Revised 6*12*08

Would Jesus recognize the church today as the one he began to build when he proclaimed…”Upon this rock I will build My church” (Mt 16). The chapter prior to this verse Jesus was healing the lame, opening the blind eyes and making the dumb to speak. He broke the bread and the fishes and He blessed them and fed the multitude. So if we are to follow Jesus by taking up our cross and denying ourselves, shouldn’t our works be geared towards the same people Jesus ministered to? Did the church take a left hand turn somewhere and forget about feeding the poor and taking care of the widows and orphans? Where is the power and demonstration of the miraculous, the healing of the sick and the breaking of bread to feed the multitudes. Are these just bed time stories that we figuratively refer to happening someday down the road. Before I get any further I would like to affirm that I am completely convinced that the scripture "these signs shall follow them that believe....they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover" to be fulfilled in my life and my church. I firmly believe in apostolic demostration of the Power of God. But I also believe that we can be using the resources God has provided more effectively. I recently heard someone refer to the riches of this world being given to the church to be used. If that is the case why don’t we dive in and retrieve them for the glory of God? There are institutions that are established that can put feet on the gospel, on the feeding of the poor and healing the sick but it doesn’t seem like we are taking advantage of the store house the world has. Are we waiting for manna to rain down from heaven when all along the store houses are full? Could it be that an organization like the Red Cross is the avenue we should work with it give of our time and money to make a difference in the life of some unfortunate soul? Or is that wrong…and we should be waiting for the manna?
God has given this modern day church the tools and the resources to reach a dying and lost world but we are stuck in the mindset that freedom from poverty only comes by a miracle of God. Well, guess what it does…God uses man to do his work more often than not. What are we doing to make sure that the work, the church Jesus started to build is getting done? What are we lending our time and resources to? Are we reaching the lost?