum routines honed will have been turned away disappointed. Instead, the denouement involves David Leonards dastardly villain being crushed by an enormous chicken while a chorus of nuns swings from some bell ropes and an invading horde of puzzled green Martians looks on.(Alfred Hickling, Jack and the Beanstalk--Review. The Guardian, Dec. 13, 2010)Every tragedy is in part Complication and in part Denouement; the incidents before the opening scene, and often certain also of those within the play, forming the Complication; and the rest the Denouement. By Complication I mean all from the beginning of the story to the point just before the change in the heros fortunes; by Denouement, all from the beginning of the change to the end.(Aristotle, Poetics, translated by Ingram Bywater)Denouement means wrapping up of loose ends, and it includes a demonstration of how the hero or heroine has changed. In the story pattern for nonfiction, the corresponding device is the summary. The plans made or actions taken reveal what he or she has learned from the experience.(Elizabeth Lyon, A Writers Guide to Nonfiction. Perigee, 2003)Toy Story 3 is wondrously generous and inventive. It is also, by the time it reaches a quiet denouement that balances its noisy beginning, moving in the way that parts of Up were. That is, this film--this whole three-part, 15-year epic--about the adventures of a bunch of silly plastic junk turns out also to be a long, melancholy meditation on loss, impermanence, and that noble, stubborn, foolish thing called love.(A.O. Scott, Voyage to the Bottom of the Day Care Center. The New York Times, June 1 3, 2010)Imagine the feeling you would have had if Saving Private Ryan had ended and the credits rolled immediately after Captain Millers hand stopped shaking, indicating that he had drawn his last breath. Bad enough that Tom Hanks has died on screen. But now were expected to walk outside and get in our cars and head home?Despite the obvious implication, movies dont end with the outcome of the final battle. Sure, the outcome answers the question(s) raised by the writer at the end of the first act. In that sense, there is a conclusion. But we crave more as moviegoers, dont we? Were not ready just yet to let go of the story or its characters, are we?Why is why every great ending needs a denouement. . . .[T]he denouement is the main characters and/or the rest of the worlds reaction to the outcome of the final battle.(Drew Yanno, The Third Act: Writing a Great Ending to Your Screenplay. Continuum, 2006) Pronunciation: dah-new-MAHN