Steve---You are such a precious brother in the Lord. I must, however, tell you that you concentrate to much on money and the power of money in conveying the Gospel and building Chruches.
As a holy exercise to help us understand the buuilding of Chruces, let us go back to the first century when all missionaries were the Holy Jewish Apostles and disciples. These Jewish Apostles and disciples had just faced horrible persecution from the antichirst jews in Jerusalem for preaching the Gospel and building churches. It is true that money played a part because the multitude of jewish converts in Judaea and Galilee and Samaria shared their wealth with the leaders of this new "jewish cult" so they could spread the gospel--first in Jerusalem and then into pagan Europe and Roman Africa.
Money, however, can never build a Church. A Chruch is only built when the Word of God is planted in a soul and then watered and finally the Holy Spirit brings forth the increase.
Everyone who reads the Scriptures and early Chruch history knows that the early Chruch was compsed almost exclusively of Jewish converts. These early Jewish Christians gave their lives to first build the Chruch in the middleeast. They then moved into pagan Europe. First Greece, and then Rome and her territories and then Gaul.
It is clear from the writings of Paul that these Jewish missionaries built chruches by preaching Gospel--both OT and NT- to the pagan peoples of Europe.
They did not go about building structures and calling them chruches. NO. Quiet on the contrary. These precisous jewish maratyrs gave their lives and their blood to sew the seed of the Word into these pagan lands in order to build chruches.
Today, there is too much emphasis upon money and meterial things in the spreading of the Gospel.
Anacient Rome, Greece, Egypt and the other anacient pagan civilizations gloried in their material wealth and power.
The ancient jewish civilization and culture did not possesss the wealth and cultural glory of the pagan civilizations.
I ask you the central question--which nation and people did God initially use to spread His Salvation in Christ Jesus.?
Did He use powerful Rome? Did He use intellectual Greece? NO!!!
God used the ancient Jewish people to bring forth His son and to spread His Gospel.
It was the humility and profound spiritual depth of the ancient Jewish people that God used.
All glory and honor to the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob and to His precious Lamb that takes awAy the sins of the world.
Let us also remember the holy jewish martyrs that gave their life and their blood to build the Chruch of God and spread the Gospel in the dark conrners of Europe.
Emile
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