My Church

 “My” Church

Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock, I will build my church.”  Ephesians 5:24 says the church is subject to Christ, and in the following verse that Christ gave Himself for the church.  Colossians 1:24 refers to the body of Christ as the church.  Such verses refer to what we sometimes call the “universal” church, the body of believers who have been “called out” from the world to God, by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

The church consists of all the souls who believe in Jesus Christ, on earth and in heaven (Ephesians 3:14,15).  Acts 11:2 refers to the church which was at Jerusalem, and Acts 13:1 refers to the church at Antioch; such verses specify members of the universal body of Christ who assemble in a specified location.  The church that Christ established, His body, was in Antioch, Jerusalem, and anywhere else where there are believers.

This brings us to another sense in which the word church can be used.  Acts 14:23 says elders were ordained in “every church.”  In I Corinthians 4:17, Paul speaks of teaching the same doctrine everywhere, in every church.  These kinds of verses refer to those “local” churches, believers who assemble in some specified geographic location.  Church can refer to the universal body of Christ, as well as to a localized body of believers. 

In I Corinthians chapter 14, Paul instructs the Corinthian church on how to have an orderly and edifying assembly.  Notice that when he says in verse 19, “speaking in the church”, he’s not talking about speaking inside some building: he means speaking among that local body of believers, speaking among the people.  The local church is the local body of believers, not the building or place where they meet, not the activities they engage in when they come together.  The church consists of the people.  

Likewise, in the same chapter, when Paul talks about edifying the church (vv.4,5,12) he is referring to edifying the members, the people, not the place or the activities.  In verse 23, he talks about “the whole church [coming] together in one place.”  This is what we would refer to as an assembly.  The church exists even when it is not assembled.  The church was still in Corinth even when the individual members were in their respective homes, at work, or somewhere in the city involved in their day-to-day affairs.  When he says the church came together, the members assembled for worship and mutual edification.  In verse 28, he talks about keeping silent in the church, that is, keeping silent in the presence of the members during the assembly, not keeping silent in the building.

So, what do we mean when we say, “I am going to church”?  Is it like, when we say we are going to fish, we are going fishing?  Are we going church-ing?  Perhaps statements such as, “I am going to worship” or “we are assembling” would be less ambiguous.  Or what do I mean if I extend an invitation and say, “you should come to my church”?  Surely, I don’t mean that the church belongs to me, personally.  Sometimes, when we invite someone, they say something like, “I already have a church.”  

Without presuming we know what everyone means when they use any kind of expression involving church, let us keep in mind to what church ought to refer.  There is a universal body of believers in Christ that is His church.  But we can also talk about the local church, the body of believers in our area with whom we personally work and assemble.  When talking about “your” church, whatever you have in mind, remember that you are talking about the people with whom you associate.  When you invite someone “to church” or to “your” church, make sure it is with the understanding that the church (local and universal) belongs to the Lord.  When we talk about “our” church doing this or that, we are referring to what we, the people, do and believe in.

When you invite people to “your” church, you are not inviting them to the building or to the service.  You are inviting them to meet, assemble, study, worship, to engage with the people.  When people visit us at “our” local church, our objective is not to impress them with the building, or anything superficial, but with the people who are the body of Christ.  When visitors are among us, we must make every effort to demonstrate the love of Christ, the sincerity of our belief, our desire for the truth of God, and our compassion for the souls of men.

How do you feel about “your” church?  Do you associate with a group of people you want others to meet and have a spiritual relationship with?  Are you the kind of person who attracts or repulses visitors?  We ought to be proud of our local family, and desire to be the kind of people who are sincerely characterized by the love of Christ (John 13:35).  We should be able to invite others in saying, “let me show where to contact the love of God and true disciples of Christ.  Let me introduce you to these people…”

“These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, that you may know how to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” - I Timothy 3:14,15

Jeremy Koontz

How to Save a Marriage

How to Save a Marriage

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (Phil. 4:8) We need to practice positive thinking/meditation on many things, but particularly with the person we are married to. When we have negative thoughts about that person, thoughts that if unchecked can grow and put a wedge between us and our spouse, we need to quickly replace them with positive thoughts.

