Each of the gospels is unique. God did not give us just one story of the life of Christ, although that would have been sufficient. He chose to tell it from four perspectives, through the eyes of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Though they all worked from the same information and through the same medium of inspiration, each author had their own purpose and appeal. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Circus church must be wearing thin. After years of crowd-pleasing theatrics to pack the pews, the popcorn has grown stale and the Starbucks has turned cold. Those who grasp history as well as human tendencies could have predicted that the emptiness of Evangelicalism would eventually manifest itself and a new trend would emerge. It was only a matter of time. The time has come. [Read the rest of this entry...]
I don’t make a habit of recommending movies. In far too many movies, very little of godly value is present and worthy of recommending. Laced with profanity, making sensual appeals, promoting intoxication – let not our consciences become dulled to such poor fodder for the spiritual mind! But a recent trip down the family aisle provided an exception. A nugget appeared: “The Adventures of Ociee Nash”…a film set in the late 1800’s—and rated G! [Read the rest of this entry...]
It seems that nothing separates those who profess faith in Christ like the subject of baptism. The division over baptism is quite ironic considering the significant role it played in the ministries of Jesus and His apostles. Many today distort its purpose, downplay it’s importance, or totally disregard its necessity altogether.
By teaching that baptism is essential for salvation we are often ridiculed and accused of discounting grace or of trying to earn our salvation. Many will argue that one only needs to believe to be saved. [Read the rest of this entry...]
The church we read about in the Bible belongs to God and was planned by Him before the creation of the world (Eph.3:8-11). It was to make known the wisdom of God (3:10). It was built by Jesus Christ, our Lord, (Matt.16:18), who is its foundation (1 Cor.3:11), and was purchased by His precious blood (Acts 20:28).
When God raised Christ from the dead, He gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt.28:18) and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is described as His body (Eph.1:20-23).
Jesus Christ commissioned His apostles to take His message to the whole world (Matt.28:18-20). He gave them the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth (John 16:13) and reveal to them the things He wanted us to know (Eph.3:1-6). His apostles and prophets spoke and wrote what God revealed to them for our benefit (2 Pet.3:1-2), including how we should conduct ourselves in His church (1 Tim.3:15). Inspired letters were written to local congregations (Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonica, etc.) and to individuals (Timothy, Titus, and Philemon) instructing us in what He would have us to do individually and congregationally.
All of these points show the importance and value God places on His church and the emphasis He places on carrying out His will and purposes in His church. Thus, whatever we do in His church we should do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, or by His authority (Col.3:17).
From reading the New Testament we learn that local congregations carried out the following functions related to our subject at hand:
God’s design of His church was sufficient for local congregations to carry out His will completely in these matters. Nowhere do we find authority from our Head for the church to build and/or maintain separate organizations/businesses to carry out the work that the Lord gave the church to do—whether it be a missionary society to carry out the work of sending out preachers, a college to carry out the work of equipping Christians for the work of serving and speaking the truth in love, or a benevolent organization (hospital, orphans’ home, etc.) to carry out the work of caring for needy Christians.
If we are to “speak as the oracles of God … that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,” (1 Pet.4:11) we will preach and practice what God authorized in our local congregations. Local congregations will collect money by contributions of the Christians there and use that money to support preachers, to equip Christians for godly service and to help needy Christians. They will use that money in the local congregation for the purposes God ordained, or send it directly to the preachers or to the congregations where there are needy Christians. That is the pattern seen in the passages cited above and thus we know that is pleasing to God Who designed His church.
Individual Christians or groups of Christians are certainly at liberty to establish businesses, profit or non-profit, which do good things (grocery stores, hospitals, colleges, benevolent homes). There were masters (employers/owners of servants) who were Christians whose activities were regulated by God’s principles in Scripture (Eph.6:9; Col.4:1; 1 Tim.6:1-2).
However, you will search in vain for the authority from God for the church of our Lord Jesus Christ to establish or maintain a business with its contributions. There is as much authority for the church to make a contribution to a grocery store because it provides food for hungry people as there is for it to make a contribution to a hospital because it provides medical care for sick people. Local congregations provided food for needy Christians, but they did not enter into the “food business.”
God established the purposes for His church before the creation of the world. He revealed them to us in His Word. Let us reverence Him by honoring and fulfilling those purposes in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!
“There is one body” (Eph.4:4)… “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor.1:13)… “He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body” (Eph.1:22-23)… “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). [Read the rest of this entry...]