Last night, our little church time was fantastic!
We met at someone else's house, were led by someone else's inspiration from Christ, and were blessed by an overwhelming feeling of FAMILY. There is such power when people come together, let down barriers, and allow God to speak to us in various ways through each others' gifts!
Paul, when writing to the Corinthian church, was addressing some issues of confusion they were struggling with in their corporate gathering times. It seems that they were experiencing chaos in an expressive environment without boundaries, which opened the door for certain individuals to dominate the spotlight in the use of their gifts.
As he puts forth in 1 Corinthians 14:26, "Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you." In the original Greek, it is clear that "each one" had the role of bringing something to share, in an environment that valued all the gifts and the people who brought them.
How different this is to the highly organized & perscribed methods we in the West tend to approach 'church.' Like so many other things, we tend to overcompensate for errors.
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