And while there are times that we can lovingly suggest ways that our spouse can do things better to our pleasure (and we need to be ready to actively listen -- which means that we need to carefully consider making the change suggested -- when our spouses suggest ways that we can do things better to their pleasure), we need to remember that we didn't marry ourselves and that different people sometimes do things differently from the way we would do them. A number of things that have the potential to annoy us about our spouses need to be quickly forgotten and we need to dwell on the things that please us about our spouse, not on the things that annoy us. I know this is sometimes difficult to do, especially when she does something that REALLY annoys me, but I need to dwell on the positive things. And, I believe the older men and older women can counsel the couple on dwelling on the positive about their spouse instead of allowing the negative to destroy the marriage.

There was a reason that he married his bride and he needs to find that reason again. Likewise, the wife married her husband because she saw good things in him. Currently, I am sure that the husband is thinking a number of negative thoughts relative to his bride and she is thinking negative thoughts about him. Otherwise it is difficult to see why the marriage has failed. These thoughts need to be overcome by remembering the reasons they married each other, the good things they've had in marriage and the good qualities they still see in their spouse. I might even have the husband draw up a list of things he loves about his wife and his wife draw up a list of things she loves about her husband.

In addition, I would counsel the couple to consider Paul's words in Philippians 2 when he perhaps was tactfully intervening in the dispute between Euodia and Syntyche. This dispute may have been one of the reasons that Paul wrote the letter as he sprinkles the letter with a number of examples of humility. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil. 2:3-8)

I believe this passage speaks loudly to disputes within the church, even within families. I find most disputes are because one party demands to be served and the other party refuses to serve them. If both the husband and wife are Christians, this passage clearly says they are to treat the other as more important than they are, if not as husband and wife, then as brother and sister in Christ. Every Christian is to be humble, not to be served by others, but to serve others. Christians are to put the interests of others first. So if the husband does not want to do this for his wife, he should be willing to do it for his sister in Jesus. And if the wife does not want to put her husband first, she should be willing to do it for her brother in Jesus.

And, I love that Paul uses Jesus as his example, for it takes away the primary "What if" question: What if he/she doesn't respond to my putting him/her first and continues to do the things that annoy me? Jesus, knowing that He would be rejected by the Jews and turned over to the Gentiles, knowing that He would be crucified by the Gentiles/Romans, submitted Himself to God's plan, a plan made before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), before Adam and Eve's sin, and left the glories of heaven for the travails of, at very best, a middle-class first-century existence on earth (Joseph was a "tekton" which is better translated as a skilled craftsman than a manual-labor carpenter). So when the husband says, "You expect me to serve this woman knowing she will do this thing that annoys me?" we answer, "We expect you to follow the example of Jesus who came to earth to minister to Jews knowing they would reject Him, even to the point of ascribing His works to demons." And when the wife says, "So you expect me to serve this man knowing he will hurt me emotionally?" We say, "We expect you to follow the example of Jesus, who loved Gentiles so much that He came to earth knowing that they would scourge Him in the Roman half-death and then crucify Him."

Because I believe that the husband has the greater responsibility to provide spiritual leadership within the family and, therefore, a greater responsibility to do what is necessary to keep the family together, I would take him first to Eph. 5:25-30, 33a and ask him what he thought the passage meant for him: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. ... Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself.”

