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Three years ago was quite an amazing time for my family and me. I was leaving a position as a youth minister where I had been quite successful and had learned many things under some great men. It was a job which I had come to rely upon for a paycheck, to build friendships, and to have health insurance, among other benefits. It was a very secure position, and at least on a human level, moving on seemed like a huge mistake. With a wife, five children, and number six on the way, this did not seem like the most opportune time to start a new career path. I’m sure that it looked irresponsible, foolish, and impossible to many people. God made it very clear about eight months earlier that it was time to move on and start a new ministry, for the place where I was serving was taking a different direction than in the past. I was a bit hesitant about this leap of faith that my family and I were about to make. Part of it was my own uncertainty about the future and whether or not I was hearing from God correctly. It was also difficult to leave the security I had in this wonderful position. So we had to deal with the insecurities that came along with completely stepping out in faith and trusting God and His people. If you haven’t sensed it yet, it was tough. One thing that was very difficult was leaving behind our health insurance for our soon-to-be family of eight! It cost over $14,000 a year. With my wife being five months pregnant, we were seriously concerned about how we would pay for this pregnancy, let alone deal with the expenses of a new baby. We could not afford a much cheaper health insurance plan, let alone this very expensive health insurance we had at the time. I tried to work something out with the church to help us out with the insurance costs, but it never materialized. It was a very hard time for my family and me. We were on our own with this issue. We were also on our own with God. We had to put our complete faith and trust in Him that He would supply our need and take care of us. Looking back on that time, we recognize that it was for our own good, but it can be hard to see the daylight when you are in the middle of a very long tunnel. Now don’t get me wrong: many, many people pray and help support our efforts for the Kingdom, but it’s eventually up to God to supply our needs. He has been faithful in supplying our needs and we have learned to go without. We have learned more and more the difference between needs and wants. God has supplied in many ways, from supplying someone to pay completely for the pregnancy of our sixth child (God told them to do this; we did not tell them or any one about this need.), to shoes for our children. God has supplied and continues to supply our needs in and through His people and in miraculous ways. One of these needs is how we take care of our health care. If you live in the United States, I believe it is high time to start thinking differently and actually practice what we see in the Bible. The biblical example in the book of Acts is clear. Act 2:42–47 says we need to share with one another and help each other out. If we start living the biblical mind set, get ready for this, we may not even need health insurance. NO JOKE!! How about cutting out the middle man and working directly with your doctor? This actually works and is in practice today by many people throughout the United States. We are currently in our third year of being in a health co-op called Samaritans Ministries International. We have had to deal with a broken collar bone, an asthma attack, and even a major miscarriage, just to name a few medical needs. In this co-op we all share in the cost of each other’s health care. My family and I have begun to eat better because we want to help others and not be a burden to the whole group. Plus, you just feel better, physically, mentally, and spiritually. We send our monthly check to other people in the co-op that need help for that month. We write a personal check directly to them! You will notice the government and insurance companies are not involved in this process at all. It is God’s people being God’s people, sharing and caring for one another. We pray for one another and rejoice together when new children are born. We do all of this with no health insurance or government interference, and we deal directly with our doctors. You see, I once believed that the church in Acts was promoting a way to socialism, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. The government was not involved in their method of caring for each other. I have a question for Christians who want the federal government involved in our health care: Why should we involve the government? The New Testament church took responsibility in the book of Acts for themselves and shared among themselves freely without being forced. They freely gave and shared their gifts, whether finances, food, or talents, and they freely received from everyone. I think we all could agree that something needs to change. Instead of trying to fix a broken system, we should think completely outside of the box and start acting like the church of Christ that we are called to be. Let’s show the world how Christians really should live. Then maybe the world will start to care about receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. One last idea for you to consider: I don’t care what you call yourself - liberal, conservative, libertarian, progressive, or whatever. If you call yourself a Christian, we need to take care of each other. How about if you’re a lawyer, you share your knowledge and gifts with those in the church? Or farmers share what they reap with the body of believers. Auto mechanics could share their talents and fix vehicles for the body. Evangelists could speak encouragement and challenging messages to the church. Engineers could use their talents and gifts for furthering the Kingdom in buildings and site work. The possibilities are endless! If everyone pitched in and did their fair share, maybe the world would finally take notice. Please consider this as you read for yourself the early Christians’ example in Acts 2:42–47.