# The New Testament Church



## Ronnie T (Nov 29, 2010)

I propose that Christ's church in America be reestablished so that it bears up and resembles the church in Jerusalem.
Are you ready to do it????????

Acts 4:32And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 
33And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 
34For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 
35and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. 
36Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 
37and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.


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## apoint (Nov 30, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> I propose that Christ's church in America be reestablished so that it bears up and resembles the church in Jerusalem.
> Are you ready to do it????????
> 
> Acts 4:32And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.
> ...



So who do you want me to bring all my sold goods to? And where should I live there after?


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## formula1 (Nov 30, 2010)

*Re:*

And if we ever got there, we would turn this world upside down, just as the early church did!

Acts 17:6 excerpt:
These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also


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## Ronnie T (Nov 30, 2010)

apoint said:


> So who do you want me to bring all my sold goods to? And where should I live there after?



You and your church would work all that out.
Just do it the way they did in Jerusalem.

Could we do it today?
Better question:  How did they do it?


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## Randy (Nov 30, 2010)

It would take a total change in thought processes and cultures.  I think the world and the US is too big to do it today.


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## rjcruiser (Nov 30, 2010)

Randy said:


> It would take a total change in thought processes and cultures.  I think the world and the US is too big to do it today.



I agree.

I'm currently a part of a church that is set up very similar to the Jerusalem church...ie, we meet in a home, have several elders that rotate preaching on Sundays, very little overhead, high emphasis on missions etc etc.

We had a guest speaker a few weeks ago.....and he challenged us.  It will be very difficult to grow as a church because we meet in a home.  Because of culture, people aren't comfortable with going into a stranger's home.  

Also, one must also look as to the reason they (the Jerusalem Church) was set up as it was.  Majority of it was due to persecution.  We don't have that today.  Sure...in the former USSR and in other parts of the world, it would be necessary, but currently in the US, it isn't.

It has made me re-think my thoughts on "home-churches" quite a bit over the past few weeks.


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## Ronnie T (Dec 1, 2010)

It's obvious that the Jerusalem church depended on each other.
Their days were spent together, they lives were intermeshed together.
No one lacked for anything.  Ever.
And it was all voluntary.  They weren't reguired or commanded to do that.  But something obviously lead them to give themselves to everyone else.


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## apoint (Dec 1, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> You and your church would work all that out.
> Just do it the way they did in Jerusalem.
> 
> Could we do it today?
> Better question:  How did they do it?



Cant be done.
 In ancient times  the religion was the government.
  It was ran in terms of a kingdom.
Today's government has nothing in common with the ancients.


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## formula1 (Dec 1, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> It's obvious that the Jerusalem church depended on each other.
> Their days were spent together, they lives were intermeshed together.
> No one lacked for anything.  Ever.
> And it was all voluntary.  They weren't reguired or commanded to do that.  But something obviously lead them to give themselves to everyone else.



In a country(US) where independence is praised, its not hard to imagine that dependence would be a impossible thought for most to comprehend or consider viable or possible. I am convinced that one day, even in the US, dependence within the family of faith will be necessary for our survival. 

Just some thoughts you sparked in me RonnieT.


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## Ronnie T (Dec 1, 2010)

formula1 said:


> In a country(US) where independence is praised, its not hard to imagine that dependence would be a impossible thought for most to comprehend or consider viable or possible. I am convinced that one day, even in the US, dependence within the family of faith will be necessary for our survival.
> 
> Just some thoughts you sparked in me RonnieT.




And I think those days might become the glory days for Christ's church.


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## Lowjack (Dec 1, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> I propose that Christ's church in America be reestablished so that it bears up and resembles the church in Jerusalem.
> Are you ready to do it????????
> 
> Acts 4:32And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.
> ...



Being Trying since 1974, it is not easy to pull people from erroneous doctrines and set them on the true pass.


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## Lowjack (Dec 1, 2010)

apoint said:


> Cant be done.
> In ancient times  the religion was the government.
> It was ran in terms of a kingdom.
> Today's government has nothing in common with the ancients.



Well my brother teh New Testament Church never depended on any government, they depended on the Rhua Ha Kodesh and each other, there is a lot to be learned on how they conducted church, IMO


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## Ronnie T (Dec 1, 2010)

Lowjack said:


> Being Trying since 1974, it is not easy to pull people from erroneous doctrines and set them on the true pass.