I would then take the husband to John 13, where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. This is, at least for me, the most powerful example of humble service in the Bible. Jesus, through Whom all things were made, gathers up His clothing, puts a towel on His shoulder, and gets on His knees before each of His apostles and carefully washes off the mud, animal droppings and who knows what else was on those Jerusalem streets from their feet. It is impossible to wash someone's feet without being put in a position of supreme humility. And, while I don't believe that Jesus calls us to physically wash the feet of others, it is the principle of leadership humility, servant leadership, that was behind His washing the disciples' feet, I might even have the husband wash his wife's feet. Sometimes the act of physically doing something impresses the lesson in our hearts more than just hearing or talking about it. Further the good thing about having the husband wash his wife's feet is that she ha s to submit to him washing her feet, just as Peter had to submit to Jesus washing his feet. There is humility, many times, in our submitting to the service others do for us. After I've taken the husband to Eph. 5, I would ask him to meditate on the words of Jesus in John 13:13-17, "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." If the One through Whom the entirety of the universe was created, even down to the husband and wife, can wash the feet of the disciples who He created, what does His example mean in regards to my relationship with my wife? If Jesus, my Master and Lord, can take a knee, bend down, exposing His back, and serve others, what implications does that have for the husband, who is the head of the family?

And so my brother, my belief is that the husband may be the key. If you can get the husband to be the true spiritual leader of his wife, humbly leading her through service to her, truly treating her, and by this I mean in deeds, not words, as more important than he is, there is a very good chance that the wife will respond and the marriage will be saved. I strongly believe that if the husband treats his wife the way Jesus treated the church -- washing the feet of the disciples, humbling Himself in service, event to death on the cross -- the woman responds by seeking to serve her husband. I believe this is the general rule in a mixed marriage, even in a marriage where both are nonbelievers, but the husband can somehow grasp the concept of spiritual leadership, and is the tautological rule in Christian marriages. It is extremely difficult to be a servant leader, but it is the model that Jesus calls us to, both in the church and in the family. And when we have true servant leaders, both in t he family at home and the family at church, harmony always results.

Veto F. Roley via a discussion list

I Know I Am Saved, Because…

I Know I Am Saved,  Because…

The title above offers a sort of “fill in the blanks” opportunity.  Different folk express different views on the evidence of pardon.  A popular song a few years ago contained the line, “It can’t be wrong, if it feels so right … “– and it doesn’t take much research to know that this is the majority view.

Some answer “I know I am saved because this is the way my parents (or, other family members) lived, and it’s good enough for me!”     Others say “I know I am saved because my church is so big and so popular that it must be right.”

Probably the answer most often given is “I know I am saved because it feels so good.”  They are resting their hope for heaven on feelings, and feelings do not support that confidence.

JACOB AND JOSEPH

Feelings are not assurance of salvation.  Feelings may be based on lies, or other things that becloud the truth.  A good example of the problem with feelings is the case of Jacob, and his deceitful sons.     One of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, was greatly favored by his father, so much so that his brothers were jealous of him, even hated him (Genesis 37:4, 11).  Their hatred led them to plot against him, which resulted in his being sold to Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver, then taken to Egypt.  Joseph’s envious brothers dipped his distinctive robe in the blood of a goat and showed it to their father, saying to him “This we have found; please identify whether it is yourson’s robe or not.  And he identified it and said, It is my son’s robe.  A fierce animal has devoured him.  Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.”  As a result of these conclusions based on false information, Jacob “tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.  Thus, his father wept for him” (Genesis 37:32-34, 35).

Why?  Because, based on the information he had, Jacob   sincerely thought, “felt” his son Joseph was dead, “torn to pieces.”  His grief was real; “he refused to be comforted.”

Was Joseph dead?  Or, more to the point, did Jacob FEEL that he was dead?  The record says,”he refused to be comforted.”

To the one who says, “I know I am saved because it feels so good”, consider Jacob, whose feelings, based on bad evidence, misled him.

THE HOPE OF HEAVEN

Can we have assurance that we have salvation and the hope (desire AND expectation) of heaven?  Yes. 

For instance, Romans 8:16, 17 tells us “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God, and if children then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him”.

