Hello Christian visitor!

Are you immune to the effect of the things of this world?  Of course not!  Apathy, lack of respect or care for others is spreading like wildfire throughout not only the world, but even through all of our churches.  Personal "fulfillment" through financial and other material success, including finding a mate, and making sure our kids excel better than their peers at sports and school seems to hold much higher priorities than seeking God and obeying Him.  As good as enjoyable music, self-esteem seminars, witty and entertaining speakers, and "spiritual high" feelings might seem, such things cannot produce Christians that truly think or act differently than their non-Christian peers who have their priorities all mixed up.

What is the purpose of attending a church?  I know for a fact that some go to drum up customers for their business, or find the man or woman of their dreams.  Some think that it is the place to bring one's unsaved friends so the cool music and preaching will save them.  I was grieved to hear a Christian I have to deal with regularly who actually told me that we should spend ALL our time "praising" God in music in church, and forget the sermon.   It is becoming more and more clear that most Christians have become very ignorant of the main purpose of church services:

(Eph 4:11-13) And He gave some {as} apostles, and some {as} prophets, and some {as} evangelists, and some {as} pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.

God has given us certain gifted individuals who will:

Equip the individual Saints (believers) for:

- The WORK of service (regardless of who you are, Christian, you have a spiritual job to do!).

Build up the body of Christ (that includes ALL Christians in and out of any church) until:

- We all attain unity of faith (someday, we will no longer need to argue about when the Rapture will occur, if "speaking in Tongues" today is OK, etc., since the Scriptures will be understood by ALL of us).
- We attain THE knowledge of Jesus Christ (all our knowledge of Him is grossly lacking now).
- We attain maturity ("perfection" is the literal translation), to the same level of perfection of maturity Jesus Christ has.

Did you notice that EVANGELISTS were included in that group.  Please especially note that the passage never said that the main job of evangelists was to preach to the lost.  It appears that their main purpose is to EQUIP OTHER BELIEVERS to do evangelism!

What is the result of Christians becoming mature from such a process as the book of Ephesians spells out:

(Eph 4:14-16)  As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by EVERY wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all {aspects} into Him, who is the head, {even} Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

IF the body of Christ (ALL true Christians) was mature as we should be, we would not be tricked by any of the various false teachings that are now inside and outside of our churches.  Why is it so important to not be ever taken in by a false doctrine?  Nobody down here perfectly understands all the truth, right?  That may be true, but that does not mean that we are to close our eyes, and compromise doctrinal beliefs with others and PRETEND we have the unity talked about in Ephesians chapter 4.  Such compromise makes us no different from non-Christians who also strive for false unity!  

NOT being diligent in seeking doctrinal maturity would result in us walking just like the UNBELIEVERS ("Gentiles") walk:  

(Eph 4:17-19)  This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

It does not take a genius to figure out what the main problem most Christians suffer from.  It is lack of maturity!  No wonder our witness to the unsaved is so ineffective.  I need to continually mature, and you do too!     My prayer is that my work on this web page will also help myself and others attain the maturity we all desperately need.

The Ephesians 4:11-19 passage clearly teaches what life changes Christian maturity should result in:

• Darkness and ignorance are removed from our understanding.
• Hardness of our hearts is removed.
• Sensuality (desire for physical pleasure) is removed from being our #1 goal in life.  
• Selfish and greedy desires ("habits," "disorders") driving us to do impure things are removed. 
• Our USELESS ("futile") lives become useful. 
• We are no longer excluded from the life of God.

Further on, the Bible passage gives us more detail on how we SHOULD have changed:

(Eph 4:20-25) But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in {the likeness of} God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.  Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one {of you,} with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

In other words, this is how your Christian life should be:

Lay aside your "old self" (your former manner of living), which was driven by your deceitful lusts (how could your lusts be deceitful?  For one thing, they tell you the lie over and over that THIS TIME you will be happy by giving in to them).

Put on the "new self" (which was already created for you by God), which will result in:

• Laying aside falsehood, and its place, speak the truth to other body "members" (What a relief.  You won't have to fake being holy and spiritual any more, since you will start becoming holy and spiritual in actual practice).

Have I got your attention yet?  I must have, since you are still reading my web page. If our churches have become so inadequate in equipping the saints in order to do and become what God meant us to, what can you do?  In these "Last Days" before Christ's return, it is most likely that you will not find a single Christian who has not compromised his mission in some way before God.  Nevertheless, we must support Christians that God has gifted who are at least trying in some way to minister without compromise.  Regularly attend the best Biblical church you can find.  Keep encouraging the LEADERSHIP to not be controlled doctrinally by such things as the money-givers, or by the lust for higher attendance.  Encourage your pastor to not worry about losing any or all of his RETIREMENT MONEY, by standing up for the truth in his church (this is a bigger problem than you might imagine)!  Share the Wisdom of God that you learn with others one-on-one, and teach it in a class if God has so gifted you.

I do not expect that every Christian would agree with everything I post at my web page.  Nevertheless, numerous believers have reported to me that my articles have greatly helped them in their understanding of the Bible, and this very much improved their walk with God.  It is my hope and prayer that you too will be helped in the same manner.  God bless you, as you try to overcome the pitfalls of "Punch and Cookie" Christianity, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Because most Christian's spiritual guard has been down, we have let many APOSTATES (wolves in sheep clothing) not only creep into our churches, but we also let many of them become our MINISTERS!:

"They say they want the kingdom, but they don't want God in it."
From the song, The Wanderer, by U2

Falsely Swearing by God's Name

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