Some truth for truth seekers only
- Thread starter Greggy
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say you're on a basketball team.
you notice the rest of your team is not playing well.
at practice they are lethargic & unfocused, goofing off instead of working.
against other teams, they lake cohesion & don't 'have their head in the game'
how do you help your team succeed?
(1) be a better player yourself. play hard, on and off the court, in practice and especially in games.
(2) do everything you can as an example to your teammates to encourage them to improve.
how do you hurt your team?
(1) stop caring and become just as bad as they are.
(2) quit the team as if you can play the game all by yourself.
if this is a rough analogy for us as the church - where is it spot on, and where does it fail?
you notice the rest of your team is not playing well.
at practice they are lethargic & unfocused, goofing off instead of working.
against other teams, they lake cohesion & don't 'have their head in the game'
how do you help your team succeed?
(1) be a better player yourself. play hard, on and off the court, in practice and especially in games.
(2) do everything you can as an example to your teammates to encourage them to improve.
how do you hurt your team?
(1) stop caring and become just as bad as they are.
(2) quit the team as if you can play the game all by yourself.
if this is a rough analogy for us as the church - where is it spot on, and where does it fail?
Hi Greggy, its a bit of a long video but I am inclined to agree with what I saw in the first few minutes. Not enough time to see the whole thing through.
When Stephen said "God Almighty dwelleth not in temples made with hands", they got really angry because they knew what he was saying and that it was true.
The church is people: those who are born again and therefore have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only boundary there is, outside of Whom, it is not church. No matter how often people go to the institutions and buildings, the act of going to a temple made with the hands of men cannot save you.
Bottom line, we have to go personally to Jesus and be born again. That done we are free to go where He sends us.
As soon as a church gathering becomes a man-made institution, they will want you to serve the institution and stop serving God. They have perverted the tithe message to compel people to pay money to the institution...and often they say that if you don't pay your tithe to the institution you are not serving God. That is an abuse of authority and totally abhorrent.
When we are born again we become kings and priests unto God. We are anointed to serve Him and to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, all the days of our lives. The tithe was given in the old days as a command of God because the Levite priests worked for God only, and not for themselves, so they were freed from the tithe...and what was collected was to feed them and provide them with resources they would normally get if working.
So now as New Testament kings and priests we can see by this tithe shadow, we are freed from the tithe because in being born again we have ceased from our own works to do the work of God. As ministers our God supplies all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
This is not about money, as the institutions will tell you (because that is what they want) .. but about the riches of God in Christ Jesus freely given to us who are His children, who have become so by receiving Christ.
What He has freely given to us we freely give, not by compulsion but with a willing and grateful heart.
Praise the Lord!
When Stephen said "God Almighty dwelleth not in temples made with hands", they got really angry because they knew what he was saying and that it was true.
The church is people: those who are born again and therefore have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only boundary there is, outside of Whom, it is not church. No matter how often people go to the institutions and buildings, the act of going to a temple made with the hands of men cannot save you.
Bottom line, we have to go personally to Jesus and be born again. That done we are free to go where He sends us.
As soon as a church gathering becomes a man-made institution, they will want you to serve the institution and stop serving God. They have perverted the tithe message to compel people to pay money to the institution...and often they say that if you don't pay your tithe to the institution you are not serving God. That is an abuse of authority and totally abhorrent.
When we are born again we become kings and priests unto God. We are anointed to serve Him and to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, all the days of our lives. The tithe was given in the old days as a command of God because the Levite priests worked for God only, and not for themselves, so they were freed from the tithe...and what was collected was to feed them and provide them with resources they would normally get if working.
So now as New Testament kings and priests we can see by this tithe shadow, we are freed from the tithe because in being born again we have ceased from our own works to do the work of God. As ministers our God supplies all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
This is not about money, as the institutions will tell you (because that is what they want) .. but about the riches of God in Christ Jesus freely given to us who are His children, who have become so by receiving Christ.
What He has freely given to us we freely give, not by compulsion but with a willing and grateful heart.
Praise the Lord!
how sure are you about that?
On the first day of the week (sunday) we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
(Acts 20:7)
seriously. consider whether you might be deceived. meeting with each other is not "sabbath observance." and sabbath is not salvation, but Christ is salvation, and sabbath besides. so what is greater - a calendar day, or the Lord? (Acts 20:7)
