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RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - Izzy - 06-26-2009 12:50 AM
Mark's comments about being without a church obviously resonated with many. After grieving the direction my former church was heading I came to believe it was necessary to leave. A very difficult choice. I do have fellowship & study / discussion with Christian friends one of whom has introduced me to the concept of forums. While I miss the community of the church, I only visit right now. I'm not sure why it is so difficult to find a Bible believing church that comes together and talks about...the Bible.
Anyway when it comes to giving I find 2 Cor 9:7 helpful. "Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - heb13-13 - 06-26-2009 07:15 PM
(04-21-2009 08:45 AM)Mark Wrote: Wow! I didn't think that I would get so many responses! This is awesome! Thanks to all who wrote back!
I just want to say that I hope no one has the impression that I am seeking the "perfect church" for waht I myself believe. That is not what I want. I know that in a church (the assembling of believers, not the body of Christ), there will always be things that I may not agree with. I can get past those things. It's the way that I was made to feel that I had to "measure up" to what the church believed in order to be part of the "family". And of course, I never did. I was accepted into the "family" but I was always feeling that I was doing something wrong because I questioned certain things that were taught. I guess I got tired of hearing
"because that's what we believe and that's what it means" and then studying and finding otherwise. I felt that I was going to hell even though I was serving God to the best of my ability. I was actually told that if I did not tithe, I would not get to heaven because that made me a thief and theives do not go to heaven. I know otherwise now of course.
So I am just waiting on the Lord right now. I know that He has a plan for me. If it means I do not go to an actual church, so be it. As long as it's His will, I will do waht He wants. So, I am so thankful for this site and the many participants here. Thank you all so much for helping me find the truth in areas I have questions about. Have a great day and God bless you all!
Mark
Hi Mark,
You have a good attitude about it. "Church" as we have been taught is not the end all - be all. But Jesus Christ certainly is and He has not left you. Last time I checked the Word still said that He is Author and the Finisher of our faith. Remember that!
I would also encourage you to get before the Lord and seek His face, get in the Word and be led of the Holy Spirit. You are a member of the Church and if you can find just one person who is sold out for God and living a pure life before Him, that is something to be real thankful for. I cannot emphasize how thankful you should be when you find a genuine Believer that loves God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and loves His Word and gets excited about the things of God. This is rare! Church people are not rare. Binary Christians are not rare (on/off). But those that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goest, are RARE!
If you are married and have kids then, Praise God!!!! You have fellowship right there in your house. You have the Church with you. Get in the Word with your wife and teach your kids and you will be amazed how the Lord shows up. Let your whole family be a testimony of fervent love for the Lord.
Mark, like the old song says, "If none go with me, still I will follow."
It is a real shame when a married couple, each of them co-heirs with Christ, do not even have fellowship in Christ with each other. Hope you don't fit in that category. If you do, get busy and get right with God and back on the PATH. (smile).
Seriously, my first 2 years in the Lord I was not in organized religion. I guess some would call it "unorganized religion" because I did not have a "Leader" that was getting paid and had a degree to prove that he should be my Leader. But you know, God is not the Author of Confusion and to me the Institutional and non-denominational churches and whatever else types of religious organizations are out there, are studies in confusion, themselves. Yep, you could do a doctrinal dissertation on the 12,000+ church splits per year right here in the good ole US of A. While you are at it you could add to your dissertation a chapter about the 40 billion plus dollars the religious organizations spend each year on parking lots, concrete, windows, pews, programs, and marketing programs for THEIR church!! I am a bit nauseous, hold on a minute while I clear my head. Whew! OK.
I like small, informal groups of people where everyone can participate and the Holy Spirit can be spontaneous. (Gee, that sounds like when Jesus was walking around.) I like to hear from the young and old. I learn from both and God speaks through each one. God is way too big, to speak through one man (unless of course that man be Jesus).
More and more, Christians are leaving organized religion for the living room, or the cafe, or coffee bar or the backyard barbecue, etc, etc. Yep, the gig is up, people are reading their Bibles and the Emperor (organized religion) has no clothes.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is a God of relationships Mark, not a God of religion. And relationships can be built anywhere and everywhere and coincidentally, God is everywhere and anywhere, even on the web. (not being sarcastic, just trying to make a point to all that are listening.)
