Imagine, if you will, a pair of 10 or 12 year old boys happen upon an old rowboat washed up on the shore of a river. There are no oars, but the boys decide to push it out into the river and go for a ride. While drifting along they joke around and tell each other tales of adventure as riverboat captains, or pirates, or brave explorers. After a while they begin to hear a sound; faint at first, growing louder. Their eyes grow wide when they recognize it: THE RAPIDS! If the decrepit old boat goes into those, it will surely break up and they could drown. They paddle frantically with their hands and manage to get the boat close enough to shore to jump out into water shallow enough to walk safely to shore. They watch from the shore as the boat is tossed by the white water, beaten against the boulders and smashed to bits. What started out as pure fun nearly ended in disaster.  This story serves as a metaphor for life. Continue reading “Drifting Through Life”

In the early days of the movement known as The Way, this congregation swelled rapidly from 120 members to around 5,000 members. Because the Sanhedrin hated Jesus and his followers, any Jew who converted to following Jesus was ejected from the Jewish temple and ordered to be shunned by all devout Jews. This had a major impact on the economy of any Jewish family who became followers of Jesus.

To help these people, as well as the lame and widows who joined them, the “church” took up collections and dispersed goods and funds to those in need. These collections were not forced, but rather the followers of Jesus gave freely out of a generous heart. Acts 4:32 says, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own but they had all things in common.”

This was not a new concept, I Chronicles 29:14-16  states that possessions come from God, belong to God, and should therefore be offered back to God when there is need. It is said that a hand opened in giving is ready to receive as well. A hand closed in greed cannot receive anything.

As followers began selling possessions to supply the need; there was, no doubt, some recognition of these gifts by the Apostles.

Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land, but chose to hold back part of the proceeds for themselves (Acts 5:1-11)  . They told the Apostles that what they gave was the full price they received. Why did they do that? Continue reading “Lessons Learned from Ananias and Sapphira”

When Jesus walked the earth and taught about the kingdom of God and what would come to be known as Christianity, he frequently spoke against the temple model of worship. Briefly, that is: holy places (usually buildings) where holy men interpret holy writings and tell the devout what to think, how to live, and what their god demands of them. The church that Jesus built through his apostles was not this way. Acts chapter two clearly describes what the original Christian church looked like:

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV)

This original, pure “Christian” church (they did not call themselves Christian for some time. Originally this church was called The Way. “Christian” was a derogatory tag hung on them by Roman soldiers at Antioch, which the followers of Jesus picked up and wore with pride) broke the temple model, but it did not last long. Continue reading “A Snapshot of True Christianity”