|
HOW TO FIND A CHURCH HOME
Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is; but exhorting one
another: and so much the more,
as ye see the day approaching.
(HEBREWS 10:25)
Hebrews 10:25 lets us know that it is God’s will that Christians
assemble and participate in local worship services on a regular
basis. This verse indicates that we are not supposed to neglect
attending our church services (whether these take place in a
cathedral, a chapel or an open field). Bible-believing godly
churches in communities around the globe are a blessing from God, as
they are instrumental in keeping individuals encouraged in their
walk with God and they are key in training individuals how to live
successfully as Christians. (And of course, they are important in
helping sinners come to know Christ)
This writing is dedicated to each of you who have approached
Holiness.com and said that you have been blessed by the teaching
that we provide and expressed your desire for us to tell you of a
church to attend in your area that holds teachings consistent with
Holiness.com.
These requests have been of great concern to Holiness.com. We have
attempted to meet these needs but have had difficulty in satisfying
these requests. We do wish to help each of you, and feel that
possibly the best way to do so at this time is to offer exhortation
on the subject of how one might go about finding a church.
Before going further let us review the foundational truths upon
which the teachings at Holiness.com are based:
The Bible in its entirety is inspired by God. And, no doctrine or
teaching is essential unless supported by the Bible.
From eternity past and forever there is one God, existent in Three
Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The Bible establishes that the Church of God will be taken (raptured)
out of this present world when Christ returns in the mid-air.
The only way for a person(s) to come into a relationship with God
and become part of the Church of God is by: Believing that Jesus
(the Son of God) died for your sins, and believing that Jesus
physically rose from the dead; By asking God’s forgiveness for your
sins, turning your back on sin, and allowing Jesus to be the Lord of
your life.
It is the working of the Holy Spirit which brings a person to the
point of believing and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is given to believers who ask for it.
The Holy Spirit possesses sanctifying power by Whose indwelling, the
Christian is enabled to live a holy and separated life in this
present world.
It is from the position these foundational truths are absolutely
correct that the Holiness.com teachings are published. It is our
hope that this commentary that you are reading right now will assist
you with your desire to find a church that has teachings consistent
with those of Holiness.com
Let me provide the disclaimer that there are some questionable
reasons for which some people leave their church and join another
church; for example, a person leaves his church because his church
is not visited by famous Christian ministers and singers (like the
church down the street). Unfortunately, some people join a church
based on how much star power it has (i.e. which movie stars, or
politicians are members of said church), or how popular a church is
in Christian circles. As you will see in a bit, we don’t recommend
these as the criteria for selecting a church.
While we’re talking about changing churches, let me share something
that I saw occur that really disturbs me. I personally witnessed a
senior minister of a very large church speaking to a talented church
organist from a small church; the senior minister unashamedly tried
to pressure the organist to give up going to Bible study and prayer
services at his home church in order to play for the minister’s
church. The minister began to make promises of Big Money that the
organist could make if he would come help the minister’s church.
When the organist emphatically said that he could not miss prayer
services, the minister said: “we have prayer over here” and “man
ought to always pray;” suggesting that the organist give up his
commitment to his home church and just pray at the minister’s
church, or wherever necessary to accept the senior minister’s
financial offer.
Please allow me to presume that all of you have noble reasons for
changing churches. With this in mind, I think that there are
multiple legitimate and honorable reasons why one might need to seek
a new church home. I will at least attempt to provide some tips for
those finding themselves in the three common situations identified
below.
(1) Someone attending a church that does not adhere to the
essentials of the Christian faith
(2) Someone leaving a godly church as a result of relocating (i.e.
you’re moving away).
(3) Someone who has accepted Christ but doesn’t have a church home
yet.
Let me provide some preliminary comments about situation (1) above.
Some might be wondering how it is possible for a true Christian to
find themselves in a church whose teaching does not adhere to the
essentials of the Christian faith. There are a number of ways that
this can happen. One real-life true story that comes to mind is a
ministry that I am aware of that is led by a man of God who seems to
have started out promoting sound biblical teaching and preaching.
Years later, after his ministry had grown quite large, this pastor
received new “revelations” that contradict the Holy Bible.
When I first heard rumor of what this leader was teaching, I did not
want to believe it, even though the information came from a
“reliable source.” Greatly disturbed by what I heard, I took steps
to obtain (directly from this leader’s ministry) a recent copy of a
sermon this leader gave. Among other things, this leader believes
that everyone is saved, whether or not they repent and accept
Christ. This fights directly against so many scriptures that I
cannot list them all. For example, Acts 16:30-31 “And brought them
out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...”
