Acts 4
31And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage.
32Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything which he possessed was [exclusively] his own, but everything they had was in common and for the use of all.
33And with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (loving-kindness and favor and goodwill) rested richly upon them all.
34Nor was there a destitute or needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses proceeded to sell them, and one by one they brought (gave back) the amount received from the sales
35And laid it at the feet of the apostles (special messengers). Then distribution was made according as anyone had need.
nowe hands up who knows a church community or even one christian like this?.... now hands up anyone who can tell me someone who has quoted this passage in church or even outside to show who we are as christians how we 'should be'? or 'found to be'?
i am on a theme at the minute still pondering the yesterday's missed postings ....
take this for size also pondered into existence today...
here is another:
1NOW PETER and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (three o'clock in the afternoon),
2[When] a certain man crippled from his birth was being carried along, who was laid each day at that gate of the temple [which is] called Beautiful, so that he might beg for charitable gifts from those who entered the temple.
3So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them to give him a gift.
4And Peter directed his gaze intently at him, and so did John, and said, Look at us!
5And [the man] paid attention to them, expecting that he was going to get something from them.
6But Peter said, Silver and gold (money) I do not have; but what I do have, that I give to you: in [the [a]use of] the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!
7Then he took hold of the man's right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankle bones became strong and steady,
8And leaping forth he stood and
began to walk, and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
9And all the people saw him walking about and praising God,
are you getting the picture yet? "Jesus HAS OVERCOME" am just listened to Chris Tomlins 'there is a peace i've come to know' from the ct mix..
yesterday! i was pondering the rich and poor thing.... did you know that the poor are less likely to come into the church as believers (for all the time the spend hanging around... must be cos they is worried they will have to share... they understand the gospel in truth!....than the rich.... did you know that the only thing holding the rich from new conversion is money... the rich know the worth of money.... the last thing they want to be seen to be doing is sending good money after bad... the rich are good at shrewd investment... no the church is strictly middle of the road .. it's like the marks and spencer of ..... well you get the point out of the reach of the poor the value and the rich have better plans
and the Gospel is WORTH IT it is WORTH every penny of life the treasure priceless... so why is it we are being short changed or not given any of it...?
well i was completely amazed and amazed and amazed and trooly WOWED by GOD...
here it is middle of the road passage like the pharisees ... this is the level of the written law the written WORD: try this for size does it fit you? suits you sir?? madam??
Luke 16..
at first i only recalled the gist of the story and thought about lazarus as lepper and remembered we will come back to this (hjold tight yes Jesus is Holding on to you)
19There was a certain rich man who [habitually] clothed himself in purple and fine linen and [m]reveled and feasted and made merry in splendor every day.
20And at his gate there [n]was [carelessly] dropped down and left a certain - utterly destitute man named Lazarus, [reduced to begging alms and] covered with [[p]ulcerated] sores.
21He [eagerly] desired to be satisfied with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs even came and licked his sores.
22And it occurred that the man [reduced to] begging died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23And in Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have pity and mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
25But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime fully received [what is due you in] comforts and delights, and Lazarus in like manner the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.
26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who want to pass from this [place] to you may not be able, and no one may pass from there to us.
27And [the man] said, Then, father, I beseech you to send him to my father's house--
28For I have five brothers--so that he may give [solemn] testimony and warn them, lest they too come into this place of torment.
29But Abraham said, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear and listen to them.
30But he answered, No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent ([q]change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins).
31He said to him, If they do not hear and listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead.
soo still with me? the rich man wants to return to earth to warn his brothers Abraham won't let him stating it is all in the Law of Moses and the prophets... hold on thought there is Jesus warning 'his brothers' in the flesh..... BUT there is a BIG CATCH....HERE guess what!!!
now if you were sitting there listening and you were well one of the geezers who has just come from listening to this story..... thj4 lepper said to Jesus 'You can HJeal me ... are You Willing?' Jesus said 'I am willing ' and touched him and he was cured of the incurable that's all he asked there was no interview the one who can Heal did not open court sessions to hear why he got into that state and so on.... curing leppers given the state of the law was a bit like well knockinjg doewn the walls of the prisons or giving the jail keys to individuals to let them out... i mean by whose authority? in religious terms this is shocking... it makes a whole mockery of the law .. buyt that is what Jesus did.... thnat's the lepper
but the guy had sores all over his body.... i not e from the amplified translation above that lazarus had kindov been dumped outside of the rich man's house the man who wore purple... well no-one else seemed to want to look after him... we have no details what had been going on in lazarus life.... but... we do know that in HJohn's Gospel Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead defies the logic of the law defies the logic of His own anecdote defies the logic of the parable!!!!
something else i thought of yesterday... see lazarus was a bit poor a bit destitute... so if for some reason ... the person who's cousin had been there when the feeding of the 5 thousand had happened.... the parable as a story of logic just don't make sense..... in terms of what Jesus brings to the party about what Jesus DID and the stories Jesus tells to the crowd and all the pharissees and all that these are two mindset worlds apart.... the one is reserved for the peop,e who instruct the peace of the law written down and the other is now who wants to follow Me Jesus mindset?... what Jesus anotates in word stories and what Jesus DOES are distinctly different!
GOD BLESS!
Peace and Love,
so who wants to bring the Peace of the Gospel now?..
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