Hmmmm, more and more I am disillusioned by what i see churches have become. This kinda expresses my experiences. Today i have an attitude of ,ignore the bad and consentrate on the good.....your thoughts?
Christianity is not a magic show, those searching for the magic slot machine in the sky, just pull the level and you hit the jackpot will be disenchanted.
The assembly of believers is all about serving one another and working together to further the ministry of Jesus.
Yes, our witness is essential in winning souls, thus kids who do not come from families where the father models the Father and the mother models the servant's heart of Jesus are starting from a wretched worldly position.
Finally, it has indeed become a buzz word, with a search for"authentic" Christianity while everyone and their brother points to the fakes and hypocrites among us.
But that is just as scripture foretold.
We need to reach others for Christ, even if the reach is past tattoos, piercings, and an education that teaches godlessness.
It is really interesting how nothing in there was about God and His glory - seeking to make much of Him.
Instead, the entire article was about "I" and "me" and "we".
No wonder he is disappointed.
Perhaps he was just mirroring the curches he has been at....i know 1st hand that there allot of suckey ones, so perhaps that is his referencable point.
There are also a lot of good churches. Worship is not about what you get, it is about what you give to God. We should leave the service satisfied that we gave God all we had to give at that service rather than disappointed that we do not receive an experience.
Give what? Money.....prayer, well dont we pray constently? Time....what time do we have when we have to drive 2 hours both ways to be there? Committment? To what....a guy who tells me i have to seperate from my wife because she claims im a bully....or that i
put my kid in hell because he died in childbirth not a member of the Church?
If a couple came to me for counseling and the wife told me that I would say the same thing. We have a responsibility as counselors to give counsel that keeps them safe. It is as much a liability issue as it is anything else.
You always seem to run into the most extreme cases of things. I have never heard of anyone saying something like this until this post.
Dont we do that always.....in our quiet time, with our family, in our day to day....isnt that what a Christian does?
I dont think its a pastors job to counsel anyone other than to point them in the direction of biblical truth. If you guys are in a CYA mode then you are on the wrong track.
Well live and learn. I will go further.....Ive seen churches destroy peoples lives ....principally because they set themselves up as gods own .....when in fact they are merely actors playing rolls instead of preaching the word. Churches can be wonderful when they emulate Christ or they can be very dangerous places when they act as self imposed little gods.
We are to gather together and do that corporately as well. (Hebrews 10:25)
We are to gather together to bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2)
We are to gather together to make use of our spiritual gifts. (I Corinthians 12)
We were not intended to walk through this life alone as a Christians. The Christian walk is a communal walk not an isolated walk.
Ok well I did not mean that was to be the entirety of our counsel. Whether there was a liability issue or not I would do the same myself because I would want to make sure the woman was safe. We cannot know what actually goes on at home, we are not there. If we are given communication that something at home is unsafe any man, pastor, or otherwise would counsel the unsafe person man or wife to get to safe circumstances.
The truth about counseling is that unless the party who perceives they are being bullied gets to the place where they feel that they can no longer be bullied then no counseling can begin. They will be shut down and fearful even during counseling.
I cannot second guess a guy on the internet removed form the actual situation. Giving everyone involved the benefit of the doubt that is as much as I can say on that.
Over the years I have seen you post many things like this about churches. My perception is that you live in fear of churches. I have no knowledge of what has happened to you to cause you to live in such fear. I can tell you that it is not the intent of God that you should:
1. Live in fear of churches
2. Avoid church attendance altogether
My counsel to you is that you begin praying in earnest and perseverance on this issue. Do so being willing to do what God has commanded in scripture and has led you to do regardless of your fear and hesitation.
If you would do this a couple things will happen in your life.
1. God will remove your fear of churches
2. Allow you to worship corporately in freedom.
The key to making this happen is that you move forward in obedience even though you may not have yet seen the results. Trust God, expect God will answer your prayers, and act as though that answer has already been given.
Wonderful sentiment ....but Ive never seen a church do it, so.....