I'm betting it will be a great day if the church can ever
get back to being the church it was then.  
When a house burning down was no big deal.
When a man losing his job didn't have much of an effect on his livelihood because the folks of the church picked up the slack.  All the slack.
No one ever had a chance to be 'down' because the whole church was busy building each other up 24 hours a day.

Yep.  It's going to be nice.


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## rjcruiser (Dec 2, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> I'm betting it will be a great day if the church can ever
> get back to being the church it was then.
> When a house burning down was no big deal.
> When a man losing his job didn't have much of an effect on his livelihood because the folks of the church picked up the slack.  All the slack.
> ...



Hate to poop on the party, but it wasn't Nirvana in Jerusalem.

There were lots of issues in the early Church...internal problems, just like what we see today.  

Acts documents them.  They had Widows that were not being tended to, they had people of different backgrounds think that the church was treating they're people group worse than the others, there were doctrinal disagreements etc etc.

All of which we still see today.  

We live in a sinful world and until we reach Heaven, all church's will be full of sinners.


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## formula1 (Dec 2, 2010)

*Re:*

Romans 6
9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 
10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Through Christ, I am dead to sin and alive to Christ. It has no power over me any longer. And I believe that those who truly consider themselves dead to sin will have no problem turning the world upside down, regardless of the human condition.  I am highly confident that the power of Christ in me and faith in the son of God will far outweigh the weakness of the flesh.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

One sees a glass half-empty, one sees it half-full. I see it overflowing with the power and love of Christ my Lord!

Oh yes, my party is still very much alive!!!


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## thedeacon (Dec 2, 2010)

I love most of the attitude's here. 
You are right, if you think it cannot happen,
"it certeinly will not happen for you" 
but if you have faith you can make it happen. 
That faith has to be followed with a lot of prayer and work.
Sometimes we limit God so much by
not believeing that it is possible.

God Bless


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## Ronnie T (Dec 2, 2010)

rjcruiser said:


> Hate to poop on the party, but it wasn't Nirvana in Jerusalem.
> 
> There were lots of issues in the early Church...internal problems, just like what we see today.
> 
> ...



I'm not suggesting it was the garden of Eden all over again in Jerusalem, but the philosophy of the church was certainly different.
Today, many churches would rather help someone outside the church than in it.
There are 'boards' and 'proper channels' that requests have to be funneled through.
Someone has to decide if a person is 'poor' enough for the church to help one of it's members.
A church won't help it's members because they own two cars.  Got to sell one of the cars before the Lord's money can be used.

I've seen it and heard of it toooooo many times.


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## rjcruiser (Dec 2, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> I'm not suggesting it was the garden of Eden all over again in Jerusalem, but the philosophy of the church was certainly different.
> Today, many churches would rather help someone outside the church than in it.
> There are 'boards' and 'proper channels' that requests have to be funneled through.
> Someone has to decide if a person is 'poor' enough for the church to help one of it's members.
> ...



When you are a small church, there are benefits.  Everyone knows everyone.

When you are a large church, there are benefits.
A bigger resource pool to pull from.


To say that one is the right way or the better way is ignorance.  I've been a part of both and see the advantages/disadvantages of both.


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## Ronnie T (Dec 2, 2010)

rjcruiser said:


> When you are a small church, there are benefits.  Everyone knows everyone.
> 
> When you are a large church, there are benefits.
> A bigger resource pool to pull from.
> ...



Well I'll be daggone, now people gonna get nasty on this subject.
I'm not talking about the size of a church.
And I'm not ignorant.
Good lord man.


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## Jeffriesw (Dec 2, 2010)

rjcruiser said:


> When you are a small church, there are benefits.  Everyone knows everyone.
> 
> When you are a large church, there are benefits.
> A bigger resource pool to pull from.
> ...



