Difference Between the Family of God and the Church.

1. "Family of God" is made of all born again believers. Though the term does not appear in the Bible, it is a very descriptive term when you consider the words that Bible does use, IE, God is our Heavenly Father (Luke 11:13), Jesus calls us his brethren (Hebrews 2:11), we are adopted into the family (Galatians 4:5), and we are called the children of God (John :12). A person becomes a "member" of this family at the moment of salvation (Romans 8:16-21).

2. The "church" is never directly associated with the moment of being saved for entrance. Though it is true that a saved person should become a part of a church after/at baptism (Acts 2:41), there is no place that states becoming a Christian puts anyone into the "church."

3. The "Family of God" is both in Heaven and earth (Ephesians 3:14-15) whereas the "church" is not mentioned being in Heaven at all. The names of the general assembly and church are written in Heaven (Hebrews 12:23) but the church age ends in Revelation 4:1 and the word church is never mentioned again after Revelation 3 except where God directs the book of Revelation to be shared with the churches that were written to (Revelation 22:16).

4. 112 times the word ecclesia is used in the Bible. Of these 112 times, 105 are used to describe either a single local church (Acts 8:1) or a group of churches (2 Corinthians 8:1) but NEVER used to describe a universal church of believers. The other 7 times are vague references but do not describe an all encompassing body of believers...that is the aforementioned "Family of God."

5. A born again person can not be removed from the "Family of God" (John 10:29).

6. A backsliding member can be removed for the church body (Matthew 18:17).

7. A person can be a part of the "Family of God" without being a member of a church (Acts 8:36-37).

8. A person must be saved and biblically baptized to be a member of a church (Acts 2:41).

Being saved is a blessing from Almighty God and that means being His child and a part of His family. But to become a part of the church clearly is a separate issue and we must see it as such. Also just attending a church is not what God intended because He chose us to be active members of his local church (1 Corinthians 12). When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth he was explaining to them their part in the church there as members (body parts) of the visible representation of Christ in that local church.

This article may seem like semantics but there is an important point to be made. Being saved is an automatic entrance by grace into God's family and Heaven and requires nothing of us but faith. However, being a part of the church requires some acts obedience and clear understanding of what is required of members and their duty to their church family.

Unfortunately today we see too many Christians failing to see the difference between the two or failing to be responsible toward their church and moving from church to church without any regard to what God ordained the church to be in their life.

By the way, no where does the Bible directly call the church the Bride of Christ. The church is compared to a bride in Ephesians 5 but the Bride of Christ is clearly described in Revelation 21:2 as the New Jerusalem, which is made up of the saints in Glory.

What is the Thorn in Flesh Really?

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”  2 Corinthians 12:7

Not too long again I was challenged to study this passage of scripture again afresh.  The challenge had unintentionally come from a person who was using this passage in way I had never considered and I wanted to be sure I understood God’s Word correctly.  You see, I try to be one of those pastors that stands firm on what he believes but also tries not to simply ignore the “interpretations” of others no matter how far off the norm they seem.  This does not mean I am going to change my doctrine, but it means I will try restudy to be sure that I know what I believe.  I take 2 Timothy 2:15 very seriously.  So if you have ever questioned me on something and it seemed as if I ignored you, know that I probably went home and studied again to be sure I was standing where I should. 

In 2 Corinthians 12 I found several things:

