IT ONLY TAKES A FEW: ACTS
1-2
My daughter, Gretchen,
lives in Seattle with her
husband Jobe and their two
children, Ella (3 years old)
and Camden (just hitting 8
months). Earlier this year
Gretchen was studying for
her bar exam, recovering
from childbirth, and caring
for a newborn. Oh, and the
family had just packed up
their home and moved to
another part of the city.
During this time, getting
everyone ready on Sunday
morning to make the trek
across town to their church
became ever more
challenging, and they missed
church for a few weeks.
One Sunday when Gretchen
stayed home to take care of
the baby, Jobe and Ella
headed down the street to
visit the church just a
block from their new house.
Ella was so excited! Having
missed church for a few
weeks was more than her
little system could handle,
so she excitedly put on her
new dress and announced to
her mom and dad that she was
going to go to church and
show God her new dress.
Gretchen watched as Jobe and
Ella walked down the street,
hand in hand, Ella dancing
and jumping around all the
way in anticipation of
seeing God at church.
When Jobe and Ella
returned, Gretchen asked
Ella how she liked the
church. Ella, without a
trace of her earlier
exuberance, replied, “God
doesn’t go to that church.”
Shocked at her answer,
Gretchen looked to Jobe for
feedback. With a shrug he
said, “I’d have to agree.”
It must be pretty bad
when a 3-year old’s
perception of your church is
that God doesn’t go there! I
have to admit, though, that
I’ve attended churches where
I’ve left with the same
feeling. I’ve also pastored
churches where I’ve gone
home Sunday afternoon
feeling drained, wondering
if somehow God had not shown
up.
What do you do when it
feels like God’s not there?
Sometimes you study all
week, prepare the best
sermon your mind and heart
can muster, and then Sunday
morning it just falls flat.
Or sometimes you’re teaching
Sunday school or leading a
small group and get the
sense that no one really
cares about what’s being
shared.
I know you’ve felt this
way! Like Ella, you’ve
walked away and felt like
“God doesn’t go to that
church!” and you just want
to give up. Don’t leave me
alone here—this happens. So
what do we do when we’ve run
out of hope? I’d like to
suggest that we turn and
look again at the first two
chapters of Acts. I see
principles here worthy of
our attention.
Have you really
considered what just a few
people can do? I could name
a whole list of individuals
and small groups of people
who’ve made a tremendous
impact, but in my opinion no
group of people has ever
shaken up the world like the
rag tag bunch who over 2,000
years ago came together as
followers of Christ and
formed what we know to be
the early church. The
question remains, How did
this small group of
frightened disciples rock
their world?
Well, in 1:8 we see that
they were called to be
witnesses. In other words,
if you find yourself living
in a Jerusalem, knee-deep in
hostility toward what you
believe—if it feels like God
isn’t there, and you fear
for your life—the call of
God is first to be a
witness. Always be a voice
for the truth, regardless of
your circumstances.
Next in 1:14 we read that
this motley crew joined
together in prayer. In other
words, they understood that
the situation was way out of
their control, and knew they
needed God to show up if
anything of lasting
significance was going to
happen.
Third, we read in 2:1-4
that these folks needed
enablement! Regardless of
how you understand this
passage, but the bottom line
is that they needed the
fullness of the Spirit. A
southern Baptist preacher
once said, “In the modern
church, if God were to lift
his Holy Spirit away from
the church, 90+ percent of
what the church does would
go on as it did the day
before.” Neither you nor I
want to be part of that
church—we want, we need to
see the fullness of the
Spirit at work in our lives
and ministry.
Fourth, in 2:42 we see
that they devoted themselves
to the apostles’ teaching.
To devote yourself to the
apostles’ teaching is say,
“I am going to live by this
teaching. It’s going to
change my character, it’s
going to alter my
personality, it’s going to
change the way I treat
people. My marriage will be
different, my friendships
will be different, the way I
work will be different. I am
devoted to the teaching of
the apostles, who have shown
me the way of Christ.
2:42 says, “They devoted
themselves to the apostles'
teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking
of bread and to prayer.” In
other words, they connected
with each other over the
word, over meals, and in
prayer. They became a
family. They loved one
another and devoted
themselves to being generous
and caring for one another.
That is the footprint of the
church coming into being.
Finally, in 2:46, it
says, “they continued to
meet together.” I see the
stress not so much on the
regularity of it but their
desire, their hunger to meet
together.
Do you need to revisit
any of these principles in
your life and ministry? If
so, which one(s) seems to be
rising above the rest? It’s
possible that when you come
away thinking, “God doesn’t
go to that church” that
maybe God has put you
exactly where you are to
rock the world. Remember, it
only takes a few!
