Chapter 3 - Church: The Thing We were few in number as we sat comfortably face to face in the living room of a godly couple's house. I had something to share that Wednesday night. It was the first and most significant revelation that I had received from the Holy Spirit since my conversion a couple of years before. I titled the teaching The Thing. A horror movie had been made years before by that same title. I assured my audience that I was not going to be talking about that. However, the Thing I talked about was just as monstrous. I began that teaching by saying, "That which we call the church is not the church but is a Thing." With that teaching, I began my personal journey in discovering the idolatry of the church and the difference between it and the true bride of Christ. Years later, my wife and I were living in west Tennessee and were waiting for direction from the Lord. While there, He led me to start a meeting on Sunday mornings and invite some people I knew to come. Some of them came. We gathered in the name of Jesus. We sang; I shared the revelations and teachings the Lord gave me; we prayed, dismissed, and went our way. We were fairly close to one another and had some contact with each other during the week. We were beginning to be the body of Christ to one another. Then, we bought a building, renovated it, opened the doors, and had our gatherings there. We called the building "The Christian Teaching Center." I did what I believed the Lord said to do and people began to come. We were free of men's burdensome traditions, formalities, creeds, rules and regulations, and programs. We were committed to following the Holy Spirit wherever He chose to take us. His presence was powerfully felt in most of our gatherings in those early days. I insisted that we were not a church, that God had not called me to start a church, and that I was not to be the pastor of a church. I tried to make a distinction between the building, which we had given a name, and those of us who gathered in that building, whom I refused to name. I explained that this was a teaching center for the body of Christ in that area. Perhaps it was a mistake, but we held Sunday morning meetings for those who chose not to go elsewhere. That Sunday morning meeting became the main event of the week. The pressure was on. Some who came there wanted it to be a church and wanted me to be their pastor. I was pastoring individuals, but I insisted we were not a church. A local pastor disputed my contentions, insisting that we were a church. He contended that there was no scriptural precedent for the para-church ministry that we had. He said, "If you look like a duck, walk like a duck, and quack like a duck, you must be a duck. You look like a church, walk like a church, and talk like a church." I did not want to hear that then, but looking back I had to admit he was right. This Thing we call church had weaseled its way into our work. The work at the Teaching Center was never supposed to be a church. Once we began to "have" church, we began seeking something for ourselves. We created a Thing that had gone beyond what God had called me to do. We went back to the very thing that we had come out of. We had Sunday morning and Sunday evening services, Sunday School, and a youth program. We took up offerings and put them in a bank account. Our group became known by the name I had put on the building. I lost my vision to build up a people and began, instead, to build up a Thing. We began to go after it instead of going after the Lord Jesus Christ. We gathered around it instead of the presence of the Lord. People started leaving and they did not know why. The more they left, the more I tried to hold on to
Yes, God does support a body believers gathering together for fellowship and worship. But not in today's far gone apostate so called "Churches" which you are most likely in.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
James 4:10-12 (KJV)
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Are you my enemy ...I would think not as you believe in the one true GOD...however...you have wether you realize it or not...passed a Judgement upon Dennis a fellow Christian whom you do not know for speaking a truth while calling him and his church Apostate...If you do not know the person or what church they attend or what that church "teaches"...then what gives you the right to Judge him in this manner ?... X <>< O
Because the "system" is exactly the same in ALL "Churches" my dear Jude. I hope you wake up before it's too late. Or maybe you would rather go back to sleep.:zzzz:
Shared ~ Because the "system" is exactly the same in ALL "Churches" my dear Jude. I hope you wake up before it's too late. Or maybe you would rather go back to sleep
*** My dear MiMi...since you are a believer in the One true GOD of Israel and He is your LORD and Saviour...then....you are of HIS Body and Church�
G4982 - S�z� � body http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4982&t=KJV
As in Rom 12:5, 1 Cor 1:17, 1 Cor :12-13, 20; Eph 2:16; 4:4; Col 3:15
G1577 � ekkl�sia � church http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1577&t=KJV
As in Mat 16:17; 18;17; Acts 2:47, etc�etc�etc�
As for the manner in which you attacked Dennise�its up to the HolySpirit of the LORD to convict your heart to repentance and you to apologize to him�I pray you will... and I pray�Father�Please have Mercy upon us All and Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that have sinned against us!!!...Amen!!!...AMEN!!!
This reminds me of the book titled, "So You Don't Want To Go TO Church Anymore". It's a small movement that is gaining momentum in the US. Every Christian should read it.
There is no doubt that the Christian church has major problems. Neither Protestants or Catholics or any other faction, sect or para church group follows the true intentions of Jesus. They all continue to celebrate Holidays that are not ordained by God, tell stories that are not in the Bible and say things, you know like some of their quotes and posters, pictures and so on, that are not truly Biblical and they believe them and they preach them and they make a lot of money off of them.
On the other hand there are Christians that do follow Jesus and are true to Scripture and the New Testament. You can tell if they are because they are not critical of those who are not. Calling people or organizations Apostate and bringing condemnation on them does not cause them to want to elevate or move on past where they are. They are certainly keeping themselves from experiencing the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven in their lives but their critics are no better.
Once we set ourselves up as Judge we are putting our faith in what we think is true but we usually have little or no evidence that it really is. Most Christians say what they've heard or read but haven't taken the time to figure it out for themselves. Jesus did not call us to call out the wrongs of others. He called out the Pharisees because they should have known better and they were pathetic leaders but he never criticized anyone that followed them. Instead, He showed them something very different, something they were not used to seeing or hearing. He showed them the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is not out job or responsibility to judge or condemn anyone or any other religion. We must keep in mind that very few religions have behaved in as evil a way as the Christian church has. Read your history. We are reaping from the Middle East the seeds we have sown and dare to think we are being attacked for our goodness and are innocent victims of terrorism.
Jesus' view of this was to be sure you get the beam out of your eye before you tell someone about the splinter in theirs. If we say we follow Jesus then we ought to be more concerned with our own beam, our own pursuit of holiness, our pursuit of peace with all men and our own sanctification. Peter said, in so many words, " Live your life quietly and people will come to you to ask you about your faith." You don't need to go around blowing your own horn, like the Pharisees did. (Look it up)
There is a genuine need to clean up Christianity, but there always has been. It went off the rails from the very beginning when the New Testament was created to support the Catholic agenda. Maybe as humans we need religion, something that helps us understand and develop our concept of God. We need to have a common bond around a common faith that we share with our community. Jesus grew up with such a faith, but He broke away from it and taught people how to transcend religion and live at a level called the Kingdom of Heaven. His Gospel is that you can rise above your religion, your criticism and your insane condemnations and live in a place of Healing, Joy and Spiritual freedom without any of that. His calling is to leave religion and the world and follow Him.
