By Matt Gartner

My Story

Last year I stopped going to my church of the last several years.  It wasn’t because the people there were horrible or that the pastor was a bad preacher or that they preached something unbiblical.  On the contrary—the people seemed nice, the pastor was effective in expositing the Word of God and the Church’s theology was sound.

It was that the church felt pointless.   I couldn’t honestly put my finger on it—I was told all my life, and understood from scripture that we were to go there to worship God:

I understood that we were to come together as the body of Christ:

but I also sensed deep down inside and from scripture that church wasn’t supposed to be what I was attending:

When I would go to church, it was with a sense of duty—I was showing my kids my faith, I would share my faith with others, etc.   I didn’t see much “stirring” in the congregation.  When I got there it was the standard routine.   Find a place to sit (Any would do as you sit next to the other churchgoers facing forward to see the pastor and musicians)  Perhaps a few words with the person sitting next to you. Then the usual singing, prayers and sermon.  Sometimes it was uplifting, other times not so, but I was raised with the credo that church wasn’t supposed to be what I got out of it, but that we were there to humbly worship God.  I agree with that to this day.  Many churches in the pattern of Joel Osteen/Victoria Osteen focus on “Feeling good” but miss the point of our existence which is to worship and give glory to God:

When I left after the Sunday service I found myself feeling unfulfilled—there was little edification or desire to take what I had learned into the world.  The same groups of people talked after the service and shared a surficial “this was my week.”   I made a point of talking to as many individuals as I could as I wanted to know them and share my faith with them.  However, the responses I received were largely indifferent if I opened up.  Likewise, by and large I didn’t sense others sharing their deeper persons with me, which led me to believe the church wasn’t so much a “body” as a club.  Nice people, just not really any different from my day-to-day acquaintances in “The world”.

So I searched myself—Were these the reasons I didn’t go to church anymore?

My wife asked me if we should seek out another church.  My response was “No, they’d all have the same problem”, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Then, after much reflection, prayer and study in scripture, I was led to the book of Revelations as part of our family’s ongoing study of the Bible.   What I read there was..well..a revelation.   I believe the church of the West is much like the church of Laodicea:

The Heresy

I believe the churches of the West (even those who hold to Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide) follow a kind of heresy practiced out of the need to rationalize lives lived in the undeniable wealth and success our culture has acquired.

I am no less guilty of this heresy.  I hold onto a great deal of wealth in overall terms.  In effect, I own more than hundreds of families in other parts of the world, and I have been raised in a culture that acquires material possessions and has little imagination for what real poverty looks or feels like.

To understand my point of view, please let me explain my rationale.

Early Christianity

If we look at the early Christian church, the people of the 1^st to 3^rd centuries were completely at the mercy of God’s providence.  “Trust in God” takes on real meaning.  There were no social safety nets, nor justice from their Roman overlords.  I believe the early Jewish converts were probably disowned by their families and friends:

I believe Gentiles suffered the same problems of disowning and rejection.

So what did the early Church look like?  Acts 2:42-47 describes the early Jerusalem church:

Also Acts 4:32-35:

What an amazing witness they must have been to the culture that surrounded them.  What a contrast to the Pharisee-like mercilessness of the Roman-occupied Judea.  Witnesses to miracles and brothers/sisters in faith, they helped each other–those locked out of jobs (widows, handicapped, rejected) and the homeless with the assets they had.   This is 1^st Century Palestine shortly after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ—filled with people that had very little, but what they had they gave.  It is a different paradigm from the modern comfort we enjoy.   In fact, we appear to be equivalent to the richest of the early Christians.

But let’s continue.  As Christianity grew, the culture turned on the early Christians.  Not only in Jerusalem where Stephen was stoned to death by the leaders of the Jews as apostate, but in Gentile cities as well.  They were antithetical to their cultures and were actively evangelizing citizens—they looked poisonous to Jews and later to the Gentiles:

By their faith, evangelism and rejection of worldliness, early Christians challenged the economic and social order of the Roman empire and the Greek academics who believed strongly in their own “wisdom” and gods:

“The Way” was also offensive to Judaism and its adherents scattered throughout the eastern Mediterranean as witnessed by Paul in various cities (Acts 17:13, Acts 18:12-17).   “Christians” as they came to be derided, were persecuted for their evangelism and works in the name of Jesus Christ.  Belief and practice got them killed.  Early Christians experienced the “Sharp end” of faith.  The faith Jesus said would see them hated:

The early church was drawn together in faith by bonds of poverty, rejection and persecution.

