FOLLOW THE APOSTLES BACK TO CHRIST

Bless the Churches
A wonderful blessing is that churchmen kept Christianity alive since churches were formalised in Rome 1700 tears ago.
Churches provide for the centres of worship and faith for millions of Christians today.
Active Christians worship God in the many different churches. Their love for others and widespread contributions to charity for missions of faith, education and medicine, are great blessings to society.
It is vital to emphasise that their beliefs and worship are basic to faith and must be respected.

Declining Support
The problem is that their numbers and therefore the influence of Christianity is declining.
In UK and USA church support is decreasing in terms of church closures. Consequently moral standards ay all levels are also declining, from political and business to family life. The latter is particularly important to children who need a stable home life as they grow up. Yet in USA half of marriages are expected to end in divorce. Single parents are common. There is also a soaring dependence on drugs.
People are turning already to human doctrines of increased state control of private lives.
Western people are also under threat from ruthless religious zealots who believe in spiritual rewards for killing their enemies.
It is no exaggeration to warn that our future depends on restoring Christianity on which our civilization was built. No effort should be spared to solve this problem.

Populations Have Changed
Western middle and working class people are now more educated, sophisticated and independent. Their incomes have
improved and they gained confidence.
They also increased their scientific and analytical competence. They might aptly be described as objective, scientific pragmatists who are now on the other side of the pulpit.
They no longer simply do what they are told, as their forbears had done. They now make up their own minds about what they see as right and wrong.
The majority do not accept the traditional, and slowly changing worship in churches.
The routine rituals of many church services are irrelevant to the issues of their everyday living. They might have been appropriate in past authoritative times when the lower ranks in society did, as they were told, but that is no longer the case.
Their working lives are tough and competitive. To survive each must be competent in their own increasingly specialised and narrow fields of work.
Specialisation They depend on reliable specialists who provide the essential information on all the other issues which affect their efficiency.
Although they depend ob the advice of many specialists, whose fields they do not fully understand, they must have have credibility. Sadly much of church ministry is not credible to their critical scrutiny. What they need is advice on everyday Christian Living and not the complicated church doctrines and ministries evolved by men over nearly 2000 years.
Work Most Christian lives are preoccupied with their work, just like the farmers, fishermen and publicans to whom Jesus preached 2000 years ago.Their work is now more complex and they deal with many more people, yet this us where the would serve God.
What they need are simple teaching of God’s Truth from the Gospels which founded the churches. The Christian duties of loving their neighbours are the same now as they were then. What they need now is simple Teaching of the same issues, updated for their complex lives.
Loving neighbours now includes choices of family, colleges and customers at work and social affairs. It is here that God is served and not in church. Church ministries have not kept up with their new needs.

Potential Christians
A survey in UK showed that they are three who believe in God, as those who worship. In USA an atheist leader estimated that 80%of the population believe in God.
They could be defined as Potential Christians who might be concerted if churches presented it in an acceptable form.
This problem is urgent. Without
belief in Christ’s Message, they miss the potential for their lives with faith in God. Instead many pursue selfish pleasures, indifferent to the needs of others. This turns out to be fruitless in the end.
The society is also missing their potential contributions to their community and hence the decline in Christian values.
Conclusion No effort should be spared to solve this threat to our future. Individuals are missing the blessings of living according to God’s Purpose which Jesus gave His life to bring to us.
Nationally Christian morality is being replaced by what is popular from the promises of politicians.

CHURCH TEACHING
Restoring Christianity to the emergent and critical population is our most challenging task today.
It is necessary to examine the evolution of church worship over nearly 2000 years. There are two different parts in it.

