What Does the Church Look Like?

The answer to the above question may elicit many different responses. One person may say that the Church is a building where people gather every week to worship God according to their traditions. Someone else may reply that the Church is not a building at all but just the people gathering and worshipping God. The point is that every individual may have their own opinion as to the definition of a church. Which one is correct? I suppose one could say that each opinion is an aspect of what the Church looks like and should look like. But there is one opinion that has to be considered above all other opinions. And that opinion is not even an opinion at all but rather God's will for how He has designed the Church. To go against God's will at any time is to go against God!

So let us ask ourselves, what is God's vision for the Church? The answer to this question can be found in Scripture. The Acts of the Apostles provides a picture, a vision, for the Church. One will notice that buildings are not mentioned as being necessary for being the Church. Unless, of course, you include the prisons where the apostles found themselves in. And even there they sang songs of praise, miracles occurred and people came to believe Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior! St. Luke, the author of Acts describes in detail the early church. It is our manual for how our church should look today. Today we can make the mistake of looking to churches on television as examples of what the church should look like. Such popular churches are indeed successful. Successful in the eyes of the world that is! And that is a problem. God will never use worldly standards to judge the success of the Church. In fact, each individual is called to renounce all aspects of the world when becoming a Christian. St. John writes, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) St. Paul also states, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom. 12:2)

Is it wrong, then, not to desire a large Church? No, as long as the true Gospel is preached whereby we hear the Word of Faith, repenting of our sins and our worldly self and becoming a new creation in Jesus . A godly Church is a place where Jesus is the Good Shepherd calling the lost back to Himself, regenerating our hearts. The problem with many large American churches is that people attend for the celebrity status of the preacher, the feel of the sports stadium or it is like a rock concert. In other words, they are attending for their feelings. They are not really leaving the world. The success of the Church will always be judged not by the world, but by God our Father who is looking not at numbers but at our hearts! A successful church is a church where hearts are changed and souls are saved!

What is Jesus Teaching You?

Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. Matthew 23:10ESV


Jesus is speaking to His disciples exhorting them not to be like the scribes and Pharisees who desire to place heavy burdens on the peoples’ shoulders. Jesus is emphasizing His role as our instructor, our teacher. We recognize Jesus as a savior from our sins. We call Him Lord of our lives. But we also need to see Christ as our teacher.

We have the Scriptures that teach us what God has said giving us knowledge of His will for our lives. But in our lives that we live daily, we can also see Christ directing events in such a way that He has something to teach us. Not everything goes our way. When times are frustrating in our lives, we should look to Jesus as our teacher. When we are not happy, we should ask the Lord, what is it that we need to learn. Is there something that we need to change in our lives that would reflect God’s will for us. Perhaps it is just an attitude. A rich ruler, a man with power and money asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The ruler quickly learned no one is good but the Father in heaven. And he also learned that keeping the commandments were not enough. He loved his money more than God. In other words, he saw where he needed to change. But we know how the story ends, the rich ruler went away very sad. (Luke 18:18-25) Happiness would have come if he had let go of his possessions. What is Jesus teaching you?

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30ESV)

DO WE REALLY HAVE AN EXCUSE NOT TO RECEIVE THE LORD'S SUPPER?

There are many hidden gems in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. I for one see great value in the many exhortations that exist withing the various liturgies. Unfortunately, many modern Anglican churchgoers, namely Episcopalians, do not want to be warned or commended or exhorted in their Christian obligations. But within these classic exhortations one finds great teaching on why we do what we do! Here for example is a very personal admonishing on why being negligent to receive the sacrament is injurious to the soul!

Or, in case he shall see the people negligent to come to the holy Communion, instead of the former, he shall use this Exhortation.
DEARLY beloved brethren, on ----- I intend, by God's grace, to celebrate the Lord's Supper: unto which, in God's behalf, I bid you all that are here present; and beseech you, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, that ye will not refuse to come thereto, being so lovingly called and bidden by God himself. Ye know how grievous and unkind a thing it is, when a man hath prepared a rich feast, decked his table with all kind of provision, so that there lacketh nothing but the guests to sit down; and yet they who are called (without any cause) most unthankfully refuse to come. Which of you in such a case would not be moved? Who would not think a great injury and wrong done unto him? Wherefore, most dearly beloved in Christ, take ye good heed, lest ye, withdrawing yourselves from this holy Supper, provoke God's indignation against you. It is an easy matter for a man to say, I will not communicate, because I am otherwise hindered with worldly business. But such excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God. If any man say, I am a grievous sinner, and therefore am afraid to come: wherefore then do ye not repent and amend? When God calleth you, are ye not ashamed to say ye will not come? When ye should return to God, will ye excuse yourselves, and say ye are not ready? Consider earnestly with yourselves how little such feigned excuses will avail before God. They that refused the feast in the Gospel, because they had bought a farm, or would try their yokes of oxen, or because they were married, were not so excused, but counted unworthy of the heavenly feast. 1, for my part, shall be ready; and, according to mine Office, I bid you in the Name of God, I call you in Christ's behalf, I exhort you, as ye love your own salvation, that ye will be partakers of this holy Communion. And as the Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his soul by death upon the Cross for your salvation; so it is your duty to receive the Communion in remembrance of the sacrifice of his death, as he himself hath commanded: which if ye shall neglect to do, consider with yourselves how great injury ye do unto God, and how sore punishment hangeth over your heads for the same; when ye wilfully abstain from the Lord's Table, and separate from your brethren, who come to feed on the banquet of that most heavenly food. These things if ye earnestly consider, ye will by God's grace return to a better mind: for the obtaining whereof we shall not cease to make our humble petitions unto Almighty God our heavenly Father.

What is Your Idol!

They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. (2 Kings 17:15ESV)

We become what we worship. If we worship what is true we will become true. If we worship what is false, we become false as stated above. Our souls are designed for worship. As St. Augustine says, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." The first two commandments deal with God's uniqueness and the prohibition against any man-made substitute. Idolatry is not just a carved image but anything we desire before God.

John Calvin, the great reformer said, “Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols” We can even make our image of God be an idle when our image contradicts the revelation of God’s nature found in Scripture.

Everything around us in the world we live in tempts us to idolatry. The American culture praises fame and fortune. Some TV preachers reinforce this saying God wants you to have it all! False prophets are not in short supply. The truth is found in all the words of Scripture. Those who worship God in spirit and truth will bear fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)This who worship idols will bear fruit of idolatry! (Romans 1:22-32)

Church Conflict and its Solution!

¹ Brothers and sisters, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people without the Spirit—babies in Christ.² The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food, because you were not able to take solid food. And even now you are not ready.³ You are still not spiritual, because there is jealousy and quarreling among you, and this shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, New Century Version)

What is the cause of conflict in the Church? Why are people petty? The answer can be found in Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. Some are spiritual, some are not. The petty, the self-centered are people of the world. In other words, they may be in church but they are acting out of their fleshly, carnal, non-spiritual desires. The only way to deal with such people is to do what Paul did, remind them that they are acting like people of the world. If they claim to be converted, then remind them they are acting like infants and need to grow up. A true Christian has the Holy Spirit abiding in their heart thereby informing their conscience what is right and wrong. Paul did not look for consensus. He spoke the truth and so should we! Christ came for His sheep. Not for the goats!

The Defeat of Death: A Scientific Impossibility

There are some attempts today to defeat death through biochemistry and other technologies thereby striving to make man immortal. The video below will show one man's theory on how this is possible. But it is not possible at all. Death came into the world through Adam's disobedience.

And to the man [God] said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:17-19NLT)

Then in verse 24 we read that angels were placed at the entrance of the Garden preventing man and woman from eating the fruit of the Tree of Life. Our judgment for disobedience is death. Today we die because of original sin in us, that potential to lie at a very young age and to do bad everyday of our life! We die because we carry a death sentence. As St. Paul says, "the wages of sin is death." But there is hope for the Elect. By Christ's imputed righteousness, the sting of death has become null and void. When we place our faith upon Jesus' saving act of His crucifixion, whereby He pays the full penalty of our sins, we have the glorious hope of the Resurrection awaiting us. Until then our length of days has been numbered by God because of our wickedness.(Genesis 6:3) So why must all die with only the righteous awaiting a new body and a new earth? The answer is that we are under judgement which is proved by death. And as St. Augustine of Hippo writes in his City of God, "Death is good for the good person and it is bad for the bad person." For the good person all pains of this world are taken away. There is no more cancer, AIDS, violence or pain. For the bad person, justice in the form of eternal punishment. After all, do we really want the unrepentant sinner living forever?

The Plumb Line of God

A Plumb Line is a builder's tool that gauges the trueness of a structure. Is the wall truly perpendicular to the ground. Are the bricks aligned straight to each other? The prophet Amos saw a plumb line and the King of Israel saw that his kingdom did not measure up to the judgment of God. His response was to ask the prophet to go south and prophesy to Judah. Of course this only removed Israel from the hearing of the word. It did not remove God’s judgment.

How do we know if we measure up to God? By hearing His Word. Jesus states that our faith is like a structure built on a firm foundation. Jesus says, “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.” (Lk. 6:46-49)

Let us hear the word of God and be doers as well! (James 1:19-25) Then our hearts will measure up to God’s judgment and our faith will be built upon the sure foundation of Jesus our Lord! As Isaiah promised, “Whoever believes will not be in haste. And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line:...” Isaiah 28:16b, 17)