Constantine, Roman Catholicism and the Reformation

However, that changed around 312 AD when Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, halted persecution of Christians and made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire ¹

From Constantine forward Christians “Christianized”, with state blessing, any new lands the regents of Europe sought to colonize ².    The intention was seemingly good, but the results were born of the corruption of statified religion.

Christianity became the “De facto” religion in colonies and eventually the countries they became including Canada and the USA.   Government was based on the practice of Christianity (Even with its adherent’s errors like slavery), and churches were sewn throughout the land.  The Bible was also used as the basis for most laws.

The church architecture of the period evolved over time from early house churches where Christians met in small groups and often in secret (Pre-Constantine) to vaulting “Basilicas” (Post-Constantine) that were to showcase the grandeur and power of the church in front of hundreds.  The basilica style was actually taken from the Roman structure where court was held.³ The pinnacle was to see the Basilica separated into the “Nave” where adherents were allowed to be and the “Chancel” where only the clergy were permitted, effectively separating the clergy from the faithful. ⁴  I believe they were designed to affect submission to church authority as the clergy were the extension of papal power in Rome.  This separation has remained in many churches today, if not in a physical sense, then in that of fellowship with the leaders.

I believe the architecture is the most telling of all in the post-Constantine period.   It offers a glimpse into the mind of church leaders who had deceived themselves in so many ways that they built Solomon-Temple-like churches over the people rather than humble places of worship for the purpose of ministering to them.  They used the wealth given to (or taken by) the church to “impress” God and man with their monuments rather than to serve the poor and to spread the gospel.   It is a deception that is less prevalent today, but no doubt still exists in the modern “Mega-church” which seeks to create a vast space with thousands of seats and a mass experience.

In my study, the key takeaways from this era were the dramatic change from a church under attack to a church that was dominant—leading to the corruption of the leaders of the church and deception.  It was an era where the church gained political power under the umbrella of the Roman state—leading to the formalization of church service, church architecture and church control over citizen’s lives.   The Roman Catholic Church in effect had no need for ministry—it simply assumed the belief in its doctrines everywhere it (and the governments it controlled) went.  The people either accepted it or were shunned or even killed.

This abuse of power contributed to the Reformation that brought the Word of God back into the hands of ordinary people, in their own languages, taking it back from an overarching religion.  But did the reformation go far enough?

Despite the Reformation, the dominant, politicized and institutionalized forms of Christianity led to apathy and eventually atrophy.  Still, for centuries, all was well and evangelism was something you took to a backward part of the world.  This fallacy was accepted until the cracks began to appear in the façade mid-20^th Century.

Industrial Revolution

I believe the church underwent its next major change during and after the industrial revolution which began around 1760.   It was not so much that the church itself changed, as the lives of the believers.   By-and-large churches retained the same dominance, structural organization and architecture.

The industrial revolution heralded the beginning of the mass production of goods, the mass consumption of goods, and the consumer economy.

I believe this shift in focus to material goods, conveniences and comfort slowly diminished the dependence on God, and as the Christian faith dominated, believers slowly began to make their faith an “Accessory” to their ever more comfortable lives.  There was a happy complacency about attending church, voting for your favourite Christian politician, and living a materialistic lifestyle along-side it all.

This was probably not readily apparent to a farmer in 1824, because social safety nets still didn’t exist and materialism/consumerism were really not pervasive at that time.   However, fast forward to 1950 and we see a complete explosion of post WWII wealth and prosperity that all but completely wiped out the need for God in many people’s lives.  The culture’s apparent richness subverted the need for faith.

