Church

Church....

When you hear the word "church", what image comes to your mind? For some, church means a building, a structure, or a particular place where people gather for religious purposes. For example, the church on the corner.

For others, church represents a denomination, or a non-denominational sect that identifies what particular religious tenets an institution professes. For example, they attend the Protestant Church.

And still for others the word church invokes as assemblage for prayer, worship, or some form of organized rituals recognizing God, or some higher being. Example: They attended a Catholic mass.

Yet for others, church differentiates a Christian belief from a Jewish (Synagogue), or from a Mormon Temple, or from a Muslim mosque.  

But what should the word "church" mean for believers and followers of Christ Jesus? Well, the best resource for any question regarding matters of faith is to rely solely upon the Word of God - the Holy Bible. The New Testament (Greek) word for church/assembly is "ekklēsia": (in Latin it's spelled - Ecclesia). 

The original "church" had no specific building or location for believers to attend. Wherever they gathered to worship the Risen Christ was their church (ekklēsia) whether that was in someone's home, or in the street, or even in a Jewish Temple. Church simply meant worship with fellow believers. There was only one "denomination" - Jesus; There was only one to worship - Jesus; there was only one belief - Jesus.

Interesting to note that the first recorded use of the term "Christian" is found in the New Testament, in Acts 11:26: "[...] the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26:28: "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4:16: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."

So if Christians are to be united together today in worship then we should all be in one accordance that "church" means a gathering together to worship Jesus: "And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God.  And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life." (1 John 5:20)

However, Satan, over the past two thousand plus years, has managed to separate, divide, confuse, diminish, minimize and trivialize the worship of our Savior through rules, conditions, laws, rituals, and traditions established by man; substituting God's Word with man's dominance through His Church. 

Too many people today believe that they are true Christian believers, followers of God's Word, disciples of Jesus Christ, when in reality they are lost sheep following a wolf in sheep's clothing (Satan). A quick search on the internet will reveal that there are over 41,000 different Christian denominations in the world. Can they all be right - NO! Are they all wrong - NO! Which are right and which are wrong? That is the correct question and the correct answer has eternal consequences. 

A few years ago I relocated to another state and decided that this move provided the perfect opportunity for me to find a true, Christian church.  Prior to my move, I was already being led by the Holy Spirit away from a denominational church that I attended since childhood.  Over the course of many years I grew very skeptical of this church and its tenets because its corporate teachings and traditional rites and ceremonies directly countered what the Holy Bible was teaching me. I could not reconcile the differences, hence my faith in the church's teachings were nulled by its open opposition to God's Word. 

Because of what this "denominational" church taught me, I feared God and I was plagued by guilt.  It seemed that I could never do enough, or the right things, to please God.  I was driven to achieve perfection in everything.  There were so many rules, conditions, and other unattainable criteria I was taught that God demanded before He would love me. 

But, when I met the real Christ Jesus, I discovered the truth about God's loving forgiveness through the scriptures and through my new relationship with His Son. So now I live free of guilt and confident of who I am.  But of greatest importance, I know who God is and I know that He loves me even though I am still a sinner.

I realized that it was the church that was keeping me as a hostage from God's undeniable love and that it created a barrier shielding everyone from Biblical truth. 

The Holy Spirit eventually led me to a body of believers that possessed and professed the following attributes within their church body:

1. God Fearing

 “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent." Acts 13:26

2. Jesus Seeking

"Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!" 1 Chronicles 16:11

3. Spirit Driven

 "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." 1 John 4:13

4. Bible Believing

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

5. Fellowship Bonding

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

So during my journey to find a Christ-Centered church, I assembled a short set of criteria to which I used to determine if a potential church was a candidate for further consideration. Most of the time this information was immediately available on the individual church's website page under its Vision Statement or Creed or in its Mission Statement. Simply enough, once it failed any of the following questions I stopped right there, exited the website, and continued my search elsewhere. 

If a church stated that one must do any of the following then I kept looking for another church:

- Must join the church
- Must tithe
- Must be baptized in this church
- Must speak in tongue
- Must be voted on (by anyone) to belong
- Must (fill in the blanks)


One must not have to do anything except have a desire to follow Christ Jesus, because Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to the dead and on the third day He rose again when He ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father....
 
