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The purpose of the church

November 16, 2009 at 4:38 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: Jesus, ateasetees, Christian, God, evangelism, gospel, unity, love, faith, numbers, church growth, sin, hope, church, America, repent, spiritual gifts, holiness, false teachers, entertainment, pastor, judgment, hell, Willow Creek, teacher, Exodus, Leviticus, ekklesia, purpose, Genesis, busy, Saddleback, congregation, believer, Ephesians 4, build, Son of God, apostles, prophets, evangelists, saints, sinners, U2, quantity, quality, equipped, doctrine, movie

I have been thinking about this for awhile, but it becomes more apparent the more I study the scriptures. I’ve studied Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 1 John, and now I’m doing a study on the spiritual gifts. In every study, I’ve seen a picture of the church, and when I compare the picture I see in the scriptures with the one that I see in America, they don’t match. It seems like the church in America (and other countries) no longer understands its purpose. No one seems to know what the church is about and this leads to a lot of busyness with nothing substantial to show for it. There are numerous churches who have many ministries and events but to what end? Certain churches are growing and the numbers are increasing but is this a proper gauge? When did it become all about the quantity of “Christians” in the church instead of the quality of the Christians as shown by the way they live their lives?

So, what is the purpose of the church? Well, first, you have to understand what the word church means. The word church is found only in the New Testament. It is the Greek word ekklesia and it means: church, congregation, assembly; a group of people gathered together. It can refer to the OT assembly of believers, a riotous mob, but usually to a Christian assembly, a church: as a totality or in a specific locale. In the NT a church is never a building or meeting place. So what does this mean? It means that the church is not the building you meet in whether it’s an actual church building or someone’s house. Instead, a church is the group of believers that meet in that building. Nowadays, it seems like people are more concerned about the state of the building than the state of the people meeting there. It is important to understand that it’s not just anyone who meets, it is the believers who meet. Those who are not believers are not part of the church.

Now that we have a simple understand of what the church is, what is its purpose? There are a few things that the church was designed for. The main purpose of the church is to glorify God. Many people would say that it is seeking the lost, but I disagree. As believing individuals, our main purpose in life is to glorify God. Why would that change when we gather together? If we do not glorify God, then it really doesn’t matter what we’re doing does it? There are other important purposes for the churches existence as well. A few of these can be found in Ephesians 4:11-13.

and He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists,

and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,

to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the

knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs

to the fullness of Christ.

There are some interesting things to note here. First, there are specific reasons why God gave the spiritual gifts and none of them have to do with someone becoming rich and famous. It’s not the point of this blog to go into whether or not some of these gifts still exist or not (I believe they do) so I’ll leave that for another time. Second, the church is for the equipping of the saints. It is not for sinners. That may sound harsh or unorthodox now, but it’s the truth. The church and its purposes completely revolve around born-again believers. But, today this is not what we see. So many churches have gone to “church growth methods” like the ones at Willow Creek or Saddleback in order to get numbers. In doing so, they’ve gone out to the non-Christians to ask them why they don’t come to church and then tailored their “churches” to suit those who are lost. It seems to be a very weak and very dangerous substitute for evangelism. Instead of going out into all the world to preach the gospel, many try to lure them in with wordly entertainments preach the precepts of men as the doctrine of God.

The fact that the church is for believers becomes even more specific though. There are many churches who are filled with believers, but they are still not fitting the purpose that God intended. Why? Because the saints are being entertained instead of being equipped. The churchgoers come to service on Sunday and hear a sermon series on the summer blockbuster movies or popular music icons (like U2) instead of hearing the unadulterated Word of God. They don’t hear the truth or how they can apply it to their lives so that they can grow in holiness. They don’t get the scriptures they need to defend the faith and fight the good fight. The sad thing about all of this is that it is now commonplace. If things don’t go this way, it is an anomaly.

