The Fellowship of the Believers, grab a coffee this is a long one :)

Afer Jesus was murdered and came back to life, and I mean literally came back to life, he revisited the disciples (I tried to find how many days it was but couldn't) he loved on them some more, performed more miracles and re-affirmed them. I'm reading it as I type this and wowzers! I can only imagine (sounds like a song, ha!) what it must have been like when he made his dramatic exit. My bible says a cloud hid him from their sight as he was taken up before their very eyes. They were once again losing their Jesus! I never really thought of this until now. It's like being so in love with someone but knowing the person has to leave for the good of others and so the will of the Father can be accomplished. John 16:7 Now that's real love. As they were looking up two dudes dressed in white (men from glad, ha!) suddenly stood beside them. They said, "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11 Nobody knows when this will happen but it will. The last words of Jesus to the disciples before this exit are, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jersualem (Wasaga Beach), and in all Judea (Ontario), and Samaria (Canada) and to the ends of the earth (China in my case)." So, they wait for this power to come, and it does, you can read about it in chapter 2 in Acts. They receive this new power which is still God only in the form of the Holy Spirit. This is one part of the Trinity. The Trinity is the name for all three parts that make up God. Maelyn had the best teaching here on it. Her class took a hard boiled egg which is made up of three parts; the yolk, the white and shell. All three parts make up the entire egg. The Holy Spirit is very real. We cannot see it with our eyes but we we can experience it's power. I liken it to the wind, we cannot see actual wind but we experience it's power. The roles of the Holy Spirit is many; of counsellor, teacher, comforter, convicts us of the guilt of our sin (if you feel guilty about something the Holy Spirit is working on you; John 16:8), and it draws you to God (John 6:44). If it seems everywhere you turn you are running into Christians, or crying and not knowing why when you hear a song about God, or even find yourself wondering if the stuff Sharon is writing could be true, than the Holy Spirit is working on you; drawing you to the one who created you in your mother's womb. Anyway, back to the disciples, Jesus left them so the Holy Spirit could empower them. They now can do even greater things than Jesus did! (if you are a believer reading this that means you and me as well, wowzers!) When I sat down to type this post I didn't have all the above in mind, so the Holy Spirit is drawing someone to God. Hey, how cool is this! A practical application right before us. What I intended on writing was in regard to the establishment of the church and the new believers living together in community, after the Holy Spirit came, found in Acts 2:41-47. The disciple Peter (now this is the same guy when Jesus was on his way to be murdered, acted like he never knew him; I loved the way Mel had Jesus look at Peter in the Passion of the Christ movie during this spot) after receiving the Holy Spirit's power was able to preach in such a way that 3,000 people became believers during one alter call! An alter call is a time during a church service where people are given the opportunity to repent of their sins (remember Eve ate the apple out of disobedience to God because the serpent tricked her thus sin ie, gossip, pride, unbelief,etc, entered you and me which separates us from God) and come into a relationship with God. Let me just say that you don't need to be in church to say this prayer. I wasn't when I prayed it. I want to remind you again there is no way you can earn this relationship with God. Alot of people in church think by going to church it makes them a Christian. Let me pose the question to you; if you go to a rock concert does that make you a rock star? No, you are a spectator. Just like going to church does not make you a Christian you are just a spectator until you have a personal relationship with God. Another way of looking at it is, I can date Mike but until I marry him I will never be his bride. Alot of people are dating Jesus but until they marry him they will never become the bride of Christ. Wow, that was profound! Speaking of dating Jesus, let me sidetrack for a moment and tell you of an amazing thing that happened to a divorced mom in our class. Us couples went out on a date so the divorced mom asked Jesus to take her on a date. She felt him tell her to go to Walmart (remember by now we have learned how to hear his voice), he bought her a $3.00 high back lawn chair, remember we are all broke here, he takes her to a beach where they can be alone, he sits her on this chair and tells her she is his queen sitting on her throne and creates the most amazing sunset for the two of them to enjoy together, it doesn't end here, he than takes her shopping which we all know men hate, but not her Jesus, he buys her a pair of beautiful sandals marked down that she can afford but on the price tag he includes a bible verse that tell her he loves her! Are you crying!!!! The next day she shared this date in front of the entire campus and we all cried. This is how Jesus wants to love each one of us. Anyway, back to my original post. Where was I? Oh yea, the first church has 3,000 new believers. "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing meals, and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." I have always wondered what that would look like, have you? Living here at the University of the Nations I am finally experiencing it. Each person has the same living arrangements. Our homes all look the same. We don't have any fancy furniture, or expensive pictures on the walls. Thank goodness because all that stuff we waste our energy on working to buy, so we can appear to be better off than the Jones's next door, but really only gets us further in debt on the credit card, all breaks when God allows an earthquake to shake us up. So our homes here are just for sleeping in, taking showers, typing long emails, etc. The real fellowship goes on outside when eveyone gathers to play games from the newborn right up to the grandparents. All cultures, all ages, laughing together, enjoying each other. There is always something going on here. Last night everyone gathered together for a costume dance party. Laughter could be heard over the whole campus. Yesterday I was too tired to go to class in the morning after coming back from Hilo. All our clothes were dirty so if we wanted clean underwear, laundry had to be done. But when lunch time came there was a knock at my door and 20 people walked in with their lunches! They missed me and wanted to be with me. So we all spread out on the bed, floor and table. Before they left they prayed for Mike and me because we have become their family. I love them as if they were my own children. I love the Korean culture cuz if you are sitting together for a meal they eat off each others plate. They share whatever they have with you. It may not be much, but to them no one goes without. Life is to be shared. We played a game throughout the week in Hilo. It was so meaningful. Each one of us picked another person's name out of a hat and became a secret angel to that person. On the last day the angels were revealed. The most touching account was the night we all went to the show. Remember we are all broke because we just bought our plane tickets to China, so one of the guys stayed home and secretly put his money for the show into the person he was the angel for. This is what it looks like when believers share everything they have. Life is meant to be shared, it's not a competition. There is a bumper sticker that says, "whoever has the most toys at the end wins". Who ever created that bumper sticker must be a very lonely person who was trying to buy happiness in things. He didn't get it. Maelyn wrote on the wall back in Hilo that God is love. Everything flows out of that. God is love and true happiness comes out of that relationship with him and flows into life. It's not found in accumulating wealth, toys, getting to the top. It's free. It's name is Jesus. He gave up his life so you could find your life. I thank you Jesus for I have truly found my life!