Common Sense Reborn

May 8

³²All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  ³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all ³⁴that there were no needy persons among them.  For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, ³⁵and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (Acts 4:32-35)

There’s not much to explain here.  The passages above give a matter-of-fact description of the beginning of the Christian Church.  This sounds a lot different than our Christian church today.  Even though we are supposed to be united as Americans and as a Christian Nation, we are far, far from being “one in heart and mind.”  We have allowed religion to ruin Christ’s church.  Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, all distracting variations of the Christian Church.  Instead of being “one in heart and mind” we are too busy nitpicking every different church.  I suppose we do this because we know we can not live up to the example set for us from this original Christian Church.  I mean, in our age of seeking approval for our social clout with the homes we buy, the cars or trucks we show off, the clothes we think define us, we instantly fall short of the very next description of the first “church:”  no one claiming that their possessions were their own, and sharing everything they have.  These early Christians sold land or homes they earned to share the money with their entire congregation to help those most in need.  I am not going to say that is the expectation of the Christian Church today, because I do not want to preach something I, myself, am unwilling to do.  But I am bringing it up here to point out that this was the example set before us.  That is the bar set for us long ago.  Another demonstration of where to put your value in your life, not in material possessions that will rust and fade, but in eternal rewards, like generosity, compassion, and love.  So knowing we fall far, far short of the bar set for us, we have created all of the different religions to distract from what we could accomplish as the united church of Christ.

Lucky for us, we have a loving and forgiving God and savior in Christ.  If God and Jesus did not approve of the way we were living in this world, they would easily destroy us, send another flood, fire from the sky, or maybe a virus to wipe these corrupt generations off this Earth.  Oh…wait…

Reading plan:  Acts 8

Deeper reading plan:  Nehemiah 5, 6

Prayer and meditation:  Pray for the sick, pray for the lost and their loved ones.  Pray for redemption for this lost world.  Pray for a reviving rattle to shake COVID off this planet.  And continue to pray for all those in medical professions, grocery stores, supply chain operators, first responders, and the amazing teachers still doing all they can to teach the students they love so much.  Pray for all the businesses trying to recover and keep their associates able to provide for their families.  Pray that the world can reopen without a surge of new COVID outbreaks.  And pray that the world has undergone a lasting change and the flame of revival has been lit!

Fitness challenge:  Free-day Friday.  Here’s a great HIIT workout.  You will need a watch or timer and somethinrchg to do pull-ups on.  If you cannot do a pull up, pull yourself up as high as you can and hold for the working set.  20 minutes of work:

8 rounds each exercise, 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds rest.  So do as many reps as you can for 20 seconds, rest for 10, repeat for 8 rounds.

Push-ups

Russian Twists

Air Squats

Elbow plank crunches

Pull-ups