Holy Boldness or Not?

This past week we have had six different sales persons in our home, each making presentations and submitting estimates for a new air conditioner/heater unit. Some were very aggressive and forward. Others were very precise and detailed. One was a healthy mixture of both. We found him to be acceptable. He reminded me of a Greek word in Acts, that is most often translated “boldness.” “Now, Lord, grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word . . .” (Acts 4:29). When we think of “boldness” we normally think of aggressiveness and hard-sell. But the word has a secondary meaning of “clarity” which implies being precise and understood. In Acts, Luke was asking God for assistance in speaking, assistance that the witness would be both aggressive and clear. People I know whose speech is bold are often misunderstood. Likewise, those I know who are precise and detailed often lack aggressiveness. Perhaps, if we could blend the two meanings of the Greek word, the responses we receive from our witness might be more acceptable to God.

Join me this week in praying for the following global requests:
• Pray for 2 families from Moldova, who will be going to Russia for 3 months to do outreach among the Roma in Yekaterinburg.
• Pray for the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. They have had rain for 2 weeks and over 30 cities have flooding and 4,000 people have damage or lost their homes.
• Pray for seven Pastorless churches in Vancouver, Canada as they search for leadership.