GOD’S TRUTH
Apostles founded Christianity 2000 years ago based on God’s Truth, brought by Christ. They founded it when they converted most of the known nations at that time. They started numerous and far flung informal churches.
The efforts and courage of all these unsung heroes are the greatest human contributions to Christianity. It is also evidence of the enormous power of the Holy Spirit to sustain the faithful.
They depended on God for food, clothing and shelter in all the hundreds of miles traveled to spread the Gospels. The early Christians survived in spite of persecution and even public sacrifice of their lives. This is a dramatic example of their faith and the sustained Power of the Holy Spirit.
The significant achievements of the new Christians are often overlooked. Christians owe them everything.
Their greatest achievement in recording God’s Truth is in the Gospels. This was a laborious task when every copy gad to be written by hand.
Their messages were only God’s Truth brought by Jesus.
Christ’s ministry was welcomed because it showed God as a loving Father who cared for every individual, no natter how humble.Christianity was therefore individual service directly to God.
The Message was that they should not be purely selfish in their living , but love and care for others as one cared for themselves.
Jesus recognized that everyone failed sometimes. He came to the world to save sinners.
Forgiveness was promised to those who repented and forgave others who had sinned against them.
He promised care after death to the faithful and not punishment for their sins if they repented.
He did not promise protection from hardships but help for sufferers when they happened.
The beliefs and faith of this original Christianity were based solely on God’s Truth in Christ’s simple Teaching. There were no additions .
The Christian communities cooperated as local informal Christian churches. They apparently acquired their faith from the comparatively brief teaching of the Apostles who brought them God’s Truth from Jesus’ Teaching.
That gave them faith in God’s love and His care for them. Their teachers then moved on to take God’s Message to the next community.
Remarkably these new churches had sufficient faith to sustain and continue to worship at the grassroots level.
There were no formal church authorities to rule them. Certainly the leading Apostles kept in touch with the new churches. They guided them and helped them to solve their problems with their new faith.
The survival and growth of the new churches in their hostile environment, can only be explained by their faith and the help from the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion All Christians should be grateful to the Apostles and early Christians for their faith, dedication and courage in founding the original churches. They spread and recorded God’s simple Truth of how we should all serve Him individually in our lives. God was the only authority and there were no human intermediaries.
They also showed the power of the Holt Spirit available to those with faith.
This was what Christ gave His life to bring to us as God’s Truth.

MANMADE ADDITIONS
Since then many human additions to God’s Truth, brought by Jesus, which are now accepted by churches as God’s word.

The Ronan Takeover
Nearly 300 years later Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and called all the Christian groups to formalize them in to one church. This amounted to the Roman nationalization of Christianity.
The new Roman Catholic church was a major departure from the simple original Christianity spread by the Apostles. Manmade changes were added to fit the new church in to the powerful Roman religious and political systems.
They worshipped God as an almighty and powerful judge who would punish sinners. This suited the authoritarian Roman state.
The Old Testament was included in the Bible and worshipped as God’s Word. The military was eminence of the prophets in Judaism fitted in with the authoritarian system of Roman rule by emperors and senators.
This is now Judao Christianity. It includes many changes which conflict with the Teaching brought by Jesus. For instance, for centuries they actively put unbelievers to death.
A major addition was that officials were ordained with holy rank. They became intermediaries between God and worshippers, even with power to forgive sins. Yet, even Jesus had no rank, but was merely the Teacher of God’s Truth.
Charismatic preachers also appealed to the emotions of listeners wit promises of protection and salvation to the faithful.
Conclusion The worship in church of Jidao Christianity now includes many additions since Christ’s Teaching . These are now accepted as God’s Word in many churches on the same level as God’s Truth brought by Christ.

A Saving Grace
Ironically these deceptive additions to church ministry may have been necessary for churches to co-exist with the intolerant rulers for many centuries. For instance, an independent alpine community was discovered many years later, living simply by Jesus’ Teaching. The community was regarded as heretics because they ignored the requirements of worship in the new church. It was therefore destroyed by Roman soldiers.
Conclusion Christian beliefs and worship have clearly been added to considerably since the original churches were founded by the Apostles 2000 years ago.
However these diversions may have been necessary for churches to survve under intolerant rulers since then. That is no longer the case.
Nevertheless these additions are vital to the beliefs of the millions of churchgoers today. They should be accepted and welcomed as the basis of their faith. However the same additions may not be acceptable to some critical Prospective Christians.