Or, Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
If people receive the teaching that they don’t have to accept Christ
and they continue on without accepting him, believing in whatever
else they are trusting in, God will not save them. Acts 4:12
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
My understanding is that many people left this ministry not wishing
to use their time and money to support the spread of the unholy and
deceptive doctrine being promoted by this ministry to subvert and
doom souls to everlasting punishment.
I am reminded of what the Holy Ghost directed Apostle John to say in
II John 9-11
9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he
hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
We are not only restricted from giving financial support to
ministries teaching a false doctrine, but verse ten above says that
we cannot even bid false ministers “God speed:” Verse eleven takes
it further and says that if we “biddeth him God speed” (e.g. give
encouragement to someone in their teaching of a false gospel) we are
guilty of being a part of the false minister’s deeds. This is truly
sobering truth, to see how God looks at us when we continue to
support a church that we know is teaching a false gospel.
Now let me say that you do have many pastors who accurately preach
the way of salvation through repentance and accepting Jesus Christ
as Saviour and Lord. However, some of these pastors who publicly
proclaim the biblical message of salvation, actually behave in a
manner contrary to Holiness in their private lives. They proclaim
that Jesus will set you free from your sins, while clutching their
sins ever so tightly – spending late nights hanging out at the bar
gulping down strong drinks, or hanging around gambling dens trying
to win dishonest money; too afraid to be seen in the strip club,
they order videos of scantily clad people for viewing in the secrecy
of their home. Far too often, we hear of “Christian” ministers who
condone violence (even beat their wives), with no remorse and no
real repentance, never ceasing from such evil deeds. And, there are
those men who have a wife, and a mistress across town; with a young
baby here, and a young baby there, seemingly babies everywhere
(conceived with a variety of different women).
I say that these men do not meet the qualifications to be your
pastor if we are going to follow the scripture.
Now a few of you may be confused and say “well, these individuals
must be acceptable as pastors in God’s sight because I know people
who truly repented and accepted Christ after hearing these pastors
preach, despite these pastors’ sinful personal lifestyle.”
Let me share a passage of scripture with you:
Philippians 1:14-17
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my
bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife: and some also
of good will:
16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to
add affliction to my bonds:
17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of
the gospel.
Please take another look at verse 15 above; the Apostle Paul
acknowledges the fact that there were some preachers in his time who
were preaching Christ out of impure motives such as selfish
ambitions to gain notoriety and/or to try and make Paul become
discouraged or cause him trouble while Paul is in chains for
preaching the gospel. In verse 18, Paul does rejoice that the gospel
of Christ is being spread, even by these individuals with improper
motives. The fact that a pastor relays the gospel message and
someone grabs hold of that truth and accepts Christ, does not mean
that the pastor preached with the right motive. I know this is hard
to grasp, but the pastor may not actually be living godly himself.
If I taught a parrot to recite verses from the Bible, it is indeed
possible that some sinner could take hold on those verses and come
to know Christ as Saviour and Lord. However, please understand that
no parrot (nor any other bird) can meet the qualifications of being
a pastor.
Unless you think my parrot example above too far fetched, please
take note how God gave a donkey the ability to speak to a wicked man
causing the man to be saved from being destroyed by the angel of the
Lord (see Numbers 22:28-33). But, surely we would not say that a
donkey should be our pastor because God used the donkey to speak to
a wicked man to save him from being destroyed by the angel of the
Lord.
We’ll discuss more about the biblical qualifications of a pastor in
a bit, but I would like to make a preliminary comment regarding the
second example/situation for someone needing to find a church home:
(2) Someone leaving a godly church as a result of relocating
For those who know well ahead of time that you will be relocating,
your search for a new church home at your new location should begin
well before you move. For example, if you are leaving home to go to
college and you are a Christian, is it godly to spend all your time
and effort in making sure you have a place to live, transportation,
a job, etc., and simply say you’ll figure out where you will attend
church when you get some free time after school starts? I would tend
to worry that there is a spiritual deficiency here when such a low
priority is placed on finding a place of worship in the location one
is moving to.
Okay, let’s get into some things you can do in searching for a
church.
STEP-1
In the case of scenario (2) where one is leaving a godly church as a
result of relocating, hopefully the pastorial staff has been made
aware of your intentions to relocate. The pastorial staff of your
church may have personal connections or associate churches in the
town that you are moving to. It is often a good idea to ask the
leadership of the godly church you now attend if they have some
references to good churches where you are moving to that you might
visit. I don’t recommend that you join a church sight-unseen. Unless
God has specifically instructed you to join a church you have never
been to or seen, I would recommend developing a list of churches to
visit/investigate and pray about joining.
Now, of course, if you are in scenario (1) “attending a church that
does not adhere to the essentials of the Christian faith,” when you
make a quick and clean break from this church, I am definitely not
recommending going back to such a church to get recommendations for
a new church. If the church you are leaving believes things that
contradict basic Christianity, they are likely to send you to a
similar place (if they don’t first try to pressure you to return to
their assembly).
STEP-2
If you would like to add to the list of potential churches developed
in STEP-1, you can try a variety of other sources to increase your
list of potentially good churches. If you have family or friends in
the town you are moving to who you know embrace and live according
to sound biblical doctrine, you might ask them where they attend
church.
If you are still stuck and you have no potential churches on your
list, do continue praying fervently and talking to Christians to
obtain information about potential churches.
I don’t consider this ideal, but you might also look in the phone
directory (this can be done on the internet) for churches in the
area you are headed to who are affiliated with the organization your
current godly church is a part of. Or, look for churches affiliated
with other organizations that also hold to essentials of the
Christian faith.
STEP-3
Again, keep praying and seeking God’s direction while searching for
a potential church. Now that you have a list of potentially good
churches, you may want to start making contact with these churches
even before you move to your new home. You could start by calling
the churches on your list and explaining that you are planning to
move into their general area and wanted to find out more about the
church. This approach also works for the reasons for changing
churches that don’t have to do with relocation (i.e. you recently
accepted Christ and don’t have a church home, or you are leaving a
church that has false teachings).
Ask each church you call what their basic beliefs are.
If you are comfortable doing so, you might also ask the church to
send literature about the church to your current residence. But, be
cautious about giving out your address as you don’t want to get your
address on master mail lists that cause you to get unsolicited
mailings. Giving out your address might even result in unwanted
visits from people in your current town who are affiliated with the
church you contacted.
Even at the best of churches, sometimes you may call a church and
reach someone who is not able to answer your questions regarding
what the church believes; don’t be too discouraged, just politely
ask if the person would mind connecting you with someone who could
explain the basics of what the church believes.
I once advised someone who was anticipating visiting a church that
they had never been to before to first find out what the church
believed before visiting. The person called the church and asked
regarding what the church believed. The person answering the phone
very proudly proclaimed “We believe in the unadulterated Word of
God!” That was their response. This response gave almost none of the
information needed to understand what that church believes.
Dear saints, if you are given the responsibility of answering the
phone at your church, please understand what your church believes
well enough to help some poor soul wishing to visit your church.
Telling them that you “Believe in the Word of God” may be a start,
but you need to add information such as what you believe about God
(e.g. one God revealed in three persons); what you believe about
Jesus Christ, what you believe about sin; and so on...
I would suggest that you take notes while talking to persons from
each prospective church so that you can clearly refer back to which
church said what.
After you have asked questions about the churches beliefs (and
possibly requested literature be sent to you), you might try asking
the person to tell you the three things that he/she most enjoys
about his/her church.
STEP-4
You now have notes written about different churches and literature
coming in from potential churches. It’s now time to prioritize the
churches that you will visit to determine the order you will visit
them when you are in the town you are moving to. If you are planning
trips to the town you are moving to you can start visiting churches
even before you permanently move. Again, if you are already residing
in the area for which you need a church home, you can begin your
visiting immediately.
Any church that holds to teachings that oppose the foundational
truths that were listed by Holiness.com earlier should be removed
from the list of churches that you will consider visiting.
Now, from the churches that you have remaining on your list, one
possible way to decide which churches that you will visit first
would be to start with those churches closest to your new home. Or,
you could start with the churches that have the most service times
that you will be able to attend (this may be more important than you
think if you are working some sort of odd shift at your job). Or,
you might want to start with churches that are closer to your job to
better facilitate your attending noon-time prayer and midweek
evening services. Whichever criteria you use to decide which church
to visit first, please keep in mind that you want to look at
churches you will be able to faithfully participate with. You may
really be impressed by one of the churches on your list, but if it
is 85 miles from your home, you must decide whether this will be an
issue for you to faithfully attend. Or, if your work assignment is
such that all services are during your work hours (for the church
you feel drawn to), ask God if He means for you to change shifts (or
jobs). Or, it may be that God wants you to make sure that you’re
looking at churches that you will be able to attend faithfully given
the work assignment He has already allowed you to have.
Okay, so now you should have a list of churches ordered in some
fashion that will allow you to start visiting prospective churches.
STEP-5
In this step, it’s time to immediately take out your list of
potential churches and start visiting churches. If you are changing
churches as part of a relocation you may have to wait until you
either move to your new location or have opportunity to take a trip
to the location that your are moving to.
