ACTS 5:42 KING JAMES VERSION
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Before Bibles were available to every man woman and child. Before cell phones, emails and YouTube people had to meet face to face in order to know what the Word of YHWH declared.
Today, many men and women of faith (and some that manipulate the word) have books to detail what the Bible says. Whatever is happening in the life of a Believer, or non-believer, a discussion can be found in a book. Yesterday, I called a Pastor-friend and asked her a biblical question; I did not go to church.
Theological questions are being asked and answered all over the place but in church. Don’t believe me? Check out social media formats like Facebook.
I believe today’s church has redefined itself. Today’s church has become what Bible Study classes once were. Once upon a time Bible study was the place where a subject, giving for example, was taught. Now, giving has become a series preached from the pulpit under a title such as: How Do We Demonstrate The Love of God; within this 4 to 6 week message tithing will be taught. The problem is, in the midst of the series a girl is contemplating abortion, someone is practicing homosexuality, a spouse is abusing his spouse, and or someone is dying.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16 KING JAMES VERSION
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
The messages being taught today are inspirational but not necessarily inspired by YHWH. Church doctrine is preached, the question is: Does the church doctrine agree with YHWH’s word?
When we leave church we feel good but do we think we need to correct our behavior? Did we learn something regarding the will of YHWH that we did not know; were we instructed in righteousness? A Pastor once taught: If you are in a church for a year and you have not changed you are in the wrong church.
Why do you NOT go to church? Church goers believe it is because of the hypocrisy in the church, I know this is not the reason. I believe, people don’t go to church because the church is not helping them with their life. Let’s read The Expanded Bible’s elaboration on 2 Timothy:
2 TIMOHTH 3:16 THE EXPANDED BIBLEThe Bible reflects the word of YHWH. The Bible is used for teaching the hearer what is wrong in their lives and how to fix it. Non-church attenders see people who give ten percent plus to the church every Sunday while committing acts they, the non-believer, would not do. For example: I know a man who loves his wife as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25) but stopped going to church because the messages he heard did not help him in his everyday life. Whereas: I knew a man who was very active in the church, present for most services on Sunday and during the week, left his wife for another woman. The Sabbath, if taken seriously, is not about church fund raising but teaching the word of God so that people will correct, or begin the process of correcting, what is wrong in their life.
All Scripture is ·inspired by God [breathed out by God; L- God-breathed] and is useful for teaching, for ·showing people what is wrong in their lives [refuting error; rebuking], for correcting faults, and for ·teaching how to live right [training in righteousness].
The Word of YHWH corrects, rebukes, disciplines. I am not talking about publicly humiliating a person but gently sharing, teaching, pointing out, things that could be happening in your life. Political correctness and the fear of the laws of man has stopped many church leaders from telling parents to discipline their child. Scripture teaches that parents are to raise a child in the way he or she should go (Proverbs 22:6, Isaiah 54:13), I have heard, and once believed myself,that we should give a child the opportunity to decide for himself. NO! That is not what Scripture teaches and it is not what Satan is doing to our children today.
Why do you GO to church? Many people say because Scripture teaches us to assemble. They quote Hebrews 10:25. Let’s look at it from the Expanded Bible translation
HEBREWS 10:24-25
Let us think about ·each other and help each other [or how to provoke/rouse/encourage each another] to show love and do good deeds. You should not ·stay away from [neglect; forsake] ·the church meetings [meeting together], as some are doing [C- some were abandoning Christianity and returning to Judaism], but you should encourage each other [C- to stay faithful to Christ and to other believers], and even more so as you see the day coming [C- the day of the Lord, when Christ will return].
The Apostle stated that people were returning to their old ways, going back to Judaism. Back then, the church was young and the only way to learn was to share information. They did not have: YouTube, Facebook, email, text message, DVDs, books or even personal Bibles. It was important to get together, so as to encourage each other AND TO POINT OUT a person’s errors (with love of course).
How often should you go to church? According to Acts 5:42 church attendance is a daily opportunity. The real question is: WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT FROM THE CHURCH YOU ATTEND?
2 TIMOTHY 4:2-4 NEW KING JAMES VERSION
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
written by Marsha L F Randolph
NETTIE-OLOGY /NETTIE-ISM reflects the opinions of and is the soul property of the author MARSHA L F RANDOLPH. All rights reserved- do not use without permission. Disagreeing with what is written is not offensive to the author a disagreeable comment will be deleted.
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