“I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said “Stop! Don’t do it!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he said.
“Well, there’s so much to live for!”
“Like what?”
“Well… are you religious?”
He said yes.
I said, “Me too!
Are you Christian or Buddhist?”
“Christian.”
“Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant ?
“Protestant.”
“Me too!
Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist”
“Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God!”
“Me too!
Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God!”
“Me too!
Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?”
He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!”
I said, “Die, heretic scum”, and pushed him off.
Hmmm… This is a silly story, but some folks really do take their denomination seriously. In fact I receive some fairly hateful letters from them from time to time. I answer by saying in part that my Bible study does not reveal that Jesus Christ belonged to any particular denomination or instructed us to do so and since my goal is to model my life after His I don’t see what the big deal is about denominations.
Sigh… That usually sets off a tirade of howls and yowls, particularly by Catholics, but I don’t care. I like to attend churches that preach the Holy Bible as I understand it without adding to it or taking away from it. It’s not difficult for me to discern whether or not that’s been done, because I’ve read it many times and study it daily and I know what it says (in context). Albeit my interpretation might be slightly different from the next person’s, but the basics should not be that far off and that’s generally good enough for me.
If a preacher preaches something that is not biblical then I go somewhere else. Through the years I’ve joined several Baptist churches, because they had a preacher that preached the word of God as I understand it. I cannot give all Baptist churches an endorsement, because I’ve been to some that I wouldn’t attend again if I was paid to do so, because they strayed too far from God’s message particularly when it came to being judgmental and unforgiving.
Our church at Honey Lake is going to be non-denominational. It will not be filled with pomp and ceremony, but will celebrate our God and teach His message in simple terms as Jesus presented the Good News or Gospel. Jesus called all His followers His church. That is the “church” that I belong to and pledge my allegiance. The Honey Lake Church will be an assembly of those like-minded folks that desire to learn more about our Lord.
It is God’s church and not the people who will be its leaders. People come and go, but the word of God stands forever and what better foundation to set the Lord’s church upon, than His Holy Bible. It should be passed from generation to generation as God proclaimed. God said in Isaiah “And this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the LORD, have spoken!”
God’s word does not change because society has decided that it wants to embrace sin such as homosexuality, or because it thinks God is in error about abortion, women’s lib, or other matters of the day. He created everything for His own good pleasure and set up His rules and He will rule it accordingly. Fighting it is useless, so we need to understand the Bible and try to adhere to its principles as closely as possible if we desire to be blessed by God.
Matthew Henry explained the foregoing verse in a way far better than I can, (albeit I made a few clarifications which I added in parentheses to further explain some terms he used.)
“The Son of God, (Jesus) shall come to us to be our Redeemer; the Spirit of God shall come to be our Sanctifier, (make us Holy): thus the Comforter, (Holy Spirit) shall abide with the church forever, John 14:16. The word of Christ will always continue in the mouths of the faithful; and whatever is pretended to be the mind of the Spirit, must be tried by the Scriptures. We must lament the progress of infidelity, (unfaithfulness) and impiety, (wickedness or sinfulness). But the cause of the Redeemer, (Jesus), shall gain a complete victory even on earth, and the believer will be more than conqueror when the Lord receives him to his glory in heaven.”
What that means to me is to test what is said from the pulpit with your knowledge of the Bible. The rewards are great for those who do so. If you’ve never read it then what better New Year’s resolution than to read the Bible all of the way through for the very first time of your life.
Have a great weekend and go to a Bible believing Bible preaching church this Sunday!
Isaiah 40:8
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”