1. This “thorn in the flesh” was not a sin or a temptation to sin as Paul asked the Lord to remove it three times and God basically said, “No.”  God will always forgive our sin (1 John 1:9) and He never tempts us with sin (James 1:13).  This means we cannot say that God allows us to have some sinful addiction or behavior so that we learn to trust Him more.
2. The “thorn in the flesh” was clearly a physical weakness that affected his daily life but it did not hinder his daily walk with God.  This weakness actually enhanced Paul’s walk with God (2 Corinthians 12:10) as it drove him to rely on God in way that Paul would not have know without the weakness, thus making him stronger.  So if we have a weakness that drives away from God then how can we say it’s something given by God?  Sin does not come from God but from the world, the flesh, and the devil and anything that drives us away from God does not come from Him either!  He wants us to be drawn to Him not pushed away from Him (John 12:32). 
3. Paul’s thorn was allowed by God to keep Paul humble because God had done some amazing things through Paul that clearly could become points of pride.  For instance in the context of 2 Corinthians 12:1-6, Paul was taken to heaven to hear things “which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”  This means that if something in our lives builds us up in our own minds, then it is not from God, because God ONLY send down that which is “good” (James 1:17).  God does not allows things in our lives to break us but to build us.  If something is breaking us then either God is not the author of it is not breaking us as we think.
4. Finally, Paul takes pleasure in that these weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:5) and the specific thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7) because it causes him to rely on God.  Paul mentions five different types of struggles that showed God’s strength in him.  These are found in 2 Corinthians 12:10; infirmities (diseases of the body), reproaches (verbal insults), necessities (needs caused by a disaster), persecutions (punishment for beliefs), and distresses (emotional anguish).  But none of them are caused by God and none of them could destroy Paul’s faith.  

The term “thorn in the flesh” was uniquely used by Paul’s to describe his struggle as it was never used anywhere else in Scripture.  This does not diminish its truth as “all scripture is given by inspiration of God.”  But it must clearly not be the major focus of Christian lives due to the lack of emphasis in Scripture.  However, it can be a wonderful lesson for all believers that God wants us, even in our bodily weaknesses, to be built in our relationship with Him.  He wants to strengthen us through our weaknesses and not be destroyed by them.  He does not want to falter in our daily lives as He is not the author of the real hurts in the world today - Satan is that force.  Let’s focus on the Author of Peace and Strength not the author of confusion and pain.

Questioning a Missionary’s Ministry

As a pastor of 28 years I know that I am going to be held accountable by God for what happens in the church I was called to pastor.  It is unsettling to think that God may not be happy with what I did and where I lead the church I served.  But are we really as petty as it appears?  Do we really think that God is going to be angry with us for giving few dollars to a missionary who supposedly didn’t, by our personal way of thinking, win enough souls last week?  Do we honestly think that we are going to hang our head in shame when God tells us that some of our mission’s money went toward buying a pair of pants for a missionary’s eight year old daughter so she can sled down the hill without her skirt flying up?  Really?

I probably should explain why the ranting questions.

I am, and always have been, an independent fundamental Baptist.  (If it helps you, you can add King James there for clarity if you need.)  My father was a IFB church planter and I grew up soul winning every week, was a bus captain as a teenager, and never saw my mother wear a pair of “trousers” until she was basically on her death bed in the hospital some twelve years after my father had passed away.

I say these things not to shame anyone or brag but to make it clear that I know a little about ministry standards and feel they are important enough to define even in the church that I currently pastor.  Our church believes in soul winning, conservative music, tithing required for leaders to serve, dress standards for those serving in the church, and we even preach against divorce from our pulpit.  But I am a little confused as to where some preachers seem to draw the line of accountability regarding mission’s giving.

Let me explain further…

Recently I was speaking to two separate missionaries who were facing the same task - missionary questionnaires.  One was being asked questions that totaled over a dozen pages and seemingly covered everything from doctrine to habits.  The second was asked about his personal witnessing habits and exact total of souls won by him in recent days.  Now mind you, neither one of these men were bitter or angry and neither was refusing to do their diligence to honor the request.  They were, of course, being told that they MUST answer the questions for support to continue.

Now from the pastor’s point of view there is a need for stewardship.  I get that as you should have seen in the first paragraph of this post.  I also understand that mission’s dollars are becoming increasing scarce in some places and thus the need to be extra vigilant about their usage is absolutely necessary.  The phrase “most for your money” clearly comes to mind here.

I also would never want to stand before God, as a pastor, and have Him say that I allowed a doctrinally unsound missionary to remain on the field preaching heresy or leading people astray.  We are clearly warned again and again about wolves getting into the sheep.  Also no man should continue to receive missionary finances when they have no desire for the lost to be saved.

But from the missionary’s point of view I also see a few things too and that’s the reason for the article.  So, pastors, please be kind and think about what I am writing.  It is for the missionary’s benefit and for the pastor’s long term well being.

