Potluck of Praise

46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
-Acts 2:46-47

Christian churches are known for their fellowship.  In fact, it seems like there must have been a daily potluck of sorts after Pentecost in Acts 2.  We see the early church had a common faith that led to a communal fellowship.

In days like today, we need to come together in a similar fashion.  Think about ways that your congregation can share with one another in the joyous fellowship of Christian love and unity.  Let it be casual and comfortable.  Make it just a gathering that allows you to break bread and share praise and praise together. 

Have every family bring a dish with a message of praise placed near it.  Display the messages prominently so that all can see them.  People will not only praise Sister King for her potato salad but also for overcoming the challenge of losing her husband in faith.  They won't only see Brother Gilbert as an excellent Sunday school teacher but a mighty good barbecue cook as well.  Fellowship together, sharing your praise for the Lord as one.

Bridging the Denominational Divide

Thank God that the kingdom of God is not divided into areas for big, important
people and areas for little, unimportant people. - A.W. Tozer

We have come a long way since Jesus ascended into heaven, leaving His disciples to await the coming of the Helper, the Holy Spirit of God. Yet, we seem to have splintered away from the Way. The early church was rooted in its actions and interactions with each other and the outside world. In fact, it was a known fact among the people that many respected the believers of that time. Nowadays, we have many denominations that it can be hard to keep up with who is doing what and what is going on with whom. Nevertheless, we seize the opportunity to possibly bridge some of the divide that men have created and build bonds on what Christ has established as the head of the church.

We need see Christ as the focus. Our agreement should be on the main thing, and the main thing should be Christ. If we can't agree on baptism, the Lord's Supper or the gifts of the Spirit, let us at least agree by faith that Christ is the main thing that we should focus upon.

We can agree that there are works to be done. We may not agree on how they should be done. We may not agree on whether they add to our salvation or not, but we certainly can agree that there are works that need to be done.

There is an enemy. He may take many forms. He do many things within this world. Our particular theology may see him as one thing as opposed to what other brothers and sisters may think, but we can agree that we have a common enemy who seeks to kill and destroy us.

Our nature is sinful. We may not be able to recite the whole five-point Calvinism and various "ministries" of the church based on our particular doctrine with agreement. Yet, we can admit that we need the pure and righteous sacrifice of the Lamb of God to take care of our sinfulness. We should be able to agree upon that much.

In doing so, we will find plenty of work to do based upon our common ground. We should find much to pray about based upon what we have accepted as true and agreeable. We can at least agree that we need to pray, even if we don't agree on how to pray. Amen.

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Discover Your Destiny

Believe it or not, Moses would be a pretty tough act to follow as a spiritual leader. He had seen God face to face and spent many days doing one-on-one meetings with God on Mount Sinai. Yet, Joshua was told to be both strong and courageous regarding leading the people of God into the Promised Land. He assured that the Lord was with him. Many of today's leaders may not hear God's audible voice in the same way Joshua heard it, but they need to hear from God. They need God's assurance to lead God's people into new territory. There's little to no movement because there's hardly any confirmation based upon limited communication and communion with God. When you have people trying to speak things into existence and determine their own destinies, there's not much room left to hear from God. Maybe we should hear from the psalmist's words first that simply said: "Be still and know that I am God. . ." (Psalm 46:10). Discover your destiny but learning to hear from the Divine.
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John 15:11 speaks of your joy being "full." You need to know that Christ's joy is to be present within you. It should be within you and maintained at a "full" level. Imagine what life would be like if you livedwith your joy on full daily. That totally change your outlook on every single day as you operated on full joy.

Church or Community?

There's a question brewing among the saints. Evangelicals and radicals alike are tossing ideas back and forth. Many folks in Christian circles are trying to figure out what to do during these hard economic times. People are trying to figure out if it is about the church being part of the community or the community being part of the church.

We contemplate the complicated. We mix and mingle a whole lot of mess. In the end, we are left with the simple discovery that there is no better solution than what we had before. The countless ways that we can dream up and scheme up don't seem to matter much because God has already offered the best alternative.

He expects us to be part of the solution to both the community's issues and the church's ills. The church needs to get over itself and recognize that it's not that holy. Church people sin just like evryone else, by thought, word and deed. The church should serve those within the community to help meet unmet needs of the fatherless, homeless, jobless, and others. Our service is not good works if the benefactors are merely other church people. That would make us simply hypocrites. We need to get out into the community and see where we might be able to lend support to existing services and add to the plethora of newly-adapted services needed to reach people at their lowest points as they seek to survive and simply make ends meet. Let the church serve its community, embracing brothers and sisters with all that they have to offer.

The unity of the church will consist
not in organizations,
not in dogmas,
not in liturgies,
not in pious hearts,
but in the word of God
in the voice of Jesus Christ.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Tear Down the Walls

We need to tear down the walls that hinder us from true unity. We have the same God and Holy Spirit, even the same Savior. What's the problem? We are the main problem. Well, it is not simply us. It's all the stuff that we have piled on top of what the Lord has said.

What do I mean? Survey the Bible. You won't find the various degrees of denominations in the Bible that we have come up with these days nor the widespread reasoning for them. Yes, he was called John the Baptist, but most of us Baptists tend to take that totally out of context. He was John the Baptizer because he baptized people with the baptism of repentance. Look out. Beware. Someone will spit hate and spite simply based upon what offends them about that and that is the Word of God.

I have to give it to some of my brothers and sisters who seek out the truth from the Word. They recognize that we may have been raised Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal or otherwise, but they know the truth of the Word. God wants our hearts, not simply our adherence to denominational ties and covenants because we've always- as long as we've known at least- been this or that, done it this way or that way. Bless those who hold fast to all of that, but also bless those who seek and find the truth in the Word.

I say simply tear down the walls. Rip apart the barriers. Eliminate what's in the way. Let's come together and worship the Lord as one body. Share in His Spirit together as one. Let's be a single Christian community.

Unity Worship Service
October 31st
10 AM
Golden Hill Park (San Diego)
Spreading Unity Throughout the Community

Preview

Together in Unity (Psalm 133)

I have always thought of Psalm 133 as a simple way to squash a lot of the "stuff" between men. I mean its first verse alone sets up a plethora of ideas on how things could and should be done among men. The psalm simply speaks of it being both good and pleasant for brothers to dwell together in unity. Something can be good for you and not necessarily pleasant. You know what I mean. It's like some veggies. Sure, they're good for you, but they may not be pleasant. The Word says that brothers coming and dwelling together in unity is both good and pleasant. It's helpful, not harmful. It's fruitful, not fatal. It's both good and pleasant.
There is a certain aspect of this unity that helps us to understand and see that when we bond together good things are bound to grow out of it. There may be some rocky places and some bumpy spots, but there is something good and pleasant in the making among us.
Dwell on it. Think on it. Watch and see what happens.