I speak to this in another article I wrote on America (It could be any western country) which holds some parallels: In God We Trust

The Apostle Paul probably said it best in his letter to Timothy:

Today

We arrive at the latter half of the 20^th century with a body of believers who are still essentially dominant in defining government policy, with adherents who are growing ever more comfortable and dependent on their wealth, with the state safety-net providing security, and with a culture that is increasingly rebelling against the Bible as the foundation of truth.

Where once we could sit back and feel good about our “Christian culture”, we now found ourselves increasingly rejected by it and with diminishing numbers of believers.  Our practice (or lack of practice) of our faith looks hollow and hypocritical to the culture.

Such a mix cannot last long before generational degradation takes hold.   As the culture rebels in the vacuum of apathetic Christianity, they elect politicians who are willing to be sin-enablers and who don’t accept or believe in biblical truth:

The people deride “Crooked politicians” but they won’t vote for the righteous man.  They instead seek the politician who gives a pass to their sins.  Once the ride down starts, it can only get worse until the culture walks in darkness, much as 1^st Century Rome did.

Today, the churches of North America and Europe may object to the foolish departures from the bible by the relativistic culture (The normalizing of homosexuality, transgenderism, gender fluidity, etc).   However, I believe we are already so deeply aligned with the culture in our desire for comfort, for pain-avoidance, for wealth, that we choose to remain silent in the face of evil, lest we give up that comfort.

In Matthew 19 (Verses 16-30), a rich young ruler, in his self-righteousness, approaches Jesus and asks what good deed he might do to obtain eternal life.  Jesus allows the young man to build his credentials as an obedient follower of the Law.  And then Jesus exposes the ruler’s heart—The young man was wealthy and didn’t want to part from his comfort, but only live by the rules of the law and by deeds.

To evangelize to others, we have biblical authority (our own moral authority is pretty sparse!), but to find motivation to evangelize, we need a heart for Jesus–Something we can’t have if we love money and comforts more than Jesus.   Jesus himself made clear the condition for moral authority:

And this is the fundamental issue that has led me to where I am today—The church really isn’t any different than the culture we live in.  The culture leaves us alone, unlike the early Christians, because we simply don’t stand for anything and we look just like everyone else.  We lack the motivation to speak out against evil or simply fear persecution for doing so.  We don’t share the gospel with our perishing neighbors much for the same reasons:

I believe that in our hearts, and to one extent or another, we deceive ourselves that we are God-honoring while our fellow man outside the walls of the church perish into the fires of hell—scripture is clear:

I also make it clear—I am guilty of all these things.  I pray to God to help me have the desire, the courage, and also the faith to turn away from my reliance upon material comforts and instead find urgency to share the Gospel and the truth of the Bible with others.

There are of course people who do attempt to share truths of the Bible locally—As an example here is a Catholic Student Group (TFP) who did this in the Netherlands (Again, I’m not endorsing Catholicism, but what they are doing could be done by any branch of Christianity.  These young people are passively presenting biblical messages—pro family, pro-life.  In the video they stand peacefully in the face of aggressive LGBT activists—note how the police don’t appear to arrest those guilty of assault and destruction of property.  You can imagine if it were Christians doing the same to LGBT activists the Police would quickly make arrests and it would be on the news that evening) 

Sound familiar?  It was this way for the early Christians in the Roman Empire—and much worse.

So what should the church be doing? I will draw upon scripture to the best of my God-given ability—If I am wrong, I ask that you please admonish me.

The Church

I believe that the church should be the foundation of evangelism—The start of our great commission each week.  It should be a place of fellowship (Hebrews 10:25) of learning the truth (2 Timothy 4:2), of worship (Psalm 150:1) and of encouragement (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  Through evangelism, God calls sinners to repentance and salvation.  We are the messengers.

I believe that following the early days of our faith, the church has become derelict, to one extent or another, in all these things.

Fellowship

Perhaps I am alone in this, but I felt no sense of wider trust for the other people who sat next to me in the pews.  The people of the church seemed to find “Fellowship” in a few brief conversations before and after the service, but it is not a family-type of fellowship but more that of an acquaintance.   The practice of communion was especially poignant.

