I really don’t think I need to say anything more on the subject that what Philippians 2:1-4 (The Message) says about it.

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

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Acts 2:43-47 (The Message)

Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

This evening at home church, we discussed these verses, and how it would apply to us as the modern church. I really feel that with the world around us as well as all the technology that we use to communicate these days, we are really missing the essence of these verses.

Even though this section can almost be misconstrued as the basis for communism, which it obviously is not, these early Christians really went out of their way to accommodate each other, by selling all their possessions and sharing everything equally. In the world today, we are so indoctrinated to focus on ourselves, and what material things we can accumulate for ourselves, that we are missing each other.

One shock I had tonight was the fact that for 2 of the 5 families present at the house church, I only know what is going on in 2 other families’ lives, other than myself, obviously.

This was quite a shock for me, as we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and yet we manage to live on a ‘howdy’ basis. By this I mean that we will ask each other how they are doing, not really being interressted in the answer, and the other person knowing this, will say things are OK.

I believe we need to go and sit down with ourselves and God, and get rid of this mentality of saying ‘howdy’ and really get back to caring. We need to get the love for other people, and not just some, all people, that Jesus had for us. He gave His life for us on the cross, even though we definitely didn’t deserve it.

Start with the people around you, and start to really care. Don’t just say ‘howdy’ but really take time to find out what the person sitting next to you at work have going on in his/her life.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Please consider leaving a comment: Community Please visit the site, and read some of the other articles available there: Unsafe Challenge

This will somehow tie in with my previous post of where you want to be in 5 years time…

After havng had that very confusing question asked of me, and actually sitting down and really thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that the path I have walked in the last 10 years as far as career goes, was not for nothing. And why can’t I use the skills that I have developed over the years to further the Kingdom using that.

Now, South Africa is far behind the rest of the word as far as technology goes. Yes we have internet, and everything else, but we don’t have the bandwidth that first world countries have, and we don’t have the online community thing as a culture yet. Facebook has become big in South Africa, but the rest of online community has not really started to catch on really.

south African churches also have not yet caught on to really using the internet to further their ministries. Websites have become informational tools only, and I see a future of furthering the online community thing for the South African church, as a whole.

So, what I want to ask of you is, what kind of things would a church web space need to have to really make you sit up and look/listen. This is, at this stage, stopping short of a Church Online. I would love to hear from you on this, as the more I pray about this and sit and think about it as well, the more excited I am getting about it.

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Luke 19:24-26 (The Message)

²⁴“Then he said to those standing there, ‘Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake.’

²⁵“They said, ‘But Master, he already has double . . .’

²⁶“He said, ‘That’s what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.

For those that want to join me in this challenge of being unsafe in your faith, step up now, and let us form a community to support each other, as well as to challenge each other.

It is no good that we sit in our comfy lives, praying and reading the Bible, but not actually stepping out into the world and following God’s call to his people, and that is to speak the Gospel, and win souls for the Kingdom of God. I would urge each and every one of you to get a hold of a copy of the book, Life on the Line. This book will show to you what can be done, if you step out in faith, and take up the challenge of being Unsafe.

Please consider leaving a comment: Risks Please visit the site, and read some of the other articles available there: Unsafe Challenge