evangelist-7 said:
[SIZE=10pt]Alternate title [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Choose this day whom you will believe: Scripture and the Holy Spirit, or your church.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Reasons why the churches historically have taught false doctrines[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Satan is [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]“the god/ruler of this age/world” (2 Cor 4:4, John 12:31)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]“the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]“the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]“there is no truth in him ... he is a liar” (John 8:44) [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]… [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]So it was very easy [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]for him to deceive the large church organizations (EOC, RCC, and Protestant)![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Many church leaders have been fleshly-minded instead of spiritually-minded,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]so they were easily led by Satan to deviate from God’s New Testament pattern.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Many leaders have been primarily interested in your praise and your tithes.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]There have always been leaders who are only “hired hands” (John 10:11-13),[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]and who do not put the welfare of Christ’s church first. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Not everyone who appears to be holy and righteous really are so. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Jesus gave many warnings about being deceived by false teachers![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Satan did not want the churches to continue to have the spiritual power of[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]NT times … which was a powerful confirmation of the truth of the gospel,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]and which produced many deliverances and healings of all kinds.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Many leaders did not want to acknowledge that God had anointed others [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]with powerful spiritual gifts when they had not been! They might look quite[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]spiritually inferior and might risk losing their power, prestige, and their jobs![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Many leaders wanted to be in control instead of having God be in control.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]And they did not want those whom God chose to have any spiritual authority.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Increasingly, leaders have taught only popular and non-threatening doctrines.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]### All of the above have resulted in a historically weak and powerless church![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Yes, the time has come when people will not endure sound doctrine; they wish [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]to turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables (2 Tim 4:3-4). [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Warning: If you believe lies, they will take dominion over you![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]We are seeing the great apostacy prior to the coming of the antichrist (2 Thes 2:3).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Examples of false doctrines taught in many churches[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]-- man is not born with an inherited sin nature[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]-- once saved always saved[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]-- cessationism (i.e. the 9 spiritual power gifts and the Spirit baptism have ceased)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]-- pre-tribulation rapture (Jesus gives the true sequence of events in Matthew 24) [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Many Christian internet radio programs are adamantly against today’s churches[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]for reasons such as these [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Silence re: the millions of Christians being slaughtered in other countries[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Bowing down to government policy … some accept Islam as another way,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]some give the government personal data about their members, etc.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Teaching a very watered-down and powerless gospel [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Not teaching deliverance from demons (this is important for several reasons)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]• Teaching a pre-trib rapture (this does not prepare for our coming persecution)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]A suggestion: Start a house church with like-minded serious believers who[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]desire to be totally free to search out spiritual truths without opposition.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]This will help you break away from long-held biases and false doctrines.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]The bottom line[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Trust Scripture and the Holy Spirit (but not your church) for your salvation![/SIZE]
I agree with this post on all points except one - the solution it suggests.
Home church is NOT the answer to the dilution of the gospel.
My reasons for arriving at this conclusion are several, but primary among them is the almost total lack of accountability of such venues. I believe I've also got a solution, which I'll present at the end of my remarks.
There is no need to reiterate the statements of brother Evangel-7. I believe they are sufficient to inaugurate a constructive discussion about solutions. To begin, though, I would like to share my reasons for agreement.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's I began a trek through the minefield which is now protestant Christianity in America. My goal was to obtain formal education in the faith and to obtain holy orders in the Episcopal Church. I achieved one and was denied the other.
"Why can't you understand," I was told by the Dean of the Seminary/Chairman of Ministries, "that this (priesthood) is just a JOB."
Just a job?
That was the tip of the iceberg, folks, and as I discovered there was a lot of muddy water out of sight underneath the carpet. I did learn one important lesson in this non-curricular portion of my education. There's a big difference between shepherds and the flock. Today's cadre of shepherds don't care any more about their flock than Walmart cares about its inventory. Perhaps less. I don't see Walmart throwing its goods into the dumpster because something is the wrong size or the wrong model.
I also discovered that one can easily stumble over one's own jaded attitude. The form that takes is to give up and stay home and do nothing. That way lies error and I think all of us suspect it. But what do we do?
Ever hear of the rule of 80s and 20s? Twenty percent of the congregation do eighty percent of the work. That's fine when the economy is booming and the needs of the church can be hired out. That's one of the mines in the field, by the way - hirelings. When the economy goes south, as it has done for many years, all the hirelings hit the road leaving the flock to fend for themselves. I believe we can expect the economic screws to tighten even more upon us. The answer to such a situation is volunteerism - like in the old days. I mean the
real old days, before even our grand parents attended worship services.
I'm talking about itinerant preachers and circuit riders.
These are men (that's right I said MEN) who spent their days riding from one small church to another to preach the gospel and encourage the saints (God knows we need encouragement and sound teaching these days.)
When small churches grow smaller still and cannot afford to staff their venue they usually close their doors -
even though there may still be enough members and enough resources to support a skeleton structure. That structure can be based on an itinerant preacher/shepherd. The preacher in turn is supervised by a group of his peers who insure that his message and his work is in line with the basic beliefs of the denomination and/or the major group. No man is an island and in these troubled times no group can afford to isolate itself from the Body of Christ.
The caveat to all of this is to avoid debt - to manage declining resources in such a way as to recognize God's will for the local group
and His provision for it.
We have all read numerous articles, books and posts by those who make a good argument that the great apostasy is upon us. The End Times are here and now. What then does Holy Writ reveal to us about those/these days? It says that the wicked will grow more wicked still and the righteous will grow more righteous. The grain and the tares will grow together until harvest time...and harvest time is not far off I think. This translates into withering church attendance and restricted budgets. To deny what is happening is both unrealistic and undeserving of our calling to be good stewards of the resources Our Lord has entrusted to us. Too many churches deny it, with the result that they wake up one day with huge unmanageable debt. And so they close the doors of the church they've attended and loved for many years.
It doesn't have to be that way. Smaller, yes. Fewer luxuries, perhaps. Lack of assembly, never.
One man with an iPad full of music and sermon notes can arrive in a church the elders have prepared for him. He plugs his iPad into a stereo and presto you've got professional grade musical accompaniment to any hymn you want to sing together.
And that man is accountable for the spiritual accuracy of the message he delivers.
I've attended home church. There were glaring errors in their doctrine and an altogether wrong path chosen by their shepherd.
Each man today is responsible to God for his salvation, more today than at any time in the past. A solution to diminishing church resources is to provide traveling preacher services. If the preacher can't come on Sunday, then perhaps one evening later in the week. We're talking about preserving our way of expressing faith - our way of worship. I believe, as I'm sure a lot of folks do, that we're in danger of losing it.
I don't believe we have to lose it, provided we seize the day and move forward. We cannot bury our coins in the ground and sit back waiting for the master's return. He does not approve of sloth.
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...