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more about church going(by Bill Stevenson)I was sent the following in a recent 360 message:
If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it.If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope! A church-goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now", hewrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can'tremember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs bygiving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letter to the Editor" column, much to thedelight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall theentire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me thestrength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically deadtoday. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" Whenyou are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible... Believes theincredible...and Receives the impossible... Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
But just going to church will not guarantee good spiritual nourishment. Maybe this might help:Hebrews 10:19-26"Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom {and} confidence to enter into the [Holy of]Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, by this fresh (new) and living way which Heinitiated {and} dedicated {and} opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh, and since we have [such] a great {and} wonderful {and} noblePriest [Who rules] over the house of God, let us all come forward {and} draw near with true (honestand sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance {and} absolute conviction engendered by faith (by thatleaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power,wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled {and} purified from a guilty (evil) conscienceand our bodies cleansed with pure water.So let us seize {and} hold fast {and} retain without wavering the hope we cherish {and} confess{and} our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) {and} faithful to His word.And let us consider {and} give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studyinghow we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love {and} helpful deeds {and} noble activities, notforsaking {or} neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, butadmonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you seethe day approaching. For if we go on deliberately {and} willingly sinning after once acquiring theknowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no furtheroffering to which to look forward]."Now please reread Ephesians 4. But I am also for good Bible discussion homegroups too. I believesuch is more like the original Christian church indicated in Acts.
Friday April 21, 2006 - 12:02pm (CEST) Edit| Delete Previous Post:Temptations 
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 Post a CommentFox ... I am spiritually fed Praise the Lord ! Not so much in Church as my own desire to feed myself in Black Gospel music and reading my blog and Prayer that is with every breath I take in mind or verbal. I havefound true worship is what you make it and where is not that important. My CDs are in the car and I getin and crank it up and roll down the windows and sing as loud as I want going down the high way towhere ever I am going. I pray as well because songs will bring to mind a person or subject to pray about.And when I am here in front of this computer and looking at the Blogs it does the same thing. So beingfilled for me is because of my Love for Christ and what he has done for me and not a building a lone.Have a great Christ centered day !Friday April 21, 2006 - 12:16pm (PDT) Nick † Don't get me started on the Acts 2 Church. Look how far we have fallen! I have not yet seen a WesternChristian church based on such a formula. Then there's the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.If that church existed today, I think many Christians and most others would view it as a cult using somesort of demonic magic. Can we blame Western culture for beating out of us the notion of sharingeverything? What about the apparent Scriptural obligation to share all with our Christian community?What's up with that? Is that possible today? Are we too acclimated to our culture to have the faith of theseearly Christians? Who would sell all they have and give half to the church? Well, that's not enough. You'redead!Primitive Christianity is a very high calling. One that I am still groping for.Friday April 21, 2006 - 03:08pm (CDT)Bibl... Good about your current situation, sister. Daily individuals contact me wanting more spiritually than theycurrently have. But I no that most church goers have no idea about what they are missing. My wife didn'tand she said the Sinner's prayer back in 1983. She never heard good Bible teaching/preaching until now. Nick, have you seen websites promoting such? Some have made their own communities or communes.The ones I have seen are very condemnatory of all other Christian churches. Some are anti-Apostle Paultoo. I don't agree with such either. And you know what John Wesley encourage, wasn't it home groupBible discussions? How can God keep patient with current Christianity?Friday April 21, 2006 - 10:23pm (CEST)Chris K  Bill ,Another beautiful and "on the subject" post. I am not sure if my knowledge makes me worthy to discuss,although I did write a blog on church going and made a poll on it. Quite a few people answered and I alsohad some e-mails. I am a practicing Catholic, so some of my views may be different than any Protestants.I love Sacraments, what makes my faith and church complete. This could be a very heavy discussion. Ihave a good friend that did that "pooring" thing and I am not sure that this was a good solution for himand family. I agree with all of you, however I do admit that we have all fallen! The first Christian Churchshould have never fallen apart and sprain into thousands of churches, sects, denominations ,congregationand others. I will be writing a blog on that. The basis of all currently existing churches is humanimperfection. Someone didn't like how something was done, well.... let's form a church. To me it's silly.It's just like some countries having several political parties fighting between themselves, while country'seconomy is falling in the shambles. Why? Because they have weakened the force of majority. ChristianChurch has more divisions and denominations than any other religion.Some of it is due to "bible interpretation", some simply not enough intellect to understand what's plain to
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see and read in the Bible. To me church going is important. I don't believe in Pope, Bishops or Priests.They are only tools for whom I believe in - our only one beloved God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.Beautiful and very hard to understand Holy Trinity. I always pray to God to send Holy Ghost upon me tohelp in life and give me inspiration. For some reason church is a right place for that. That's what I findthere -reverence and spirituality that I need in my life. I don't need sandals and burlap sack as a clothes todo it. All I need is open heart , a prayer and a church. ANY CHURCH.Friday April 21, 2006 - 04:44pm (EST)JOANNA and again and Awesome blog Bill.. What more need I sayFriday April 21, 2006 - 04:58pm (CDT) Nancy M Fox, I agree with you that worship is what you make it, and it can and should be done throughout the daywherever you are. However, I also know for a fact that we need to go to church! Not necessarily to be fed by the Word of God, because we can get fed by reading the Bible in our own homes, but for thefellowship of other Christians. It is our Christian Family that will be there for us when we are in need!When we are having troubles they will pray for us; when we are sick, they will pray for us and visit us.When we are depressed or confused or need advise, they are there to help us and to lift us up. When wefall, they are there to help us get up and get back on the right track, and when we are weak, they arestrong, holding us up when we can't stand on our own.I love Christian music! I play it all the time, in my car and in my home and I sing at the top of my lungs(much to my neighbors dismay, I am afraid,LOL), and I pray and give thanks to God all through the dayeveryday, and though these things are an important part of our relationship with God, they are only a partof it. The Church is the Body of Christ, the Body has many parts and each part is vital to the body. That iswhy we must assemble ourselves together, because a hand without an arm or a body or a head is just auseless and lifeless hand, but add it to the rest and look what it can do!!!Friday April 21, 2006 - 11:20pm (PDT)Bibl... I have never seen a church that has met 70% of my desires for church. In some, I was only able to dosome spiritual encouraging and sharing of appropriate Scripture in Adult Sunday school and after thechurch service. Most churches have some in balance either in how it relates to the Godhead or/and howthe worship service is divided between worship, prayer, and preaching. When I didn't go to church, I feltno joy even if I watched one or two Christian services on TV. In the past, I even enjoyed church work days and outreach ministries (like to rescue missions and nursing homes).In relation to why we have so many denominations, the reason is selfishness. So many people want thingsthe way they feel like. And then pride develops and the new church leaders and followers believe theyhave the only or best God-pleasing church. But there is a time coming when all true Christians will beable to worship God all together in complete unity because they will all have the mind of Christ (think asHe does). (Philippian 2:1-16) I hate all religious prejudices and religious condemnations!!!!! I do a lot of intercessory praying for especially the Christian preachers etc. whom I think are leading their followersaway from God's Word. I do not pray bad to come to them, but I pray that they will truely get sensitive tothe Holy Spirit via Proverbs 3:5-6 thinking and change their doctrines. I do such even for a fewindividuals in 360 after I informed them of my concerns.Saturday April 22, 2006 - 10:26am (CEST)Bibl... The following came to me about 20 years ago. Note: Seek meaning out of the following in relation to the current “Invisible Church of Christ” and thecurrent local Christian churches:
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