In my church, the bread and grape juice are distributed as little squares of sliced bread and plastic mini-cups in brass trays.  The brass appears to somehow elevate the bread and juice to “reverence”, but this is really not the issue in my opinion.  It is the relational distance between the people that somehow makes the rememberance seem empty—like strangers in a crowd.  I don’t sense that we have any brotherhood or sisterhood with each other:

I don’t propose we take turns washing each other’s feet, but I believe we should humbly engage each other as true brothers and sisters, living our church lives like the disciples and Jesus, in close relationships.

I think the scale of the church is a huge component of this apparent coldness.  The larger the church, the less intimacy it has and perhaps mass-congregation is the undoing of the church.   I noticed that during the “Adult Sunday School”, people were seated in smaller groups—They shared and got to know each other at least a little—Something that long pews never seem to encourage.

Further, I believe that structurally, the church service has lost the interaction of those attending—it is far too rigidly fixed on a preacher/audience model and it becomes a banal exercise in expository preaching—kind of a spoon fed Sunday message that is followed up by the isolated congregants leaving.  I do not find it edifying.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul called on them to edify each other:

What if the congregants shared what the Lord had done through them the past week?  No, I don’t mean “What God’s done for you?”—that is self-centered.  I mean “How have you shown love for others through the Holy Spirit working in you?”—now that would be edifying!  Like Christ, we are here to serve, not to be served:

If after a week, we cannot identify one instance, even small, where the Spirit moved in us, then we have a real heart problem.

Consider the simplest things one could share—“The cashier at the store I shop at looked tired.  I told her that I thought she was doing a wonderful job and that it must take a lot of energy and dedication to do.  She seemed to light up at knowing someone cared—The Holy Spirit moved me to lift her up.”

Imagine sharing our attempts at evangelizing.  Even sharing apparent failures would encourage others to know that they weren’t alone in the great commission.

Our church holds “Fellowship” weekends or retreats at different times throughout the year.  They are typically held at various camps or wilderness retreats.  The women, men or families are invited to come depending on the nature of the event.   There is almost always a fee charged for attendance as the locations tend to be hotel-like with meals provided.  The idea is well-intended to provide opportunities for fellowship not found on any given Sunday.

But what happens if you can’t afford the fee?  Well, lucky for the poor people, the church will cover your fee if you ask so you can join the people in the congregation who can afford to pay.  Some might call it pride to balk at such a suggestion, but the reality of a church that does this is that fellowship is a fee-based ministry.  Yes, the church does not operate for free, but many who go there are either insolvent or close to it.  Given their problems, to be required to hold their hat out for inclusion in fellowship is not inviting—it is the opposite—it is repulsing.

Therefore, If the church can pay the fees of the poor, why not just offer the weekend for all with a request to anonymously donate if you can?  If the cost of including all the lowly people is excessive, then perhaps the church should reconsider that their events are in fact meant only for the prosperous of their congregation.

Learning the Truth and Learning to Share the Truth

I believe the truth preached in the church needs to include the Gospel message of course, but I also believe the church needs to actively take the truth outside its walls to those who are perishing:

I believe the leaders of the church must lead the congregation out the doors to their proclamation of the truth and maybe even to their eventual deaths as happened in the early church.  We must speak against darkness in our culture.  We must counteract it with the truth and with the message of hope, just as the apostle Paul and the early church did.  The tools are widely available: the internet, social media, marches, banners, and outreach at events.

If the church is to be anything but self-aggrandizing, it must encourage and educate its members in how to evangelize and how to speak the truth boldly to non-believers in the face of persecution.

Worship

The worship of the church must exemplify faithfulness to scripture, and I believe this is one area where our church succeeds.  I believe the music chosen should be for the worship and glory of God, not the personal consolation of the congregation and not because of its popular standing on Christian radio.

