Tag: church

  • The Church has a blessed future

    An old Moravian church - image public domain

    Can I confess something? I get angry and frustrated with the church sometimes because she is full of people who are guilty of all the stupid and sinful things that people do, (including myself and you).

    I wonder, “Why did this one do that?” or “Why didn’t they do that?” The people of the church have done some incredibly stupid things since Christ left. Crusades. Bad teaching. Inquisitions. Self-centeredness. Unscrupulous “healers”. I could go on and name a hundred more things without thinking.

    Sometimes the people of the church tell a good story, but the reality is different. We talk about caring on Sunday, then cheat and steal on Monday. We talk about being welcoming, but woe betides the visitor who sits in Grandma’s pew. We talk of freedom, but then we walk in bondage.

    It doesn’t matter if it’s a house church, a pretty little country church, or a megachurch congregation with attendance at every service larger than some communities I’ve lived in. Regardless of theological stripe or denomination (or non). It happens across the entire spectrum of the visible church.

    I guess that means I get frustrated with the people in the church, rather than with the church. When I take the time to stop and think about it, I remember that the people of the church aren’t supposed to be perfect yet, that comes later. Jesus loves us just the way we are. He’s changing us day by day, but He loves us. 

    When I stop and think about it some more, I remember that I love the church herself, complete with all of her problems, confusion, and tension. The true church is the body of believers worldwide and is the bride of Christ. She’s imperfect but she is growing more like Him every day, and when the marriage does happen, all will be made whole and right. 

    In the Middle East 2,000 years ago, there were elaborate rituals before a wedding. The groom or his family often paid a price for the bride. 

    The betrothal was an extended period during which both parties were to remain pure. During this period, the groom often went away to prepare a home, either by adding onto the family home or building one from scratch. When it was done, great effort was made to have the groom sneak back and claim his wife. The exact timing was to be a surprise. After his surprise return, there was the formal wedding and a time of feasting and celebration.

    Knowing a bit about these customs helps us appreciate the wonderful picture of believers as His bride.

    He’s gone away to build a home for us.

    In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3

    There’s going to be a wonderful banquet.

    Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Revelation 19:7-9 

    The similarities are far more extensive than that. It would take a book to cover them all in detail, but the people of His day understood what Jesus talked about when He called the church His bride. They knew of His deep and sacrificial love for the. They understood that He would come again.

    Until next time may you come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be part of the true church and eagerly await the return of your groom. Let’s also remember that all those people in the church who frustrate us are His bride to and learn too love them as well.

    Be blessed
    Kevin

    Check this out!

    Happy Anniversary Church – What is our future?
    What is the church? The hands and feet of Jesus.
    Every Member Is Necessary — 1 Corinthians 12

  • A rockhound looks at the church

    two pails of rocket

    I love rocks. Since I was a small child, I have gone  through many phases of collecting and working with stones and minerals. 

    I can’t imagine how many shiny stones my mother must have dug out of my pants pockets on laundry days. If I’m honest, it can still happen today.

    Rock collectors range from the casual to the obsessed, from the small child bringing a few shiny stones home in their pocket to those who travel the world to collect the perfect piece.

    A collector might collect pieces that catch their eye while out walking. Someone else might spend vast sums of money purchasing rare and unique specimens. One person might bring home common pieces, while another might collect only a particular type. Everyone’s tastes and circumstances are different.

    I have found that rock collectors are very willing to talk about what they collect and often share their collections. I have had great conversations with perfect strangers on beaches, gravel bars, or even in the landscaped sections of parking lots about rocks. The rock bug seems to bite early in life and never goes away for most people.

    A conundrum for rock collectors (or collectors of anything else, for that matter) is “what to do with them when you have brought them home?” How do you display them? How do you make room for more?

    Of course, there will never be enough room. There will always be more or bigger specimens to collect. The variety of stone is virtually inexhaustible. Many are found in only one location worldwide. Others are common, but they come in an infinite array of colors, shapes, and patterns.

    Unlike a rock collection, there is a collection that is guaranteed to be complete in time. That is the church. I don’t mean the outward manifestation of denominations and groups, or buildings, or even the gathering of believers. I am referring to everyone throughout time that God has ordained to be saved.

    True believers are a gift to Christ from the Father.

    “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” John 17:6-10

    If we are a gift from the perfect Father to his precious Son, we will not be lost. Everyone, from everywhere and in any era included in the gift, will be saved.

    God won’t be displaying us in a basket. We will be transformed into everything he made us to be and will be in His presence for eternity to come.

    He elected His followers before the beginning of time to complete His work in them.

    For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:28-29

    Believers are chosen by a perfect God for a holy, eternal purpose. My piles of rocks might be pretty enough, but they will never compare with the wonder of the assembled, glorified church in the presence of their God.

    I can hardly wait to see it.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

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