CHURCH DIFFERENCES
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
The church today is not really any different than it was when it was established some 2000 years ago by Christ Jesus...at least the people within the church are no different, and that gives me a reason to believe that we still can get onto the right track when it comes to our service and worship of God.
We have been effective in creating what we want out of worship and praise; sacrifice and commitment, but what does God want from us in these areas? According to the teachings of Christ to the church from the very beginning God wants the kinds of things that build trust and love in one another, and then He wants those things we feel for one another to simply be applied to our love and trust of God as our Father. Can it possibly be that it is that easy to explain? I think so...but we must accept that God's answer many times is that simple, and that there is really no need for the answer to be tampered with by us. As I have look more closely at the various doctrines that make up a majority of denominations that are scattered throughout this world I am fairly confident that when these idea were at first given by these very religious and devote men and women they had a great deal of impact on many other around them, and that the points they each one made would have been very helpful in bringing the church back to a state of unity had we all been listening to God's voice as they spoke. The problem for the great majority of these creeds and doctrines that have been adapted is that other men and women saw fit to add to this concept by writing into these things bits and pieces of their own agendas, likes and desires mostly around what they wanted to see happen...it became a kind of" putting their personal stamp" on it. It is much the same thing that has happened with the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus time with the egos of men running amok within the church.
The truth ends up to be that we cannot please everyone therefore we should try our very best to please God whom has given us salvation in the first place. This once again seems to simplify things greatly as far as what we do to please God with our worship, but the how parts of worship have always remained a personal taste. It depends entirely upon what the taste of the people are within the church body. In a way that puts us back into a control of what is going on; but in truth God is trying to get us to be responsible in developing our own atmosphere for growth within the church by doing that. No matter if we like it or not music plays a tremendous part in our development as believers. The style and type of music needs to fit the majority of those who are attending that body of believers, and the music needs to speak to the heart. Music needs to direct the soul toward making choices for Christ to dig deeper within the life and make changes that God wants made instead of what we want to do. If the music become too commercial then it is no more received than listening to a radio minus the commercials. We may like a tune or a song for listening and yet it will not speak to our needs at a certain moment of decision.
In our teaching the same thing is true because as long as we stay on a pathway that allows for personal excuses to be made to not commit or follow God's way there will never be a total commitment made. Jesus spoke to us of the Kingdom of Heaven and what that was like for us while we still lived here in this world. He told us that we were the ones to demonstrate what that Kingdom should look like, and sound like. The various ways of approach to drawing the lost so that they might hear the truth is also varied just as people groups are varied but the one thing that remains true is that once they come and begin to respond to what they hear they need to continue to be taught more deeply the truth. That truth needs to be grounded in what Jesus taught us, and it needs to grow them enough that they can understand why they believe in God and follow Jesus our Savior. I have seen many people within my life try to change the way they love to meet a life style, but true love from God only has it's roots in the teachings of Christ alone. I pray that we can remember that as this year continues to go by...may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
The church today is not really any different than it was when it was established some 2000 years ago by Christ Jesus...at least the people within the church are no different, and that gives me a reason to believe that we still can get onto the right track when it comes to our service and worship of God.
We have been effective in creating what we want out of worship and praise; sacrifice and commitment, but what does God want from us in these areas? According to the teachings of Christ to the church from the very beginning God wants the kinds of things that build trust and love in one another, and then He wants those things we feel for one another to simply be applied to our love and trust of God as our Father. Can it possibly be that it is that easy to explain? I think so...but we must accept that God's answer many times is that simple, and that there is really no need for the answer to be tampered with by us. As I have look more closely at the various doctrines that make up a majority of denominations that are scattered throughout this world I am fairly confident that when these idea were at first given by these very religious and devote men and women they had a great deal of impact on many other around them, and that the points they each one made would have been very helpful in bringing the church back to a state of unity had we all been listening to God's voice as they spoke. The problem for the great majority of these creeds and doctrines that have been adapted is that other men and women saw fit to add to this concept by writing into these things bits and pieces of their own agendas, likes and desires mostly around what they wanted to see happen...it became a kind of" putting their personal stamp" on it. It is much the same thing that has happened with the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus time with the egos of men running amok within the church.
The truth ends up to be that we cannot please everyone therefore we should try our very best to please God whom has given us salvation in the first place. This once again seems to simplify things greatly as far as what we do to please God with our worship, but the how parts of worship have always remained a personal taste. It depends entirely upon what the taste of the people are within the church body. In a way that puts us back into a control of what is going on; but in truth God is trying to get us to be responsible in developing our own atmosphere for growth within the church by doing that. No matter if we like it or not music plays a tremendous part in our development as believers. The style and type of music needs to fit the majority of those who are attending that body of believers, and the music needs to speak to the heart. Music needs to direct the soul toward making choices for Christ to dig deeper within the life and make changes that God wants made instead of what we want to do. If the music become too commercial then it is no more received than listening to a radio minus the commercials. We may like a tune or a song for listening and yet it will not speak to our needs at a certain moment of decision.
In our teaching the same thing is true because as long as we stay on a pathway that allows for personal excuses to be made to not commit or follow God's way there will never be a total commitment made. Jesus spoke to us of the Kingdom of Heaven and what that was like for us while we still lived here in this world. He told us that we were the ones to demonstrate what that Kingdom should look like, and sound like. The various ways of approach to drawing the lost so that they might hear the truth is also varied just as people groups are varied but the one thing that remains true is that once they come and begin to respond to what they hear they need to continue to be taught more deeply the truth. That truth needs to be grounded in what Jesus taught us, and it needs to grow them enough that they can understand why they believe in God and follow Jesus our Savior. I have seen many people within my life try to change the way they love to meet a life style, but true love from God only has it's roots in the teachings of Christ alone. I pray that we can remember that as this year continues to go by...may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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