Get all of us together, and we aint got a gang. We got an army.
And all you needs a spark, right? Just one spark, something to wake us all up.
–The Gangs
of New York, 2003
I
came to Gainesville for community. I wanted more and the door was wide open.
As
expected, people were everywhere. But let me tell you, I did not find just any “bunch
of Christians� sitting around playing board games and “Nerts�. No, I found something more than that.
Watch
closely. Don’t blink. All of a sudden half the party has disappeared into a
back room. Then you hear it. They are worshiping.
We
don’t “come over� for the game (at least not always). Most of the time, it’s
for the community.
That’s
what it is all about, the living gospel. We are just that.
Spontaneous
prayer breaks during monotonous e-mails. A pat on the head or a smile gesture,
“Hey, new kid.�
In the office we get work done, working hard for the kingdom, but never forgetting who we are.
Church in a hotel conference room. All walks of life are present, all hungry, all expecting. It is not your average Joe bible belt meeting.
We are not okay with mediocre,
sleeping and selfish churches, yet those things don’t get in our way. When we
gather, doors open, chains fall, hands raise, knees bow, and tears fall…. We
pray, prophecy, teach, learn, soak, praise, and hear.
I
feel it here. God intended believers to gather together and worship, to share
belongings and to perform signs and wonders. I see this Gainesville “gang� as
an army coming alive, as a people
who “get it.�
In an old Native American tradition, a promise of loyalty is made by joining flowing blood from one to another, the idea being that each person’s blood now flows in the other
participant’s veins. I like to think that’s how Christ flows through His church; blood
was shed so that an eternal vow could be made. He is IN us. And His blood is pumping through our veins…
Can you feel it? Love is coming alive. The time is now.
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