There are several verses in the book of Acts that reveal sudden and large church growth:
1. Acts 2:41 (on the Day of Pentecost or known by the Jews the Feast of Shavuot) So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (RSV)
2. Acts 4:4: But many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand. (RSV)
3. Acts 5:14: And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.... (RSV)
4. Acts 9:31: So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied. (RSV)
5. Acts 11:24: for he (i.e. Barnabas) was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. (RSV)
There was church growth abounding in the first century. There were signs and wonders, real ones, not the contrived "miracles" today supplied by merchants of religion. G-d, not gold, ruled the day. He moved and the people were obedient to the Torah. Yes, the people involved with these moves of G-d were all Torah observant Jews. I suggest that their Torah observance opened the way for G-d to draw a crowd to Him. Today, we see the opposite. If you talk about the Torah, you are denounced as a "Christ-rejector" and told to repent. Do we see the moves of G-d today with accompanying miracles? I think not! Why? I submit in part because the church has left its foundation, i.e. its Jewish roots. We need to dig and find those roots because they are arguably essential for a real move of G-d.
Just today, I was invited to a Christian social function. I saw the menu and it included pork bar-b-q. Do you think that Yeshua would eat the pork? I think not. Further, I don't think He died so you could eat something that He would never eat. Torah observance goes hand in hand with the moves of G-d. Torah rejection goes hand in hand with what we see now in this country.
Which lifestyle brings true moves of G-d? Go ahead, you can say it, it is obvious.
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Open Air Theology
12 hours ago
1 comment:
Re Torah-observance:
Torah including logical Halakah requires subordination to a beit-din. To follow Ribi Yehoshua one needs to become one of his Netzarim-followers (http://www.netzarim.co.il). The followers of Ribi Yehoshua have always been subordinated to a beit din ha-Netzarim (and the paqid of the beit-din ha-Netzarim is now Paqid Yirmeyahu Ben-Dawid in Ra’anana in Israel). Learn more in the above website, in the glossary-entries “paqid” and “beit-din”.
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