I am currently doing both sort of, so yes I see the advantages of both.
I belong to a good solid Church where my wife and I attend on Sunday and Wednesday's and we meet with a group of believers (most of which go to separate churches) in our leaders home every Friday night from 6:30 to 10:30 pm, sometimes as late as midnight. Everybody just brings there kids after work and such.
 We start off with Food (us fat guys gotta love that ) then have Prayer and jump into the word verse by verse. It is lead by a Pastor not really in a sermon style, but more of a teaching style(not currently serving or interested in serving a "normal" church) but because it is a small group it is very interactive. If I or anyone else has a question or a point, we just stop and address it right then. We also will have a number of Good commentaries laying open and we will stop sometimes and see what they have to say on a passage or a particular verse. We also as a group take turns leading for a bit (under guidance for me) and doing it that way, it forces each person to really dig deep in study, reading and Prayer instead of just listening to a pastor all the time. I actually got to lead a Friday night at my house a couple of weeks ago when our Pastor was on vacation, Talk about sweating bullets..., but I have to say, it was a very rewarding experience 
We don't really take up an offering or anything as a group, but one of the young ladies that was with our group for a while is a missionary who just left for lebanon, so we all individually started supporting her.
The good thing about having it on Friday nights is that we are all still free to attend a "normal" church on Sundays and by having it of Friday when most people have Saturday off is we can generally go as late as we want. You can also cover a heck of a lot of ground in 4 hours!
I guess it is not really your typical home Church, but I would not trade it for anything!





Ronnie T said:


> Well I'll be daggone, now people gonna get nasty on this subject.
> I'm not talking about the size of a church.
> And I'm not ignorant.
> Good lord man.



Ronnie , I doubt RJ meant that personally


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## rjcruiser (Dec 2, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> Well I'll be daggone, now people gonna get nasty on this subject.
> I'm not talking about the size of a church.
> And I'm not ignorant.
> Good lord man.



Nope...not talking about you.  Just saying that some on here like to choose a side on a preferential issue and call it the "Biblical Way."

No harm intended...guess most of my posts in this thread have been taken the wrong way.



Swamp Runner said:


> I am currently doing both sort of, so yes I see the advantages of both.
> I belong to a good solid Church where my wife and I attend on Sunday and Wednesday's and we meet with a group of believers (most of which go to separate churches) in our leaders home every Friday night from 6:30 to 10:30 pm, sometimes as late as midnight. Everybody just brings there kids after work and such.
> We start off with Food (us fat guys gotta love that ) then have Prayer and jump into the word verse by verse. It is lead by a Pastor not really in a sermon style, but more of a teaching style(not currently serving or interested in serving a "normal" church) but because it is a small group it is very interactive. If I or anyone else has a question or a point, we just stop and address it right then. We also will have a number of Good commentaries laying open and we will stop sometimes and see what they have to say on a passage or a particular verse. We also as a group take turns leading for a bit (under guidance for me) and doing it that way, it forces each person to really dig deep in study, reading and Prayer instead of just listening to a pastor all the time. I actually got to lead a Friday night at my house a couple of weeks ago when our Pastor was on vacation, Talk about sweating bullets..., but I have to say, it was a very rewarding experience
> We don't really take up an offering or anything as a group, but one of the young ladies that was with our group for a while is a missionary who just left for lebanon, so we all individually started supporting her.
> ...


That is awesome.  Love the home studies for sure.




			
				Swamp Runner said:
			
		

> Ronnie , I doubt RJ meant that personally



Thanks for sticking up for me


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## LongBow01 (Dec 19, 2010)

When iwas shot in the leg in july the church brought us food helped cleane the house and offered money for bills (I did not need the money at the time so I told them to give it to someone else) and then about twoo months ago a tree fell and crushed both my trucks and hit my house. again food was brought many piched in to remove  the tree and repair the house and money was again offered. It is still stressful when things like this happen and one is not able to work but my church family is always there for eachother.


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## Ronnie T (Dec 19, 2010)

LongBow01 said:


> When iwas shot in the leg in july the church brought us food helped cleane the house and offered money for bills (I did not need the money at the time so I told them to give it to someone else) and then about twoo months ago a tree fell and crushed both my trucks and hit my house. again food was brought many piched in to remove  the tree and repair the house and money was again offered. It is still stressful when things like this happen and one is not able to work but my church family is always there for eachother.



Sounds like a New Testament church.


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## fish hawk (Dec 19, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> I'm not suggesting it was the garden of Eden all over again in Jerusalem, but the philosophy of the church was certainly different.
> Today, many churches would rather help someone outside the church than in it.
> There are 'boards' and 'proper channels' that requests have to be funneled through.
> Someone has to decide if a person is 'poor' enough for the church to help one of it's members.
> ...


