For Freedom Christ Died, for Freedom We Live!
We have been doing church for so long we are conditioned to believing that it is the right way for it to be done and we are so deceived by the doing that we will not accept any other alternative as the possibility of being right. It is time to ask the question about the way we do church? What is Church about? Who/What is really the “church”?
So much of westernized culture completely misses the point of the “assembling’ and has turned it into a self- grandiosity, showmanship and a consumerist venture that is fueled largely by ignorance of who and what is “church”.
Why do so many churches have the same meeting formula? Greeters at the door, hymn singing, lecture message and prayer” which is suppose to empower the Saints to do what God has commissioned them to do? God never said; “They’ll know you’re my disciples by your Church attendance, or how many songs you sing, or how many “great sermons” you hear. He said “They’ll know you’re my disciples by your love for one another”. It’s that love for your fellow-man that seems to be so grossly missing in Sunday-go-meeting “church”. The institutional church at large is focused on the “do’s and don’ts” and not focused on loving each other...again, that can largely be chocked up to a culture that perpetuates greed and selfish-ambition.
Church is a life living experience, not a religious controlled Sunday-programmed-event-driven-meeting experience.
Many of us after coming to Jesus were made aware of certain things that would be expected of us by the clergy (and other do-gooders) now that we were "free" in Jesus. I am sure some of you are familiar with this list;
1.) You must give 10% of your income to the local church to be in good standing and to prove you are not shamming.
2.) You must not smoke or chew, or go out with girls that do.
3.) You must read your Bible every day, and don’t forget to pray.
4.) You must not do drugs or drink alcohol because you will end up in hell.
5.) You must attend Sunday-go-meetings, and in mid-week-services keep your seating.
6.) You must submit to the covering of the pastor, if not, mistakes you will make much faster.
7.) You must not date unsaved women or men because it is an avenue for the devil to get in.
8.) Movies are of the world and are not good fun therefore, they are to be religiously shunned.
9.) To dance you must not, for it will put you in a very tempting spot.
10.) You must not visit the club your friend to win, for there is nothing there but degradation and sin.
Are you feeling free yet?
Jesus came to set men free of the burden of sin and the law. He rose up in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from Isaiah, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4:18,19)
God has sent Jesus to break EVERY yoke and relieve EVERY burden, and EVERY bondage, especially the ones placed on the shoulders of the believer by the religious hierarchy.
Paul warned the foolish Galatian church, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).
So much of westernized culture completely misses the point of the “assembling’ and has turned it into a self- grandiosity, showmanship and a consumerist venture that is fueled largely by ignorance of who and what is “church”.
Why do so many churches have the same meeting formula? Greeters at the door, hymn singing, lecture message and prayer” which is suppose to empower the Saints to do what God has commissioned them to do? God never said; “They’ll know you’re my disciples by your Church attendance, or how many songs you sing, or how many “great sermons” you hear. He said “They’ll know you’re my disciples by your love for one another”. It’s that love for your fellow-man that seems to be so grossly missing in Sunday-go-meeting “church”. The institutional church at large is focused on the “do’s and don’ts” and not focused on loving each other...again, that can largely be chocked up to a culture that perpetuates greed and selfish-ambition.
Church is a life living experience, not a religious controlled Sunday-programmed-event-driven-meeting experience.
Many of us after coming to Jesus were made aware of certain things that would be expected of us by the clergy (and other do-gooders) now that we were "free" in Jesus. I am sure some of you are familiar with this list;
1.) You must give 10% of your income to the local church to be in good standing and to prove you are not shamming.
2.) You must not smoke or chew, or go out with girls that do.
3.) You must read your Bible every day, and don’t forget to pray.
4.) You must not do drugs or drink alcohol because you will end up in hell.
5.) You must attend Sunday-go-meetings, and in mid-week-services keep your seating.
6.) You must submit to the covering of the pastor, if not, mistakes you will make much faster.
7.) You must not date unsaved women or men because it is an avenue for the devil to get in.
8.) Movies are of the world and are not good fun therefore, they are to be religiously shunned.
9.) To dance you must not, for it will put you in a very tempting spot.
10.) You must not visit the club your friend to win, for there is nothing there but degradation and sin.
Are you feeling free yet?
Jesus came to set men free of the burden of sin and the law. He rose up in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from Isaiah, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4:18,19)
God has sent Jesus to break EVERY yoke and relieve EVERY burden, and EVERY bondage, especially the ones placed on the shoulders of the believer by the religious hierarchy.
Paul warned the foolish Galatian church, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).
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