Buy the PDF and ePUB versions directly from THRIVE! Books
$9.99
CAD
I’ve often wondered how we’d respond if Acts chapter 2 showed up in our church bulletin.
“Everyone was filled with awe… All the believers were together and had everything in common… They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… And the Lord added to their number daily…”
Sounds like the stuff of legend, doesn’t it?
We read those verses with a kind of wistful admiration, as if the early Church belonged to another dimension—some untouchable golden age when miracles were common, generosity was instinctive, and believers lived with a singleness of purpose we can barely imagine. Today, that kind of unity feels almost foreign. We’re more likely to associate “normal” church with budget meetings, parking lot politics, and a desperate scramble to stay “relevant.”
But what if we’ve gotten it backward?
What if that—the Spirit-soaked, radically generous, deeply devoted community of Acts—wasn’t the exception at all? What if it was God’s design from the beginning? Not as a fairy tale, but as a blueprint?
This book grew out of that question. I’ve come to believe we don’t need to invent a new kind of Church. We need to rediscover an ancient one.
NEW RELEASE.
Can a church flourish in full bloom if it trims away the very trellis God designed to hold it up?
I think of the Church the way Paul did—like a living, breathing body, flexing with Kingdom purpose. Yet every body needs a skeleton, every vine a lattice. Strip away the bones, and even the strongest muscles sag. Prune the lattice, and the vine collapses under the weight of its own fruit. God’s blueprint for leadership isn’t a footnote—it’s the frame that lets His people rise and spread wide. God’s Design Wears No Optional Tags
God’s Design Wears No Optional Tags
Before a single hymn was sung, the Spirit etched instructions into the New Testament parchment (Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). Apostles blazing trails, prophets pointing north, evangelists sounding the trumpet, shepherds mending bruised hearts, teachers lighting lamps—each role a rib in the same cage, knitting protection around the Church’s beating heart. Ignore those ribs, and we’re gasping for breath, puzzled that the Body keeps slumping.
Beth Moore would throw her arms wide here and shout, “Beloved, we were never meant to stay in the nursery!” Christ gifts leaders so saints become servants, servants become soldiers, soldiers become family. Only then do we taste “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Thriving isn’t bigger budgets or slick programs; it’s unity thick as honey and maturity sturdy as oak.
Philip Yancey might lean back, eyebrows raised, and observe how corporate pyramids sneak into sanctuaries. Titles harden, pews turn into spectator stands, and the Holy Spirit feels more like a guest speaker than the Host. Numbers may swell, but burnout spreads like rust, and joy thins to a watercolor wash.
Jesus whispered, “If you love Me, keep My commands” (John 14:15). Obedience is love dressed in work boots. A church that edits God’s blueprint sidelines itself from the very downpour it prays for. Live the design, and watch windows flung open—revival air rushing in, old bones dancing once more.
The Bottom Line
A congregation can limp along without God’s pattern, even boast impressive attendance. But thriving—deep-rooted, Spirit-saturated, fruit-bearing life—springs only from humble conformity to the design etched by nail-scarred hands. Let’s rebuild the trellis, strengthen the bones, and see what wonders the Divine Architect has in mind.
Sign up for our Newsletter:
Site designed and maintained by Algonquin Digital.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.