Reading through the opening chapters of the Book of Acts reveal some key marks of the early Church. These are helpful to recognize to see what ought to be the marks of the Church today:

• Christ centred and exalting (ch. 1)
• Affirming Christ’s Death, Resurrection and Ascension (chs. 1 & 2)
• Missional (1:8)
• Spirit Empowered (1:8, ch. 2, 4:8; 7:55)
• Scripture Saturated (chs. 1, 2, 4, 7)
• Organized (ch. 1 and 6)
• Lead by Officers (apostles/elders, deacons) (ch.1 and 6)
• Awareness of their Place in God’s Plans (ch.2)
• Gospel Focused (2:21, 38; 3:19; 4:12; 5:20, 31, 42; 6:2)
• Baptized and Growing (2:41; 3:47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7)
• Devoted and Active in the Essentials of the Faith (2:42+)
• Worshipping (2:47)
• Proclamatory (2:11)
• Transforming Lives (ch.3; 5:12; 6:8)
• Bold (ch. 3; 4:13; 4:28, 31; 5:29, 33)
• Baselessly Persecuted (chs. 4, 5, 5:41, 7)
• Trusting of God’s Providence (4:25–8)
• Prayerful (4:31)
• Generous (4:32–7; 6:1)
• Fearful and Disciplined  (ch.5)
• Sought After (3:47; 5:16)
• Filled with Wisdom (6:10)
• Holy (6:15)
• Obedient (ch.7)
• Loving of Enemies (7:70)

Can you think of others?
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May we pray that the Church of today will reflect our glorious beginnings! 

There are many things I, as a pastor, would rather write about, but it often behoves me, for the sake of my sheep and those who would be gathered in, to defend the faith, to protect and guard from error, so that the saints may be edified and sinners saved. This is where Jude found himself:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)

Liberalism (and I daren’t even give it the satisfaction of enjoining it to that blessed title, Christianity), is a new religion that was birthed in the nineteenth century (1800s). Like Satan posing as an angel of light or a wolf dressing in sheep’s clothing, Liberalism (lateral deists as a friend of mine calls them), guises itself as Christian, though in peering into the [initially] subtle differences, one finds an entirely different religion. We’d do well to know what Liberalism is, so in spotting it, we might turn from error fix our eyes upon the truth of Jesus.
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A newspaper from the 1920s, an era where Liberalism and orthodox Christianity were in conflict, contrasted the chasm like differences between the two.

One author who wrote on the subject was J.G. Machen in Liberalism and Christianity (1923). In his classic work he argued that Liberalism was indeed a new religion. ​

​To further illustrate the differences, consider the Fellowship’s Statement of Faith (1953) (and still today) contrasted with the much more orthodox United Church Statement of Faith (1925) and their most recent statement, Songs of Faith (2006), on the subjects of the Bible, Jesus and Mankind (these three are chosen because of their centrality in the faith):

Doctrinal error and moral misguidedness—accommodating to the world, syncretism—has meant that the once largest Canadian Christian denomination is now one of the fastest dying religions in Canada (the old statistic was that one church building closed each week; now the figure is that, with the Anglican Church and some others, 10,000 buildings will close in 2020 alone). While a dead orthodoxy can certainly lead to closed churches, a vibrant orthodoxy normally to lead to spiritual flourishing and healthy churches (as seen in the independent and non-religious study from Ontario in 2015).
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Like Jude, may we cling to the “faith once for all delivered to the saints,” which along is true, which alone can save; and having come near the end of our Old Testament journey in Cover to Cover, may we take heed of the danger that will come to God’s people when we compromise with the world in belief and practice (i.e. Judges).