"The early Christians lived and worked within the confines of normal first-century life in the Roman Empire. In other words, they did not restrict their activities or associations to a private religious sphere of individual life......They contributed to the general welfare of whatever town or village they happened to live in."
"Christianity is more than a matter of new beliefs. Following Jesus is an invitation to be part of an alternate society that is formed around Him. Right living within this community is more of the challenge than having the right beliefs."
"The church is most true to God's mission for it when it reflects the kingdom. The further away it gets from kingdom values and priorities, the less it should be properly called church."
"Most often a church centered on building the church builds nothing more than adherents to itself, and not citizens of the kingdom and disciples of Jesus."
"If the goal is to simply get more people into church, it is no wonder that we'll employ whatever methods possible to do so, whatever their underlying theology."
"What matters isn't church location, style, or structure but rather whether or not the kingdom of God is embodied in the life of the community."
"The church gets in trouble when it thinks it is in the church business rather than the Kingdom business. In the church business, people are concerned with church activities, religious behavior and spiritual things. In the Kingdom business, people are concerned with Kingdom activities, all human behavior, and everything God has made, visible and invisible."
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