Do not hit the REPLY button when responding to this email.
Please email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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you.
No, it's not fiction... it's just written... well, you have to
read it to understand. They guy weaves current events, Auschwitz, history,
and ancient history together.
--slade
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, 14 March, 2003 06:44
Subject: Re: **Possible_Spam** Re:
[TruthTalk] differences
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Slade:
Sounds interesting. I gather from what you say that it is
fiction,
somewhat based on fact?
Terry
-------Original
Message-------
Date: Thursday, March
13, 2003 22:40:32
Subject:
**Possible_Spam** Re: [TruthTalk] differences
I currently fellowship in a home. For more info, I suggest reading
the book "Constantine's Sword" by James Carroll. (C) 2001 ISBN
0-618-21908-0, Mariner Books. In the process of reading this
novelization, you will begin to see why wicked Constantine did what he
did and his spirit lives on. I am still reading its 756 pages.
-- slade
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, 13 March, 2003
21:57
Subject: RE: [TruthTalk]
differences
Amen, Terry! I hope to
hear more soon. This was my experience in a church at home
also. Such places are few and far between.
Izzy
-----Original
Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Terry
Clifton
Sent:
Thursday, March 13, 2003 9:43 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [TruthTalk]
differences
You asked about
differences, comparing the institutional church with home
church. They are many, and I cannot think of them all at
one setting, but I will point out the most
obvious.
If you study the New
Testament, you will never find reference to a building fund, or
even to a building. You will find that the Church at
Jerusalem met mostly outdoors, and those in other cities
(Thessalonica, Ephesus, Galatia, Corinth, ect.) met in
homes.(Rom.16:5, 1Cor.16:19, Col.4:15, Phil.2 and so on.)
There was no church house until around 300 A.D., when emperor
Constantine converted to Christianity from paganism and brought
the temple with him. Why he had the audacity to take what
was pleasing to God and change it into something that pleased
men is hard to figure, but from then on we had meeting places,
the more ornate, the
better.
Before long,
people are calling these meeting places "the Church". I
have been guilty of it as have most people, but it is a terrible
lie. It is not a Church and it is not God's house.
The Church is a living organism, not an organization. It
is a spiritual house, made of living stones. Jesus is the
corner stone, the apostles are the foundation, and every saint
is a living stone, part of that spiritual house that
continues to be added to
daily.
Please note
that there are no "Clergy" stones between the foundation and the
living stones, and please note that the Church is composed only
of saved persons. Lost people make up a large part of what
we call the church today, partly because we bring them there
hoping they will get saved. If we did it correctly, we
would lead them to a relationship with Christ, then bring them
to a meeting of the Church.
If you were invited
to a gathering of the Church in NT times, you would find what
Paul described in 1 COR.14:26 "When you come together, each of
you has a song, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation,
has an interpretation. Let all things be done for
edification." In other words, every saint takes
part. It is not a performer on stage and an audience in
the pews!
If you are
invited to any mainline church in America, you will not find
this. Try interrupting the preacher. Tell him you
disagree with him, and see how fast the ushers swoop down on
you. What you will find, in all probability, is that you
are handed a program as you enter. Nothing spontaneous
will happen, everything is planned. You will be seated
facing the pulpit. The preacher occupies the pulpit, the
choir is seated behind him. The music minister tells you
what song to sing, they make the announcements, have another
song, maybe a choir special, followed by the offering, then the
message. The preacher talks or screams for twenty minutes,
followed by three verses of "Just as I am" and you are out the
door by 12:05 at the latest. You do not know the names of
eighty percent of the other pew dwellers. All you know
about them is what the back of their head looks like. Two
hours later, you cannot even remember what the preacher talked
about. That's church, in God's house. A worship
service.
Remember what Paul
said in that verse. It's all about "edification". We
do not meet in our home for worship. We worship our God
every day, all day, starting with prayer in the morning and
ending with prayer at night, with a few short ones sprinkled in
during the day. We worship by being obedient, by loving
our neighbor and our fellow saints and our enemies, by caring
about those who hurt, and helping those who need help.
When we meet, it is to celebrate God's goodness and to encourage
each other.
We are free to do
things like buy a tractor for a Christian orphanage in Slovakia
because we don't have a pastor to pay or a building to maintain.
Any spending is on those in
need.
We meet across a
table, eating a full meal, looking each other in the face.
I know their problems, their good points and their faults, and
they know mine. We are Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Family...................... of
God.
(It helps to
have a good Christian wife who sees her cooking and
cleaning as part of her reasonable
service.)
Well, I can see that
I have gone on too long, and not said a tenth of what I wanted
to share with you, so I will wrap it up for
now.
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