I new it was a waste
Here is another heretical thought to chew on. As I was reading through Acts the other day I was struck about how little Paul talked about the church and how much he talked about Jesus. I was looking for a statement like this: I Paul am embarking on a righteous journey to start churches in Jesus' holy name. But I did not find that, what i found was Paul relying on the spirit and telling people about jesus, plain and simple. Once again it seems to be that confusion with the church and kingdom that pulls the church away from a kingdom focus. I believe the two are not interchangable. The church is part of the kingdom not vice versa.
Why do we set out to plant churches, instead of embarking on a mission. When you become a follower of Christ you enter the Kingdom of God and become a part of His body. Pretty cool. Paul seemed to understand that when people lived out a kingdom focused life the church flourished. I love the emphasis on going and living in acts. Obviously from the rest of Paul's letters the church had it's issues but there was always the undercurrent of Christ. Christ being the head and focus, our King to serve. Anyways i just find it ironic that most "succesful" church plants are 300 people taken from one congregation and plopped in a demographically appeasing place. That doesn't sound like the way Paul did it. I don't have a lot of answers but a lot of questions. It is getting late and i don't feel like proofreading so take it like it is.... this is all of the top of my head thinking out loud. "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteouness, for they will be filled." Matthew