Are We Missing the Church's Purpose?
A.W. Tozer
SermonIndex Classics It would be too easy to dismiss this dislike for church as only another symptom of original sin and love of moral darkness, but I believe that explanation is too pat to be wholly true. It doesn't explain enough. Some persons, for instance, find church intolerable because there is no objective toward which pastor and people are moving, aside possibly from the limited one of trying to enlist eight more women and 10 more men to chaperon the annual youth cookout or reaching the building fund quota for the month. And believe me, that can get mighty wearisome after a while, so wearisome indeed that alert, forward-looking persons often forsake the churches in droves and leave the spiritless, the dull and those afflicted with permanent insouciance to carry on, if a phrase so active dare be used to describe what they do. To Paul there was nothing dull or tiresome in the religion of Christ.
God had a plan which was being carried forward to completion, and Paul and all the faithful in Christ Jesus were part of that plan. It included predestination, redemption, adoption and the obtaining of an eternal inheritance in the heavenly places. Gods purpose has now been openly revealed (Ephesians 3:10,11). It was the knowledge that they were part of an eternal plan that imparted unquenchable enthusiasm to the early Christians. They burned with holy zeal for Christ and felt that they were part of an army which the Lord was leading to ultimate conquest over all the powers of darkness. That was enough to fill them with perpetual enthusiasm.
We come to know Jesus through John. John is studiously succinct and selective in all that he tells us about Jesus but his account is fully informed (and informative), his relationship to the Saviour profoundly intimate, and his effort more than enthusiastically human. John is inspired supernaturally to impart his knowledge of Jesus to us. "Jesus Through John" Roger Salter, LIVING ORACLES
There are many ways to verify the reliability of scripture from both internal evidences of transmission and agreement, to external confirmation through archeology and science. But perhaps the most persuasive argument can be found in the area of prophecy. "The Old Testament is Filled with Fulfilled Prophecy" Jim Wallace, PLEASECONVINCEME APOLOGETICS RADIO
After a few x-rays and other exams my Chiropractor told me my spine was out of alignment, and informed me that many people are living life with spinal misalignments, causing many conditions that all too often go totally unnoticed. Often Christians have a spiritual misalignment that unfortunately many wonderful believers live with on a day-to-day basis. "Spiritual Misalignments" Pastor Timothy Kelley, GRACE THOUGHTS
One of the things I noticed during my research for my upcoming book, Bankruptcy of Our Nation, was the astounding lack of economic understanding among the American media and the general population. "Economic Illiteracy Abounds" Jerry Robinson, THE JERRY ROBINSON SHOWTURNING POINT
May the Lord richly bless you!
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