ACTING OUT ACTS
Greetings in Jesus:
There is such a difference in the church of Acts, and today's church that when one begins to really study it things become hard to compare. If it were not so sad it might even be laughable to see the differences between the heart felt commitment of the young Christian church and the social organization and club atmosphere of the church of today.
We read in Acts 1 and 4 of the close knit and very trusting, and loving people of the first church. The fact was they didn't welcome outsiders very openly because they needed to know of the commitment that each person within the church had to Christ Jesus before any kind of "right Hand of Fellowship" was given to them. At that time there were more people willing to turn members of the church into to the authorities for the purpose of persecution than there were people who were seeking the truth.
Today we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we are a Christian Nation because of the number of churches that dot the skyline in each town we go to, and yet it is not now nor has it ever been about the numbers of people who claim to be a Christian on the surface. It is however, all about those who have chosen to live out their commitment to Christ on a daily and sometimes moment to moment basis. I suppose that being a seeker friendly church has it's own calling, but it only means that a few people are introduced to a style of gospel that is not life changing. When we allow people to bring more of this world into the worship of God than there is transforming power in the Holy Spirit within people..".Houston we have a problem".
The action that was taken in the first church must continue to be the action we take today in what we look for and count as Spiritual fruit from those who are among us. It does not take a tradition or a law that must be followed to see that kind of commitment, but rather the love that is generated from a complete relationship with God's Son in ones life. The fact is that we can no longer pretend to be what we really are not, and I believe that God is weeding out those who have been worshiping God for the wrong reasons. I believe we will continue to see some of those who have claimed to know Christ drop from attending when they no longer see an advantage in doing so. Those are the people who have played along within the church for various hidden reasons...reasons that have ulterior motives and other goals than the worship of God.. As time goes on this year we will be able to look back and see some of what the Lord is telling us about this generation of people. It is my prayer that we will begin to see the truth of our witness and our lives lived out in Christ, by seeing those who really mean to give their lives to God drawn around the truth of His word, and what the real church is. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
There is such a difference in the church of Acts, and today's church that when one begins to really study it things become hard to compare. If it were not so sad it might even be laughable to see the differences between the heart felt commitment of the young Christian church and the social organization and club atmosphere of the church of today.
We read in Acts 1 and 4 of the close knit and very trusting, and loving people of the first church. The fact was they didn't welcome outsiders very openly because they needed to know of the commitment that each person within the church had to Christ Jesus before any kind of "right Hand of Fellowship" was given to them. At that time there were more people willing to turn members of the church into to the authorities for the purpose of persecution than there were people who were seeking the truth.
Today we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we are a Christian Nation because of the number of churches that dot the skyline in each town we go to, and yet it is not now nor has it ever been about the numbers of people who claim to be a Christian on the surface. It is however, all about those who have chosen to live out their commitment to Christ on a daily and sometimes moment to moment basis. I suppose that being a seeker friendly church has it's own calling, but it only means that a few people are introduced to a style of gospel that is not life changing. When we allow people to bring more of this world into the worship of God than there is transforming power in the Holy Spirit within people..".Houston we have a problem".
The action that was taken in the first church must continue to be the action we take today in what we look for and count as Spiritual fruit from those who are among us. It does not take a tradition or a law that must be followed to see that kind of commitment, but rather the love that is generated from a complete relationship with God's Son in ones life. The fact is that we can no longer pretend to be what we really are not, and I believe that God is weeding out those who have been worshiping God for the wrong reasons. I believe we will continue to see some of those who have claimed to know Christ drop from attending when they no longer see an advantage in doing so. Those are the people who have played along within the church for various hidden reasons...reasons that have ulterior motives and other goals than the worship of God.. As time goes on this year we will be able to look back and see some of what the Lord is telling us about this generation of people. It is my prayer that we will begin to see the truth of our witness and our lives lived out in Christ, by seeing those who really mean to give their lives to God drawn around the truth of His word, and what the real church is. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Comments
Post a Comment