CHURCH, what is it? That shouldn't
be too hard to determine. Yet it is. In the same breath, we
find people speaking of the "church" clearly intending
different things. It isn't so much that we demand a purist
definition as that we desperately need consistency in the
use of such an important word. Without that, we can only
confuse issues intentionally or not. Hopefully these
discussions will provide a basis for a more open and much
needed understanding of |
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Humanizing the Church What ever happened to a loving, caring group of friends that got together to offer up praises and to worship the Lord? That was the early church. Where did it go? |
Who
Stole His Church? Is an examination of the influence of pop culture on established Christian principles. |
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I Will Build My Church What should the goals of any church be - to grow, to solve problems or what? |
Beelzebub At Work:
The Tribulation of the Church The "church" has been the target of Lucifer from the beginning. Now, he has new allies and new ammunition to shoot at us. |
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Mystery Worshippers How much commercialism is too much commercialism - especially this time of year? |
Communion on the Run If we grab the elements on the way out of church, are we showing sufficient respect? |
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Mind Your Own Business
The "church" has been so busy minding everyone else's business, it has forgotten what it's is. |
Above Reproach What kind of an example do church leaders set when their actions emulate those of the world? |
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Unity The last thing we want to hear in the Christian community is criticism of the likes of Benny Hinn and Paula White - right? |
Rebirth
With all the new "isms" cropping up, maybe it's time for Christianity to get refocused - "reborn." |
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Come
Home Too many churches have gotten too busy or too big to serve communion on a regular basis. That's too big and too busy. |
The
Bureaucratic Church In the scheme of Eternity, how much would all the Popes, Priests and Pastors weigh if we bundled them together and put them on a scale? |
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A Mission Not A Church Have some churches lost sight of their purpose or did they ever know it? |
Stage Struck With the pastor is "on stage" with everyone looking to him for direction and leadership, how are they going to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees |
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CONFESSION
AND ABSOLUTION |
ALL
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE MINISTERS |
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WOULD
YOU LIKE TO BE ORDAINED? |
THE
MULTIGIFTED BODY OF
CHRIST |
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Y2K |
AN
OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE |
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LAWGIVER |
SUPEREROGATION |
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SPIRITUAL
GIFTS |
INSIDE THE
BELTWAY |
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The Broken Chain of
Apostolic Authority Just who was it Peter ordained - or who was authorized to carry on the work after the Apostles? |
The Preachers of
Worldliness How else to fill the pews? |
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The
Disenfranchised Church What ever happened to the ""Priesthood of all Believers," the "Royal Priesthood?" |
The Parking-Lot Church |
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Is Bigger Really Better? |
When is Big Too Big? Is there an upper limit on church growth? |
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False Pretenses - A Crisis in Faith Now Christianity has entered the market place. Are we about to see a TV program called "The Come to Christ Game? |
We Can't Afford the Juice How important is communion to the spiritual life of the congregation? |
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Venues On the face of it, which would/should be more important for a congregation to consider, differences in musical tastes or learning styles? |
The Impoverished
Church If buildings were the answer, Europe would be a hotbed of evangelism. |
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The Distraction
of the Church When does the "price of doing business" become too much? |
Don't Shoot Your
Family A common Christian practice |
| If the "Church Could Save" – but it can’t | Favoritism – Should the "church" play favorites? |
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Do the Ends Justify the
Means? Is it "anything goes" in church as well as in business? |
Heaven Is a
Theocracy, The Church Is Not Yet, some pastors act is theirs is the final Word. |
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Can We Get Too
Friendly? Is it possible for members of a congregation to know one another too well? |
The Body of Christ Isn't A Church This article discusses the fact The Body of Christ isn’t the church |
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Pastor Asks what is the role of “pastor?” |
Street Friendly Churches – Going to church is getting stranger and stranger. |
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The Casino Church
Movement If in our personal lives He warns us of the distractions of "things," isn’t it even more so when it comes to the church? |
Broken Fences It's all about the power of words. For example, why traditional Judaism would not give God a name. |
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How Shall We Reach the Unchurched? I know, turn churches into an entertainment centers and sermons into pep talks. |
Hypocrisy Have we lost all traces of what the Christian community was and should be? |
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The Parking Lot Syndrome Why do we have to have "official greeters" extending the "glad-hand" to us as we enter church? Is it because that's about the only time anyone will even say "hello" to us? |
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Ownership Most Christians do not feel the "church" belongs to them |
A Rich Man Died Today; Everyone Cried If the "church" is full of partiality, can it be full of the Spirit? |