I have heard on many occasions that the adoption of modern Christian music is important to keep Church services “relevant” to younger believers.  I believe this is a lie.  I believe that younger Christians must be taught to discern the value of music based on its message and its purpose.  Modern Christian music with scripturally sound messages has a place in personal edification (i.e. outside of church), but I have noticed that it seems to lack depth and reverence as worship music for a congregation—in effect it’s too “Pop”—The service is a karaoke version of the radio hits.

I believe the importance of the congregation’s voices is paramount—we worship together, and we’re not attending a concert.  Music which diminishes the voices reduces our ability to hear the zeal of our fellow believers and can even discourage believers from joining in—in effect it edifies less.

Conduct

In our home, we have had many interesting Bible studies around the verses which deal with the roles of women and men.  Peaking through the conversation is always the culture’s present feminist folly.  This article will not dive into the details of that behavior, but we do at times note a folly that neither feminists nor their masculinist counterparts acknowledge—that of seeing ourselves as in need of decoration or adornment.  We have asked the question, “Did God do such a bad job in knitting us together in our mother’s womb that we need to paint our faces?” Of course not.  So why do we spend so much time as Christians following this folly of the culture?

Even more so, why do we follow this folly inside our own churches?  What point is there to makeup, piercings and jewelry in a place of humble worship?   If we believe we are plain or less without it, we deny the glory of God’s creation.  The wondrous complexity in our smallest parts should lead us to the realization that our bodies are an unimaginably beautiful gift of God.

The apostle Paul also spoke to this:

Also, the Apostle Peter:

I believe the underlying message is that the beauty of a woman, especially in the congregation, shines forth in her example of modesty and godliness.  My wife stopped wearing makeup and now my daughter no longer begs to have her ears pierced or to wear makeup like her peers.

In the age of social media, I believe we also need to take care not to become like the world, craving the personal attention of the culture.  Occasional photos in the context of what we are doing are like those in a family album—informative.  Like “Our family at the Grand Canyon”—you see the family but you also see a bunch of the Grand Canyon in the background.  Photos that primarily focus on ourselves are self-serving and worldly.

Ministry

Inside the Church

I believe ministry must begin within the church.  The pastor and elders must be readily able and available to share the wisdom of scripture with those in their flock that are hurting and come to them:

Jesus even more directly asked Peter to “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)

The devil would have us believe we are unqualified to help out a hurting brother or sister, but I believe that a person of strong faith, armed with a solid understanding of scripture (As the pastor and elders should be) and the power of the Holy Spirit, can heal far more effectively than any doctoral psychologist.  I know as I have myself experienced the uselessness of psychology—it is worldly wisdom that seeks to heal with half-truths.  Only God’s wisdom and power can heal—and through compassion, a faithful believer can be God’s instrument of healing and ministry to the hurt and the dying.

Children’s Ministry

We left our previous church (There were hardly any children there and they were not in our kid’s age range) to go to a larger one with the intention of giving our kids a chance at fellowship with other Christian kids. Unfortunately, their fellowship experience as part of the Sunday school was anything but. In six years, my son and daughter had no relationship—even casual with children they met at the church Sunday school.

While I have no doubt the children were taught valuable lessons from the Bible, it was painfully obvious that the fellowship mirrored that of the adults—clique groups that made it very difficult for newcomers to feel welcome or to build a sense of social value. I don’t blame the kids—most are naturally shy or inhibited socially. If the adults leading Sunday school are not leading the children to real fellowship, then the child’s experience of the church will be distant and impersonal–hardly the ground for growth in the Spirit.

Outside the Church

I also believe ministry contained only in the church is stagnation.  If members come to a church that primarily looks inward, then the ministry will be anemic.  There is a grave danger that if the church lacks zeal in ministry outside its doors, it will likely present a weak faith to the very people it seeks to convince.   Can you imagine the apostle Paul saying “When reviled, we go home; when persecuted, we hide away; “? (A twisting of 1 Corinthians 4:12)  Yet, in many churches, I believe that very fear of persecution has warped and diluted their ministry to present a sense of shame outwardly.

Take for example a church that holds a summer camp each year (In the past it would be referred to as a Bible camp—where kids learn about Jesus)  During planning, it was suggested that a take-away t-shirt be created that said “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”, a portion of verse 14 from Psalm 139 that gives glory to God for His amazing creation.  This idea was immediately shot down as it was going to “Make billboards out of the children.”  In other words, the organizers shrunk at the thought the children might believe and boldly wear their shirt to their own potential persecution.   Or that the children might simply wear the shirt and be a testimony to God.

That organizers would do this is not unbelievable when we consider that many churches in the West can’t bring themselves to evangelize anyone outside their walls, except those in far-away lands, where the people are desperate for help (i.e. Poor) and willing to listen when helped.   These people need the Gospel too, but not to the neglect of the millions in the West.

The need to take the Gospel to our perishing neighbors in a country that is filled with affluence and the hate of God is, I believe, overridden by fear of rejection, lost income and persecution.  That is our disease.

Membership

I attended services regularly at a few churches in my life.  My assumption was that when I walked through the door regularly, that I was eventually to be identified with the body of believers there (i.e. A member).  However, the last church I attended introduced me to the idea of membership as a process, and not as a foregone conclusion.

I understand the broader basis for church membership, having researched the topic.  To summarize my findings, membership enables the elders to be the accountable leaders they are supposed to be, over the member congregants and to act in matters of disciplining errant members.  Hebrews 13:17 clarifies this role: 

In addition, membership is for edification of each other and is a commitment to the body.  These aspects seem very positive and worthy, but they seem almost irrelevant under the present system.

For instance, unlike 1^st century believers, the congregants today have full access to the scripture through published bibles.  Their interpretation of scripture is rarely scrutinized by elders because the exposure the elders have to congregant beliefs is coincidental to their exposure to the congregants—little at best.  Sunday expository preaching is the substance of most modern church services, so those who disagree with what the pastor says would usually leave or attend only in protest, never become members, and never accept discipline from anyone.  Insofar as problem people are concerned, as private institutions, a church can have troublemakers legally barred from entering.

As mentioned before, the concept of edification is applied to all persons in the church, not just members, so if it is missing, as seems to be the case presently, then membership makes no difference.

In terms of commitment, this largely depends on the individual’s lifestyle.  The assumption is that we all work Monday to Friday, but many, like myself, live and work on schedules that sometimes mean we work Sundays and rest Mondays.   Volunteering in the church is not possible when your schedule is driven by necessity.   Therefore we look uncommitted and are technically not membership material.

I believe the fact that nobody has been able to show any quantifiable usefulness to membership is potentially down to the fact it had a primary purpose in 1^st century times as a fence against heresy.  Aside from that, a modern church is only as good as the commitment and edification of its congregants, and no allowance of membership will change the hearts of those who come.

I believe it is better to build and edify those within toward increased commitment, deeper study of scripture and to taking their faith outside the church.  Categorizing those who attend as members or non-members furthers none of these goals.

Volunteers

I believe the roles within the church involving sanctioned ministry and outreach should involve only congregants who are well known and trusted by the elders.

New persons to the church should never be put in positions over children until they prove their character:

This would seem difficult under the present church system as character is not easily witnessed without the true fellowship I mentioned earlier—Surficial acquaintance relationships simply don’t show enough of the character of an individual to prove their trustworthiness.

From what I understand, most churches use a police check as means of validating persons interested in children’s ministry, but un-convicted molesters will never be caught under such a false security.

In my opinion, the most complete and objective means to deal with the potential for pedophilia or child abuse or any crime really, is for the church to invest in a full surveillance system which leaves every room fully recorded (24/7 for perhaps a month) so as to clear or convict a suspected individual:

The Believers

I believe a consequence of unbiblical beliefs (Masculinism, feminism and moral relativism) has been the selfish pursuit of our own interests (ie. Career and wealth) over family.  The Bible-honored roles of men and women, husband and wife, father and mother, have been warped and demeaned to fit our sick culture’s attempts at “Equality”   Unfortunately, many believers appear to have largely accepted the culture’s view.

