Inclusion--The act of including
In Acts chapter 2 the Holy Spirit was poured out among the disciples that had been dwelling together in the upper room. They had been there waiting and finally they united in one mind and of one accord (which means they finally agreed). It was at that moment of unity that revival came. Peter then stood up and began to speak. The Bible says he spoke in different tongues and men from every nation heard their native language...
Peter, a Jew, was speaking to every nation under the heavens--- ONE MESSAGE.... Jesus Christ! He came, He died, and He rose again so that ALL could be saved...simple really. On this day Peter spoke one language to ALL people, even those that Jews considered enemies or unclean. Out of Peter's mouth came an ALL INCLUSIVE message that fulfilled the prophesy of Joel: God will pour out His Spirit on ALL flesh!! Not some...Not the one's you think shall receive it...Not just white or black...Not just male or female...not just straight or gay not just __________________(you fill in the blank.)
BUT ALL FLESH!!!
This was the birth of the church and the sermon preached from that pulpit excluding NO ONE....far from what's being displayed in the pulpits today.
I believe that the church is the most segregated place left in our society. Heck (best southern drawl) here in South Mississippi you have your "white" churches and your "black" churches and your "country club" churches... and so on and so forth. Diversity in church is almost unheard of (around these parts anyhow), much less seeing the colors of the 'rainbow' sprinkled throughout the congregation...
I believe that the church is the most segregated place left in our society. Heck (best southern drawl) here in South Mississippi you have your "white" churches and your "black" churches and your "country club" churches... and so on and so forth. Diversity in church is almost unheard of (around these parts anyhow), much less seeing the colors of the 'rainbow' sprinkled throughout the congregation...
In contrast, Jesus Christ was ALL INCLUSIVE and I believe that the congregation and content of this very first sermon proves it. God has called us to ALL people and that is something that the church can no longer run from....
Jonah ran from the call of God because he didn't want to go to Nineveh to preach. In his opinion the people were unworthy, so he turned and went the opposite direction. God, of course, showed up and Jonah found himself inside the belly of a whale. Jonah was a Jewish man with an exclusive message and he didn't want to share it, because he knew that God would have mercy on them. When the Lord spared the people of Nineveh, Jonah became angry...he felt as if they somehow didn't deserve God's love and mercy. Not unlike many (not all) churches today...
I don't think Jonah's problem was so much with their salvation as it was with the fact that now he had to call them brother and sister. THEY...they...they.... had become----'gulp'----FAMILY and he DID NOT want to bring "those people" to the his exclusive family reunion....
You can continue to segregate, discriminate, and exclude people if you want...but my guess is that, like Jonah, you will end up in the belly of a whale.
Maybe after you have been in the darkness long enough, you will be able to open the eyes of your heart, see the Light and open the doors of your church to EVERYONE!!
The Ninevites were saved from their sin...but they remained Ninevites-- Just as all those who received the Message that day at Pentecost--These people didn't magically transform to a Jewish decent...THEY simply became CHRISTIANS--FAMILY--Adopted and INCLUDED in God's great inheritance by the work Jesus Christ did on the cross!
It's foolish for us to believe that people can CHANGE who they are to conform to the "idea" that we have for "Christian"... You see the separation often comes when people remain "human" or GOD forbid THEMSELVES!!!
We tend to think that salvation produces cookie cutter Christians and when people don't look, act, and think exactly as we do--THEN excommunication! We are not called to change people--God is the Potter...not us!
It's amazing to me that we can clearly see that a HUGE REVIVAL that revolutionized our world happened the moment UNITY came!! WHY CAN'T the church see that inclusiveness of ALL communities is KEY to developing UNITY and UNITY is KEY to REVIVAL and REVIVAL is KEY to fulfilling the GREAT COMMISSION---MAKE DISCIPLES of ALL NATIONS (Matt 28:16-20)!!
God loves diversity--If He didn't HE would have made us all the same.
REVIVAL awaits....will you sit in the darkness of division or experience the outpouring that is sure to come with inclusion? Jesus was RADICALLY INCLUSIVE... shouldn't His church be as well?
Peter spoke in a different language that day at Pentecost.... a language that EVERYONE can understand...a language that WE should all learn...it was the the universal language of LOVE
Just Bb
http://youtu.be/eBpYgpF1bqQ
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
We Are Family (video)
Jonah ran from the call of God because he didn't want to go to Nineveh to preach. In his opinion the people were unworthy, so he turned and went the opposite direction. God, of course, showed up and Jonah found himself inside the belly of a whale. Jonah was a Jewish man with an exclusive message and he didn't want to share it, because he knew that God would have mercy on them. When the Lord spared the people of Nineveh, Jonah became angry...he felt as if they somehow didn't deserve God's love and mercy. Not unlike many (not all) churches today...
I don't think Jonah's problem was so much with their salvation as it was with the fact that now he had to call them brother and sister. THEY...they...they.... had become----'gulp'----FAMILY and he DID NOT want to bring "those people" to the his exclusive family reunion....
You can continue to segregate, discriminate, and exclude people if you want...but my guess is that, like Jonah, you will end up in the belly of a whale.Maybe after you have been in the darkness long enough, you will be able to open the eyes of your heart, see the Light and open the doors of your church to EVERYONE!!
The Ninevites were saved from their sin...but they remained Ninevites-- Just as all those who received the Message that day at Pentecost--These people didn't magically transform to a Jewish decent...THEY simply became CHRISTIANS--FAMILY--Adopted and INCLUDED in God's great inheritance by the work Jesus Christ did on the cross!
It's foolish for us to believe that people can CHANGE who they are to conform to the "idea" that we have for "Christian"... You see the separation often comes when people remain "human" or GOD forbid THEMSELVES!!!
We tend to think that salvation produces cookie cutter Christians and when people don't look, act, and think exactly as we do--THEN excommunication! We are not called to change people--God is the Potter...not us!
It's amazing to me that we can clearly see that a HUGE REVIVAL that revolutionized our world happened the moment UNITY came!! WHY CAN'T the church see that inclusiveness of ALL communities is KEY to developing UNITY and UNITY is KEY to REVIVAL and REVIVAL is KEY to fulfilling the GREAT COMMISSION---MAKE DISCIPLES of ALL NATIONS (Matt 28:16-20)!!
God loves diversity--If He didn't HE would have made us all the same.
REVIVAL awaits....will you sit in the darkness of division or experience the outpouring that is sure to come with inclusion? Jesus was RADICALLY INCLUSIVE... shouldn't His church be as well?
Peter spoke in a different language that day at Pentecost.... a language that EVERYONE can understand...a language that WE should all learn...it was the the universal language of LOVEJust Bb
http://youtu.be/eBpYgpF1bqQ
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
We Are Family (video)
there is similar same as your picture "we all understand" ,,, go look at Deaf Gathering CLub in facebook. they use your picture also they sell shirts with your picture on it..
ReplyDelete