Manmade Deceptions
The believers in church teaching accept God’s Truth brought by Jesus, bur also in the manmade additions which now constitute the major part of church worship.
Jesus warned that many who preached in His Name would deceive many. These deceptions aptly describe the many manmade additions to Christ’s simple Teaching. They are now accepted by churchgoers as His Word. They must be accepted as their faith.
They include:
Church worship is now complex. Formal routines, rituals and recitations are believed to be the way to worship in many churches. Such repetitive recitations parrot fashion are not credible to many modern pragmatists. There was no formal rituals or holy priests as intermediaries in Christ’s Teaching.
Christ’s worship included only The Lord’s Prayer, communion if bread and wine to remember his Teaching and His Crucifiction The Old Testament is central to worship in many churches.
However it adds nothing to the teachings of God’s Truth on which our churches were founded.
Knowledge of God’s Purpose is available to every Christian through is the simple reading of the Gospels. Worship was informal and merely required that two or three gathered to pray for forgiveness and help.
Most churches and their officials are regarded as God’s holy intermediaries. The validity of church rules and dogma are often justified by clergy.
In contrast Jesus was merely an informal teacher. Worship merely required gathering to pray with direct access to God.
Many preachers now call on God to solve national problems like hardships due to the current recession.
Their conversion may be due to their own emotional fears may not be followed by real faith in Christian Living.
Jesus, in contrast, taught only of God’s help to faithful individuals. He ignored national problems such as the widespread hated of Ronan rule.
Conclusion These are some of the manmade deceptions which distract from the Teaching brought by Jesus. They are not credible to the critical section of Potential Christians, who need Christ’s simple Teaching to offer acceptable faith.
Manmade deceptions would NOT be allowed to obscure God’s Truth recorded in the Gospels.

RETURNING TO CHRISTIAN LIVIG
What Potential Christians need is practical advice on the issues in their daily choices.
The answer is that God’s simple Truth should be presented as it was to found the churches by the Apostles.
Our Creator
They would must appreciate the enormity of God’s power. Many scientists claim that the evolution of our wonderful world would be statistically impossible by chance without the direction an Intelligent Design. This is consistent with the belief that God has power over everything on earth.
His purpose was revealed when He sent Jesus to tell mankind to love each other. This is God’s Truth on which Christianity was founded.
Christian Living depends on maintaining contact with God. This was promised when only two or three gathered to pray. Each would help the others to see the Truth in their own situation and would help and reinforce each other’s faith and understanding.
Faith depends on knowledge of the Gospels which were simple and taught to simple people long ago.
Jesus taught that God’s purpose was that we should live with love for each other. It is the recipe for God’s purpose of how we should live. This is the faith we mist restore to fulfill our Creator’s purpose.

Christian Living
Christian reformation needs dedicated leaders to teach God’s Truth from the Gospels as the Apostles did. This is a simple and beautiful Message and should still be acceptable now. It is our Creator’s purpose of how we should fulfil and enjoy Christian Living.
The principles outlined in the parables are the same, but our society is now far more complex than when Jesus preached.
Teachers now need real life examples from our complex lives.
We all work and earn income to enjoy the wonderful pleasures available, however loving others means spending also on those who are less fortunate. Our time and compassion can also bless those who suffer. These are of unselfish giving as love for others.
Teachers should warn of the ultimate fruitlessness of apparent success of the exclusive selfish pursuit of pleasures, possessions or power. This can obscure concern for the needs of others and will be fruitless in the end.
It is also necessary to control emotions. For instance, anger is a common response to unacceptable actions of others. It should be controlled by Christians who should turn the other cheek.
They should try to do what is right regardless of the opinions of their peers.

National Teachers
We should thank God for the national teachers on TV who bring clear updates from the Gospels of Christian Living in our complex lives today.
There are many examples of that the help from the Holy Spirit available to the faithful. In particular to those whose lines are in a mess from the selfish pursuit of excesses such as wine , women or drugs.( examples on TV in 700 Club)
Real Christian worship must be to focus on the issues of everyday Christian Living . The principles are available from some excellent TV ministries. ( Joyce Myer in Joyful Everyday Living and Robert Sculler in The Hour of Power from The Crystal Cathedral are examples).
Conclusion These teachings provide vital examples of Christian Living today.