Glad my Church isnt like that.


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## vanguard1 (Dec 19, 2010)

apoint said:


> Cant be done.
> In ancient times  the religion was the government.
> It was ran in terms of a kingdom.
> Today's government has nothing in common with the ancients.



very good point i agree.


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## christianhunter (Dec 19, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> It's obvious that the Jerusalem church depended on each other.
> Their days were spent together, they lives were intermeshed together.
> No one lacked for anything.  Ever.
> And it was all voluntary.  They weren't reguired or commanded to do that.  But something obviously lead them to give themselves to everyone else.



Complete Faith!


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## Ronnie T (Dec 19, 2010)

This is about the church, not about the government.
The church of Acts 4 was an enemy of the ruling government.
And the most respected religion of the day was Judism, not Christianity.
The Jerusalem church took care of each others needs because they allow Jesus to affect them in that way.
The church today gives more money and time to unbelievers than to their own brethern.

But like Michael said, it takes faith to be able to give your stuff to someone else.


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## Ronnie T (Dec 19, 2010)

*"If you stop and ask yourself why you are not so devoted as the (early) Christians, your own heart will tell you that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it." 
	By: William Law, Courage - You Can Stand Strong in the 
				Face of Fear,


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## centerpin fan (Dec 19, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> *"If you stop and ask yourself why you are not so devoted as the (early) Christians, your own heart will tell you that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it."
> By: William Law, Courage - You Can Stand Strong in the
> Face of Fear,



Great quote by a great man who loved God.


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## Lowjack (Dec 20, 2010)

Ronnie T said:


> This is about the church, not about the government.
> The church of Acts 4 was an enemy of the ruling government.
> And the most respected religion of the day was Judaism, not Christianity.
> The Jerusalem church took care of each others needs because they allow Jesus to affect them in that way.
> ...



I believe the First Church only continue to do what they had learn as Jews, even today Jews help each other out, we have funds for refugees from countries like Russia Cuba etc.
As soon as they arrived they receive Clothing, housing ,Jobs or interest free loans to establish businesses, that's the way it has being for millennials.


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## Hunting Teacher (Dec 21, 2010)

Since being hurt my family has had the blessing of seeing the "church" function as Jesus intended. Meals every night, people arranged to get my daughters back and forth to see me every day I was in the hospital even though it was one and a half hours away. Showered with financial assistance as it was needed. I just had to learn to break my sinful pride and be willing to accept what God's people were offering. Endless prayers for us, laying on of hands, I had 5 pastors from three different churches in our area come to pray with my family. When I say the church, the most awesome thing is it's not just"my" church. There are churches all over this country who are praying for me and members putting actions to their Christianity. God's church CAN function in the manner He planned. It's simply how willing are we really to deny our selfish selves and take up that cross daily. If you have never seen the "church" in action when real Christians are living out their salvation, then you have missed a great blessing!! My heart is changed forever. I'll never be the same person again!


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## christianhunter (Dec 22, 2010)

I think as the world continues in its wicked decline,and we as Christians,remain strong in our Faith.I think it will probably be inevitable,before it becomes as it was at the start.I really think we will have no place to go to,other than seeking out each other,for peace and comfort.We know the days grow more wicked,as long as THE LORD delays HIS coming.Our Faith will soon be all that we have to sustain us,and that is true already.If not for THE LORD,what a desperate place this would be.


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## Madman (Dec 22, 2010)

Go to the Spiritual Discussion forum and read the thread on love.

That is how the "church" operates.  

My family attends a small church.  A young lady who attended off and on called one evening and asked for the phone number of the church office.  Since our church has no office my wife asked what she needed.  The lady continued to ask for the number of the church because the need was too large for one family.  To which my wife replied; “You HAVE called the church!! If the need is more than we can handle my husband will call around until it is met.  WHAT DO YOU NEED!”

The New Testament church is alive and well.  I am sorry for those who do not attend.


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## Ronnie T (Dec 22, 2010)

Madman said:


> Go to the Spiritual Discussion forum and read the thread on love.
> 
> That is how the "church" operates.
> 
> ...




Exactly.

.


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## christianhunter (Dec 23, 2010)

Madman said:


> Go to the Spiritual Discussion forum and read the thread on love.
> 
> That is how the "church" operates.
> 
> ...



Amen Brother!


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