Tag: Acts

the rule of life…

It is the Christians, O Emperor, who have sought and found the truth, for they acknowledge God.

They do not keep for themselves the goods entrusted to them.

They do not covet what belongs to others. They show love to their neighbors.

They do not do to another what they would not wish to have done to themselves.

They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way they make them friends.

It has become their passion to do good to their enemies.

They live in the awareness of their smallness.

Every one of them who has anything gives ungrudgingly to the one who has nothing.

If they see a traveling stranger, they bring him under their roof.

They rejoice over him as over a real brother, for they do not call one another brothers after the flesh, but they know they are brothers in the Spirit and in God.

If they hear that one of them is imprisoned or oppressed for the sake of Christ, they take care of his needs.

If possible they set him free.

If anyone among them is poor or comes into want while they themselves have nothing to spare, they fast two or three days for him.

In this way they can supply any poor man with the food he needs.

This, O Emperor is the rule of life of the Christians, this is their manner of life. — Asistides 137 AD

encounter goes living room

Yesterday we had a different Sunday morning experience for encounter. Rather than gathering at the Civic Center, we met in 10 different homes around Ellis County. Each group was given a DVD (video below) and the DVDs were followed up with some discussion questions.

We had a great time yesterday morning!

I keep hearing more and more reports from folks who said they really enjoyed their get togethers which came in all sizes. I think the smallest group was 4 or 5 and the largest group had over 20. At least 100 people participated in encounter goes living room and I think everyone who participated was impacted in some way.

For those of you who missed out… or would just like to watch it again… here’s the video from the DVD we watched ::


encounter goes living room from Jonathan Blundell on Vimeo.

Along with the video, each group discussed the following questions ::

  • what would the experience of church be like if it was less like a presentation, building, or club and more like a spiritual home of people each living to fully serve Christ and others?
  • what would it take for people to get to that level of understanding and living?
  • what would difference would it make to people far from God if the church had the feel of a spiritual home?
  • what difference will these truths mean for you?

For those who couldn’t make it – feel free to watch the video, read the questions and share your own answers and thoughts.

Thanks again to all the host homes and leaders who made yesterday possible! You all did a great job!

Till death do us part

Listened to the latest Mars Hill podcast on the way into work today.

The (guest) speaker made a great point about the significance of baptism. He said that in the early church, people identified with Christ. It made a lasting impact on them. They saw who he was, what he did and what the kingdom he was leading us to.

So when the early church (Jews) said, “well we don’t want you to eat this or do this or wear that” the early converts were OK with it. Even when they said, “yeah there’s this little ‘operation’ the men will need to do to show that they’re committed to the cause.” Many of the converts said, “well OK we can do that too.”

And they did these things because they saw the impact of what living in the Kingdom of God was all about – right then and right there. They saw a new economy, a new community, a new way of living and they said “we’ve seen how powerful this life Christ called us to really is and we want to be a part of it – even though it will likely mean death for us.”

For many, being identified as a follower of Christ in Rome meant death. And folks still signed up for the cause because they saw a better way, a third way of living.

And so when someone stood up and said, “I want to be baptized and identified with Christ.” The entire community knew what he was saying. He was saying I want to be a part of bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. I want to take part in the redemption of the world. I want to live in community with my fellow man — even if that means death.

Powerful image.

Reminds me of several I met in Nigeria who said their families left them, their friends left them and their life was threatened because they converted to Christianity. Yet they did it joyously and willingly because they wanted to take part in the Kingdom of God.