Is it possible that everything we know about todays Christianity is not what was intended or even thought about by the first century church?
Could it be that our practices, our traditions, our use of the bible, our understanding of what church is and the emphasis that we put upon that understanding is flawed?
Would Peter, James and John endorse or cry out against our understandings and expressions of the church? Would Paul be accepted by the local church in my town or would a riot breakout at his presence?
Let me ask more questions.
Did Jesus ever intend that we build tax-free institutions and gather weekly to sing songs, raise hands, take communion, give our money and listen to a speaker?
Will you even think about these questions or will you dismiss them as questions not worth thinking about. What are the alternatives if any? Is this as good as it gets?
Worship in the Old Covenant had its 24/7 practice and its experience of God who came and went from the tabernacle or the temple. When we drag that practice into the New Covenant we have people shouting at the ceiling for hours and asking God to come down and touch them and send revival. That is totally destructive of New Testament reality which is “Christ in you the hope of Glory”. Such practice makes mockery of the words of Jesus who said that He had given us all authority and that we were to go and make disciples of the nations. Jesus cannot come down. He is already in you if you are His. Jesus will not send revival. He has sent you. Such 24/7 shouting and crying matches are manifest rebellion against the words of the Master. They are traditions that make his words of no effect.
If we talk about the scriptures as the Word of God there seems to be a tendency to take little bits and pieces, cut and paste them and declare that little bit to be “the Word of God”. That way lies deception. There are enough bits that you can make the scriptures say almost anything you want. Your favourite little bit is not “the Word of God” . It is a portion of the scriptures that testify of Jesus. It only has meaning in the whole of the scriptures and ultimately only has meaning in relation to the revelation of Jesus.
I spoke to a man who described to me the nomadic life of a particular people in eastern Africa. His team went in to help these nomads with their living conditions. So they built a building and dug a well, and started a school. The team left and came back at a later time to find the building, school and well abandoned. The season had changed and the nomads moved on to better pastures the same way they have always done and the permanent structures couldn’t go with them.
I had this encounter with a friend. She had asked me to watch a video clip of some guys who learned how to run on water for a time before sinking. She was fully convinced of its authenticity. (how could it be anything less I am seeing it with my own 2 eyes) This video actually has a very interesting emotional connection. The emotion of it champions the human ability to achieve the impossible and raise the bar of what we can do if we believe in ourselves. It is more than a video of human achievement, it is a video of the power of the human spirit or so it seems. Our emotions are reinforced with pride and if we can do this we can do anything. There is another story taking place in this video, one that is not spoken but is being planted in your brain without your knowing! See if you can discover it.
This video documents the evolution from an idea of walking on water to actually walking(running) on water. (watch it )
I said to my friend that this video is actually a very well thought out advertisement for the Hi-Tec sporting goods company. Very well thought out and scripted. So well in fact was the design of this viral ad that my friend did not want to believe that it wasn’t true. That got my attention. She struggled to believe that what she saw may not be true and would have rather remained ignorant of that reality. That my friends, is a real control and if you can win their heart, their acceptance, their okay then you have effectively won over their loyalty and their wallet$.
It was only until I pointed out the instances of the product placement throughout the video that she started to ‘see’ what she didn’t and could not see before. This revealing of truth however had an effect I was not expecting. It did not bring a sense of relief to now know the truth but rather a sad disappointment that it was not real all because she had been sold on skilled marketing. So long as a lie is repeated and made exciting the truth will be disappointing and not believed.
The Hi-Tec marketing firm responsible for this creative advertisement also put out another video describing fully their creative process in creating their ‘walking on water’ commercial.
(Watch Making of Hi-Tec’s Ad.)
I said to my friend, “Truth can be depressing, especially when the lie is so fantastic.”
Its a feeling you have that you know something about yourself nobody else does.
The picture you have in mind of what you are about will come true. It’s a kinda thing you have to keep to yourself because its fragile feeling and you put it out there and somebody will try and kill it, so its best to keep all that inside.
My wife and I have gone through it once already and are going to do it again. You read 25 days a month then the remainder days you can play catch up or take a break or keep reading and brag about how far ahead you are to your spouse Its also formatted into nice little bookmarks.
I found that reading with someone makes all the difference. My wife and I often talk about what we are reading and what it means or how this can be applied to our life.
“for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:14 (ESV) If this is true, consider what has been written. It is as though someone has given you a map to get to a most wonderful destination. ... Continue reading »
By your patience possess your souls —Luke 21:19When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning …
Its also formatted into nice little bookmarks.
