New House of Worship

We have purchased a new house. Since I believe worship should be my life 24/7 (Romans 12:1-2), I plan to worship God in this new house. I want this to be a house of worship.

Should I build a steeple to let everyone know it is a house of worship? Then if they want to worship God they will know they are welcome to come to my house and worship too?

Or should I go with the symbol of the cross? So they know Jesus is the focus of our worship.

I wonder how the early church let their neighborhood know they worshiped God.

I don't like talking to people.

Maybe I could put fliers in everyone's mailboxes, or advertise in newspapers and on the internet. :)

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• Ideal Church Size
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Why I need church

I do need church... and by church I mean the people. I need fellowship, encouragement, correction, care, prayer, etc... and a place where I can give the same in return.

If by church you mean the Sunday morning gathering... I have been rethinking my dependence on it.

I can get teaching/preaching through other sources. Recent technology like videos, blogs, and books can bring teaching into my home. With earlier generations the average believer would not have had access to most of the teaching resources that are available to us now. And yes, included in this is even our own copies of the Bible in our own language. Today we are very fortunate to have all these resources available. There are many great teachers who speak into my life on a regular basis.

Another big aspect of the Sunday morning gathering is worship. And I do love worship (if that makes sense). If worship is loving God, then I love loving God. However I believe worship should be my life 24/7 (Romans 12:1-2). Yes, music with a focus on God during personal alone time as well as during large group singing does help. I do love loving God. It's all good.

The Sunday morning gathering is not a bad thing. For many it may be a very important thing. I don't want to discourage anyone from going. If it's bringing you closer to God, and connecting with other believers... then I encourage you to go.

I am simply recognizing the aspect of church I can't live without is the people. The fellowship and community part of Christ's church I can't find without gathering face to face with other believers. I can't fellowship on my own... (duh?) So yes, I need church. I need to be part of a family of believers. I need fellowship. I need to walk side by side with other believers who are following my Lord.

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Basic.Holy Spirit

A short clip by Francis Chan to stir our minds and hearts.

What did Jesus leave for us to follow?

Have we lost our focus? What/who are we following?

On Following

Most religions of the world have a book to follow. Or some meditations to follow. Or some rules to follow....

Is Christianity any different?

• Do we follow a book?
• Do we follow some creed?
• Is it about agreeing to some catechism, some list of beliefs?
• Is there a list of rules to follow?

Or is it different because it is a person we are following?

There are many verses that speak to following Jesus. All the references to Jesus being a shepherd come to mind. Here are a few:

John 10:14 (NIV)

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

Matthew 4:19 (NIV)

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

John 8:12 (NIV)

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 10:27 (NIV)

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me"

It seems that divisions are created and maintained when we follow someone or something other than Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:11-13 (NIV)

My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[a]”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?"

OK. But how can we follow Jesus today? Did Jesus leave us with a book to follow? How did He expect us to carry on?

John 14:15-21 (NIV)

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 14:26 (NIV)

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

What do you think? Is there a difference between following Christ and following a religion?

Kingdom of Doers

Continuing my series on the secrets of the kingdom.

To enter the kingdom of heaven you must be a doer. Talking the talk just doesn't cut it.

Matt 7:21 - 23 (NIV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

This passage does not fit well with an easy believism attitude that says all you have to do is believe. There is obviously truth in the fact we are justified by faith.

Rom 5:1 (NIV)

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (NIV)

But we can't rest too heavily on one side of the spectrum on this. James confirms actions are required.

James 2:24 (NIV)
"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

I want to also look at the context of this Matt 7:21 - 23 passage.

Immediately before this is a warning about true and false prophets. The way to tell if someone is teaching correctly is to watch their actions. Watch their fruit. If they are not 'doing' right, be careful they likely are not teaching correctly either.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt 7:15 - 20 NIV)

Then following is another familiar passage about the wise and foolish builders. Making the point if you know what is right, you better be doing what is right.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt 7:24-27 NIV)

This is a great reminder for me recently. I can easily get caught up talking about the kingdom of God. But I find it harder to focus on living my faith. All someone needs to do is read my blog to know what I think. But is there fruit? What am I doing?

My wife graciously reminded me of this recently with this verse: 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power."

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Needing Hell

Some discussions around Rob Bell's new book Love Wins has got me thinking today.

Is your belief in Hell a cornerstone to your faith?

If you discovered somehow that the wicked were not destined to a conscious eternal torment in Hell... how badly would that rock your boat?

I find it interesting what is considered and essential to the Christian faith.

I haven't read this latest book of Rob Bell, nor any other book of his for that matter. I don't know if I agree with all of his conclusions. But I respect his ability to ask some great questions.

A year and a half ago I took a look at Scripture to determine if my traditional views on hell were well supported. It wasn't as clear as I once thought. I understand it is a hot topic. I concluded:

If scripture was clear, I don't think I'd be asking the above questions. But there are enough verses to give me some doubt. I'd rather admit I don't know for sure one way or the other, than give someone a potentially false image of God.

Either way eternal life with Jesus is still the obvious choice. I'm just questioning if the doctrine of Hell, that most denominations support, is clearly true to scripture. To be destroyed or perish may simply mean that those who do not choose life with Christ do not get to live eternally.

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• Does Scripture Say Hell is Eternal Punishment - a look at lots of Scripture
• Literal or figurative death
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• Why the threat? Does God need to threaten us with eternal punishment to win our love and devotion?