First, pastor, before you send a missionary any questionnaire ask yourself this question - what if my ministry was judged the way I am judging this missionary?  Now mind you, I am NOT talking about doctrine as that should be clearly established.  But what about the issues you want the missionary to address?

Personal standards:

As an example, my daughter has a college friend who was raised on the foreign missions field.  The friend’s missionary father was sent a questionnaire by a church which asked “What kind of clothes does your wife wear to bed?”  Now it may have seemed reasonable to the person who sent it, as dress and modesty are crucial in any ministry, but my question, pastor, is this a fair question for you to answer?  Would you be willing to tell another man what your wife wears to bed?  Is it any of his business?

Ministry practices?

As I mentioned earlier, one of the missionaries I spoke with this week was asked about how many souls he had personally won recently and how many hours of soul winning did he do each week?  My Bible says, someone sows, someone else waters, but God gives the increase.

Now before you react to that, let’s think about some other spiritual qualities that God also requires from His servants, such as, prayer.  In my years of ministry, I have seen many missionary questionaries and to the best of my knowledge NONE have ever asked how many hours do you spend in prayer?  But lots that have asked about souls won.

I have NEVER heard of a missionary questionnaire that asked how many tears have you shed for your field?  But many churches want to know how many tracts have you given out this week.

I cannot recall any church asking each of the missionaries they support about how much time do you spend building your marriage?  Yet, they want to know the exact number of baptisms last year.

Now, don’t get me wrong….I BELIEVE IN WINNING SOULS!  But I would assume that most pastors would be distressed if their deacons or treasurer came to them and said, “Pastor, before we write you another check, we need to have the exact number of folks you lead to Christ last week, so that we can decide if you are doing your job effectively.”

And that is exactly what pastors are doing when they ask about how many souls a missionary has “won?”  They are deciding whether they meet a judgment standard or ministry qualifications. If you question my judgment call here, then ask yourself what the reaction would be if the missionary said it had been many months since someone had been saved in their work?  Even if immediate discontinuance of support did not immediately happen, there would be great hesitance to continue.  That’s why the question was asked in the first place!

But we must remember the missionaries are NOT where we are and they are NOT us.

If you want to know whether a missionary is effectively trying to win souls or baptize enough converts, go work with him for a while and see for yourself.  His field is not your field and his ministry is not your ministry.  We cannot judge another man’s ministry based upon our own experiences.

Second, as a pastor, you know that time is precious.  You know that you should not waste it on things that are frivolous or pointless.  So it is for the missionary.  When you ask them questions, be brief in your forms or better yet, call them and talk to them man to man.

As I stated earlier of the missionary who received over twelve pages to fill out and return within one week!  What a waste of the man of God’s time!

But even better than writing or calling…send yourself!

Let me explain further…

About every year, I go to a different mission field.  Most of the time it is with a missionary we support.  This is so that I can see first hand where our money is being invested and how to pray for that missionary.

Now I know for some this is not possible or practical, but there is a larger point to be made.

Ten years ago, over a dozen of our members, including my then 10 year old daughter, went to Quebec for a missions trip.  While there we painted their building, put thousands of John and Romans into homes, preached through an interpreter, hung their new chandeliers in the auditorium, and painted almost their entire building.   We did what every mission’s team does! Right? Well…..

Six years ago, our church went to Scotland to work in the church plant of our missionary there.  We “stuffed” each mail box in the village with literature, preached a family conference, sang at every opportunity given us, and did some general construction work around the missionary’s work.  But sadly, we were informed that in almost 15 years in the British Isles, no other group had ever come to actually DO missions work with them.  But surely that’s an isolated event, right?

Four years ago I, with a team from our church, went to England to work with “our” missionary who had been on that field for over 25 years.  We passed out literature door to door, preached and sang in their services, as well as worked in their church’s outreach ministry for Eastern Europe.  But once again, we found that in the 25 years they were there, many groups had visited them but NONE had actually done any work for the ministry there.  These groups used them as a hotel and called it a missions trip.

And again last year, we traveled to Brazil and the same story was true.  We painted, preached, decorated for and cooked the meal for the mission’s church Sweetheart Dinner.  But once again, in over 17 years in Brazil, only one other group had come with the intent to actually do mission’s work!

