Christ established “a kingdom of priests.” This means that you, as a Christian, have an immediate and personal responsibility for maintaining, sustaining, and propagating God’s rule and reign on earth. There is no one between you and your God, except Christ. When Christ died on the cross, the curtain between the holy place and the most holy place, tore from top to bottom. God granted equal access to all willing to come. You have every right to lead in God’s kingdom, according to HIS call on your life. You don’t need certification or ordination. You are ordained the minute God places his Spirit (his new heart) in you. You answer to him and none other!

True New Testament Christianity recognizes that each person is given a gift for service in God’s kingdom. Christ and the Holy Spirit determine who gets what gift. This is not decided by clergy, elder board, or ecclesiastical elitists. If you think you are not qualified to baptize another or serve communion to an assembly, hold a memorial funeral service, then you have been truly brain-washed and wounded by today’s pastoral system. We have 1700 years of church history where members have been told they are unqualified to lead public worship.

Every Christian is a minister in the Kingdom of Christ. You are as deserving and worthy to be a priest as any human being on this planet. No lay-clergy designation existed in Christ’s body until 300 years after Christ (thanks to Constantine)! Every member is equally important, only variously gifted.

In the early days, there was no pre-set order of worship. Paul had every opportunity in I Corinthians 14 to command a common form. He did not. He simply stated that everything was to be kept orderly, glorifying to God, and edifying to all. Preference is given to truth-speaking. In speaking the truth, God gets glorified and the body gets edified!

There is no ritual “tithe” in New Testament Christianity. There is no biblical support for enforcing a "tithing" policy. New Testament Christians give out of their abundance, spontaneously and willingly, as the Spirit leads. They determine in their own hearts how, when, and to whom they contribute.

In a typical New Testament congregation, no single person speaks regularly. Regular speakers in early congregations were occasional visitors and rare. There were no spectators at Christian assemblies. All prepared to actively participate. They could bring a hymn, inspirational thought, message from the Lord, or a spiritual insight.

The modern sermon doesn’t appear until the Fourth Century, with the influence of pagan Greek orators. The pastoral system is 1400 years removed from the New Testament church. They attempted it (I Corinthians 1), but Paul lops off its ugly head as soon as it appears.

Christian, if you have never been in an assembly where everyone’s life is being changed through ordered, spontaneous worship and praise, where charity is shown toward a needy member as soon as he expresses a need, where leaders are not visibly leading, then you have truly not tasted one of the greatest freedoms and pleasures known only to true Christianity.

Isn't it time you experienced real Christian worship, as it was intended? Begin this week by hosting a worship assembly in your living room. New Testament Christians worshipped house-to-house.

Some persons think they have no need of God. They feel they are warm enough, loving enough, joyful enough, without God's help. They are satisfied with the person they are apart from God. Not me.

Without God in me, I use and abuse persons; I form relationships solely suited to selfish ambition; I discard persons as empty containers; I choose paths that mean more power and prestige for me. Without God, the thought of ruling the world is unsatisfying. I insist on taking heaven by storm. Without God, I become a god unto myself. Without God in me, no one is safe anywhere!

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. God has slain the old, ruthless person. Whole sections in me are being transformed into his peaceful image. His new heart has begun to beat to the rhythm of love in my bosom. You are now safe. I am no longer a threat to anyone. Thank God for that!

Stone-cold heart, anyone? I don’t need mine anymore. I hated that guy anyway.

Do YOU believe God is?

If so, do you believe God is still good, regardless what he has allowed to happen to you in this life?

If so, do you understand God wants you to move toward him in all your pain?

If so, when will God be enough for you?

You are created for the work God planned before time for you to do. You are going to find your greatest happiness doing his will for your life. Until you do, you will only be confused and experience a feeling of being “displaced”.

Dishwashers are designed to wash dishes. What would happen if you tried to wash clothes in your dishwasher? The results would not be good. It is not that for which dishwashers are designed.

You are designed to be you! You make a terrible somebody else. So, stop trying to please everyone around you. Stop trying to please yourself. Start today to discover God’s will for your life.

Discover God and you'll eventually find your God-designed life. It'll be good. It will give your life purpose and meaning. It will be that for which you were designed.

God placed in me a little triangle, deep inside. When I committed my first wrong, that I knew was wrong, his triangle started spinning. Those sharp edges hurt. My God-given conscience was convicting me. If I listened to it (stopped doing the wrong), the triangle stopped spinning and the hurt went away. If I did not listen (kept doing the wrong), the hurting continued and gradually decreased. The next time I repeated that same evil act, my conscience bothered me very little, if at all! It was like I had worn down the sharp edges of my conscience by violating it. It no longer pricked me when I did wrong.

When I became a Christian, I received something sweeter. I received God! He took up residence inside me through the gift of his Holy Spirit. I learned that if I listened to him, he revealed deeper truths to me. (His presence was more powerful in me). If I stopped listening, he quietly slipped away. Along with him went his supernatural peace and supernatural joy. The image of Christ also faded in me. I no longer could clearly hear his voice.

Some unbelievers live reasonably moral and ethical lives by simply following the law of their God-given consciences. They can never experience freedom from the PENALTY of sin. They can never experience freedom from the POWER of sin. They are stuck with manual steering until they receive Christ. They cannot relax one moment. That’s why you hear me say, “Listen to your conscience until God has your heart.”

When God has his way in your heart, you can relax and enjoy Christ's cruise control!