Featured The local church

Yes, there are enough hypocrites to go around. We all have been one at one time or another in our lives, but like any other sin, the true born again Christian does not wear it as a pattern.

Interesting question in the second paragraph. On a technical level, never going to church does NOT send one to hell or the Lake of Fire. Lack of belief by grace through faith in the work of Jesus Christ sends one to hell. However, this is not the way it is in real life. If one is saved, one wants to go to church to fellowship with believers and well be there as a natural outflow of being a Christian.

If one is not saved, looking for excuses to stay home and watch reruns of Mr. Ed is a natural action of not being saved. Again, the time element is vital. Is it a pattern? A truly saved person will probably be bothered by not attending even when he or she does not because of an event or company. An unsaved person will feel relieved because they can stay home without having to use the hypocrite excuse.

 

Of course if there are no churches in your vicinity.

 

Oh really...allthose missionaries sent around the world every year don't qualify I guess and I guess the salvation of whole communities is just bothersome to you then huh. One freaking church, one frealing church in a 60 mile radius to serve everyone is sufficient for you....and we are not talking Squeedunct either...we are talking a once vibrent community. Actually Baptist should look at themselves as extinct in this area. This is Saltys answer to an earlier question why Baptists leave the ranks and join other denominations......cause out here you don't exist!:BangHead:

 

I (shakes head) I say again....this must mean that Baptists are in decline. Why is it that they are in mass in the Bible belt and not other areas? Please explain that. See I am concerned with the people here....HERE!

So I will continue to make my stand here.....where Christ is needed the most.....and if I must sit in a local church between 11am and 12 noon.....it will be wherever God provides...but it will be here. Where I can speak to the people and effect change cause I am active in the community....where I spent my life, where I bought my home, where I raised my son.....and hopefully my grand children. I don't live in upscale Montville and I don't contribute to their expensive lifestyles and apparently they could give a crape about mine

But I now know.....in NJ.....Baptists are extinct.

 

Yeah, well, hmmm... :wavey:

 

PS: Add Warren County as well.

 

"Preach the gospel to every creature".
One does not need to be a most right reverend doctor of divineness to be used of God. The Ethiopian eunuch carried the gospel to his homeland.

The fields are still white unto harvest. Many of the laborers are still in their religious comfort zones. All those born again are missionaries where ever God has placed them. That is local church--two or three in His name.

Preach, let God take care of the rest.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

Thank you for your kind & sincere words of encouragement. :godisgood:

 

Stick to the WORD when preaching. Your opinions are like armpits. Everyone has two, and they probably both stink. :tongue3:

 

Matthew 23:15
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

If we really want to see changes in the world and in our churches it isn't to stay home remaining idle, but be apart of making changes in lives not winning souls to make them as idle as we are. Boycotting makes churches die. If we are not there to give from our heart not grudgingly. Sometimes we can't see clearly the spec in our churches eye because the log in ours.

Jeremiah 23:
21 I did not send these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.

 

Earth, Wind & Fire

One issue has nothing to do with the other. You should not spend too much time.guessing...if you have a question ask it plainly. Others have commented to you that several of your posts are complaining,and turning bitter....

As evidence of getting bitter...this kind of language is not suitable for a "christian " message board. When we were unsaved and living in this world,most of us used these kinds of metaphors, and unwholesome speech.
Part of the mind being renewed is gaining control of the tongue,and mortifying these worldly forms of speech.
recently you posted that....

This kind of post does not bring a solution as well as the language used about these brethren.

God cannot save successful people or "upscale" people as you put it?

If the Church in Montville read your post with it's colorful description of them and their "supposed attitude"...do you think they would want to expose their children to this?

If the upscale people moved in mass one mile from your house...they move their homes and church building there....you would not attend because they are "upscale"? I would think you would be quite uncomfortable around the people there as they would gently yet nevertheless address this kind of issue with you.

You might not think it is a worthy issue and consider it a small thing, but these are danger signs that being away from church life and other believers is taking a toll on you. Look at each persons response to you in this past month or so....they are saying this same thing to you....maybe for a reason:wavey:

In another post...you spoke of the phrase...."

'

I have only heard that used in one way.....preceded by the "f" word???? I do not think this is what the Nt says should be our manner of life.

We are not a church here on BB. Several of us interact daily.There are times we can agree and be friendly and all is good.There are other times when we have doctrinal differences and can post back and forth on that.
What is of concern is....if we see something off and cannot quite put our finger on it...[not seeing the other person, face to face does not help] do we post something about it, or ignore it and hope it goes away?

If I am in error and none of these things apply to you...ok fine. If they have some truth...consider what everyone is offering you.

I looked briefly on the web...saw other churches...do not know much about them...but they are there....Budd lake, Newton...and others

Baptists...are just people who see the truth of believers baptism.They can and do exist wherever believers are. NJ, Ny , are not outside of the gospel or it's power.

 

Did you see the Russian one I work with? The persecuted ones! :1_grouphug: :godisgood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdxJE18q4Z0

 

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The answer is in the meaning of "...gathered in My Name". There is an authority(exousia) vested in a New Testament Church which apostate churches do not have. Further reference: consider why the Anabaptists baptized those converted from Rome. Rome was considered apostate and without authority to baptize. This really infuriated the holy see. Millions were killed for not bowing to Rome.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

I strongly believe the local New Testament church to be the basic building block of God's work on this earth. What is a local New Testament church? According to Scripture, it is an organized group of believers that are dynamic in their work for the Lord. They are never in a comfort zone, and are always growing in the Lord. They worship and praise the Lord, in deed, song, and life style. They pray together, do visitation together, give to the church in money, time and talents. They truly are bothers and sisters in Christ. They bare each others burdens, encourage each other. They take the Lords Supper together, and witness baptisms together. They help the poor spiritually and physically. Christ leads the church, and the love of Christ shines though each member, so they love one another.

This is what a local church is not. It is not a "church" that has 200 members and only 50 show up on a Sunday morning on a good day. It is not the 50 that show up, 40 being pew sitters. It is not members who super glue a smile to their face like Lawrence Welk singers. It is not a church that the attendance swells each pot luck Sunday. It is not a church where half the congregation is thinking about where they are going out to eat. It is not a group of people looking for a comfort zone, and a social club. It is not a collection of gossips. A church is not a group of people that never interact outside the confines of Sunday morning. It is not a church if the biggest argument in years is over new carpet. A church is not group of people that believe that United States Christians are being persecuted. It is not a group of people more worried if their I phone works than telling others about Jesus. A church is not a group of people that never read their Bible or pray during the week.

Local church membership requires a lot of responsibility and backbone. Christians are not a collection of spineless people that expect each day to go like a Disney movie.

 

Amen brother....again I say AMEN:thumbsup: