Church Visit

We hadn't been to church since early December. I was extremely frustrated with the church we were attending and found out some things about the church we were visiting that really turned us off. I had preached at this visiting church once and some of the members (actually more like one person) seemed to really be seeking the Lord. We stopped going there for some things we found out that we could not over-look. I have kept in some contact with the one seeking soul. Anyway, we started having church at home. I was preaching sermons or lessons after we sang hymns. Every once in a while I would find a good article or sermon from the old-time preachers on-line and would read/preach that for our service. We even delved into our vast collection of teaching/preaching tapes and CD's that we've collected over the years and listened to some of them. All was well.

I really didn't know what the Lords' plan was in all of this. Were we to stay home and worship alone forever as a family? I doubted that. Were we to start inviting others to our little services? Maybe.

Then I started getting lazy. The sermon tapes were coming out every week as opposed to once in a while. I was putting very little effort into church service. It kind of lost it's excitement. I feel terrible admitting this. I felt like I was allowing my family to spiritually starve. My own spiritual life started to grow weak.

My wife told me about a fellowship that met about 30 miles north of us a while back. She had gotten a name and phone number from a friend of ours who heard about it. Last week I felt that now was the time to call and find out about it. I got enough information about it to decide it would be a place that my family should visit, and that's what we did last weekend. Quite interesting. I wanted to share a few highlights and things that I enjoyed about this congregation and the way they conduct the service.

First off, they have one elder. They openly admit that this is not the ideal situation, but this is who the Lord has called to serve at this time. The elder told me that he has the authority to make the ruling decisions in the church, but if he did this, he would miss out on much godly wisdom the other men bring to the church meetings. They have men's meetings twice monthly. The first is a business meeting where they discuss business matters, finances and what should be done with tithes (more on tithes in a minute). The second meeting is strictly a prayer meeting. The congregation is made up primarily of farmers. There is no fashion show. Just conservative (mostly if not all) home school families. I don't believe that they are a “registered” church. That might be why, when I asked about tithing, they requested that we give cash. “There's a can that you can put it in. We prefer cash. That way the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is giving. You keep your own records at home. You are accountable to God if and what you give.” I appreciate that. Then I asked what was done with the tithe. They said that when they meet together, anybody that has a need or knows of a need will be brought up. Communion was unique. A big focus of this church is that the man leads the family. The men are responsible for the spiritual state of the family. I agree with that. The communion service went like this. A man got up and had a devotion. We sang a song. Then we meditated. When each family was prepared, the husband/father got up and gathered communion for his own family. He served his family and himself and then returned the elements to the table. I liked that, too. Each man of the church takes a turn preaching in rotation. It figures out that every second or third month, you preach a week. The elder of the church preaches every first Sunday of the month. I like that. The money a lot of churches spend on a full time paid minister could be used to help those in need (in my opinion). At the close of the service, they have a type of prayer meeting. You separate into your family groups. A man is in charge of calling on each family. The husband/father speaks on behalf of his family and makes any prayer needs known. After the family expresses the prayer need, each family prays for the need of that family. They go around the room like this until each family has an opportunity to express it's prayer needs and has been prayed for. On most Sundays, there is a fellowship meal that follows.

My wife and I really enjoyed the service. It wasn't so much the sermon, but the atmosphere. We felt comfortable and welcome there. A change for our family. We will definitely visit again. It encouraged me, also. Something I haven't experienced in a while (except by my wife). We really liked the family focus and the way each family was involved. It certainly keeps it interesting. I'll try to keep you posted on how things go.

God bless!!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14

Babes on Milk

I had an interesting conversation a couple weeks ago. If the person with whom I had this conversation reads this, I mean no offense by this. I enjoyed the conversation. Quite stimulating. It was regarding someone who “got baptized” one or two years ago. His speech and actions don't reflect a baptism of the heart, though. This was mentioned to someone, who right away threw up the “he's a babe in Christ on milk” argument. “He needs time to grow and mature in the Lord before he's ready for meat.” This has been an excuse I've heard so many times it's not funny. So many times it's used to try to cover for a sin(s) in a persons life. I obviously can't judge this persons heart. Only God can do that. But for someone to excuse his actions because he's a “babe in Christ”, I think is unacceptable. No where in scripture does it say that it's acceptable to do this. Where it does talk about being a babe and needing milk, it is a rebuke from an apostle (probably Paul). Hebrews 5:

⁹ And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; ¹⁰ Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. ¹¹ Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. ¹² For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

The author of Hebrews is not excusing their state of immaturity. He says that "we want to tell you all the things of Christ, but we can't because you don't listen. You should be teaching others about Christ, but instead you need to be taught AGAIN the basic principles of Christ." I know that we all grow in the Lord. I know that every day should be a new experience with Him. I also know that your life reflects that growth. You don't add Jesus to your life. You give your life to Jesus. He will change it. He will prompt you to give things up. I am a firm believer that at the time of salvation, you are immediately a changed person. Back to crucifying the old man theme. Aren't we lucky that it didn't take Paul two or three years to mature in the Lord. It said that he spent certain “days” with the disciples at Damascus. Not certain years. Right out of the gates, he was on fire. That was verse 19. In verse 20 “Straightway” he's preaching Christ in the synagogues.

I think the goal of too many churches is to get someone into the water or to repeat a prayer. I've met some manipulative preachers who convince people to say a salvation prayer. Then they don't understand why these people so quickly fall away. Many of them just think, we've got to get them baptized. From there, we can wean the world out of them slowly, as not to scare them away. Or, just let the Lord “work” in their lives. Don't reveal their sin to them. Let them figure it out for themselves. That's why these people are stagnant. Because we don't reveal their sin to them. We don't encourage them to seek the Lord. We don't encourage a walk in holiness. “Here, just put on Christ, this will get you through...Oh, that one doesn't fit? Try another one. You know, one Christ doesn't fit them all!” Sounds like nonsense, doesn't it? It's because it is nonsense! But this kind of thing happens all the time. We are afraid to encourage holy living for fear of scaring people away. I say scare them away. Maybe when they're ready for a real change, they'll come back. I doubt it though. They will find somewhere that will pamper their lifestyle.

1 John 1:6 says: If we say that we have fellowship with Him (God), and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

It's doesn't say “aged” or “established” Christians. It says if we claim to have a relationship with God or Christ, and our lives don't reflect that, we are liars. And even children know where liars go. Remember that even Jesus turned the rich young ruler away. He refused to give up something in his life. There was one particular thing in his life that he wanted to hold onto. I don't think that it was just about his money either. He told another not to take the time to bury his family member. If you want to follow Him, it's right here; right now.

There was a young man in the church that we went to in High School. All of his brothers and sisters and friends were baptized at a young age. He waited; and waited; and waited. When someone would try to pressure him, he would say that he wasn't ready. I would not encourage his attitude, but I did admire him a bit. He knew this was a serious decision. He knew that changes would take place. I feel bad for people who know they need to do it, but put it off until a later date. He eventually “took the plunge”. I haven't talked with him for quite a while to see how his life is going. Hopefully his wait didn't disappoint him.

God bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14