Posted on 04/28/2014 11:37:57 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
A short time ago I learned of a church building in our neighborhood that was for sale. For years now Grace Fellowship Church has been looking for a building of our own, so we thought we should go and give it a look. This had once been a thriving congregation. Faithful Christians had given sacrificially to construct that building. They had consecrated it to the Lord and had worshipped there for many years. Yet now that building was deserted, decaying, and up for sale.
What happened? How did that church go from thriving to dying? How did it slide from healthy to sick to dead? I think I know. I think Paul tells us in his second letter to Timothy, the letter he wrote just days or weeks before his death. There, in chapter 4, he looks into the future, he sees a church being destroyed, and he warns us how it happens. It’s as straightforward as four simple steps.
(Excerpt) Read more at challies.com ...
Sad to say, you’re right.
I left the UMC because of the insanity.
Don’t forget the ELCA.
Short summary:
Allow liberals to take control.
You would have to mention them, my former denomination, now just another Liberal Cult.
bttt
Good, succinct article.
Yep, it’s even sinking in to some conservative churches.
Funny, I belong to what many people would call a ‘cult’ because we adhere to some Old Testament practices. Meanwhile these liberal churches wither on the vine because they stand for nothing and believe anything. Once their congregations get wise to the fact that there’s no reason to attend these churches the churches close.
Believing in something and then practicing what you believe is a radical act these days.
yep.
PFL
I've met some really interesting people and made some good friends over the years visiting churches which seem to be the most unpopular with our modern day Babylonian Mainstream.
The chruch I went to as a kid is still around. My paerents still go. I didn’t realize how bad it got until my 10 year old came home with a gay pride bracelet. My paerents are lefties so I started to think just where did they go?
She got it at a umc church. Thankfully they had no clue what it ment.
Grandma has been told. Not to take the kids to chruch any more.
It’s an error to interpret large building programs as the evidence of a Spirit-lead congregation. After all, the largest “gay and lesbian” church located in Dallas just constructed a massive new multi-million dollar chapel.
Are we to suppose, then, that they are being “blessed” by God?
Satan is their god and he is using them and their money to build his temple.
A good article that makes it’s point well. Thanks.
And I think this same progression can be genericized to apply to how a lot of things are destroyed. Families. Communities. Cultures.
There’s a lot of truth in what he says. I’ve witnessed it myself in Seattle. The Capital Hill Methodist church is gone and all the Christian Scientists churches are gone. All progressive humanist churches are just barely hanging in there with maybe twenty or so attending church on Sunday. Across from us we have a First United Church of Christ with a Lesbian pasture. I had a conversation with her and she told me the trouble with Seattle is that there were too many churches. I was shocked that a pasture would say that so I said ‘the trouble with Seattle is that there were not enough pasture’s preaching the gospel. Needless to say her church has less then twenty attending service on Sunday. She seem to think that if more churches were gone she would have more people attending her church apparently.
How to survive? 4 steps.
(i) Get a better definition of “church” outside a denominational moniker or “brick & mortar” edifices.
(ii) Realize that people of all understandings make up Christ’s church, established at His crucifixion and resurrection. The gathering of the faithful (the baptized).
(iii) Understand that each congregation, in its place and location, is the Christ’s Church militant, “all the company of heaven laud and magnify His name”
(iv) Sola Fides, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura. The gathering that preaches and hears the Word (Logos!) rightly divided and in its purity is the dwelling place of God (the Holy of Holies).
From what I read about the “dead” church in the article, I would guess it was formerly a UCC congregation. I’ve read some of their latest statements, and it sounds like them. The “Church of What’s Happnin’ Now.”
Then let's stop using the strength of building programs as a barometer of church health. That's my only point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.