For thought and meditation

[rl69]

"Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you" (Lev 26:8).

The Church is called to impact the world. The biblical definition "church" is not an institution or building, but rather it is made up of individuals. Jesus said "wherever two or more meet together, I am in the midst of them."The biblical word translated as "church" is ekklesia which is the original Greek meaning "the people of God."

The New Testament used this word in two different ways. Sometimes it refers to people of God gathered together in congregations. That is our traditional idea of the local church. But other times it means believers in general, wherever they might find themselves.

God calls the Church to be transformers of society through their collective influence. Jesus prayed that His Church would be unified in order for the world to respond to Him. "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:23). The enemy of the Church is secularism, a religion that says there is no God. When local congregations fail to come together as a collective voice and operate instead as individual silos in their community society is given over to the evils created as a result of an unbelieving society. Conversely, when the Body of Christ – the Church puts its collective resources together to solve societal issues, our enemies; crime, poverty, sexual perversion, etc. will fall by the sword of a unified Church.

God is birthing city coalitions of His Church among congregations in the city in order to fulfill John 17:23. Are you willing to be a catalyst in your community to see His Church take back your city

[Blackwater]

Yet another great post. We all too often assume we know the meanings of words, but on closer examination, we find they sometimes mean more than we thought. This is why I find most of the interdenominational aspirations so egregious and unnecessary. We're supposed to be able to talk among ourselves with respect for our mutual Christian faith, but due to our egos, and temperaments, we don't always do that. This is just falling prey to the Evil One who continually tempts us, and is gleeful whenever Christ's followers argue among themselves.

When Christ was with us, his disciples had many disagreements among themselves, and always came to Him to settle them. We can still do that via prayer before disparaging other Christians, and talk openly and honestly with them and work out our differences, but we too often fail to take advantage of that, and this only serves the interests of Satan, rather than Christ.

And the first sentence, "The Church is called to impact the world," is, I notice, in DIRECT opposition to the PC theology which basically says that we can believe anything we want, as long as we just don't talk about it anywhere. I don't think that's by accident, and yet, so many are so timid that they go by the PC theology rather than the obviously good advice and direction Christ has given us. This is one of the reasons the Chapel here is so poignant and reassuring - folks of all denominations getting along and putting aside personal differences to serve our Lord, which we all worship, just in slightly different ways. I was raised to think that Catholics were "the cult of Mary," but I happened to know some Catholics, and knew for a fact that this was man's theology, and not God's. But then, back then, man preachers weren't very highly educated, and all too often relied on their passions rather than delving more deeply into their attitudes and even what they were taught in some seminaries. So I never accepted that, because what I saw in at least some of the Catholics I knew just didn't match with the story that was told on them.

As Christians, we must keep our eyes open, and guard against bad theology and even our egos, to come closer to God and understand Him better. And to get the details worked out is a life-long job for most of us. I know I keep learning, and I thank God for it, and at least some of it is due to the folks here. So thanks. It matters.

[Pine Baron]

Thanks again, rl. Sure seems like this "chapel" is a step in the right direction.