I have been thinking, and reading, and praying, and listening for the past little while, and I think that God has told me something...

Do you ever look throught the book of Acts and underline some of your favorite passages about what the early church was like? I DO! A good chunk of Acts in my Bible is highlighted, with lots of little notes on how we need to be a strong community that meets daily, breaks bread together, shares possesions, worships constantly, is filled with the Spirit, performs miracles...

I was reading Acts the other day. While I was reading and dreaming what it would have been like, I looked down at the pages and saw all of my highlighted passages, and then it was like God came and highlighted a bunch of other passages. So I read some of the passages He underlined they were the ones where John and Peter were out preaching to the masses, despite opposition, the ones where Philip was preaching everywhere and everywhere he went, or when Stephen was preaching and teaching so much that the religious leaders killed him. Then theres Paul, the guy never shut up!!

Here I have been wanting to have a more Biblical church all these years, but what have I been doing to get it? Not enough, not when you compare it to what the apostles were doing.

I felt God saying to me that real church takes real work, you cant just open the door and pray for the lost to find there way in, that's why we call them "lost". It takes someone going out there, in the world, the mall, at work, at school, talking to people, talking to people about God and what is going to happen to them when they die.

Is is scarry? Yes, I found out first hand monday. I never thought in my whole life that I would think it is easier to speak in front of three hundred people than it is to speak to one stranger. But you know what by the end of the evening it was fun, and some of the people we talked to were really awesome and we laughed and really made a difference in there lives. Other people litterally ran away from us and tripped over furniture. Nobody yelled at us, nobody got mad, most people were very polite, and even thankful. I can't wait to get out there and do this again, and get better at it.

How is the church supposed to grow if we arn't out in the world showing the lost how to find their way inside the front door?