I'm not fearful of churches in the least. I just don't think many of them are any good.....certainly I'm hard pressed to find one that is genuine. And I have prayed & prayed & prayed but nothing is forthcoming. Indeed I'm beginning to wonder if my whole community is not being blessed because there is nothing of any quality that goes out (as Ann described in her community synopsis) so consequently there is a big (huge would be my preferred word) spiritual void. how do I know......a substantial uptick in drug addiction, stealing, breaking & entering...blah blah blah. Now would these people be doing these things if they knew Christ....if there was a place to go to heal the heart through the Savior? Don't see it here.....and believe me I have looked...and looked HARD. It aint here! (GRAB THE LIFE VESTS..LOL)
No I ask that with all sincerity not with the purpose of debating. No one is good and churches are made up of people who are without goodness. Any church you attend will simply be a church with one more person who is not good.
Instead of not going because those churches and those people are not good. Go so that you can worship God corporately, use the gifts God has given you to lift up the body of believers who are not good, bear the burdens of other believers who are not good, and be a light to that those who are in error according to scripture through your living testimony. (in response to scriptural command)
There is a church nearby you who desperately needs you. God has a church nearby you that he made you to serve in. Be a missionary in a world where churches are struggling so much. Love those other church members who are not good and help them to be more like the church God intended them to be.
Been there & done that.....they wont allow me to express myself without rushing in to tell me not to do something, or I cant do this or that. after a while, whats the point? Then there is the little matter of my being fed....it just doesn't happen around these parts. There is no heart for going out to others around here ....unless of course its a veiled campaign to rake in the wayward Roman Catholics. That is something they do consistently. Then they get disgusted & quit & they throw the net out for more of them. Id rather see them fold than support that evil agenda.
I did not say you should express yourself. In fact I would encourage you to express Christ. Your gifts, your service in the church, and your being in corporate worship is not about you. ( I do not mean that to be belittling or offensive)
Our worship is about God, our service is about God and others. Take our selves out of the picture and we can more accurately worship and serve in the church.
Many years ago I was the director of a nursing home ministry. There was this young man, 18 years old, who had a natural singing talent that would put many to shame. He came to me asking if he could help me in the nursing homes. I was glad to have someone to come along side me and serve in music.
The problem was that he would only sing contemporary music. I instructed him on what was appropriate and he would simply repeat his behavior week after week. Those people do not know that music and it does nothing to minister to them. I eventually had to let him go.
Our service is about others and should be a reflection of Jesus Christ. Maybe even His example when He washed the feet of His disciples. It is only when we take ourselves out of the picture that we can show Christ.
Charles Spurgeon once told his pastoral students "You can show them yourself or you can show them Christ, but you can never show them both."
Yea but then I don't need a phony church to do that! I shouldn't tell you this Mark, but there are a whole lot of people Ive met on the street that feel the same way....in short, they are disillusioned.....something happened, something particular happened to all of them to turn them away. All these people want a place to worship but the bad experiences persist....turned them into skeptics to the point that they don't bother anymore. These folks are not lazy, they are not hateful non believers, they are not bummy people .....they just have been burned. And so it goes, disenfranchised people who are in fact Christians but have lost faith in the corporate church culture. So what do you do, do you dismiss them as reprobates & throw the net out for more wayward Catholics (because that is the normal operating agenda round these here parts) or do you go out in love to them ....display that Christians can actually be Christlike. I tell you this in all truth, its always the former & seldom the latter. No wonder there is such a void ....churches have stopped listening & the people continue to respond by rejecting them. Sad....very sad.
We get "burned" all the time. Should we run from every situation where we get burned? I do not see those people as any of those things. What I do see is people who have unrealistic expectations of other people and the church. Might we get burned again if we go to another church. Chances are yes we will. We need to go anyway and live by the grace of God when we do.
After you get kicked by a mule....there is a healthy distrust. Thats if you got any brains. And you can live by grace, only you aint agonna trust them there holy er than thou people who want to put the wood ta ya. Dontmake no sence a no how.:tongue3::laugh:
If we are not in the place The Lord wants us, we have not put everything on the altar.
We have to put Isaac on the altar like Abraham did--God has already paid the price.
He wants to see if we believe what He says.