How can we judge a missionary by a questionnaire?  How can we simply expect them to know our heart and we know their heart if we never connect on their field and in their work?  Yet how many churches do not receive the written answers they looked for and another missionary has support dropped?

Finally let me say that the best way to help a missionary is to encourage them, not critique them.  The number one reason missionaries leave the field is because of interpersonal relationship problems, IE marriage issues, cultural differences with the nationals, or difficulties with other missionaries.  Wouldn’t it be better to salvage the needy and support the faithful missionaries already on the field instead of having to replace them?

Also if you feel you must send a missionary questionnaire, do it through the sending/home church of the missionary and allow that church and pastor to be involved in the process.

I have been the home pastor of several missionaries down through the years and have only once or twice been contacted by supporting pastors with questions about the work those missionaries are doing.  And to me that is the saddest part of this article.  For a group that claims to be so local church IFB churches and pastors rarely use the “chain of command” when it comes to our mission’s support.  Instead we put the burden on the missionary.  Why not do the biblical thing and talk to his pastor first?

Just a couple simple thoughts from a simple minded preacher.

Are We in Laodecia?

Some may not agree that the seven churches of Revelation are church ages and that is fine, since the Bible does not directly say that. But they are actual churches and church types and last church type is Laodecia - the lukewarm church. However, the word Laodecia means "my rights come first." If that doesn't describe the day in which we here in America, I don't know what does? Here are just a couple of examples for the past few weeks:

1. Two teen girls (15&16) were arrested because they beat a 62 year old man who asked them to not sit on his lawn. Theses two videoed and the man was clearly not being mean or angry in his request, which is inconsequential as it was his yard!

2. A male high school student beat his principal at school for asking him to turn his earbuds down because it was so loud everyone around him was being distracted. The teen's excuse was that his mother had just died and he had a right to do whatever he wanted because of that.

3. Two separate pictures are floating around the internet that have been posted by police to show the effects of heroin. Both pictures are of parents sitting passed out from heroin usage in their vehicle along the side of the road with young children in the back seat. One of the parents said, "Well at least I pulled over. That should count for something."

4. A man in Indiana killed his live in girlfriend when she refused to marry him. The neighbor said it best when she said, "I guess he couldn't take rejection?"
5. Here are six reasons given in a recent article to teens why they and adults should go ahead and do whatever they want: you only live once, you'll make new friends, its's your party so invite who you want, no one cares as much as you think, you are the boss of you, and (worst of all in my opinion, they said) you'll be a better person for having done what you want.

6. Finally, a Christian "world" example - Christians leave their church when something doesn't go their way. They mainly leave not because of bad doctrine or true matters of conviction, such as worldly music or dress, but, because the preacher said something that offended them or because another church member was treated differently than they were. In short, they leave because they did not get their way. I have been in ministry now over 28 years and in that time only one family came to me and said they were leaving over doctrine - they believed in double inspiration and I refused to teach that. We had a person leave our church some months back and just recently they wrote back to tell me over 20 things that were "wrong" with our church, including celebrating the holiday of Christmas and being tax exempt. They stated several times that our doctrine was overall fine, just our practices they felt were ungodly, though they could not provide one verse to show the early churches path on the things they mentioned. We did not do what they wanted and away they went....Laodecian - "my rights come first."

Are we in the Laodecian age? I don't know, but it sure seems as if we are often making Laodecian decisions!

An Attempt at a Biblical View of Depression

Recently a precious member of our church and I had a written discussion (texts and emails) about the issue of depression.  After reading several websites and praying about this issue, I decided to share the heart of our discussion about the subject in the hopes of helping others.  I say this because depression is often a difficult subject for Christians to discuss as many leaders are not sure how to approach the subject without demeaning the character of God or taking away a Christian’s responsibility. 

Here is the heart of our last exchange:

There are many examples of Bible characters who struggled with a depression that was real, so to say that depression is not real or that it is always sin is not true.  Depression IS real but also CAN be a sin when we allow it to control those parts of our lives where God said, in His Word, that He should be in absolute control.   In other words, depression is sin only when we do not allow God to control our lives in the way He says we can allow His control over.  (By the way, there are areas which we can have no control over, such as other’s actions, but we can surrender our reactions to these kind of situations.)

