22. August 2008 by admin.

The expression “Behold, I come quickly” is mentioned four times in Revelation (3:11;    22:7,11, 20).  It refers first of all, to His coming in God’s perspective.    It must be interpreted by God’s clock, not ours.  Please read 2 Peter 3:8.

Elsewhere in the New Testament Christ’s coming is described as soon (Lk. 18:8; Rom 16:20).  To God, a thousand years is as a day or even less than a day.

In Isaiah 54:8 he told Israel, “In a little wrath I hide my face from thee for a MOMENT; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD, thy Redeemer.”  Since the beginning of time, to God that is but a moment because he measures things by eternity.

The quick coming of the Lord also refers to the certainty of his coming, meaning that it is not preceded by specific signs and could happen at any time (Matt. 24;42, 44; 25:13; Phil. 4:5; I Thess.  1:9,10; Titus 2:12,13; Jam. 5:8,9).  The faithful child of God is “not in the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief”  (1 Thess. 5:4).  God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:5).

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26. July 2008 by admin.

Based on Ephesians 4:4. there is but one, and it is not a denomination, and it has never ordained women to preach or to lead the local congregation. So it is an entirely appropriate question to ask if the church of Christ is just “one” among many, or is it the church of our Lord, “the one” among many?

The church of the Bible embraces all those who have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, as is taught in the scripture. (Rom. 6:17). Interestingly, Jesus prayed for unity, (John 17:20-21), gave His life for unity, (Ephesians 2:16), plead for unity, (1 Corinthians 1:10) and affirmed unity, (Ephesians 4:1-6), yet He refused to unify with any of the known political/religious factions of the day. Therefore the only conclusion we can come to on this is that the church of the bible is not denominational, therefore His church cannot be either.

By comparing the church of Christ today to Christ’s church in the New Testament, one can identify whether the church that bears Christ’s name is just another denomination or not. The first century church was designated as the church of Christ, (Romans 16:16), the church of God, (1 Corinthians 1:2) and the church of the firstborn, (Hebrews 12:23), and the Lord’s church today is also known as the church of Christ or similar Biblical designations.

The first century church was organized with elders, deacons, evangelists and members in the local congregations, (Philippians 1:1). Today, the Lord’s church is organized with elders, deacons, evangelists and members in the local congregations. Both the first century church and the church today recognize Jesus as their sole authority, (1 Peter 3:22).

The first century Christians met on the first day of the week, (1 Corinthians 16:2), and engaged in acappella singing, (Hebrews 2:12), praying, (1 Corinthians 14:15), teaching, (1 Timothy 6:2), the Lord’s Supper, (Acts 20:7), and giving, (1 Corinthians 16:2). Likewise, the church of Christ of the 21st century does so as well.

Both the first century church and the Lord’s church today are guided by the apostles’ doctrine and is their sole rule of faith and practice, (Acts 2:42; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 1:3; 1 Peter 4:11; Jude 3). All teachings of men were then, and are now, disregarded in favor of the inspired word of God.

The first century Christians entered into the body of the saved by hearing and believing, (Acts 15:7), repenting of their sins, (Luke 13:3), confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of God, (Acts 8:37), and being baptized into Christ, (Galatians 3:27) for the forgiveness of their sins, (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16). Those who are in the church today enter by the exact same way.

The mission of the first century church was to evangelize the world, (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:47) and to support the truth, (1 Timothy 3:15). This mission has not changed since the beginning.

The Lord’s church cannot be a denomination because God hates the sin of denominationalism, (Proverbs 6:16-19). Denominationalism is contrary to the Lord’s prayer, (John 17:20-21); Denominationalism is an indicator of carnality, not spirituality, (I Corinthians 3:1-3); Denominationalism is contrary to the unifying purpose of Calvary’s cross, (Ephesians 2:15-16); Denominationalism makes God the author of confusion, (1 Corinthians 14:33) and denominationalism makes God’s truth appear relative and contradictory. Denominationalism is a barrier to those seeking to obey God’s truth because they are deceived and confused by all the different divisions. Denominationalism is contradictory to the apostles teaching, (Romans 16:17-18). Denominationalism is not essential to an individual’s salvation, but membership in the Lord’s church is, (Acts 2:47; Ephesians 5:23; Acts 20:28).

The first century church was a temple in its worship, (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:22-23), a kingdom in its government, (Matthew 16:18-19), a family in its love, (Ephesians 3:15-17), a body in its unity with Jesus, (Ephesians 4:15-16), a vineyard in its work, (Matthew 20:1), a building on its foundation, (1 Corinthians 3:9-15) an army against the forces of Satan, (Ephesians 6:10-17) and a bride in its relationship with Christ, (Ephesians 5:24;27). Jesus considers the church so much a part of Him, that when He confronted Paul on his mission to persecute the church of God, (Galatians 1:13), He said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4, 22:7, 26:14). One cannot be in Christ without being in His church because the two are inseparable. Conversely, one cannot be in a divided body and still be in Christ because Christ is not divided, (1 Corinthians 1:13). The only body that is identified in the Bible with Christ is the body of Christ, (1 Corinthians 12:27) and that body of Christ is undivided and singular, (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-20; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 3:15), and the body of Christ is the church, (Colossians 1:24). The church is in Christ, it is one with Christ, it is part of Christ, It is married to Christ, it was built by Christ, paid for by Christ and ruled by Christ. In every way, the body of the saved, the Lord’s church is “of Christ”, and never was, is not now, nor ever will be just another denomination.