Biblical Equality

Yet the Bible offers complete equality to those who honor and live by scripture   Both sexes are so obviously complimentary in both biology and characteristics that the strength of one is the weakness of the other and vice-versa.   To twist men into feminine roles or to twist women into masculine roles is folly—it creates substandard results and should never be the first option.   Of course, broken families do result in less than ideal roles, but the ideal remains the ideal.

It is clear from scripture that fathers have a duty to provide for their families:

and to love their wives in a unselfish way:

As husbands, we should aspire to have the same character as those of overseers or elders:

Discipline and biblical teaching is also the duty of the father:

It is also clear from scripture that wives are to submit to their husbands:

to be mothers: 

, and to care for their children, working at home:

Now some might say that all these principles don’t fit into the context of modern living. Women working at home? Men faithfully leading their households and disciplining their children? Yes—the truth is that if we lived by these principles, our families would be godly and would lead to godly children who would serve as the parents of the next generation. We would go from God’s strength to God’s strength instead of our own decaying weakness. It is our abandonment of these principles that has led to the selfish, fearful and immoral lives our culture embraces today.

Children

That our culture has fallen so far from the biblical view was evident when a non-believing friend of ours came over.  He was surprised to see us all (My wife, two children and myself) coming together around the table at dinner—It was sad that his family didn’t apparently have that togetherness.

I believe God wants us to have unity as a family, with parents leading by example.  He wants us to teach our children:

Within our sick culture it appears increasingly dangerous to sub-contract our parental duties.  We all too often leave the education of our children to strangers—Schools, clubs and the church.  We expect that somehow a small shot of Jesus at Sunday school and a few prayers will carry our children through a week in schools and clubs that have demonic powers at work.  We also assume that sending our child to a faith-based school is enough—it’s not.  I believe children must learn the truth first and foremost from their parents.

In our country of Canada, all the relativistic foolishness is present—Transgenderism, the teaching of sexual exploration, normalization of homosexuality, acceptance of homosexual marriage, and numerous other non-biblical follies.

Increasingly, our children’s teachers and the authorities over them, indoctrinate the children in their care to not only believe and follow evil, but to see those who stand by the Bible as worthy of shunning and punishment.   They wear pink t-shirts against bullies but they themselves are bullies against anyone with biblical beliefs.  How they walk in darkness:

Further, if we look at the “protesters” who graduate from the school of godlessness, we see the same hate-filled children as the Hitler Youth.  They literally believe that they are “tolerant and inclusive” and then proceed to physically and verbally attack others with different beliefs.  They justify their own evil as good:

I believe this makes it imperative that we give our children a sound understanding of the Bible at home–daily if possible.  We chose to homeschool our kids when it became apparent that the public school system was being increasingly run by godless socialists.  It was not a place to grow in the Lord.

As part of our homeschool program we read the Bible together.  Reading the Bible together is paramount.  Taking turns and sharing opinions is vital.  What do these verses mean to you Daughter?  To you Son?  We take turns praying, we relate scripture to current events and problems and we discuss them.

In five years we have read and studied nearly the entire bible.  My son and daughter will at times answer questions with scripture we read two years ago—details of which even I can’t remember!

We also need to relate the world’s desire for sin to our children.  We need to relate the Gospel to our children and to the world, so they can have the Peace of Christ.  Above all, we need to be honest and forthright with the truth.

I believe we must share our failures and sins with our children.  They must see our weakness and our faithful repentance.  It is key to our testimony.

On the positive side, I believe we also need to edify our children.  Part of that process is contained in our education on the realities of the world—one can’t base their life on lies.  Understanding the brokenness of humanity is the first step in forgiving others for their acts of evil.

The other, is based on sharing the hope we must have for the future—not a hope that social justice warriors will change the world to a more inclusive, diverse and loving place.  No, the hope we have because of the knowledge of salvation and God’s purpose for us:

• To be saved (“9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9-10)
• To be sharers of the Gospel (“19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” Matthew 28:19-20)
• To know that Jesus is with us always (“…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20)
• To be hard working (“6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” Proverbs 6:6)
• To do good works for His glory (“10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10)
• To be a light to the world (“14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16)
• To learn skills and practice them (“29 Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings;  he will not stand before obscure men.” Proverbs 22:29)
• God gives us talents we should discover and use for His glory (“3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.” Exodus 31:31-5)
• To enjoy the life God has given us (“24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?” Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)

All these things apply, of course, to all ages including adults.  All too often I forget what having fun is like.