Let me say that you may need to prayerfully visit specific churches
on your list multiple times. And, once you are residing in the area
for which you are looking for a new church home, you may find more
good churches that are acceptable to be added to your list. Go ahead
and add those churches to your list.
Let me caution you not to get in too much of a hurry to join up with
a church; and don’t let zealous church members pressure you into
joining a church you don’t feel God’s leading to join. But, by all
means, don’t put off your search for a church; neglecting to attend
worship services is one of the ways many begin to drift away from
the body of Christ (which God saved you to be a part of)
Let’s talk some about the actual visits you make to churches.
Imagine we have a church in your new town we will call “Church A.”
Make certain you have the correct address, good directions, and the
exact service times for Church A before setting out to visit Church
A. When you arrive at Church A, you want to be very observant even
before you step on the grounds of the church.
For example, if things look unsafe (e.g. it is night time and the
church is totally dark), you may want to decide on returning for one
of the day services at a later time. Maybe you should call the
church and reconfirm that you have the correct service times before
your next visit.
I am not trying to making you paranoid, but you do need to be aware
as you visit a church. If as you walk into the foyer (entrance hall)
of Church A, you see people bowing down in front of a statue and
praying to the statue (or praying to candles or pictures of dead
people) before entering the sanctuary, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY; you are in
the wrong place. When you return home, call the church and reconfirm
you had the correct address; if you indeed had the correct address,
remove Church A from your list and do not return. True churches
don’t advocate praying to statues; or calling upon the spirits of
the dead for assistance. Praying to statues is the trademark of many
idol worshipers. And, calling upon the spirits of the dead to
perform various deeds on behalf of the living is what some witches
claim they can do. True Christians call upon the Spirit of the
Living God for help, not the spirit of dead celebrities, dead
politicians, or deceased Christians of great reputation.
As you enter the grounds of Church A, are the elders and deacons
standing in the parking lot on a “Smoke Break” – smoking cigars,
cigarettes, pipes and such like? Again, you are in the wrong place.
Imagine that as you visit the churches on your list, you find one
that you would like to continue visiting; let’s call it “Church B.”
As you continue to visit Church B, there are things that can help
give you a feel for the character of the church. One of the key
things that you should observe in this regard is the character of
the pastor. Show me a pastor who does not meet the biblical criteria
defined in I Timothy 3:1-7 for a bishop (i.e. pastor), and I will
show you a church in disorder and turmoil.
I Timothy 3:1-7 says:
1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he
desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to
teach;
3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but
patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity;
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he
take care of the church of God?)
6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without;
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
It can be difficult in some cases where you are totally unfamiliar
with a church to determine whether the pastor of the church you are
very interested in exemplifies all of the characteristics defined in
the scripture passage above. Let’s say that Church B has someone in
charge of guest relations. One approach to assist you in trying to
determine how the pastor matches up with the scriptural
qualifications is to start by introducing yourself to the guest
relations staff member of Church B.
Explain that you are a visitor and that you currently don’t have a
church home and that you enjoy their services. If the person tries
to pressure you into joining right on the spot, let them know that
you are praying about it, and that you are not ready to make a
decision just yet. Let the person know that you are not real
familiar with the church, but wanted to ask some questions about the
church if this guest relations staff person doesn’t mind. If the
guest relations person gives you the go ahead, asks some questions
that correlate to I Timothy 3:1-7. You don’t want to seem like a
police interrogator; so, don’t ask the guest relations person
whether the pastor has ever robbed a bank.
Maybe you could start by asking when the church was established.
Then, ask how long the pastor has been leading the church; if guest
relations tells you that he’s been pastoring for 20 years, at least
you have a clue that he has some experience under his belt (see I
Timothy 3:6 regarding a pastor not being a novice). And, even if
guest relations says that the pastor just took over the church, you
might enquire about how/where he served before becoming the pastor;
Some new pastors actually are very experienced and qualified as a
result of the variety of responsibilities they have faithfully
carried prior to becoming a pastor.
Next, casually ask guest relations if the pastor has a family. Be
careful not to be to eager in how you ask this question. If you are
a single lady, you don’t want to give the impression that you are
romantically interested in the pastor. Guest relations may tell you
something like: “Yes, he has a family. The pastor is married with
two beautiful children” You might ask how old the children are.
Then, say to guest relations: “I am curious, what does Church B
teach regarding the verse that a Pastor must be the ‘husband of one
wife.’” This may cause an angry reaction from the otherwise kind and
gentle guest relations person due to possible skeletons in the
Pastor’s closet. So many pastors, due to hardness of heart are
tossing their marriages aside like a used TV dinner tray and
remarrying the next church sister to strike their fancy. I cannot
reconcile with scripture how a pastor can quit his Christian wife
who has never been sexually unfaithful, and then turn around and
marry some other “Christian” woman; and, supposedly nobody has
displeased God in this whole situation.
