Divine Intention: How God's Work in the Early Church Empowers Us Today

by Larry Shallenberger

When a group of people practice something for two thousand years, the expectation is that they'd eventually get whatever it was they were committed to doing right. But the fact is that we as individuals and as a corporate community are still struggling with many of the issues that plagued the early church. Larry Shallenberger takes a fresh look at the book of Acts to help you gain a deeper understanding of how God moved in the early church and what that means for you today.

Genres: Christian, Ebooks, Christianity

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Larry Shallenberger is the Pastor of Children's and Student Ministries at Grace Baptist Church. He oversees ministries that touch the lives of churchgoers ages 0 to 25.

Larry also is the author of Lead the Way God Made You and a monthly columnist on churchvolunteercentral.com. Most important, Larry is passionate for the future of the church and is eager to enter his thoughts into the conversation.

Reviews

[Matt Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larry Shallenberger understands many Christians' love/hate relationship with the church. What makes this book unique and worth a read is that, using the book of Acts for new insight and encouragement, he makes a compelling case for sticking around. By tossing in some fictional characters with realistic church struggles, in addition to examples from his own ministry experience, Shallenberger finds something better than answers or steps to follow to be better Christians. Using the account of early Christians in Acts, he finds the Holy Spirit's work that continues.

The insights from Acts are the most compelling element of the book, and the fictional stories are effective as well. I found myself nodding along to much of it, which for me can be disappointing. I usually want to wrestle with a text. However, his thoughts on culture wars and other sources of division are worth the read, and are no less than challenging. For being written a few years ago, this book still holds some timely wisdom, like the book it studies. If you still cling stubbornly to an imperfect church and feel discouraged, this book will provide some much needed encouragement.

[Jan Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author takes the reader into the relationship between three college friends, as a stepping point into discussing some major points in a book of Acts. This quote stood out to me: “The struggle of the first believers in the book of Acts is the same as our struggle today: the work of reversing the alienating effects of sin and reconnecting broken relationships. Jesus’ work on the cross makes this project possible. The Holy Spirit equips us with a new quality of life that provides us the desire and the power to reacquaint ourselves with the Father. The Spirit is there to help us discover how to live in unison with other believers. He empowers us to share Jesus with those outside of our comfortable circles. “

[Sarah Elsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Good book about the church and how we are to live as the body of Christ. Story format makes it a little easier to understand concepts explained

[Frans Kempe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking at a couple of places in Acts and from them talking about his life, church and Gods leading. The chapters starts with a "fictional?" story of three friends sharing life

[Juan Pablo Villegas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larry really understands what any church member experiences when you've been there long enough to disagree with many decisions of the church leaders. I have felt that anger, the disillusion, the frustration, etc. I think the author explains God's Intention in an excellent way. The way each chapter is presented is great, a small passage, a little fiction, and an explanation by the author. And every chapter has a part for reflection through questions there given. I thought this book was awesome, though I would've liked a bit more of the fictional story, or at least an ending.

[K B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Waste of time - waste of money. Existentialism and situational ethic decorated with quotes from The Message in every chapter. Spend your money and time on a foo-foo cuppa with a good friend talking rather than this book!

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!