Re: Legacy

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: : : I think you miss the point the persecution was coming from members of "the church" in the chicken soup story. we as brothers and sisters in christ should be bonded together for one another as christ is for us. the world at large should be put on notice that we as christians are not pushovers, that we strongly stand and fight for our faith. not fight in the physical sense but with the weapons of our warfare, the whole armor of GOD. If more christians would stand for what they say they believe then these legacies that we "expect" would not seem to run so rampant in the world as we know it. Then and only then will the world see what the love of GOD is really about. : : Please don't take it personally, but I must make a few comments on your essay: : : (1) - In the Bible it was NOT usually the church persecuting the Christians; it was those who rejected Jesus as Messiah, whether Jews or Greeks. (Those who reject Christ are never considered "the church" in the Bible.) : : (2) - In the Chicken Soup story, this church isn't actually persecuting anyone; they are simply refusing to believe that persecution is God's will, and they despise those who have been persecuted. This is a standard attitude today - that the best ministers are the "winners" which are well loved by everyone. : : (3) - These legacies of hardship do NOT "seem to run so rampant in the world as we know it", as you claim, but they DID in the time of the apostles. : : (4) - The Bible (most notably Jesus Himself) teaches us to "expect"...these legacies. Why shouldn't we? : : (5) - We see "what the love of God is really about" IN AFFLICTIONS. Without them, love is less meaningful, because it pays no great price. "Greater love has no man this..." - remember? We see Jesus' love in the price He paid; this is how the world will see our love, if we truly follow Christ. To think that love can not fully flourish until the "legacy" is decreased is the complete opposite of the truth. Love becomes smug and apathetic when it is not challenged by hardship and heartbreak. : : WHAT HAS CHANGED? : : : : We have. Our gospel has. We are no longer willing to pay the price the early Christians did, so we say that God no longer wills for us to suffer. We desire to build a comfy and powerful "Christian" kingdom here on earth (this has become the "church's" ministry goal in large part), so we say that this is God's will for His church - dominion. But this was NOT the goal of the early apostles, nor of Jesus. This is NOT the same Gospel Jesus preached. : : Paul cited his "legacy" of affliction as his QUALIFICATIONS for ministry. These scars were the proof of his devotion and His calling by God. The Bible teaches that we should expect this to be the case, from Jesus to Paul to Peter to John. Asumming that we believe Jesus' words, it would seem that not very many of our "ministers" today are very qualified, and that the church today rejects the best and most Biblical qualifications for ministry - (1) patient and joyful willingness to suffer for the Gospel of Jesus, and (2) hope in the world to come MORE than in this one. : : So I think we have misunderstood the first "Legacy" post in large part. If the writer's description of "legacy" seems foreign or distateful to us, we have not yet understood the nature of Yah-Shua our Messiah, and His calling for us on this earth. : : I agree with what you say here. maybe we all should look at ourselves to see if we are doing the will of God. I still pose my question: What does the legacy matter if we're doing God's will? To me the legacy means nothing but God's will means everything!! Thanks for your insight................

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