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What Happened? With all the resources being used, why hasn't the world already been evangelized? |
Robbers of the Church There are those who have stolen the "church" from us |
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The Welcome Mat How much of the greeting we get at church is little more than a professionally administered "glad hand." |
How To Find A Church What should we really be looking for in our church home? |
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Feed My Sheep Where are the pastures for His sheep? |
Insiders/Outsiders Do we sometimes confuse ourselves about how we treat Christians and non-Christians? |
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False Preachers and
Teachers How are we to separate truth from lies? How are we to know who is preaching the True Gospel and who is not? |
Poimhvn (Pastor or
shepherd) The word "pastor" appears one time in the New Testament? |
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Growing Churches Christianity in America seems to be in "The Jesus Market." |
What Is And What Is Not |
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The
Cornerstone of the Church Isn't Stone Nor Is It Hollow The substitution of anything other than Jesus the Christ as our foundation is heretical. |
The Sacraments Are the Sacraments the the property of the "church" and the "clergy?" |
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Minister of Word and Sacrament Why do we hire people to do what we are supposed to be doing? |
The World And Its Problems Using the church primarily for evangelism leaves a great deal to be desired. |
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THE CHURCH
THAT PETER BUILT
"Peter, because of your strength of character, your growth in wisdom and piety, I will call you apart?" |
THE
INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH How we derived such structure and complexity from the simplicity of Jesus' teachings |
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There's A Fresh
Wind Blowing Somewhere between Pentecost and today. the "church" separated itself from the "People of the Way." |
INDULGENCES?
WHY NOT? Why not use a tried and true method for fund raising? |
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12141 Addressing the Challenge Facing Christianity Today |
CAIAPHAS Astonishing that the works of men had totally supplanted the will of God in the church of the Chosen People. |
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THREE
TABERNACLES Our inclinations for buildings |
A
HIGH VIEW OF THE CHURCH Have you noticed an absence of lessons about the Holy Spirit? |
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THE
HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH What is that? What does the Holy Catholic Church really refer to? |
DIVIDED
WE STAND Do we need a new "paradigm" for the church? |
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And I Saw No Temple
Therein No temple; no priests; no sacrifices; no mortal intercessor. |
Signs
of a Successful Church No kidding, this is an attempt to ask what an honest to God successful church might really be like |
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The Good Shepherd David, you might remember was a shepherd boy. Has the role been exaggerated? |
All Things
To All People Boy, that sure sounds like work for a chameleon. How can we possibly carry that off without becoming nothing to everyone? |
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STEPS IN THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRIESTHOOD
"A priest," we are told by Bruce Larson, "is someone who stands between God and another person as a link or a channel person." |
A BOOK REPORT Wouldn't it be nice if there was Scriptural support for restricting "ministerial" and "pastoral" gifts and then elevating them to preeminence within the community of saints? |
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The Key to Knowledge These hoary gentlemen of the cloth were respected leaders and teachers of the church. |
The Persecution of the Church The American "church" seems to have a renewed, if somewhat belated and embarrassed, interest in the subject of the persecuted "church." |
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Why Does
the Church Exist? I What is the purpose of this "functioning body of Christ?" |
Why does the
Church Exist II Is it true that Christians "shoot their wounded?" |
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The
Reformation - Part I Reformation means to put an end to abuse, to correct or improve something that is wrong, corrupt or unsatisfactory. |
The
First Reformation - Part
II What is greatness? What is blessedness? |
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A Time and a Place Christ’s commands to the "church" to Go ye into all the world, just as surely as, Feed my sheep. Yet, they represent two distinct Gospel messages. |
The Lord Is Long
Suffering Swift to judge? Quick to condemn to eternal damnation? Evidently, such haste is characteristic of humankind rather than the Divine. |
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Successful,
Masterful Ministry and Spiritual Gifts Service to others is the expression of such love for God. |
Have We Gone Too Far? What could be more Christ-like than humility as we recognize our total dependency upon Him? |
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Cold Storage
New Christians start out being treated like trays of frozen food in cold storage. |
Why is the World Going to
the Dogs? If America was once more virtuous, more ethical, more Christ-like than now how do we account for our slide into perdition? |
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The Priesthood and the Gifts of the Spirit Is it possible for solely human organizations to carry out God’s plan or is there need for His Spirit to help us? |
Is It A Matter of
Name Calling? Speak not evil one of another, brethren. |
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You Pay, I Pray Why do we have to pay someone to pray for us? |
Selling the Blood of
Jesus Judas stole from the church, if in no other way he stole the life of our Master |
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Christian
Communalism All things in common? You've got to be kidding! |
A Paradigm Shift American Christianity is facing the very serious problem that it is no longer a significant force in society |
