Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, …
What is the basic message of the gospel? Is there a core essence that can be extracted from all the stories, traditions, rituals, and writings of our faith? To ask the question another way: How can we know which of our practices and beliefs are truly essential to who we are as followers of Jesus, …
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. -1 Corinthians 12:29-31a In the Quaker tradition, we have found that God gives spiritual gifts to the whole community – the body …
If there were a basic textbook on what it means to be a follower of Jesus in community, it would have to be the Book of Acts. A sequel to the Gospel of Luke, Acts tells the story of the early Church: an expanding, multi-ethnic community gathered around a common devotion to Jesus and a …
More often than I would care to admit, I have allowed my personal fantasies about the perfect community to distract me from the beautiful, real-life community that is right in front of me. I’ve found that making community an abstract ideal is the enemy of real, flesh-and-blood fellowship. The idealized community seems so much bigger, …
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes that, “when Christ calls [a person], he bids [them] come and die.” This is a message that Jesus repeats time and again: no one can follow him unless they are willing to take up the cross. The way of Jesus is one marked with unspeakable joy, but also with tremendous suffering. When …
And now it’s moving, and everybody plays a part. It’s a living breathing being, with a brain and a heart. It’s a living breathing being, you can tell it by its art. It’s a living, breathing being just like corporations aren’t. From Occupy Your Life, by Jon Watts It’s hard to think of any organ …