My Church Proposal

By Dale Linton

It’s possible God may be leading me to approach church leadership as to be a vessel used to promote unity in the body of Christ. This is a tall order and the Holy Spirit is the only, and I mean the only, one who can do this. So I must be able to present something to pastors and their administration that does not appear as if I’m trying to tell them something they do not know! How would the Lord have me to do this? First, my heart must be genuine in desiring to unite with them. Secondly, what I’m presenting must have worked in me to make me desire to unify with them. This opens doors to God igniting His spiritual creativity in the participants, such that there becomes a like minded atmosphere. Barriers to who is presenting and who is receiving begin to break down as roles are reversed and shared, leaving self focus on the side line. This atmosphere may be described scripturaly as, “coming together in His name”, and He is there! (more…)

Secret Altars

In a recent teaching, “Secret Things in High Places” at http://godsrevivalarena.org/sermons/secret-things-in-high-places , we studied how the devil wants us to have secret high places in our lives habits, addictions, secret strongholds and sins that he can use to destroy us. The Lord revealed that the devil would like to laugh at us in the corner as we are religiously fine in front of others, singing on the choir, preaching, shouting, and doing other “churchy” things, but privately having “secret altars”. He can use those secret altars to completely undermine our spiritual lives. Just as Israel worshiped at the altars in high places, religiously following after the traditions of Judaism, but also practicing the ungodly rituals of the nations around them, many believers are sacrificing their lives at secret altars. (more…)

Let us stop offending the Most Holy One

By Faith C

Good Morning Friends, I’ve spent many hours through the night praying and the Lord put many things on my heart today. I remembered this beautiful song ‘O To Be Like Thee’, I used to sing in Church as a child and found this lovely one on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsSOUqSAD0g. Please hear it and let God touch you in a special way. (more…)

What Has Happened to Community?

By william kovacic

In so many ways, the 21st century church has failed to accomplish God’s plan for her. When we look at the early church in the Book of Acts, we can see so many areas where we have fallen away. Twelve times in the book of Acts, the phrase “one accord” is used, but unity and community had a different meaning then.

There is so much talk today about community–living in oneness and unity, in one accord as the New Testament Church did. Having fellowship with one another seems to be the emphasis in so many churches today, but true community is found only in communing with God. (more…)

Christianity A Confusing Amalgam Of Beliefs?

By Sandor Balog

Christianity today seems to have lost its real meaning. Countless churches and denominations claim to be the only true followers of Jesus. Are any of them worth joining?

In my view, if a church or denomination wants to be a true follower of Christ, first of all it must get rid of all traditions that have their roots in Pagan customs and habits like Easter and Christmas. It should clearly distance itself from such non-Scriptural legends, theories and beliefs, as the Holy Grail, the Trinity and Saints and condemn all sins committed by or in the name of the Church throughout history, such as the Crusades, the Mediaeval Inquisition, the Church’s involvement in warfare etc. As a next step, it must free itself from the bondage of Jewish customs and traditions. (more…)

Knowing The Unknowable God

By Rabon Byrd

If you were to ask any believer if they desired to know the Lord in a greater and deeper way, I would guarantee that all would answer in the affirmative. Therefore, I do not believe that lack of desire to know Christ is the leading reason for the evident lack of spiritual knowledge in the Church. Many will say that it is due to indifferent Christians who are not trying hard enough and not putting enough effort toward knowing the Lord. In my opinion, lack of desire to know Christ does not account for the lack of knowledge in the Body of Christ, but the means by which they endeavor to achieve such knowledge. (more…)

The Church’s Dark Age of IndulgencesHere Again!

By SIXTUS ONYEANUSI
History told us that there was a time the church entered into a “dark age”, that is, when unbiblical teachings and practices, hypocritical lies and heresies were introduced into the church which ought not to be so because the Church of God is and should be the pillar of truth. It was an age when the true revelation knowledge of God was lost, it became dim and shallow, as the ones who were still holding forth the word of truth-the word of faith were excommunicated, beaded and terminated from the face of the Church.
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Lingering Fear

