It’s the tension on guitar and piano strings that makes music possible.  It’s the tension in our vocal chords that makes speech possible. Those are situations where we welcome tension but if we’re honest, there are plenty of situations where we could be very happy without tension!  For example, relationships are natural places for tension because every human being has a will of his/her own. Wherever we have a context of “shared will,” we have the potential for tension. I wish it was never true but it’s virtually impossible to be in relationships and community without tension.  We have differing preferences. We have differing opinions. Theology doesn’t settle everything because there is tension in theology! Tension is an inevitable reality of this life. It’s not “if” we’ll experience tension, it’s “when.” Since tension is normal, the question then becomes, “What will we do with it?”  We may decide to run and hide. We may decide to fight and hold our position. We may decide to defer in every situation just to keep the peace. We have options and there is no “one size fits all” solution. We plan to return to Acts 15 this coming Sunday and it is a chapter that describes—tension! Paul and Barnabas could not seem to get away from this problem of legalism.  From Antioch to Galatia and back to Jerusalem, the problem of people adding to the requirement for salvation was like a mosquito in the dark. It was hard to find, hard to kill and really annoying. We’ll learn more about their method and manner over the next couple of weeks. Thanks for joining us in the journey through “The Acts of Jesus Christ Through His People in the Power of the Holy Spirit.”  Don’t let the tension kill you or keep you away. ☺