The purpose gets still more specific though. The saints are to be equipped for the work of service. What service? Simple. Going out to preach the gospel to all creation, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and teach them to observe all the things that Christ commanded us. The equipping of the saints also facilitates the building up of the body of Christ so that we are unified in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God. This too has not happened. There are numerous denominations and each one of them is going to heaven while the rest are going to hell. We are obviously not unified in our faith. Thousands of Christian brothers and sisters are spurned and treated unbiblically because they don’t fit in the right clique. They are not able to exercise their gifts to glorify God because they aren’t related to someone in charge or because they don’t have the right kind of clothes, the right salary, or the right kind of car. Not only are we not unified in our faith, we’re not unified in our knowledge of the Son of God! There are many people who claim to be Christians who have a false view of Jesus or the gospel. They don’t believe that God is in control, that Jesus is the only way to heaven, or that the Trinity exists. Some don’t even believe that Jesus is God! And these are supposed to be BELIEVERS! Many churches have tossed aside what scripture says in order to embrace a man-made system that provides them the money, power, and prestige they want while neglecting the needs of the church and the lost!

From what I see in scripture, this is not how it’s supposed to be. The church is supposed to be like this. You are saved and you become part of a local church. The pastor-teacher teaches you the truth and shows you how to apply it to your life so that you can glorify God and grow in holiness. You are taught about the spiritual gift(s) that you have from scripture (not man made doctrine!).You then begin to use these gifts to glorify God. The church also makes it possible for you to learn how to evangelize and tell others about Jesus. You do this either by becoming an evangelist (if that’s your gift!) and traveling the world preaching the truth or by taking the opportunities presented to you daily as you go about your life. When someone responds to the gospel in repentence and faith, they become part of the church and the cycle continues. There is nothing about entertaining the lost at church. There is nothing about catering to those who hate God, but this is what is happening.

Part of the reason our country (and world) is in the condition it is in is because the church has left its purpose in order to pursue worldly things. Many “pastors” today seem to hope that the one or two lines they sneak in about Jesus in the middle of their sermon series on the Spice Girls will somehow be absorbed by osmosis. They seem to think (erroneously) that it’s enough. It’s not enough. Until the church gets back to fulfilling its God-given purpose and loses all of the other things that it has taken up in hopes of inflating its membership, it will never accomplish what it is supposed to…

Design of the Week – Crossover – Baby on Board No Smoking

October 23, 2009 at 2:14 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: abortion, ateasetees, baby, choice, Christian, design of the week, evangelism, future, God, hope, Jesus, life, precious, pregnant, safe, smoking

This week’s design is part of the Crossover series of blogs. The design is called “Baby on Board – No Smoking”. It portrays a simple message to those around a pregnant mother. The blue text encircles the mother’s tummy and politely asks smokers not to smoke around the pregnant mother and baby so that the health of both can be protected. It is also a reminder of how precious life is.

It has become commonplace for our country to allow the murder of unborn children under the guise of choice. Instead of killing them, we should be protecting them because they are precious in God’s eyes. On top of that, they are the future of our country and they have rights as citizens even if they aren’t born yet. The “No Smoking” design may be a simple design, but to me it speaks volumes…

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http://www.blogbydonna.com/

http://flyballfever.blogspot.com

http://cafeshoppe.com/TeeHee

http://randomshirts.blogspot.com/

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http://www.shopkeeperdesigns.com

http://autismshowucare.blogspot.com

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Newslinks 10/17/09

October 17, 2009 at 6:30 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: abortion, anti-meat, ateasetees, attempted murder, baby, Baltimore, ban, Baucus, Bible, bishop, Catholic, CBO, Chamber of Commerce, Christian, civil rights, climate change, Clinton, Democrat, Disney, EEOC, ELCA, emerging, Emily Douglas, EPA, evangelism, FCC, Francis Collins, free speech, GAO, gay marriage, global warming, GMA, God, Harvey Milk, healthcare, homosexual, Hoyer, Hudson River, illegal immigrants, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jesus, Lebanon, lesbian, Lieberman, marriage, meatless Monday, Middle East, military, mom, Montana, morality, MTV, NAE, Nobel, nuclear, Obama, Pakistan, parent's rights, pastor, peace, Pelosi, pro-life, Rangel, recession, Republican, Rifqa, Russia, sanctions, Schwarzenegger, t-shirt, tax, traditional, Twitter Bible, U.N., Zachary Christie

Saturday’s Newslinks brought to you by At Ease Tees

Health Bill Would Make It Harder to Deduct Medical Expenses, but That Won’t Affect Middle Class, Democrat Claims
(CNSNews.com) – A Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee claims that a provision of the Senate health-reform bill will not make it more difficult for middle-class Americans to deduct medical expenses on their tax returns. But Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) says that is because “most Americans” don’t itemize their income tax deductions.