Depression is real and there are many Bible characters who struggled with various types of depression: 

David - Psalm 38:4; 42:11

Elijah - 1 Kings 19:4

Jonah - Jonah 4:3

Job - Job 3:11, 26

Moses - Exodus 32:32

Jeremiah - Jeremiah 20:14, 18

I hope you believe, as I do, that God has given wonderful promises about helping us in all the types of depression and we should be convinced that God does not want any Christian living perpetually in a defeated state.  We are going to always struggle with our emotions and depression can be one of the hardest emotions we face in our lifetime.  But we can know that God wants to help us defeat permanently some sources of depression and then have the strength to “bear up” under all the other kinds of depression.  Here are some of those promises:

Psalm 34:18

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18

Galatians 2:20

Isaiah 40:31

I believe, that the key to those Bible truths helping us with those moments of “deep” depression is to determine first what is causing the depression and then find the Bible truths that help us know a course of care for that source of depression.  Some of the causes in the Bible for depression can include:

Physical imbalances - Matthew 26:41 (Getting help medically when needed)

Guilty conscience - 1 John 1:9 (Getting our own hearts right with God)

Stress - Matthew 11:28-30 (Learning to rely on God instead of mankind)

Abuse - Philippians 3 (Going forward instead of living solely in the past hurts)

Unthankful heart - Colossians 3:15 (Giving thanks even in hard times)

These are just a few of the examples the Bible gives of what can cause depression and they may or may not work together in a single life.  Some people may have one source problem and some may have more than one.  But depression is a real issue and God wants to help us.

Is Homosexuality More Severe Than Other Sins?

My wife and I were recently asked by someone we love dearly about whether homosexuality is categorized as a more grievous sin than other sins?  They said they had heard that is was a more serious category but wanted clear biblical verses to the question.  My answer to them and others is below.  This is a important question in our current day because so many Christians will use the answer to either isolate from reaching out to homosexuals or ignore the sin as being nothing different than any other.

First, its important to know that God says homosexuality is sin.  It is interesting to note that it is one of the few sins that God actually explains WHY it is wrong and how a person “falls” into it.  Not that He needs to justify or explain why any sin as wrong since He is holy and as God He does not owe us an explanation.  In Romans 1:18-32, Paul by inspiration of God gives the progression of a person into homosexual behavior.  It begins in verses 18 to 23 with the rejection of accepting God’s goodness  and plan.  It then moves in verses 24 to 25 with the rejection that their bodies were created for the glory of God and good works. (Ephesians 2:10 & Colossians 1:15-17)  Finally in verses 26 to 27, God allows their rejection to take them a very dark place - homosexual behavior.  This does not mean God made them homosexual, but it means they digressed into that lifestyle by rejecting the goodness of God’s act of creation of gender.  It is clear that God says homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle but a sin.  God calls it vile affections (Romans 1:26), reprobate (Romans 1:28), and abomination (Leviticus 20:13).

Second, nowhere does the Bible say that homosexual is a unique category of sin.  It is true that homosexuality is called abomination, but there are over 50 “abomination sins” in the Bible.  These sins include cheating at business (Deuteronomy 25:13-16) and a proud heart (Proverbs 6:16-17), not just homosexuality.  This does not mean that homosexuality isn’t a serious sin, but it does mean that it is not a unique category of sin.  To be completely honest, I do not believe there are categories of sin anyway.  Some sins are described as abomination and wickedness, but that is a descriptive term not a category.  All sin is sin and are described by various terms throughout the Bible.

Third, there are really only two types of sins - the forgiven and unforgiven.  According to God’s Word all sins can be forgiven except one (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - Matthew 12:31).  If we are going to be concerned about the categorization of sin, shouldn’t that be the sin we are concerned over? Whether they are forgiven or not?  God desires to forgive all sins (Acts 17:30 with 1 John 1:9).  This means that any category of sin that mankind may develop is useless in the light of eternity.