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)


If God, through His only Begotten Son, did all this for us sinners, and He only asks that we believe in His Son, Christ Jesus, then what gives any "church" the authority to ask anymore from us than what God asks?

What does your church ask of you?

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For Atheists Only

 

What is it about Christianity that scares you?

Obviously it does else you would not get so defensive or act so vehemently against a simple Google or Facebook posting, or when you encounter the name of God or Jesus in the public square.

What about other entities that you don't believe in - do you get this way to those that believe or endorse the concept of a Santa Claus, or an Easter Bunny, or even against Satanists? Probably not, so why the vile attitude against Jesus believers?

It's because deep inside you know that there is a God and you think that you can curse Him away, but He was, He is, and He will always be.

And He loves you because you are His creation. 

"Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God."

(Romans 8:5-8)

 

 

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The Argument over Same-Sex Marriage

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a landmark decision stating that same-sex marriages are protected under the Constitution of the United States and is to be upheld in every state of the union.  While the primary news media is focused on this ruling along with all of the social media outlets, the “elephant in the room” is that the SCOTUS totally overstepped its constitutional authority by absolutely dissolving “States Rights” under the Articles of Confederation and The Tenth Amendment (Amendment X) to the United States Constitution.  The definition and governing of marriage should be a states’ issue and not under Federal jurisdiction, but that is an issue for another time because I want to address another aspect of this ruling that even most Christians are overlooking.

Here is an example of a typical narrative from a Christian to a gay rights proponent regarding same-sex marriage: “You are sinning against God therefore you are going straight to hell”.  Or maybe a bit more subtle approach might sound like: “The Holy Bible condemns same-sex unions or relationships therefore you are violating God’s Will (and you are going straight to hell).”

Fellow Christians, not only are we are not going to win any arguments with this approach, we certainly are not going to lead anyone to Christ this way either.  Why? Because we are presenting an invalid argument if the focus is on sin.

For a moment let’s forget about this “gay-sex” sin and let’s just focus on sin itself. When we change the conversation to generic “sin” we then must include ourselves into the equation because we are all sinners. The “gay-sex” sin is no greater or less of a sin than your sin or mine. We are all sinners, therefore “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom 3:23), and “… the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).  But as Christians we firmly believe that Jesus became our sin on the cross and through His death, burial and resurrection, the sin of the world was taken away.

Now, that does not mean that we no longer sin but the good news is that sin is no longer the obstacle to eternal salvation, and because man could never “not sin”, God “… so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). So, it’s not by our sin do we differ but through repentance! “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

On the flip-side of this same-sex marriage argument, the proponents state that this is an issue of love and that anyone should be able to love (marry) whom they please. Then the other tidbit is added to their conversation which is that those who disagree (Christians) are labeled as “haters”! There you go! Then one or both parties will either agree to disagree or they will just walk away forever admonishing the others beliefs with some colorful language added in to make the event more memorable.

It is at this juncture where I believe that Christians have not only lost the civil argument but also have a golden opportunity to reveal the very essence of God’s Love for mankind. It’s not often that Believers get an opportunity such as this to converse face-to-face with non-believers and one of the unintended consequences of the SCOTUS ruling is that this opportunity to share God’s love is now center stage not only in the United States but across the World because the entire World is watching, and discussing, this very subject. However, we appear to be so focused on winning an argument that we lose the opportunity to win souls over to Christ. 

So here is my shocking statement of the moment – the proponents of same-sex marriage are absolutely right when they assert that the issue of same-sex marriage is about love, or at least it should be about love. However, they are wrong when they also assert that those that disagree (Christians) with them about same-sex marriage are haters, because the Christian response is also about love, or at least it should be about love, because it’s all about God’s love. As Jesus reminded us  “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt 5:44).

Many times the gay-marriage supporters will also use scripture within the Holy Bible to admonish Christians that stand against their chosen lifestyle. One favorite tactic is when they chastise us with … “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And yet they conveniently forget the first commandment… “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”.

The truth is that love for God and love for God’s Word is Christian love, or at least it should be! It is because of our love for God, and knowing first-hand God’s love for His creation, that we should not recognize any of man’s laws that violate God’s Law. It is also our love for God that we respond to God’s great commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).

