Acts

We did a study of Acts last night with the YG. There is not a more convicting book in the Bible for me than Acts. We are living in the "church age." Same as the church in Acts. But today's church doesn't at all look the same. Why not? I think the answer is complex.

We (the church and myself included) don't seem to have the same effectiveness or boldness. We don't expect alot out of God or ask alot of Him either. We are so self-deprecating (due in large part to the emphasis on Hell and God's anger in so many sermons and books) that we don't approach God as His beloved children.

And for that reason we don't look for His hand at work. He has not stopped working, but we too often don't realize it. The early church fathers always recognized the work of God. They looked for and anticipated it. This made all their work all the more God-honoring. The miracles they performed were not their work, but Christ's. The possessions they had were not their own, they belonged to the church and all those that needed.

All these ideas and mindsets flowed directly from the fact that the fathers were aware that God was at work. That the Holy Spirit (the helper that had been promised them) was doing great things.

Have I become deaf to the Holy Spirit's leading? Blind to God's hand in my life, the life of those around me, and the world? God has not changed. He is not less powerful than 2000 years ago. He is not done working. It is our job as believers to realize this and search for His hand, His plan, His will as we do life together.