Hi Ken, I was reading January Gospel Advocate and saw your October 2005 article published as Religious Revolution. Nice article. I think it is always good to question what we do and why we do it so we know what and why. Many do neither. One of the problems we have caused ourselves is using versions with outdated language. I have to read very carefully Thomas Jefferson's letters because of the wordage. Insisting on "thee and thou" reminds me of the Catholics hanging on to the Latin language. They admitted they did not understand but they just loved the way it sounded. The word Church that James insisted be retained is another problem. Anyone can call their group a church so it means nothing but we hang on to it. Similar to baptism means nothing to anyone and everything to everyone, the word is immersed. Many if not most of the current problems have been self imposed not the least of which is a horrible lack of knowledge of what the Bible says. If one is not going to read the Bible they can do anything, to them, nothing is wrong. Another issue is differentiating between what is different and what is sin. For years preachers have raised one hand when they declared "I baptize you in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." If preachers or at least some, can do it why not the lay people? Clapping is another issue. Is it sin? If yes it should be taught as such with Bible support. If not, we should forget it. In the article you mention "We need to keep our worship simple and biblical." Why do we consider what we do in our assemblies worship? I see nothing in the New Testament that commands or even suggests we worship. Jesus told the woman at the well, "... true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, ... God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." One cause of problems may be that most Christians have no idea what that means and they do care enough to find out. Paul said everything we do when we assemble must be for the building up of the "church." Whoever wrote Hebrews said we meet to encourage each other to love and good works. But nothing about worship except Paul's comment to the church in Rome that presenting our bodies a living sacrifice is reasonable service or worship. How is praying for the sick worship, or listening to the preacher worship (edification, hopefully) or how is singing to each other worship? Jesus told his followers to eat and drink in remembrance of Him. Remembering and worship are different functions, aren't they? We attend memorial services and do not consider that worshiping the deceased. With the Christian Chronicle reporting the Church of Christ is shrinking it may be a good time to accept that our assemblies do not edify and do not encourage love and good works and certainly not evangelism and have not done so for fifty years or more if ever since the first century. The saved have concentrated more on getting Sunday "worship" right and as the Pharisees neglected what is truly important. As Sesame Street changed the way teachers teach. Same reading writing and arithmetic but teaching in a different way. Maybe the church should look into what that means for the saved and how they can relate to the not saved. Nice article but I do not understand why we think Sunday is worship. If you have the time and are so inclined I would appreciate your reasoning. Thanks again. Another time I will send an email on the infallible word of God. Which version are you referencing? Some versions are anything but infallible. As George told Gracie, Goodnight Gracie.....
Regards,
John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gregor Mendel Giving Peas a Chance Since 1856 | 
No comments:
Post a Comment