I have been thinking and reading and listening a lot recently about the word and the meaning of Church. In the past few years I have began to feel a discontent with the American Church, unsure of my reasonings I have started to search where and why this discontent lays heavy on my soul.
Let me start by saying, there is none on the face of this earth who has or is doing everything perfect. We live in a fallen world, but with that being said we are to strive for perfection.
2nd Corinthians 13:11 "Finally, brothers, good-by, Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."
(this blog may be a little scatter brained, sorry)
I have decided to do a self study of the book of Acts, so far I have so many questions. Here is the passage that I have been focusing on and trying to figure out how this looks today, and why does it have to look different then it did then?
Acts 2:42-47
"they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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. praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
After reading this passage I tried to find a few podcasts talking about the idea of community centered church. I found one that really began to help refocus me thoughts on Christianity today. It was a podcast delivered by Shane Claiborne called Resurrecting Church; The mark of God's kingdom on earth.
I felt humbled by the ideas of how we can implement Acts 2 in our lives today. I would love to hear what others think on these ideas of church, what should it look like? I do not want to focus on the negatives and what the church is doing wrong, but focus on how it can be better. How can we as individuals implement change?
Here are a few links to a few GREAT podcasts that I would encourage you to take the time and listen to.
Shane Claiborne: Resurrecting Church: UYWI 2008
Rob Bell; The human heart is a mystery.
2 comments:
First off... I think we would have some really good things to talk about these days, as it seems our journeys over the past 8 years or so have brought us to similar perspectives... yes, we are kinda getting old. anyhow... Another great resource for commentary is Mike Erre's book, "death by church". He does a good job of being direct but appropriate in confronting what we have labeled "church" in North America and comparing it to "The Church" as the embodiment of the kingdom of God... very good stuff... though a harsh reality to confront.
what are your thoughts?
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