Session # 5: Rock Daddy

1. The theological identity of the gospel of Jerusalem is connected to Moses and the laws that were established during his time. For out of those the NT church in Jerusalem continued to meet at the temple. (Acts 2:26, NIV) They felt that all believers had to be circumcised. In reality by holding onto the Mosaic laws so tightly they were ultimately limiting their ability to reach out to others.
The theological identity of the gospel of Antioch, was connected to Abraham. Paul being the main proponent in this outreach uses this to fully follow Christs command to go into all the nations. (Matt 28:19, NIV) This is seen by the fact that the church at Antioch had both Jews and Gentiles, that the Gentiles were not required to be circumcised and that they didn't meet at the temple. This broader mindset allowed them the ability to reach out to more people in order to build up the kingdom.

2. The kingdom of God exists in two places: 1.) Heaven 2.) In the hearts of all believers. Therefore, no matter where believers go they will ALWAYS have the kingdom of God with them. Unfortunately, many Christians get wrapped up in the brick and mortar of church buildings and think that if they don't meet there or if they build a new building that they will lose their identity and history. When the reality is that their identity and history are Jesus and what he has done for them. I spoke with a lady the other day, that told me that her church was debating about fixing their church (they have severe water damage in their basement) or building a new church. She told me that if they build a new church then they (the church) will lose all of its history, since they have been in that church for over a hundred years. I wanted so desperately to remind her that originally the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years and didn't have a permanent structure to worship in and yet God was perfectly happy with it. But, she was so dead set on not rebuilding I didn't feel like setting her off.
I'm reminded of the hymn, "This World is Not My Home"

This world is not my home
I'm just a passing through
If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in the world anymore.

I am not saying we should get rid of all churches, just that we shouldn't get attached to them anymore than we should our own home or car or other possessions.

3. Was Abraham, the father of the Jews, a Jew? No. And the reason I say that is because if you read Genesis, no where do yo find him being identified by his religion, but rather by his language, which is Hebrew. It is not until 400 years later that Moses begins to write down the laws that God gives him and in turn establishes the Israelites (people from Israel) as Jews. The significance of this question is that as the EC we must be aware of the fact that there are nonbelievers out there that prescribe to other religions based on laws. As an EC we must not limit ourselves by the laws, but allow the spirit to work through us.

4. Having seen the film numerous times before, I was curious to see what new tidbits of information I could find. I am one of those people who sees or learns about useless movie trivia and then remembers it forever, its true ask my wife, she will tell you how annoying I can be. So in watching The Matrix this time I watched for overtones or references to Christianity. For instance in the scene where they show the name of the ship, Nebuchadnezzar, above the name is Mark III, vol 11. So I thought maybe it was a reference to Mark 3:11 in the Bible, which by the was is, "Whenever the evil[a] spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."" (NIV). I did notice that while they were having the discussion about how the food tasted it made me think of the PM mind set, in that PM's don't see any absolutes and what may be good for someone may be different for someone else. And when Neo gives his ending monologue, it made me think of an ET. In his ending speech he talks about awakening people and freeing their minds. In ET, we are trying to get back to the way things were in the past, but in the process are opening up peoples minds and how they think about things. If you look at the film as a symbol of how we are in reality you could say that Neo and the others are Christians who are trying to share the truth and reality with others and that Satan is the head machine with the agents being his minions. In reality people are sleeping through their lives and are just along for the ride unless they know and have accepted Christ.
My entire family ended up watching the movie and my son (10 yrs old) really enjoyed it and begged us to get the next two so he can see how it ends. After watching it again, I think we will definitely do that.