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Our value of biblical community comes from the Greek word koinonia, which is translated “fellowship” in Acts 2:42.
Koinonia means “having a share with someone in something.” And there is no doubt that when we use this word in the context of Christian community we are talking about a “common participation in Christ.”
Author and pastor Bruce Milne writes, “John Donne once said, No man is an island. Whatever truth this statement holds for men and women in general – there can be no doubting its truth for the Christian in particular. To be a Christian, if it means anything at all, means being gathered out of isolation into the corporate life of the body of Christ (the local church). Christian islands simply do not exist! In Christ we belong together.” *From his book We Belong Together
Aristides was a pagan man that lived during the time of the early church. He watched this group of people intently and this is what he wrote:
“They abstain from all impurity in the hope of the reward that is to come in another world. As for their servants or handmaids or children they persuade them to become Christians by the love they have for them and when they have become so they call them, without distinction, brothers. They do not worship strange gods and they walk in all humility and kindness and falsehood is not found among them and they love one another. When they see the stranger they bring him to their homes and rejoice over him as over a true brother. And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy and if they have not an abundance of necessities they will fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with the necessary food. They observe scrupulously the commandment of their Messiah. They live honestly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Every morning and all hours on account of the goodness of God toward them they praise and laud Him and over their food and their drink they render Him thanks. And I have no doubt that the world stands by reason of the intercession of Christians. Such is the law of the Christians and such is their conduct.”
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October 13, 2009
I had the privilege of preaching this past Sunday. We are in a series right now where we are working through our Mission & Values. This has been a rich time of study as we have laid out the mission of Covenant Life and show the values that must flow from it.
“We exist [...]
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October 5, 2009
Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Boice, in his commentary says, “I do not sense that Christians today are always fully aware of [...]
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October 2, 2009
I started working through the book of Acts this morning and I think I am going to chronicle what I am learning here. Likely nothing original, but surely there is much profound truth for me to learn in working through this book considering the season of church planting that we are in. I’ve [...]
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September 28, 2009
This came across on my twitter. How do we wage war against “beauty” on behalf of our wives, children, churches, and one another?
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Taylor wrote of a dear friend in ministry, Mr. Burns, during his time in inland China. May this be written of me so that God’s glory would be put on display:
“His whole life was literally a life of prayer and his whole ministry in a series of battles fought at the mercy seat…In digging in [...]
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September 7, 2009
This portion from a book I recently read has been sitting on my desk for a couple months. Each morning it stares me in the face. Just like anything that sits in the same place, it often gets overlooked. This morning it didn’t. I can feel the consumerism in me rising as I [...]
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September 2, 2009
This quote was passed along to me this week. It is pretty compelling. I hope this encourages you today.
Love your neighbor as yourself” is not a command to love yourself. It is a command to take your natural, already existing love of self and make it the measuring rod of your love for [...]
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August 31, 2009
Journal Entry from August 23, 2009
God is at work in Tampa! The evidence of his grace and mercy is all around. Just a few hours ago I got to sit with the six other members of Covenant Life’s core team and worship corporately for the first time ever. I’m not sure if I [...]
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Reflecting on our time in Raleigh, Wake Forest, and at North Wake Church
Journal on April 28, 2009
We leave for Tampa soon. I’m sitting at my desk, which is about the only thing in our Wakefield Glenn apartment that isn’t packed, shipped, or dismembered. As I sit down to take some time to reflect upon the [...]