Last, and more personal opinion about homosexuality - not everyone is going to be sexual in their lifetime and the Bible teaches this fact.  Unfortunately sexual things are often pushed upon our young people, both by the world and by some Christian folks.   The world system pushes sex as doing what feels good regardless of the Bible’s commands and then the world uses sexual things to promote everything and anything.  Some in the Christian “world” unfortunately teach that if you do not have sexual desires for members of the opposite sex then you must be perverted and thus a homosexual in the making.  But the Bible clearly teaches that there are people who are born without the usual sexual desire.  Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 19:10-12 that there are eunuchs born eunuchs.  When you study the word “eunuch” it is clear that they are those who have no sexual desire/ability.  Unfortunately many well meaning Christians make these “eunuchs” feel rejected and may even unknowingly be encouraging them into sin by feeling since they do not desire the opposite sex then they must be homosexual.

God created our genders (Genesis 1:27 & 5:2) and those genders were for procreation (Genesis 1:28) which homosexual behavior cannot fulfill.  Thus the severity of homosexuality (like all sin) is about the rejection of God’s plan and not due to a God given category of sin.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Throughout Jesus earthly ministry the religious leaders were constantly seeking to attack Him, His teaching, and His method of ministry.  These religious people were filled with jealousy but also attacked Jesus out of ignorance as Paul attested to in 1 Timothy 1:13.  Jesus would often correct these hypocrites’ doctrine as they had made their personal observations on the same level as the doctrine of God Himself (Mark 7:7).  But some of the greatest admonition from Jesus is over what He called their “leaven.”  But what is that leaven?

In Matthew 15 and 16 this confrontation comes to a climax as Jesus directly confronts them over this issue.

It begins in Matthew 15 when the scribes and Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of not ceremoniously washing their hands before they ate.  Jesus does not respond by attacking the washing of the hands, as that was a proper thing to do, but He did address their heart being far from God even if they sounded good in their words. (Matthew 15:1-8)  Jesus then gathers the people to Himself and publicly addresses the heart of the issue of the hypocrites - motivation.

You see, the religious leaders believed that if they did the right things the motivation was unimportant because they were doing “the right thing.”  But Jesus makes it clear that doing the right things for the right reasons was the crucial to being right with God.  He tells the people that the sins of our lives come from the condition of our heart (Matthew 15:18-19).

Then in Matthew 16:1, the Pharisees and Sadducees approach Jesus looking for a “sign from heaven.”  This was obviously their attempt to get Jesus to prove to their satisfaction that He was from God.  Jesus makes it clear, Matthew 16:1-4, that their desire for signs is because they refuse to accept the sign of Jonah, which was a message of faith alone.  Jesus then warns his disciples of the “leaven” in Matthew 16:6-11.  His illustration of the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand was proof that the outward cannot motivate the inward but the other way around.

This truth has unfortunately caused many to throw away their holy righteous living as they believe that Jesus has accepted their heart’s motivation instead of the outward living.   They say things like “God knows my heart.”  It is true that God knows our heart, and according to Jeremiah 17:9 the heart is wicked and cannot be trusted in itself.  

So what are we to do?

First, ask the Lord to give us a clean heart - Psalm 51:10.  God is the only One who can make our hearts clean before Him.  Proverbs 20:9 tells us that we cannot make our hearts clean.

Second, accept that God is holy and we must seek to live holy lives - 1 Peter 1:16.  Sin has no place in our lives, and, our salvation should change our desire from sinfulness to sanctification toward God’s holiness. (James 4:8)

Third, never justify your sin because you think your motivation is right with God, because the sin shows you are NOT right in your motivation. (Romans 6:1-4)

My entire life has been lived in a group of Christianity known as independent fundamental Baptists (IFB).  This group has often been called Pharisees due to their strict stance on certain moral issues and a perceived belief that the outward makes a Christian right on the inside.  I cannot answer for every IFB out there and I am sure there are those who are Pharisaical in their stance.  But though every Christian may not have the right stance about the heart’s motivation there are those who do have their hearts right with God.  So don’t judge every IFB as a Pharisee.  Those that choose to live their lives with standards and convictions may be doing so out of a desire for holiness and thus have a right motivation. 

Beware of the leaven, even in your own heart!