Josh1Eight

"But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers." Acts 6:1-2 We certainly like to believe that the early church, who experienced such supernatural unity, fellowship, love, sharing, and God's power (Acts 2:42-47) would be immune to the types of problems that most churches today experience (division, complaining, taking-sides, and selfishness. However, Scripture never attempts to hide the fact that even the early church, led by the Apostles (a handpicked staff selected by Jesus Christ Himself), had their fair share of problems. One such problem was a culture class in the church between two distinct groups of people in the church over which side was getting more of the "shared" resources than the other. Thus, the ...

Scripture: Acts 5:3-5, 13-14 3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4  How could you do a thing like this? You weren't lying to us but to God!" 5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified...13 no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord..."   Observations: One of the craziest stories in the New Teatament is about a couple in the church who once lied to their pastor about a specific financial contribution they had recently made. But when Peter called them in and gave them an opportunity to tell the truth, they clung to their story and were instany struck dead- in Church! Their story shows us a few things: first, that God in fact does hold His people to high standards of integrity. Secondly, it...