Pro-Life Democrats May Block Health Bill If Pelosi Won’t Allow Vote on Abortion Funding Ban
(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, told CNSNews.com that Democrats who oppose government funding of abortion will try to block the health care reform bill from coming to a vote on the House floor unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allows a floor vote on an amendment that would explicitly prohibit abortion funding. “There are many of us Democrats in the House who are philosophically, legally, and morally opposed to public funding for abortions,” Stupak told CNSNews.com in a statement.

Scientists Rebut Claim That Man Causes Climate Change
(CNSNews.com) – A small group of determined scientists gathered in a Senate office building Friday to present evidence backing their claim that climate change is caused by nature, not man, and that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant but the hope for a greener planet. Continue reading Newslinks 10/17/09…

Design of the Week – No Fear

September 30, 2009 at 3:28 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: alcohol, ateasetees, Born Again, Christian, drugs, evangelism, fear, God, grace, hell, hope, Jesus, judgment, mercy, refuge, scarecrow, sex, sin, wrath

This week’s design is called No Fear. It’s a wonderful reminder to those in Christ that regardless of what we are going through, God is there for us. Numerous places in both the Old and New Testaments, God has told us that He is our refuge and strength. He is the One we should run to when we face any problem or trial. Continue reading Design of the Week – No Fear…

Hero Worship

July 13, 2009 at 6:30 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: adultery, Afghanistan, Alex Rodriguez, ateasetees, Barack Obama, Brad Pitt, Christian, Dale Earnhardt Jr., drugs, eternity, evangelism, false convert, God, hell, hero worship, holy, Jehovah's Witness, Jesus, Joe Biden, John, judgment, Kobe Bryant, lust, Mark Sanford, marriage, Michael Jackson, movie stars, Muslim, news, Paul, pedophile, Peter, sacrifice, salvation, sin, soldiers, South Carolina, sports stars, Steve McNair, Tom Brady, Tom Cruise

Over the past few weeks, there have been tragic stories in the American news outlets that have shown me some saddening things. While some of the saddening things are the stories themselves, others are the reactions of those who have watched the stories unfold. Continue reading Hero Worship…

Newslinks 07/12/09

July 12, 2009 at 2:48 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: abortion, ateasetee, biden, Calvin, cap and trade, Christian, college football, eggs, evangelism, gay marriage, God, healthcare, hugo chavez, Iran, Jesus, Muslims, Newslinks, Obama, Rick Warren, sotomayor, stem cells

Saturday’s Newslinks brought to you by At Ease Tees

FCC Commissioner Circulates Internal Document on ‘The State of Media Journalism’
(CNSNews.com) – FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has circulated an internal report examining the state of media journalism in America and discussing options for addressing issues such as the rise of media conglomerates and the prevalence of opinion journalism. The report can be used as the basis for instituting new rules governing broadcasting ownership, licensing and content.

Biden Says National Health Care Plan is on Track to Pass Congress by End of August
White House (CNSNews.com) – Even while some Democratic senators reportedly are getting cold feet, Vice President Joe Biden affirmed that a health care overhaul is “on track” for passage by the end of next month. “Folks, reform is coming,” Biden said at the White House on Wednesday, flanked by hospital industry officials, who agreed to $155 billion in savings over 10 years.

