Fellowship of Believers- Acts 2:37-47

Church is not just a place to come on Sunday, listen to and sing music, listen to a message by the pastor, greet friends and leave. Church is not even a place or building the way we think of it. It is the act of the proclaimed followers of Christ and how they live their lives together.

The first Christian church in Acts 2 took off very quickly. Peter preached the gospel to many seekers, and they all asked “What shall we do?” Here is where Peter gives the best advice. Rather than tell them to come together in a building and listen and learn more, he tells them plainly to repent/turn back to God and be baptized in Jesus’ name to be forgiven of sins, and 3000 people joined God’s Kingdom that day, not just a local church. Their response was immediate. It is not said that they were instructed to come together regularly to eat, pray, worship, share all they have with each other, etc. They did this naturally from change Jesus did within them all. A genuine love from God helped them spiritually want to come together and share their lives in fellowship and community with each other. This is the natural progression of new believers when the Holy Spirit works within them, and those around are doing the same showing an example of their changed lives.

The picture of this first church is a picture of health, and due to that health the Lord added more believers daily. Jesus gets glory when His church functions in a healthy way, because when it does, people who are seeking God, even if they don’t know they are seeking God will be attracted to that health, thereby being attracted to all God has to offer.

Sin and the Fall- Genesis 3

In Genesis 2, God had given Adam instructions while he lived in Eden- that he was to take care of everything in the garden and that he could eat anything, except the fruit from the tree of knowledge which would let him know the difference between right and wrong. It was Adam’s responsibility to to communicate that to his wife, Eve. Adam was set as the spiritual leader of his family. Eve was tempted by the devil to take and eat from that tree. The father of lies, told her the lie that she would not die if she ate it, but that God had lied to Adam by saying they would not die, but God was afraid they would become like Him. Eve took it, and it wasn’t only her fault because she gave some to Adam, who was right there with her. He should have been strong enough to tell her not to take it and be the leader of the family God set him up to be. Unfortunately, he did not, and spiritual death that God told them about for their rebellion happened- they were spiritually separated from God.

God still loves his creation, but had to punish the sin. If He had let the sin go unpunished, God would be un-just. Satan was an angel who was cast out of heaven for the sin of pride and wanting to be like God- the actual first sin, so his sin was punished. Satan demands that God continue to punish sin, since he was punished himself. That is why sin is punished in the world today- God must continue to give punishment for sin, or else He will be judged un-just.

It is sad that God’s creation was cast out of communion with God, but if this had not been done, Adam and Eve would have continued to live in their sin with no way to be reconciled to God. Their offspring would have been condemned to live in their sin without hope of being re-connected with God. God not only cursed the man and woman, that their lives would be full of hardship- the woman with labor pains while she gives birth and the man would struggle to harvest enough food to eat. The curse he put on Satan was the worst of all, and God says basically that Satan had won this battle, and you have inflicted a wound, but one day, through Eve’s offspring will come a savior to strike a fatal blow to him. God already set up a reconciliation between He and His creation- through the human birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus many generations in the future.

Praise God that although we are in sin, and separated from our Heavenly Father, He has made a way for us to be reconnected with Him. He gave us unconditional love through the sacrifice of Jesus because He didn’t wait for us to stop sinning, but while we still sin, Jesus took the punishment we deserve (Romans 5:8). And also, since sin came into the world through the act of one man, it is fitting that all sinners be made right by the act of one man's obedience (Romans 5:12-21). God is good, all the time.

Creation- Genesis 1-2

Reading through Genesis and how God created the Earth, I am reminded of how God put things in order when He created things. He didn’t just put all things on the Earth in one swipe of His hand, which He could have done. He created the Earth and prepared a perfect place for us to live. Many people argue about evolution. I believe in evolution, but I believe it was put in place by the Creator. God created things in a specific order, and placed everything to grow, mature and evolve. The creation of the Earth is a great mystery, but one where all the things God created should be marveled at. The sky, the stars, the natural world around us- He created it all so that we would know there is a creator and we would glorify Him for that creation. People grieve God when they worship created things over the creator.

In India, people worship the sun, rocks, trees and other created things. The one thing we observed while living in India was that Hindus worshiped the Ganges River. It is regarded as most Holy by Hindus. In most of Asia, people worship created things over the Creator- God. It would be the same thing as an artist who paints a masterpiece, but then people marvel and elevate the masterpiece over the artist, actually even forgetting the artist all together. The work of art did not create itself- it was created by someone. Same with the earth- it did not create itself, it was created. And if you believe it was created, you have to believe that an all powerful being created it. We can marvel at the things created by God, but when we elevate them over God and give those things our worship, we give credit to the created things over the creator.

Out of all the living things God put on the earth, His most special creation was people. He made us to think and to grow and to rule over the all the living things on the earth. He put us in charge of the place he prepared for us to live. We are the only one of His creations that God made in His image- that’s pretty special. Think about how God ordered our bodies, and how all things within work together to keep us alive. It is hard for me to think that I am an accident, and that all my parts together were thrown together and came together by chance. God created our bodies as living temples to Him. He created men and women to compliment each other. When He created Adam, God saw that He had no helper like all the other animals, so He created Eve. Isn't it nteresting that God took a rib from Adam’s side, not his head or his leg or foot, but out of his side. It symbolized the equality between men and women. He created man first, and set up that men should be leaders within the household, but men and women were created to live together as compliments- a perfect fit for each other as equals.

After God created man and woman, he blessed them and told them to go out and go to work- rule the earth and multiply. Notice that God blesses them first. It is an example that we should never go anywhere without God’s blessings. If we go out on our own, we will survive, but not thrive the way God intended.

God also set up a day of rest- the example for us that we should rest from work for at least one day of the week. Why not? God made our bodies to need rest, and when God rested, He set up that day, at least one in the week, for us to rest our bodies from work, and rejuvenate. Praise God for at least one day of rest! Then God gave Adam some instructions- not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God basically told Adam not to rebel against Him, and if he did, he would suffer spiritual death and separation from God.

I love to read about the creation of the earth and give God glory for all He created. It’s the reason it was all created- even us. To glorify God.

Christmas Party at LifePoint Bangkok- Matthew Style

When the Apostle Matthew came to know and commit to following Jesus, he threw a large party at his house and invited Jesus to attend. He also invited all his friends and colleagues so that they could meet Jesus and have the chance to follow Him. He invited people he had influence over- people he had relationships with, and he wanted to share his new found faith in God with those relationships.

Last night, LifePoint Bangkok took the opportunity to throw a Christmas party. Recently we rented a new space in a neighborhood that God led us to. It is now a center for our work here- we started meeting for church on Sundays, and host different events to invite the people we have been investing in. Christmas gave us the opportunity to do that, and finally host our own Matthew party.

Of our team, there were 14 of us- 19 people we all have relationships with showed- Praise God! We had some great food and fellowship between us. Nobody seemed to feel left out or out of place. We had kids Christmas shows playing in the background, and also played White Elephant (Dirty Santa) gift exchange game. After the game, the party seemed to be winding down, but nobody left. People stayed late into the night enjoying more fellowship and conversation.

Our first big LifePoint Bangkok event seemed to have been a success, but not just from the pictures. We can tell it was successful because of the comments we got from all who left. The Thai people who do not celebrate Christmas got a first hand look at how we celebrate Christmas in America, and they were thrilled to be part of it. Many gave us heart-filled thanks for including them in the party, and they all said they loved it. It was a blast.

Praise God providing an opportunity for us to take a huge step in our relationships this night. Continue to pray for those we are investing in for God's glory.

The Holy Spirit's Purpose

John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus in the desert, and he begins to teach and speak of what the Holy Spirit is. The story is in Matthew 3:1-17.

Talking about the Holy Spirit is a difficult thing to do, and it can be easily mis-interpreted, misunderstood and miscommunicated. Especially in a culture that believes that spirits, good and bad, control what happens in a person’s life. It’s also hard to explain the Holy Spirit in a culture that has a casual belief in Jesus- to them it just sounds weird to talk about it. Then, there is the issue of people who believe in more than one God, and they are confused about Christians who talk about God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. This makes people, like Hindus, think that we as Christians believe there are 3 different gods. Here is how I can best explain it the way I understand it: There is God’s essence, or His being which we call the Father. There is His human image, who came to earth to live among us in the person of Jesus. And, God has a Spirit, but God’s Spirit is something that we can carry within us. That is what John means when he says we will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Being baptized in water is an outward symbol of us turning away from our sins and following Jesus- an outward expression of the change that happens on the inside. When we decide to follow Jesus, God’s Spirit comes into us, and we are immersed in it and the it lives within us (2 Timothy 1:14). As John was baptizing in the desert, the religious leaders came out to see what he was doing, and thought that by just being there and going through the motions, they could show that they were part of this new God movement and get some salvation also. John calls them out for their hypocrisy; that by going through the motions, you cannot just call yourself a person who follows God. You must also follow through in your heart. God is the only one who knows our heart besides us. We can fool other people, but we cannot fool God. He gives us His Spirit when we decide to really follow Him, as John says- we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. The very instant we confess and believe (Romans 10:9), we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 1:13), and it is what helps us do what we must do to follow God and testify and proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Acts 1:8, Jesus says that when we receive the Holy Spirit, we will have power, and have the ability to be His witnesses wherever we go, even to the ends of the earth.

Here are some examples of how the Holy Spirit within us helps us: The Spirit teaches us what to say (Luke 12:12); His Spirit speaks for us (Mark 13:11); The Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ teachings and helps us live according to it (John 14:26); Our joy comes from the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21); it fills us with hope (Romans 15:13); The Spirit helps us pray (Jude 1:20). God’s Spirit is very important to us as believers- it’s not to be ignored or feared, but to be welcomed, released and depended upon so we as followers of Jesus can do what we have been called by God to do. We don’t do it alone- God’s Spirit helps us (John 14:16).

I struggle with talking about the Holy Spirit, and communicating clearly some of the things in the Bible about him. My main scripture study is about John the Baptist and him preaching on the Holy Spirit, but I have included many other Bible verses that explain more about the Holy Spirit and what his purpose is. Please comment and add any scripture verses as you see fit that I have probably missed that can help explain better. Thanks for reading, and God bless!