Reflections on Thirty Years

If you have ever felt like there was just something missing from the American church, you need to read the book I just finished. It's called Thirty Years That Change the World: The Book of Acts for Today by Michael Green, who is an evangelist and professor from Oxford. He basically is reflecting on what made the early church so amazing, and why we don't see these things in our churches today. He does a great job of avoiding the theological soapboxes found in Acts and focuses on the power, influence and priorities of the first Christians.

One of the biggest things I took away from this book is the fact that the church in the West has fallen into a maintenance mentality. By being focused on our buildings, church staff, and programs, we have for the most part lost our missionary and evangelistic zeal. The truth is that God is a God on a mission, and He has promised to equip His people in accomplishing that mission.

I want my life to be different. I want it to look more like those first Christians who were full of radical love, power, and conviction. But, I'm too much a product of my Christian culture. I honest don't even know what it would be like to have a life like that. But, I want it.