Congressmen Who Vote for Government-Run Health Care Agency Should Be Its First Customers, Legislation Says (CNSNews.com) – Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) introduced a bill Monday that encourages members of Congress who vote for a government-run health insurance agency to forego their own comprehensive health insurance plans and enroll in the same “public option” they would have others embrace. Continue reading Newslinks 07/12/09…

Claiming honor in the presence of the king

July 6, 2009 at 6:30 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: anointed, ateasetees, called, Christian, evangelism, false converts, fame, gifted, God, gospel, honor, Jesus, king, Lamb, marriage supper, pride, proclaiming, Proverbs, self-righteousness, truth

Many Christians today talk about the freedom, power, and authority they have. They talk about being bold and aggressive in their prayers. They demand things from God as they pray and command everything to obey them from the human body to the weather to demons and evil spirits.

Not only that, they talk about how they’re “anointed”, “called”, or “gifted” for the “ministry” they are doing. They use this prestige and “anointing” to lead people “into the throne room of God”, “storming the gates of heaven” to get their “vision” accomplished. They shout, yell, whoop, holler, and get red-faced when they preach or pray. Many of them strive to pack “megachurches” with thousands of seats. They preach whatever is necessary to keep people there and love to be looked on as leaders. They are happy to be sought out for advice and always have an opinion to give. They maneuver themselves into places of “power” and gain greater degrees of fame as their notoriety grows. But is this biblical? Is it right? Continue reading Claiming honor in the presence of the king…

My Apologies

May 27, 2009 at 2:41 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

I apologize to all of you who read this blog consistently. I have been really busy lately and have been posting only sporadically. I hope to get back on schedule real soon and have more things for us to discuss. Thanks for your time, patience, and understanding!

Design of the Week – Crossover – Pure Discipline

April 15, 2009 at 2:59 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

This week’s crossover design is from Upstream Designs and is called Pure Discipline. The design itself is simple, which is something I like. I like “busy” designs if they are done well, but I love the challenge of presenting the depth of the message in the simplest way possible.

The design itself is a cross with the words “Pure Discipline” across the top. Underneath the cross are the words, “He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”. This sums up what discipline is. It is doing what it right even when you may not like it, it may be difficult, or you may not live through it. It is obedience as well. Jesus’ death was a choice He made before the foundation of the world and it was His discipline that helped Him through.

One of the most amazing things about all of this is the fact that Jesus disciplined Himself for the cross knowing He was innocent. He didn’t have to die for wretched sinners like you and I but He did any way. Jesus is one of the greatest examples for us to follow. We must be disciplined to live, to work, to grow, and to follow Him as Christians. Do you have Pure Discipline?

DOTW 12/17/08 Crossover – RMS Aquitania

December 17, 2008 at 4:20 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: ateasetees, Christian, crossover, evangelism, God, Jesus, labelstone, RMS Aquitania, vintage designs

This weeks design is part of the Crossover blog. It is where a number of designers take the time to talk about another artist’s design that caught their eye.

This week, I am writing about something that I have always liked. The design is called RMS Aquitania. It is designed by labelstone and is part of a vintage art series. When asked about how she got started with vintage labels, she replied:

The love of vintage started with a fascination with art deco. I bought a lamp and then a few bowls etc. Then I started looking at the printed ads, which really caught my eye. At this point I need to add that printer’s ink is in the blood as I a from a line of printers dating back to 1879. The company closed shortly before my father’s death in 2000. His company did not print labels (sadly) but I well remember going down to the plant to watch the presses in action and smell the inks.
I now have a large collection of fruit crate labels and that is where quite a few of my images come from. I also have Victorian trade cards and postcards that I get designs from.

The design that caught my eye did so because it is colorful and there is a sense of movement and life to the image. I also like the style the art is done in and the depth of the image as well.

I asked labelstone how an image is chosen for her shop and she had this to say:

How do I chose? I have to like it, which I know is not the best way of approaching success! If it catches my eye or sense of humor, then I have a go at digitally cleaning the image. If it will not clean up, then I toss the image.

If you get a chance, check out labelstone’s shop and see if there is anything that catches your eye like it did mine!

This blog post is a part of a crossover blog. Other participants in this crossover blog are: