Anything But Solitaire

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                Acts 1:12 – 14

Anything But Solitaire

by Robert T. Cooper

In Christianity we put a lot of emphasis on making a personal, individual decision of your own for Christ. Yet when one reads the Bible, one gets the idea that while I have to decide for Christ myself in order to be saved, Christianity is not supposed to be an individual affair.

In the 21^st century one constantly runs into people who claim to be Christians, but they live their lives as individuals and not in intentional, continuing fellowship with a group of fellow believers. This is not the Bible way.

Looking at Acts 1:12 – 14, we see that the apostles, who had been together for the ascension of Jesus, stayed together as they returned to Jerusalem. They were all staying together in an upper room (probably the same place the Last Supper had taken place, probably the home of John Mark’s family). To emphasize the group nature, the passage lists the names of the Eleven. It is emphasized that they all prayed together. It even mentions additional people, men and women, who took part as they all prayed together.

Now is it possible that God has directed one or more people of your acquaintance to not join a local church? I suppose so. It is not my place to judge. Those people are accountable to the Lord, not to me.

Yet that would seem to be the exception, not the rule. Since we are to study together, to pray together, to be in fellowship with one another, to break bread with one another, since we are to form ministry-evangelism groups together, since there are no “lone ranger” Christians in the Bible, it seems that most all of us should be active in the fellowship of a local church.

With respect to being part of a local church, please leave a comment as to how God led you to your current situation.

The Same Way

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:11

The Same Way

by Robert T. Cooper

God is an interesting Person. For the most part, He does not repeat Himself. How many people walked with God and were not (i.e., were taken to heaven without dying) in the same manner as Enoch? How many went to heaven in a fiery chariot? How many Burning Bush incidents have there been? How many partings of the Red Sea have there been? You get the idea.

Not only that, but God treats each of us as individuals. No two lives are exactly alike. We each have a unique manner in which God leads us to grow in Christlikeness. As one wag put it, there are no cookie-cutter Christians. So if you observe a different mix of spiritual disciplines than I observe, that’s not simply fine but is to be expected. If you do your daily devotions in a manner somewhat different than me, God is making yours specific to you and your needs. If your approach to evangelism is a little unique, great!

But God also has a way of doing things so that we can recognize that it is Him. He has some consistency in how He reveals Himself to me. Moreover, the only way I can help you learn to recognize God for yourself is that He is consistent enough for me to share with you how He has revealed Himself to me and for me to recognize Him revealing Himself to you so I can point Him out to you. Unity and Diversity. That is one characteristic of our infinite God.

When Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, there were certain elements that happened. He took His followers to the ridge of the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem. He spoke with them there. At a certain point in the conversation, Jesus was taken up before their very eyes. A cloud hid Him from their sight. His followers looked intently up into the sky as He was going.

When Jesus comes back it will be in the same way He left. In some manner every person in the world will be able to see His return, before their very eyes. The clouds will roll back, and there He will be. He will come down before their very eyes. As He is coming down, the people will look intently into the sky as He is coming. He will return to the ridge of the Mount of Olives. (In fact, as His feet touch the ground there will be an earthquake and the Rift that goes through there will split with one plate shifting north, the other plate shifting south.) Our Lord and Savior will address the people from that position. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Please leave a comment describing how your experience with Jesus Christ has been consistent across time. Also share how it has been characterized with variety.