ifollowtheway

Just to clairify, there is no 29th chapter in Acts 29. It ends with chapter 28. Here is how the book of Acts ends:

“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! (Acts 28:28, 30, 31 NIV)

So what after that? What happens after Paul? What takes place next? The Bible kind of leaves it open. There are various churches and people who have taken up the mantel of Acts 29. Their thinking behind taking up the Acts 29 label is that we are the continuaiton of the church. The Church of our risen savior Jesus Christ did not end at the end of Acts of even the Bible. The Church is still alive and around today. We are a direct continuation through our faith of the Church that began in Acts.

That is something that I hold dear to my life right now. I am in a time of transition in my life. I am going from incarnational homeless ministry in Fort Lauderdale to life in rural South Carolina. From living on the streets to living in comfort. I need to be reminded that I am part of the Church that Jesus Christ died to bring about.

As I begin to find my role and niche in Clemson, I need to keep one thing in mind: how does this match up with the rest of Acts? If our lives as Christians make up Acts 29, then how does my life in Acts 29 compare to Acts 2? Acts 7? Acts 17? Acts 26?

Our lives as Christians should look more like the book of Acts than the American Dream.

The Holy Spirit was moving and active in the Church then, and it is the same Holy Spirit in us now. Our faith can be that of the early church. We are no different from Elijah who prayed and it didn’t rain for 3 years (James 5:17). The Holy Spirit is still in the business of giving glory to the Father and making disciples of all nations. The Holy Spirit still CAN and still WANTS to do things like are recorded in the Bible. Jesus says greater things are to happen what we have read about in the Bible (John 14:12).

So what can I be a part of in Clemson? I want to be about two things. I need to care for the poor, the very thing I want to do (Galatians 2:10), and I want to be a part of a living community (the Church) that is led by the Holy Spirit to make disciples of all nations.