The Spirit speaks to us, by His revelation in the Scripture.  Jesus said “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).  He did.  As a result of the work of the Holy Spirit, we have the scripture, breathed out by God, and profitable “that the man of God may be complete … “ (II Timothy 3:16, 17).  The Spirit bears witness,  in the Bible, telling man what he should do to be saved and how he should live; and man’s spirit responds by bearing witness that he has complied with that instruction – and thus know himself to be a child of God, an heir of God and a fellow heir with Christ.  He may therefore know that he is heaven-bound.

Or again, Peter writes (II Peter  1:5-11) that we should add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection        and love – and after naming two benefits of adding these things to your faith, he names another benefit in verse 10, “if you practice these qualities you will never fall “.  Do you want to go to heaven?  Then, “do these things” (ASV) and never fall.

The assurance of salvation is not unconditional; faithful obedience is required in every case.  It is nonetheless the desire of the Father for all people: the Lord is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (II Peter 3:9).

You can be sure of your salvation – walk by faith.

Pat

Provoke Not Your Children to Wrath

Provoke Not Your Children to Wrath

In two closely related New Testament verses, fathers are given these instructions: "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4); "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged" (Colossians 3:21). While much is said and written about the need for fathers (parents) to properly train their kids in the spiritual realm, as per Ephesians 6:4b, it seems that much less is taught about the need for dads to refrain from provoking their children to extreme anger. Without any claim to have all the answers or all the wisdom that parents need in rearing their kids, we set forth the following practical observations.

Provoke not your kids to wrath – what it does not mean:

1. It does not mean never do anything that makes your child(ren) mad. From time to time kids are going to get angry at their parents when they step in and "put their foot down" on some matter. A three-year old that picks up a knife may pitch a fit when his mom takes it away, but mom still needs to take it away, right? If you want to turn a spoiled brat loose on the world, then just make sure you never do anything to cause him/her to be upset.

2. It does not mean never correct your children. Jesus said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Revelation 3:19-21). Properly administered discipline is not the "provoking" of kids that the Lord forbids.

3. It does not mean never tell kids that something is off limits or wrong. The Lord says that those who take part in the "works of the flesh" will not enter into the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). When we restrict our kids from participating in such, they maybecome hot under the collar and threaten to never speak to us again, but do not be deceived, such restriction of children’s activities is not the "provoking" of Colossians 3:21 that God forbids.

4. It does not mean never to force your kids to do something that they do not want to do. Many kids detest the task of cleaning up their room and may even get all bent out of shape when they are ordered to do so by their parents, but forcing a child to clean up his/her room or do some other needed task is not the "provoking" spoken of in our texts.

5. It does not mean never tell your kids "No, you cannot do such and such," even though the matter is not sinful in and of itself (such as buying a new dress or pair of shoes). Kids may throw a tantrum when their request or demand is not met, but it is not because they have been unduly provoked by dad or mom. God has given someone the task of making decisions in the home. And, just who is that? The parents. Children are to obey parents, not vice versa (Ephesians 6:1).

On the other hand, dads and moms do sometimes unduly provoke their kids to intense anger. Parents can do this when they:

1. Show partiality/favoritism in the way that they treat their children. Favoring one child over another, or giving special treatment to one over the other, can cause anger toward both the parents and the pampered child. Remember what happened in Jacob’s family when Jacob favored Joseph over his other sons (Genesis 37).

2. Ask kids for their opinion or suggestions about something, but never really pay any attention to what the children say and in essence just disregard it. Parents that ask for their kids’ input into certain matters need to be honest about the whole thing. If they have no intention of seriously considering what the kids have to say, they should not ask them for suggestions in the first place.

3. Compare their kids one with another. This is almost a guaranteed way to get children angry, and understandably so.

4. Compare their kids with children in other families by saying, "Why can’t you be more like _______?" Kids want to be treated like individuals. We need to exhort them to do the right things and give their best effort in all their activities, but our exhortation needs to be based on Bible principles, not on comparison with other people.

5. Purposely belittle or ridicule them in front of their peers or adults. This is a very insensitive act, regardless of whether the one we belittle is a five-year old or an adult.