One of the things that I really want to communicate to fellow Believers is that they are OK!!!! In other words, the religious structure is telling you all the time that you are not ok, if you are not (there's that phrase again) "GOING TO CHURCH", or "NOT TITHING", or "NOT VOLUNTEERING", or "NOT SHOWING UP ON WEDNESDAY MEETING", etc, etc. Do you feel like a yo-yo yet?
And on and on it goes. It is all about doing, doing, doing. Let's all take a deep breath and say, JESUS I LOVE YOU. THANK YOU FOR SETTING ME FREE.
Pro 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
MARK, YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE! Pray for God to lead you to those that love Him, and in the meantime get out there and tell someone about Jesus. Invite a neighbor over and show them the love of God, pass out some tracks during July 4th. Whatever you do, get your mind off yourself onto the Lord and onto others. This is a prescription for HEALTH and structured religion will never make you healthy. Sad to say, people in organized religion, by and large are far from healthy. And for good reason. The Church is organic, family oriented, led by a Father, not an organization, business oriented, led by a CEO.
Now a lot of people may take umbrage at this diatribe of mine, but just so you know my heart, relationships are what is important to the Lord and His Word. Remember, "worship Him in Spirit and in Truth". If you are in a place (structure) where you have good, godly relationships and the Word of God is not being maligned, ignored, watered down, perverted and corrupted, then stay where you are. Yours is a rare case. See, I am not trying to cause any church splits. In fact, if someone wants to leave a religious organization, I would always say, leave quietly and do not cause a split.
I will just close with the title of this website:
Seek God, Trust God, Love God.
God bless you, Mark.
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - sheep wrecked - 06-26-2009 10:12 PM
(06-26-2009 07:15 PM)heb13-13 Wrote: You have a good attitude about it. "Church" as we have been taught is not the end all - be all. But Jesus Christ certainly is and He has not left you. Last time I checked the Word still said that He is Author and the Finisher of our faith. Remember that!
I will just close with the title of this website:
Seek God, Trust God, Love God.
God bless you, Mark.
I think you get the drift
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - pastor_chris - 07-27-2009 05:02 PM
The church is the body of Christ. If you reject the church you have rejected the body of Messiah.
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - heb13-13 - 07-27-2009 05:20 PM
(07-27-2009 05:02 PM)pastor_chris Wrote: The church is the body of Christ. If you reject the church you have rejected the body of Messiah.
We are not talking about the Body of Christ, Sunshine and you know it.
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - Vic - 07-27-2009 05:21 PM
(07-27-2009 05:02 PM)pastor_chris Wrote: The church is the body of Christ. If you reject the church you have rejected the body of Messiah.
Chris, that is what we have ALL been saying to you. It's not a building. It's the people wherever they are found that belong to Jesus Christ. That is HIS BODY. And HIS Body is worldwide. Believers are worldwide. YOU are talking to believers from all over the world---the church from all over the world. The Body from all over the world. Do you understand? And if you reject part of the BODY--wherever it is found--aka the internet versus your local community--you reject part of the Body of Christ.
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - pastor_chris - 07-27-2009 05:21 PM
The church IS the Body of Christ whether you like it or not.
Vic,
An internet community is not a body of believers. There is no accountability, no church leadership, and there is no way to measure whether or not you are producing fruit. The apostles would be horrifed at the thought that people would reject the assemblying together of the saints to correspond on the internet. This is false teaching.
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - heb13-13 - 07-27-2009 05:23 PM
(07-27-2009 05:21 PM)pastor_chris Wrote: The church IS the Body of Christ whether you like it or not.
Maybe this is why we don't seem to be making any traction with ya.RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - pastor_chris - 07-27-2009 05:25 PM
Rick,
You cannot redefine what the church is because you want to. The church is a local body of believers. Just read Pauls epistles this is clearly what he believed and what he taught.
I challenge all of you to stop forsaking the gathering of the saints and attend a good bible believing church this Sunday!
RE: Attending Church-The Body Of Christ - sheep wrecked - 07-27-2009 05:29 PM
(07-27-2009 05:21 PM)pastor_chris Wrote: The church IS the Body of Christ whether you like it or not.
Which church would that be? RCC? Baptist? Methodist? Reformed? Morman? JW? SDA? CUT? HR? they all believe they are the one true church.