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Summer is almost upon us
here in the U.S., and for me
it always feels as though
that should translate into
more time for reading.
Whether or not that feeling
translates to reality is
another matter, but if you
find yourself with some time
to read this summer, here
are a few titles you might
want to pick up. - Dave
Before I Go: Letters to our
Children About What Really
Matters
by Peter Kreeft | 2007 Sheed
& Ward
Have you ever thought
about what your last words
would be to your children? I
have. I think it is good to
distill life down to the
things that really matter.
Spending some time with this
book by Kreeft, a Christian
philosophy professor at
Boston College, might help
as you consider what you
would say about what’s
really important, or at the
very least assist you in
refocusing your life upon
those things that really
matter.
Good News About Injustice: A
Witness of Courage in a
Hurting World
by Gary Haugen | 1999
InterVarsity Press
Terrify No More: Young Girls
Held Captive and the Daring
Undercover Operation to Win
their Freedom
by Gary Haugen and Gregg
Hunter | 2005 Thomas Nelson
If you’re interested
about what is being done to
address slavery and
trafficking around the
world, you will want to read
Gary Haugen’s account of the
formation and work of the
International Justice
Mission (IJM). Haugen
was working as an attorney
for the U.S. Department of
Justice when he was loaned
to the U.N. to investigate
the genocide in Rwanda. As
he was digging through mass
graves of rotting bodies in
Rwanda, he realized that
living a safe suburban life
was no longer an option for
him. Years later he is the
president of IJM, whose
ongoing work is to free
victims of slavery, sex
trafficking, and police
brutality in the developing
world. These books tell the
story.
Transforming Worldviews: An
Anthropological
Understanding of How People
Change
by Paul Heibert | 2008 Baker
Academic
From the back cover: "Transforming
Worldviews is Hiebert at
his best! For the first
time, all of his major
missiological insights—from
set theory in church growth
to the flaw of the excluded
middle to critical
contextualization—are
integrated into a single
volume. Transforming
Worldviews, in which
Hiebert wrestles with one of
the most difficult concepts
for us to understand and
explain, is a fitting
exclamation point to a
career in which some of the
most important evangelical
missiological thinking of
the late twentieth and early
twenty-first centuries was
done." - A. Scott Moreau,
Wheaton College; editor,
Evangelical Missions
Quarterly
Banker to the Poor:
Micro-lending and the Battle
Against World Poverty
by Muhammad Yunus | 2003
Public Affairs
Question: What did a
Muslim businessman from
Bangladesh do to win a Nobel
Prize in microfinance? The
answer is found in this book
about how Yunus founded the
Grameen Bank to provide
micro-loans to the poorest
of the poor. Banker to the
Poor is an inspiring account
of the birth of microcredit,
written in a conversational
tone that makes it both
moving and enjoyable to
read. If you are interested
in microfinance, community
development, and business as
mission, this is a must
read.
Communicating Christ
Cross-Culturally (2nd Ed)
by David Hesselgrave | 1991
Zondervan
This book looks at all
aspects of communication
across cultural lines,
including contextualization,
worldview, and language.
Study of this topic is no
longer necessary only for
the missionary candidate,
but should be of interest to
every believer in the pew
who is taking seriously the
call of God upon their lives
to reach the world in their
own neighborhood.
The Importance of Being
Foolish: How to Think Like
Jesus
by Brennan Manning |
2005 HarperOne
To round out the list I
leave the world of academia
to recommend a book by
Manning that will rock your
world. I must admit that
after reading a number of
Manning’s books their impact
on me has lessened, but I
find that his message
continues to ring true. A
number of years ago I
recommended Manning’s
Ragamuffin Gospel to a
young man on my son’s high
school basketball team. That
young man is now in
seminary. I had a
conversation with him
recently and he told me that
it was that book that rocked
him out of his spiritual
complacency as he entered
college. Hard-hitting
Manning still tells it
exactly the way it is in
The Importance of Being
Foolish: How to Think Like
Jesus.
Looking for even more
ideas?
Christianity Today
has announced the recipients
of its 2008 Book Awards.
Each year CTI recognizes
outstanding titles in 10
categories:
Apologetics/Evangelism,
Biblical Studies,
Christianity & Culture,
Christian Living, The
Church/Pastoral Leadership,
Fiction, History/Biography,
Missions/Global Affairs,
Spirituality, and
Theology/Ethics. You can
learn about the winners, and
11 more titles given awards
of merit, here:
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2008/april/10.28.html
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