6. Call them insulting names. We sometimes say hurtful things that we don’t even really mean and later regret. Insulting our kids by calling them insulting or degrading names may cause them to detest us.

7. Try to make all their decisions for them. When our children are only a few weeks old, or even a couple of years old, parents will naturally be making decisions about what the kids are going to do in most areas of life. There comes a time, though, when dad and mom have to back off and let their kids, with their own distinct personalities and interests, make some decisions that are important to them. Some dads have provoked teenage kids by trying to dictate to them where they would go to college, what occupation to pursue, or even what color of clothes to wear.

8. Do not take interest in the things in which the kids are interested, such as their hobbies, sports, or school activities. Children feel hurt when their parents don’t get excited about what excites them. They feel neglected when their dad and mom don’t make an effort to attend as many of their activities as possible.

No doubt there are a great number of other ways that fathers/parents sometimes unduly provoke their kids. Perhaps these practical illustrations will help more of us to avoid some unnecessary pitfalls in our efforts to be righteous parents that help guide our kids in the path that leads to heaven.

Roger D. Campbell

All I Know is What I Know

All I Know is What I Know

Has anyone ever asked you questions like, “Why did God choose water baptism?” or “Wouldn’t you like to know more about the origin of Satan?” or “What exactly were the Urim and the Thummim? (Exodus 28:30)?” or, “What if God created alternate realities?”

We are often challenged with questions about matters on which the Bible gives little or no revelation.  People often ask us hypothetical questions and present scenarios of which the Bible says nothing, and then expect us to have some logical answer to the question.  There are some things about creation and whatever was going on before creation that the Bible says nothing about.  There are many things about the nature of God and what is going on in the mind of God for which we have no doctrine or revelation, but skeptics often demand an answer to those kinds of questions.

If one is not careful, the believer can allow one unanswered question to hinder his or own faith.  A single matter of uncertainty or ambiguity in scripture can be enough for one to discard the Bible altogether; if no one gives me a good enough answer to this nagging question, then the Book as a whole is subject to rejection.

The idea is that, if you don’t have all the answers, then the answers you do have are insufficient.  But when is this principle ever applied?  When one works for a company, they may ask their manager or boss questions about their pay, questions about why a particular assignment is necessary, why a company policy has changed, but there are times when no answers are provided.  Sometimes, an employee doesn’t get a reasonable answer, or even questions company policy and methods, but just because they don’t get all the answers, they don’t up and quit.  Lower level employees are almost always in the dark about what is going on in the upper levels of corporate operations, but they know enough to keep doing their job and expect compensation.

We would rather not admit it, but we never know everything about anything we involve ourselves in.  A person doesn’t know 100% about the mechanisms and physics that allow a plane to fly, but they know enough to get on the plane.  A person doesn’t know everything about someone they choose to marry, but at some point, they do get married.  There is mystery in every decision we make, every path we choose, but we take the knowledge we have and proceed anyways.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to God, but those things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do the works of this law.”  The Bible plainly teaches there are some things that we will not know, that we don’t need to know.  But the things that have been revealed are revealed for a purpose: that we should know exactly how we and our generations might best please God.  I Corinthians 2 teaches that God has not left us completely in the dark, and that He has revealed things we need to know by His Spirit (I Corinthians 2:10). 

When it comes to God’s plan of salvation and His will for mankind, all we know is what has been revealed.  If we are not satisfied with that, we are in danger of endlessly searching, “always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” (II Timothy 3:7) Many have thrown their lives away in such an endless search for answers to every question, even when, “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” (Romans 1:19)

Questions about death and the afterlife abound.  But there is a great deal of mystery there as well.  Let us put our trust in God who has given us an abundance of proof, a text that perfectly guides us in all matters of life and death, which teaches us, “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (I John 3:2)

Jeremy Koontz

Bulletin 02/06/2020

singing at Mansfield