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Tithes and The Church Misdirected giving? |
The Church and
a Decaying Nation While campaigns and rallies against abortion, homosexuality and pornography have their place, they must not usurp the fundamental role of the church to teach and spread the Word. |
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What Hath Man
Wrought? What is "morally capable?" Can gays and lesbians be guardians of the faith? |
Too Big? Is there such a thing as a church that is too big? |
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One Of You Not only do organizations preserve, some would say stultify, they also depersonalize. |
The Disenfranchised Modern Christians suffer from the same lack of ownership of the church as the public. |
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A God Thing This article deals with how the misbehavior of the "gathered church" as well as individual Christians can influence those around us. |
Baptism
for the Dead Baptism for the dead is widespread and found in all Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations. Just look around. |
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Abstract Christianity The two realities of the Christian faith are under a withering attack by an avant-garde intelligentsia. |
Lite Christianity Like some beer, it is so close to being tasteless so it won't offend the taste of any but the most discriminating imbibers. |
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The Gap: The Fractured World of the Church
How much should the Gospel Message be modified to be "politically correct?' |
A Slippery Slope
"Church" fads have gone from bad to worse - from "seeker friendly" to emerging. |
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The Dysfunctional Family of God The "church" is so far off course, it bears no resemblance to Biblical accounts and, consequently, does not deserve the title. |
Don’t Throw the Baby Out With
the Bathwater
With the glad-handed rush to please everyone and offend no one, we must take care that we don't destroy the essentials of Christianity. |
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The Act of
Christian Giving - Part I
We must ask, "How successful is the "Church" when people hear the word they think of money instead of Jesus the Christ?" |
A "Missional Church" is
a "Prostitutional Church"
There's a time and place for "Missional" work, it just isn't in "church." |
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The Glory of God
A new "reformation" must rethink the "church." |
Everyone Is Welcome!
The real concern is welcomed to what for what. |
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When Is Being Ordained Not
What credentials should a "man of the cloth" really have before we give any credence to what he tells us is the Gospel Truth? |
Redefining "Active In the Church
We talk about it. We hear sermons about it. But, what does it mean to be "active in the church?" |
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Evangelistic/Seeker Churches The use of the term “church” associated with “seeker churches” is a misnomer. Because they present a watered-down “relevant” message of the Gospel that tickle the ears of their listeners. How then, can they claim to a "church" of Christ?” |
Does Your Church Fall Apart in the
Parking Lot? Instead of being a family of God, must churches are run as a business with marketing strategies that would rival Wal-Mart. The end product is not worship, fellowship and discipleship; it is geared toward becoming bigger and bigger. |
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Baptized Into What? If a person is baptized into a church, isn't it fair to ask what they are getting themselves into? |
The Dysfunctional
Church A lot of organizations parade around as "churches" that are totally, or near so, dysfunctional. That is, they do not meet the standards of the Biblical church. |
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Do Not
Forsake the Congregation Second only to accepting Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Savior, is the fellowship of saints. We're seeing less and less of that fellowship as we move from that to being "purpose driven." |
There's Gold In Those Pews
How can we account for the persistent non-Biblical use of tithes and offerings - ignorance or deceitfulness? |
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Fellowship In the Bible, the standard for "fellowship" it is deep, genuine and a sincere interest in the well-being of our brothers and sisters in Christ? Shouldn't that be the standard for today as well? |
The Church and Social
Action In launching his P.E.A.C.E. PLAN, Rick Warren said his next step was to bless the whole world by bringing churches together to eliminate poverty, injustice and the like. Is any single human or group capable of blessing the world and eliminating it' inequalities other than letting His light shine through the lives we lead? |
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Politico-Religiosity Not only does bringing politics into church create dissent, it breaches the separation of church and state thus giving the state solid grounds to interfere with our beliefs and religious practices. |
Is Growing Your Church A Case of
Compounding Errors? We first need to establish what is meant when people, "pastors," discuss "church growth" or talk about "growing their church." My the errors just keep compounding. |
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The Church of Today Is Not
Christianity The white washed tombs we now call "church," are the remnants of the true church; a grotesque shadow of the once vibrant, spirit-filled and spirit-led Christian church we find in Scripture. |
Drive-thru What has become more and more obvious is the so many "churches" don't even disserve the name. They had just as well be a "drive-in" or a "drive-thru" dispensing slick "Christianity" on the run. |
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Sanctuary Christian churches used to be spiritual sanctuaries. We sometimes still call them that but, are the really? |
Let The Church Be The Church The First Century Church in today's world would be small enough for every member to know and care for one another just like the family we are supposed to be. Probably too small to be profitable. |
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