Welcome Back Dave Black!

Dave Black and his wife are back from their trip to Ethiopia, and his writer's juices are flowing! Be sure to visit his Web site and blog and catch up on all of the news he has from his trip.

http://www.daveblackonline.com/blog.htm

Have you found a church yet?

I get asked this question by family and friends on a weekly basis. Many don't understand how someone like me who was "raised in the church" and was a youth pastor for over four years can be happy and still growing in my relationship with Christ, not being on the membership roll of a local congregation.

It's been almost a year since I have been to a "regular church service". I have not given up on Christianity, I have not given up on the Church, the Lord has simply lead me to a new way (really and old way) of looking at His Church. I still fellowship with other believers, I still study my Bible and worship daily, I even still observe the Lord's Supper with my family, I just do all of this outside of the walls of the institutional church.

I can understand the shock and concern of those around me, I would have been shocked and concerned with someone like me, years ago, before the Lord started working in my heart on this issue. I thought I would post this entry to my blog to share some links that may help you better understand how I can still be a Christian outside of the walls of organized religion.

Watchman.Net
House2House
Lifestream
The God Journey
The Sheep Comics
Unleashing the Church

Get Your Free Credit Reports!!

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AnnualCreditReport.com processes requests for free credit file disclosures (commonly called credit reports). Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) consumers can request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. AnnualCreditReport.com provides consumers with the secure means to do so.

An interesting note about the title "Christian"

It was the unbelievers that first called the disciples "Christians." What the world saw in those early disciples was a Christ-like character and power. Would the world today call the Christians in America "Christians" had the word not already been established? Would they see us like Jesus in character and power? It saddens me to hear the world now calling us .. hypocrites! I am afraid we have a name that we are alive, but dead. Let us examine the reasons for this falling away.

Source: TheRealChurch.com

Biblical Eldership

The New Testament only refers to the office of pastor one time (Ephesians 4:11). It is a functional description of the role of elder stressing the care and feeding of the church as God's flock, just as "bishop/overseer" is a functional description of the role of elder stressing the governing or oversight of the church. We may conclude therefore that "pastor" and "elder" and "bishop/overseer" refer in the New Testament to the same office. This office stands alongside "deacon" in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:1-13 in such a way as to show that the two abiding officers instituted by the New Testament are elder and deacon.

The function of elders may be summed up under two heads: teaching and governing. They are the doctrinal guardians of the flock and the overseers of the life of the church responsible to God for the feeding and care and ministry of the people.

Source: John Piper

Why I Don't Like Study Bibles

I have often said that I don't like Study Bibles, because people tend to study the study notes instead of the Bible itself. I can't tell you how many times I have found those who preach or teach Darby, Calvin or Scofield instead of Word of God.

Here is a line from Dave Black's most recent post to his Web site that deals with this topic as well:

In a certain church a large picture of the head of Christ stood behind the pulpit. One Sunday morning the preacher was late entering the pulpit. A little girl in the congregation asked her mother, "Where is the man who stands so that we can't see Jesus?"

You can click here to read the rest of his article titled, Call Me a Biblicist If You Like.

Where Does Jesus Christ Dwell?

Tim Stafford, a CT senior writer, recently wrote in Christianity Today, "A living, breathing congregation is the only place to live in a healthy relationship to God. That is because it is the only place on earth where Jesus has chosen to dwell. How can you enjoy the benefits of Christ if you detach yourself from the living Christ?"

I have yet to find the Scripture that Mr. Stafford is using to support his statement that Christ only dwells witin the congregation of an institutional church. My Bible tells me that Jesus has chosen to dwell in the heart of every Christian who repents of their sin and puts their faith in Him for their salvation. The Body of Christ is made up of believers from every denomination, including those who the Lord has lead to worship, study and fellowship outside of the institutional church in their homes as the early New Testement Christians did.

Study the Book of Galatians Online with Chip Brogden

Freedom in Christ means freedom from the Law - but not freedom to live as you please. Chip Brogden has a weekly audio series of messages on the Book of Galatians. Are Christians under Law, or under Grace?

http://www.watchman.net/listen.html

Jonathan Grubbs Blog - MIA

I have been VERY busy this last month and, as you can tell, have not had any time to update my blog. I hope to get my schedule back to normal soon, and to start posting on a regular basis once again. I guess we can only do so much in our 24 hour days!

The Lord’s Supper, New Testament Style!

The meal is potluck, or as we like to say, "pot-providence." Everyone brings something to share with everyone else. When the weather is nice, all the food is placed on a long folding table out in the carport. A smaller card table at one end of the long table contains drinks, cups, forks, napkins, etc. A chest full of ice sits on the floor beside the card table. Kids run wildly around having so much fun that they must be collared by parents and forced to eat something. After a prayer of thanksgiving is offered, people line up, talking and laughing, to serve their plates. In the middle of all the food sits a single loaf of bread next to a large plastic jug containing the fruit of the vine. Each believer partakes of the bread and juice while going through the serving line. The smaller kids are encouraged to occupy one of the few places at a table to eat. (They sure can be messy!) Chairs for adults (there are not enough for everyone) are clustered in circles, mainly occupied by the womenfolk, who eat while discussing home schooling, child training, sewing, an upcoming church social, the new church we hope to start, etc. Most of the men stand to eat, balancing their plates on top of their cups, grouped into small clusters and solving the world’s problems or pondering some hot topic of theology. The atmosphere is not unlike that of a wedding banquet. It is a great time of fellowship, encouragement, edification, friendship, caring, catching-up, getting to know, praying with, exhorting, and maturing. The reason for the event? In case you did not recognize it, this is the Lord’s Supper, New Testament style!

Foreign though it may seem to the contemporary church, the first century church enjoyed the Lord’s Supper as a banquet that foreshadowed the marriage supper of the Lamb. It was not until after the close of the New Testament era that the early church fathers altered the Lord’s Supper from its pristine form into a memorial service. We advocate a return to the way of Christ and His apostles.

Source: New Testament Restoration Foundation