Back

Back. Back to the beginning, to the fundamentals, to the way things used to be. Back to the basics. Back to the good ole days which usually prove not to be so good, once we take a closer look. Back to normal, which wasn't that normal. Back to first love, which would be much better. For years believers have yearned for a return to the days of the book of Acts. What they are longing for of course, is not going back to pit toilets and mud-daub houses, but the excitement of daily salvations, the sick healed, the dead raised, prison doors--both spiritual and literal--opened and chains loosed.

Back. Jesus is coming back. We don't know the hour or the day, but it's hard not to think that we are at least in the beginning of that season. In Matthew 23 Jesus said He won't return until Jerusalem welcomes Him back. Revelation 19 says He is coming back for a Bride made ready, spotless, united, and mature; a congregation of lovesick worshippers who will cover the world with the message of the Kingdom before the end.

The high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 is His call to unity. This is not a Council of Churches unity in which all denominational and cultural differences are compressed into a bland, homogeneous, politically-correct sameness. The God who created us with such distinctiveness could not possibly have wanted us all the same. His intent in making us so different was surely to weave a vibrant tapestry; the gifts and callings of each group contributing to the beauty of the Bride. The unity Jesus calls us to is not sameness, but oneness in Him. Devotion to God that burns and purifies and draws us irresistibly to Him, aligning us to one another in the process. Red and yellow, black and white adoring together the One who made us different to be a blessing, not a curse. A unity that takes us back to what we were in the beginning, beings designed for communion with the Holy.

Acts 2 details early believers living in unity, sharing all things, meeting from house to house as they figured out how Yeshua's resurrection deepened and expanded their Jewish faith. So going back to the book of Acts means a return to the origins of our faith, before the Gentilizing, before the persecutions, inquisitions, and crusades. Back to when Israel knew Messiah had come. When they saw the Torah with new eyes and began to understand God's heart for the nations. When they knew their sins were forgiven, God's promises would be fulfilled, Yeshua would return, and His justice would reign. Back to following 'the Way' for the joy set before them, no matter the cost.

For believers, back to the beginning would be the remnant of Israel worshipping with the remnant of the nations; together again as they were in the infant church--One New Man, interdependent, united, standing beneath the banner of Yeshua, the promised Messiah of Israel's God. Take us back, O Lord. Back to the original design, the plan You made that cannot be improved upon. Incline our hearts to Yours O God. Revive and restore hearts of fervent love and submission that we might go back, back to the origin, the foundation of Jesus upon which our house must be built. Then united, we will turn to the abundant harvest fields in preparation for Your glorious return. Come back soon lovely Jesus!