Give. Be gracious as you were given so much.
I've been asking a few people about creative ways to give cash to strangers. Hiding change in laundromats, coffee shops. Putting coins in coke machines and not buying the coke. Handing dollar bills out on the street. Putting money in balloons and giving them out.
The big kicker is one called "Jubilee", borrowing from the Levitical idea of countrywide debt forgiveness. A group held a celebration on Wall Street one day where they dressed in cognito, and carrying a ton of change, dollars, etc. they chunked in all after a short speech and celebrated in the street with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. People caught on and starting giving to each other in the street. Pretty awesome.
So, think and act in utter generosity.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
House Church Covenant
So, talking to my lady, we realized that setting up a house church and simply inviting strangers in is OUT! It's dangerous, it's stupid, and I suspect that the 1st Christians didn't do that.
Jesus taught us that there are many wolves out there in sheeps clothing. But... we know the good ones by the fruit. So, in order to introduce someone into our intimate world, we need to know them quite well. It's our HOUSE for crying out loud.
Also, the churches of old were communal in their property ownership. They weren't a bunch of sex-crazed wife-swappers, I'm sure, but I do know that they shared everything. You can't share everything with someone simply because they said they are Christian.
This actually happened to me in college. I decided to experiment with the concept, and it burnt me instantly because I didn't know the person well. I told him that we would share since we were both Christians. I came home one night and his friends were over, looking up porn on my computer - and one of his friends had his fingers in my peanut butter. EW and EW! I did not judge that situation well, but it did teach me that you need to know people and covenant with them before you let them in on your junk.
So, in seeking to actually fellowship, consider the following: 1. you will need to feel people out for their Christianity and 2. you will need to covenant only with those who bear Christian fruit. That's all.
Jesus taught us that there are many wolves out there in sheeps clothing. But... we know the good ones by the fruit. So, in order to introduce someone into our intimate world, we need to know them quite well. It's our HOUSE for crying out loud.
Also, the churches of old were communal in their property ownership. They weren't a bunch of sex-crazed wife-swappers, I'm sure, but I do know that they shared everything. You can't share everything with someone simply because they said they are Christian.
This actually happened to me in college. I decided to experiment with the concept, and it burnt me instantly because I didn't know the person well. I told him that we would share since we were both Christians. I came home one night and his friends were over, looking up porn on my computer - and one of his friends had his fingers in my peanut butter. EW and EW! I did not judge that situation well, but it did teach me that you need to know people and covenant with them before you let them in on your junk.
So, in seeking to actually fellowship, consider the following: 1. you will need to feel people out for their Christianity and 2. you will need to covenant only with those who bear Christian fruit. That's all.
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