By Erin Dijkema

As a child, I had a very limited view of the concept of fear. I was afraid of the dark, old haggish witches and particularly of being kidnapped. I felt they were pretty legitimate things to be scared of back then. These fears were of things that were tangible, things that I could always easily be able to separate myself from. However, as I grew, my range of possible fears grew and matured. They were no longer just tangible fears, but intangible fears that would affect my life eventually despite my efforts to avoid them. One could also say, if analyzed enough, two distinct categories of fears were formed; those healthy fears that saves those who listen from destructive danger, and those fears that seem to overwhelm us despite their irrationality and/or ignorance of significance of the thing we fear, such as fear of commitment or fear of change; we forget that some of these things are actually beneficial. These two types of fears can be further explained by comparing between those given by God and those formed, manipulated, and churned over and over by Satan (sometimes those given by God have also been distorted by Satan). (more…)

The Thessalonians’ Case

By Hany N. Sadik

It is clear from the book of Acts (chapter 17); that the birth of the Thessalonians’ church was not a piece of cake, the apostle encountered rejection and persecution, and this is due to the jealous Jews .The power of the Jews in that city was in a sort like their power today in the field of Media (in USA), as we read they stirred up the crowds against the apostles, they even caused Paul and his fellow workers to flee to Berea. It is certainly clear that this church was born “persecuted” and linked with afflictions, and from the first letter to the Thessalonians; we can notice easily that the church in Thessalonica suffered mainly from their countrymen, and not from the Jews (1Thess. 2: 14) as the apostle had suffered before, but we can understand from the context of Acts 17 that they (the Jews) were the first cause of this persecution (Acts 17:8). Any way this persecution seems to be continuing as far as we know- to the day Paul sent them his second letter (nearly by the year 51-52 A.C.) which I would like in this article to explore the first seven verses of it. (more…)

Women Pastors And Elders

By Henry Bechthold

Women pastors and elders are now being ordained throughout most Christian denominations. However, some still maintain that men and women have been assigned different roles in the Church, with men being designated by God for leadership; although the majority insists that this “male leadership” exclusivity does not apply to the New Testament Church. (more…)

Fragmented Footing

By William Wright

Growing up in a household that never went to church, never believed in God, and constantly used Christ’s name in vain, I can honestly say that I had no conception of what church should be or what it really looked like outside of what I saw on TV or in the movies (“Footloose”). After accepting Christ into my life and learning to understand what the Church should be, my fresh perspective can almost be considered a hindrance…well, at least inconvenient. (more…)

Can Christian Meditation Transform the Church?

By Rhonda Jones

As I sat in church this past week listening to the pastor talk about clarity and contemplation, I wondered if the congregation really grasped the significances of what he was sharing. He spoke of prayer and spending time with God, but did it register or was it just another Christian ideal that sounded good but had no real practicality. Knowing what I have learned about contemplation, meditation, and prayer, it takes discipline to carve out time everyday to spend time with God in stillness and reverent solitude. As I continued to listen, I wondered if mere words were enough to demonstrate the magnitude of such a practice. Was a sermon about contemplation and meditation enough or must further steps be taken? Do pastors not only need to talk about reverent silence, contemplation, and Christian meditation, but practice it as a body as well? And if so, how? (more…)

The Prodigal son

By Fergus Davar

Hello folks, how are you? Hope all is well. I’ll be writing fewer articles now, as I now plan to take my writing into the music arena. Yeah I want to learn to compose music and am planning to invest my free time in learning the basics of music so that I can pass the interview for the 4 month course in music composition and direction starting January 2011 from Mumbai University.

Today I shall be writing on what was preached to the Church; however I feel the need to adapt to readers new to Church doctrine. Let us together go through the Parable of the Prodigal son in Luke 15:11-24. (more…)

Methodists look towards Communion in England, Lutherans in America with Methodists and Episcopalians

by Peter Menkin

In an historic move, the Methodist Church in Great Britain “is on its way to rejoining the Church of England” The “Telegraph” newspaper report from the United Kingdom by Martin Beckford goes on to say, “The head of the non-conformist denomination said it was ready to come back to the national church after 200 years apart, if it would help spread the word of God.” (more…)

Being a dwelling place for God

By beatrice ofwona

In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22

God consistently wants us to lead a holy life so that He can boast about us to the devil. The book of Ephesians is primarily about the kind of people God wants us to be so that He can make a dwelling in us. It was appropriately written for people who were originally dead to matters concerning Christianity. The book of Romans 6 tells us how a mind that is controlled by carnality is a dead one. It is one that refuses to submit to God and can neither corporate nor work with Him. (more…)