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11. July 2008 by admin.

Scripture speaks of three broad rules that prayer should play in our lives. The first is its effect on our attitude-its redemptive influence upon our hear and will. Through prayer, we grow more Christ like; we become more inclined to do God’s will and we fell more encouraged as well. Our attitude is affected most positively by certain types of praying, including confession, praise and thanksgiving, meditation and praying for openness to God’s will–as Jesus did in Gethsemane.

The second role of prayer is its effect upon our understanding. By praying for God’s direction, and through silent, prayerful meditation, we allow God to influence our thinking, and we vastly improve our grasp of his guidance. We’re better able to determine which dreams and goals reflect his best intentions for our life.

These first two roles have to do with prayer’s effect upon us. Yet just as frequency, Scripture reminds us of the influence prayer has, not only upon us, but upon God. The Bible never implies that we can manipulate God through prayer. But it does emphasize that God purposely chooses to limit much of what he does in our life to what we choose to pray for. He graciously extends to us the possibility of influencing him through our petitions. This third role of prayer is as critical to healthy spirituality, our faith walk, and to living effectively for Christ, as the first two are.

This third role cannot function effectively without the first two. Our single greatest need as Christians is to stay in a relationship of trust with Christ where he can encourage and guide us. The first role of prayer most clearly nurtures this relationship. The benefits of a renewed heart, that come through this praying, extend to all areas of our life–inspiring health and vitality, the ability to enjoy our present circumstances, and clearer thinking about our decisions. Through praying specifically for God’s guidance (prayer’s second role), we further sharpen our understanding of his will, and our sense of intimacy with Christ benefits greatly as well.

The benefits of prayer’s third role, though–both in strengthening our relationship with Christ and enabling us to live effectively for him–shouldn’t be minimized. Through making
requests of God, we grow by taking responsibility for our needs. We also gain a treasured sense of partnership with Christ in what he is doing. In his extensive study of prayer in Scripture, John Calvin concluded, “We see that to us nothing is promised to be expected from the Lord, which we are not also bidden to ask of him in prayers.”*

Scripture consistently shows, too, that the possibility of having influence through prayer is much greater than we normally think.

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9. July 2008 by admin.

The Big Deal can be summarized as follows:

Rome’s gospel centers in the Catholic Church, the Pope and the sacraments and not in Christ. While Catholicism teaches that Christ died on the cross to purchase man’s salvation, it is not satisfied simply to teach men the doctrine of Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16); (Plan of Salvation) to obey from the heart that form of doctrine (Rom. 6: 3,4-7,17). Rome teaches that Christ, having purchased redemption by His blood and death, delivered it to the Catholic Church to be distributed to men. Consider the following quotes from the Vatican II Council:

“For ‘God’s only-begotten Son … has won a treasure for the militant Church … he has entrusted it to blessed Peter, the key-bearer of heaven and to his successors who are Christ’s vicars on earth, so that they may distribute it to the faithful for their salvation. They may apply it with mercy for reasonable causes to all who have repented for and have confessed their sins. At times they may remit completely, and at other times only partially, the temporal punishment due to sin in a general as well as in special ways (insofar as they judge it to be fitting in the sight of the Lord). The merits of the Blessed Mother of God and of all the elect … are known to add further to this treasury’” (ellipsis are in the original) (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Apostolic Constitution on the Revision of Indulgences, Chap. 4, 7, p. 80).

“For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help towards salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God” (Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, chap. 1, 3, p. 415). They have not read 2 Tim. 2:10; Col 1:13 and in order to receive that salvation, one must obey the gospel of Christ. Acts 8:12.

To be continued….

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8. July 2008 by admin.

Drum circles are growing in popularity in the religious communities across our nation. A drum circle is a group of people who get together to beat out rhythms on various types of drums and to be carried along by the interminable pounding beat. Drum circles are a logical outgrowth of the addiction to the rock and roll back beat, which is an integral part of contemporary Christian worship. The group Rhythm and Praise is dedicated to hosting drum circles and “rhythm events”. It is being used in children programs, worship services, family events and men and women groups.

Can you imagine the Lord Jesus, Peter and John sitting by the Lake of Galilee pounding away on drums in order to have a religious experience with God and the rest of the disciples dancing around and Matthew acting out as a mime to the message that morning. When one lets go of a strict commitment to the Bible as the sole authority for faith practice and rejects the biblical practice and examples as taught by the apostles, error will always follow (Romans 16:17; Ephesians 5:11) , there is no end tot he confusion that can result. Peter tells us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).

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30. June 2008 by admin.

Contemporary Christian worship music is spreading across the country and is popping up and taking root in congregations of the Lord’s Church. When contemporary music enters the Church it brings more than a change in music; it brings a worldly philosophy of Christianity and a gradual lowering of all standards of morality and doctrine. (Read Col. 2:8)

Preachers of the gospel must continue to sound the alarm and warn those in his care: “when the standard of music is lowered, then the standard of conduct is also lowered. When the standard of conduct is lowered, then the sense of value in God’s truth is lowered.” This envitably leads towards a gradual slide in other areas as well until the entire church is infiltrated by ideas and programs alien to the word of God.

Posted in June 2008 | 3 Comments »