OK, I know that much of this is Christian mumbo-jumbo and that I might as well be speaking in “tongue” if I try to convince a non-believer to believe by employing this tactic. The typical response will be a glassy-eyed look of dismay. So what is one to do?

The simple response to a non-believer is the simple TRUTH. Yes, the stated above is all truth but let’s keep it simple and lay it all on-the-line, or let’s “put all our cards on the table”, or whatever bumper sticker phrase works for you, so here it is, or at least I pray it is!

When a non-believer accuses us of “hate” because we don’t support their stance on same-sex marriage, or perhaps abortion, of perhaps taking prayer out of the classroom, or what ever the sin-of the-day is, remind them just what it is that they are asking a Christian to do. Specifically, we are being asked to love man before we love God; we are being asked to love man’s law over God’s law; we are being asked to violate our beliefs in support of their beliefs; we are being asked to lead them away from eternal salvation instead of leading them towards eternal salvation, and we are being asked to hate everything that we love (God). If that doesn’t put perspective on this issue, then close with “…and you are going straight to hell” (just kidding)!

And, if someone is expecting us to minimize and to trivialize every belief we hold dear to our own being, is that someone expressing love or hate for us?

In closing I repeat from above, – the proponents of same-sex marriage are absolutely right when they assert that the issue of same-sex marriage is about love - because, for them, it is all about violating God’s love for man's love.

“But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.” (1 John 2:5)

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Going To Church

For most people we have been conditioned to view church as a place that we go to, as in a destination.  While that is certainly a truism, again for most people, the journey appears to end there, at the church, discounting the fact that one must leave the church to go home, for example. 

And while going to church is certainly a welcomed destination, I think that we have the whole process backwards. The current mindset is that we come from the world and go into the church. I am suggesting that we reverse that process whereby we come from the church and go into the world.

You see, if church is perceived as a destination versus a starting point, then everything that we learn in church tends to stay in church because, again, the mindset is that church is the destination. It is the end versus the beginning.

 

But if we perceive church to be the starting point, then when we leave church we take what we have learned into the world because “the world” is now the destination, it is where God intends us to take His Word.

 

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells his disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….”  The disciples were commanded to leave The Master, Jesus, and go into the world to make disciples.  

Metaphorically speaking, Jesus was the church while He was on this earth, and from the Book of Acts we also learn that the early followers of the Risen Christ left Jerusalem to spread the message about the Messiah Jesus.  We, therefore, are expected to go from our church and take God’s Word into the world to make disciples.

 

And what is “the church”? For me, the church is anywhere we encounter God’s Word. It can be my Sunday place of worship; a Bible Study meeting; hearing God’s Word from various media sources; fellowship with believers; reading The Holy Bible; time spent in prayer or in our “secret place”; or just time alone with God.

Therefore, let us take God’s church into the world instead of keeping His church all to ourselves.

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The Mission Field

Calvary Chapel Villages Missionaries

 

Mission:  Calvary Chapel Villages is the “mission church” of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, and we, the members of Calvary Chapel Villages, are its missionaries. Hence, we are missionaries on a mission for Christ’s Church. We were planted here by God to disciple primarily to a senior community and secondarily to a younger population.

Mission Field:  We are uniquely situated to present / introduce the Gospel of Christ Jesus to a population that is chronologically closer to the end of their lives than found in an atypical population.  As ordinary missionaries, we are here to present Jesus’ promise of salvation to this segment of the population, and because of their age or health, it also may be the last opportunity these souls have to accept Jesus as their Savior.

 

In essence, we are disciples in a foreign land that is also our own hometown, our city, our neighborhood.  In His perfect planning, God brought us as missionaries here at this juncture of our lives to administer His Will - not to a desolate village in Africa, or to a poverty-stricken shanty town in South America, or even to a remote island in the Pacific Rim, commonplace destinations for Christian missionaries.  Instead, God knows that the natives here in Central Florida need to know His Son as well, and we have been called to do His Will.  

 

Therefore, our mission field is called “The Villages” and its surrounding communities, and our mission, as commanded by Christ Jesus, is to …

 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.  (Matt 28:19, NKJV)

 

 

 

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