![]() Three practices have become vital in my walk with Jesus. Some practices are things we do as individual expressions of shalom, wholeness, and delight with the living God and with others. Some of these practices are universal to followers of Jesus everywhere-Bible study, prayer, serving, and giving, for example.īut some are particular to each person. These are the small rhythms and practices that put us in God’s way and put us in others’ company in meaningful ways. He wrote about spiritual hygiene and the small daily practices that lead to a robust, centered, and well-watered walk with Jesus. One of my favorite textbooks was written by a man named Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. I learned the phrase “spiritual hygiene” while I was in seminary. Just as we take care of our bodies every day, we take care of our souls every day too. What is the commonality between them and us? We are living out this continued story of the gospel moving on the ground, and we are collecting our own snapshots and stories of God’s presence, power, and ministry to the world through us. Because of those similarities, we can see ourselves in them and live with hopeful expectancy that the living God is partnering with us in our own day and generation to bring restoration, renewal, and repair in the world. ![]() Our lives as followers of Jesus are similar to the lives they lived two thousand years ago in some very small yet powerful ways. When we look closer, we find that we do share something significant with them. So how do I apply the book of Acts to my life when it seems I don’t have much in common with Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila? My life feels relatively slow-paced most days. The book of Acts reads so extraordinarily. I’m pretty sure nothing about me is going to cause a gospel riot in my city today. Nothing spectacular is going on here in my world. Paul was challenging the Artemis cult in Ephesus, and I spent today weeding my backyard, paying a few bills, returning phone calls, and answering emails. We read these miraculous, amazing, extraordinary stories, and we ask ourselves, How shall we now live in light of this? I read these stories in the book of Acts and then I look at my own life, and it seems like they could not be more different. Acts 1:8 was coming true chapter by chapter, verse by verse, story by story, one city at a time, and one life at a time. The gospel was moving on the ground from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth, just as Jesus said. The kingdom was truly advancing like a mustard seed, just as Jesus said. High-ranking officials in the government of the Roman Empire were becoming followers of Jesus. ![]() Roman imperial cities like Corinth and Ephesus were being deeply impacted and transformed by the gospel message of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit living inside the followers of Jesus within their walls. In the book of Acts, the kingdom of togetherness was invading the empire of separation. Order your copy or view a free sample at /gospelontheground. Today we’re sharing an excerpt from Kristi McLelland’s new study, The Gospel on the Ground.
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