Consuming Fire of Love

"As you go through the history of the early church you will see
suffering, sacrifice, hardship, persecution and spiritual opposition,
mixed with joy, humor, hope, not a little determination and an almost
inconceivable commitment to the cause of Christ. And all of those
things taken together illustrate one all-important dynamic that I believe
has been mostly lost over these past two thousand years of practiced
religion - a true, life-changing reality of Christ in the hearts and lives of
believers!
And, I believe this reality can only be found in the atmosphere and
activity of His true church. It is a reality of Christ that can only be
found in a moment-by-moment relationship with Him, where He is the
first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning and the last
thing we think about before we go to sleep at night. It is a reality that
melts our hearts as we experience His love and a reality that makes us
eager to know His purposes and willing to obey His every word. A
reality that demonstrates the depths of His kindness and mercy, the
scope of which constantly amazes us. The reality of a Lord that is so
great that we know our constant praise of Him will never adequately
define His greatness! A reality that takes us from glory to glory
(actually from one personal experience to the next), transforming us
into His wonderful image and a reality of Christ that constrains and
consumes us. Then finally, it is a reality that causes us to know with
certainty that His church is not comprised of some group that meets
together on Sunday morning in the big building on the corner to enjoy
their multimedia presentation, promote their programs and perpetuate
their traditions and rituals. It is, instead, made up of people all over
the world who meet with Him continually and individually, striving to
maintain a personal relationship of intimacy with Him."

Oh, my goodness! This is the heartfelt expression of Ken Brown from the introduction of his
chronological arrangement of the New Testament.
Parts I REALLY like:

"It is a reality of Christ that can only be
found in a moment-by-moment relationship with Him, where He is the
first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning and the last
thing we think about before we go to sleep at night"
My heart is on fire with Love for you Lord and you
truly are on my mind from my first waking to my laying down of my head at night.

and:

"The reality of a Lord that is so
great that we know our constant praise of Him will never adequately
define His greatness!"
 It is frustrating to be limited by my meager vocabulary in proclaiming my praises to my great God.

and finally:
The part that he put in italics at the end. How naive to think that our 'services' can ever substitute for the fullness of a life lived out on a moment by moment basis in the presence of the Father! The traditional, institutional mind frame has us viewing 'church attendance' as the 'main course' of our fellow shipping with the Father when in reality, he desires to make our whole daily existence a buffet that both us and Him are continually partaking of.