AT Grassroots
The original churches survived on their own faith in God as their Father and guide. Those who turn to Christian Living would be individuals who depend on their own faith. They would reinforce it by worship wit others in their own groups.
They would retain their busy working lives like those who Jesus preached to originally. They would serve God as they love all who they deal with.
Followers of simple Christian Living would be unique because they would not be controlled by a human authority. Instead they would depend, as the original Christians did, on guidance from God. They would need to meet to pray with others regularly to reinforce their faith at the personal level.
Conclusion This new worship would recognise that God is available to all, even at this level. He is the loving Father there to guide the faithful and forgive their sins.

THE PRAYER GROUPSs
They would depend on each other in prayer groups or churches like those founded by the Apostles. Like the original churches, their common purpose was to serve God.
As with all groups, natural leaders could be expected to emerge. Other prayer groups would be available to help each other..
Such an unadulterated presentation of the Truth of God’s love for us and our need to love each other should be acceptable to even the most critical Potential Christian.

AGENDA
A suggested agenda for such prayer meetings might include;
Thanks for current and past blessings, collective or individual.
Prayers for help in any current problems, personal or general.
Prayers for strength to give to those in need, either as individuals or as a sustained programme by the group.
The Lords Prayer to emphasise that forgiveness is promised to those who forgive others.
The main need is to love our neighbours so that we should recall and repent for shortcomings since the last prayers. These include choices based on selfish preference, emotional aggression or indifference to the problems of others. We would need to pray for strength to do what is right next time.
Then a knowledgeable prayer leader could chose one of the parables and enlarge on its significance in our complex lives today. To be meaningful examples should quoted from experiences and testimonies of ordinary contemporary Christians.
Examples also of the real help available from the Holy Spirit to other faithful Christians.
These payers should be presented in such a way that all issues raised are relevant to those in their own lives. They should be down to earth not remote intellectual teaching of the general principles at a higher level. After all that is how Jesus taught.
An unknown issue is the degree of participation in discussions of those present. It would probably vary with the size and tastes of the worshippers.
Perhaps an advantage of informal prayer worship is a tendency to honest humility.
A vital addition to living faith is regular reading of God’s Truth in the Gospels.
A choice Gospel reading for the next prayers might be useful.
The aim of such worship would be to help Christians to live and love in their everyday lies as Christ taught.
This simple doctrine is exactly how the Apostles started and originally sustained Christianity. The objective would be to equip Christians to decide what is right and wrong in all their choices



CONCLUuSION

A return to Christian Living based on Christ’s Teaching is essential to the urgent Reformation for Potential Christians.
Anyone with faith who comes forward to lead this crusade will get the help needed from God as the Apostles did.
Please cone forward a new St, Paul. Following the Apostles back to Christ should be the same way to Christianity to those who became Christians 2000 years ago. Amen
John Danckwerts phone Harare 575545
PO BOX AP 27, HARARE AIRPORT, ZIMBABWE.
stjude@zol.co.zw

Appendix

OUR CREATOR
Anyone who has grown up in Christian society will have acquired concepts of God’s nature, which may vary. However it mat be useful to consider of what we can see.
First the earth itself is a unique in its ability to support the wide variety of life, including our own. The moon, revolving around the earth, allows it to rotate on its axis which gives moderate temperatures of day and night. Planets which do not rotate roast on the side facing the sun and freeze on the other. Out atmosphere apparently protects us from harmful rays such as microwaves. It also allows water in liquid form which is essential for life. There is no other planet observed so far by astronomers which has these conditions favourable to life.
The evolution of all the plants and creatures surely also indicates an intelligent design by a Creator.
His purpose for mankind was clear when He sent Jesus to tell is to care for each other.
His power to intervene in any life is clear from the intervention of the Holy Spirit.
There is no evidence of an active devil outside. Jesus stated that evil comes not from outside but from within. We all have our own wants lusts and emotions and the extent to which we control them results in how evil we are.
Jesus promised forgiveness when we repent and help in resisting temptation in the future.
Finally God is unlike humans because He is not controlled by time or space. He is more like gravity which we know affects everything though we cannot see it.
Finally we should be grateful for our wonderful world and His help in living a life of love for others.