Sunday, June 7, 2009

the book that never gets old

i've been reading the book of acts as of late and am completely blown away! i've read it before in different stages of my life, but i love that at each stage, as God continues to reveal Himself in news ways, in deeper ways, that this book is refreshed and carries deeper meaning. (i know, the entire Bible is like that, but i'm blown away by acts right now, k?)
some observations about acts now that i'm about half way through:
  • followers of Christ are called out, no fear of ridicule or rebuttal from "the other side." (acts 5:3-4)
  • the Holy Spirit worked in mighty wasy in spite of these people the Father had called unto Himself (acts.)
  • there were not only physical transformations (3:6-8), but there were cultural shifts that continue to astound me, (8:4-8, 10:44-48), as well as countless spiritual transformations (2:1-4, 9:1-31)
  • followers of Christ took time to be in awe of the workings of God (11:17-18)
  • do you remember phillip? i sure hadn't! he is my new hero, (not superhero, like Jesus ;)). i mean, when talking about a frontier missionary, one should really reference phillip-he started it all! (8:4-40)
  • it says that they taught about the Lord Jesus as they went places and people believed and were saved. (11:20-21) dude, what if that's all we taught in churches around the world-the LORD JESUS!? biblically, it seems as He alone has the power to save!
  • a friend told me to live in faith, not in fear. this is completely exemplified by the apostles and followers of Christ as they were obedient to the Holy Spirit, trusting in the faithful God (acts.)
these are just some petty thoughts. i know the "early church," as we have coined it, wasn't perfect by any means, but followers of Christ clung to the gospel, refusing to let anyone tamper with its value. i think that is the beauty of the "early church" that so many of us our attracted to. fromt his gospel centrality flows the :ability" to be obedient because Christ is all you have; the ability to live in faith and not fear because, again, Christ is of highest importance. i want to live in gospel centrality. i want to understand, even in the smallest bit, that the resurrected Christ is all that i have!

2 comments:

Justine said...

I would like to live that as well :)
I think you are on to something with why the early church is so attractive to us. But it also is the community that so naturally developed from people that shared that one thing in common...
I love your thoughts friend, thanks for sharing!
My church has actually been going through Acts again right now as well, we are beginning to change the whole structure of the church - crazy transition, and lots of change...

jeremy phillips said...

I always thought that was interesting how everyone and their mom is trying to get back to being like the "early Church."
In most cases, all you have to do to find the "early Church" is open the phonebook and find where the local Orthodox Church is because thats who the "early Church" is, and vice versa.