What Can We Do?

Firstly, I believe we must fervently pray to Jesus to strengthen us and guide us in his will:

I am an evangelistic coward, but I have been moved at times to speak boldly if not elegantly.  I believe we can do great things to God’s glory if we only ask for His strength and guidance to fulfill His will.

Evangelism

Are there ways we can change the church model so as to renew our place as lights shining into the world? 

Here are some ideas:

1. Teach courses on evangelism and practice through role-play. Get used to angry responses and prepare yourself to make a defense of your faith.
2. Seek scripture to encourage us and overcome our fear. For instance, Philippians 1:12-14: “12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
3. Make opportunities to share the Gospel with non-believers, by setting up booths or tables or just speaking to passers-by in public spaces. The Calgary Street Church ministry is like this.  They offer free food while they share the Gospel, not as a “bribe”, but as a gift.
4. Post the truth (from scripture) on social media to friends who are deceived—they may unfriend us, but we will have shared the truth in love for them. To let them continue in deception is not loving.
5. Challenge falsehoods when spoken. Too many times I’ve seen someone share their deception and everyone around them stayed silent (including me).  If we don’t challenge falsehoods, we will have been a party to it.
6. Back our evangelism with evidence of our salvation by ministering to those in need around us.

Edification/Church Service

Are there ways to find true fellowship and edification with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are there ways to make brotherhood and sisterhood more genuine?

Here are some ideas:

1. Make Sunday a day of worship and fellowship—A one hour service does not give sufficient time for members to grow in their church family
2. Try smaller elder-led groups that make getting to know each other easier—a first step to forming a closer relationship. (Name tags perhaps?)
3. Use smaller groups in the discussion of scripture and the sharing of edifying stories from our week. There will naturally be shy people, but there will also be outgoing persons.  We should encourage both to share their lives with us so that we are not strangers but true brothers and sisters
4. Use exercises to “Break-the-ice”. Activities such as introducing yourself and sharing something personal—the idea is to remove pride and open the door to humility.

Ministry

Are there ways to improve ministry inside and outside the church?

Here are some ideas:

1. Ministry should be encouraged as a process of edification and training—building the confidence of our brothers and sisters. In this confidence they will find motivation to minister to others.
2. Children’s Sunday School should include exercises to “Break-the-ice” and encourage fellowship.
3. Use a billboard (online and in the church foyer), to advertise the ministries our church can provide or is actively engaged in. For example, a number or numbers of people a person can call when they have problems.  A schedule of evangelism activities.  Elder phone numbers and contact info.   This should be highly visible to anyone walking by it inside the church.
4. Use a bulletin board to enable people to post prayer requests or offer to help fellow churchgoers in need.
5. Incorporate training and group activities after the service—not just meals or cookies, but like adult Sunday school, training activities. Given how tired many people are after work during the week, combining Sunday worship services with training/edification activities might be a good idea—no need to make multiple trips to the church throughout the week.
6. Identify local community needs and encourage the saints to come up with ideas whether they can participate in them or not. I have found people often do not volunteer ideas because they can’t volunteer to execute them.

Home

Are there ways to strengthen our faith and that of our children?

Here are some ideas:

1. Read the bible whether anyone else does or not. My first read through the Bible was something I looked forward to every day…One chapter with study notes, relaxing in bed and drinking a cup of tea.
2. Have a daily Bible reading and study and get the kids reading and offering their opinions—I believe even a ½ hour per day can make a huge difference to our lives and to the focus on what we value. No time for devotions usually means we have no time for God—our children will take their cue from that.
3. Encourage our children to share their daily problems. Help them apply a Biblical perspective to each days events.   They must know that you will not judge them by their mistakes in order to open up to you—it helps if you share your own mistakes.