In any case, listen intently to how the person answers regarding the
church’s teaching on a pastor being the “husband of one wife.”
Be observant of how the pastor interacts with his parishoners
before, during and after church; you may get a chance to see the
patience mentioned in I Timothy 3:3. Often you can get a better
impression of a pastor in smaller groups. Typically, midweek
services and early morning services are less attended; try attending
those, especially in settings where you might get a chance to
interact with the pastor (e.g. asking questions during the Bible
Study).
On a side note, if you find that the pastor does not usually attend
any of the church’s prayer meetings, you may have a situation where
the pastor feels he has more important things to do; this just might
possibly be a church with a pastor who is not vigilant.
Watch how the pastor interacts with his own family, as the Bible
tells us that how a man treats his family is a key indicator of his
readiness to lead a church. If the pastor’s children are very well
mannered and involved in the church services (e.g. singing songs and
clapping hands or playing instruments during worship service), then
Church B just might be the good influence you need for your
children.
However, if the pastor’s children look like they just stepped off
the set of a HipHop Gangsta Rap music video recording, as they
minister in song and play their instruments during the worship
service, then you should consider crossing Church B off your list.
Even if the Pastor has minor children who have not accepted Christ,
he still has a responsibility to make sure that they attend church
and correct them appropriately if they become unruly in church. No,
the Pastor cannot force his children to accept Christ, but he can
require that they be in church and adhere to a minimum standard of
proper attire and conduct. If a pastor is afraid to correct and
instruct his own children, how can he have the courage to handle
issues of church discipline in the house of God. And, a man who
rules his house well, will not dump the entire job of child rearing
on his wife. Remember, ruling one’s house well is among the
qualifications for a man to be a pastor.
And, if the pastor’s children are grown and not living under his
roof, and they persist in behaving or dressing improperly, the
pastor does have the authority to censure even his own grown
children from leading worship services (or functioning in other
church capacities). I am reminded of the Old Testament priest by the
name of Eli. He had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who conducted
themselves most shamefully when Israelites would come to honor God
with sacrifices in the Old Testament religious system. God not only
punished Hophni and Phinehas, but he punished Eli for not properly
disciplining his sons. God said to Eli in I Samuel 2:29-31:
29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I
have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to
make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel
my people?
30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy
house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever:
but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I
will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm
of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine
house.
The description of further punishments to Eli’s family continues on
in the verses that follow those above. But, I think you get the
point from those listed above.
We’ve become so politically correct in the church that we are scared
to tell young men assigned to the worship team to pull up their
pants so that their underwear doesn’t show. I saw one young man
hosting a Christian worship program with what appeared to be a hole
pierced through his nose in which he wore a piece of jewelry. We
have people performing re-mixes of popular secular R&B songs in the
worship services. This tells you that a church has a discipline
problem when people are allowed to do anything and are assigned the
responsibility to lead worship services.
Many churches will have what they call “New Member” classes. If you
have found a church you are really interested in and they have one
of these classes, you might ask them whether it is okay for you to
sit in on the class, even though you are not ready to commit to
being a member just yet. This might be an ideal setting to get a
real understanding of what the church teaches. Beyond the basic
teaching of Christianity, there are also various requests that an
individual church may ask of its members. You may find yourself
unhappy if you join Church B, and later find out that there is an
expectation that each member will commit to a certain amount of
hours each week helping out in various ministries in neighboring
communities of the church. Or, some churches may have an expectation
of certain levels of financial support from each of the members.
These things are items that are good for you to understand before
making a commitment to join up with Church B, so that there be as
little confusion as possible regarding the church’s expectation of
you. It’s not just about what a church can do for you. Just like a
family, your local church may have expectations of you.
Some churches may not have a “New Members’” class, but they may have
a class that teaches their doctrine. If Church B has a doctrine
class or church history class, visit this class. If Church B has
none of these classes, then maybe you should visit their Sunday
School.
Now, if Church B has no New Members classes, has no Bible doctrine
classes, has no Sunday School, there might be cause for concern. You
need a church with more than just Worship/Song services, if you want
to become all that God wants you to be.
STEP 6
As I have said before, you need to be praying during this process of
selecting a church. Even when you have found the church you think
that you should join, please pray fervently (maybe add some fasting
too) about your decision before sharing it with the church you have
selected. Sometimes what looks good to us is the farthest thing from
what God wants us to do.
You may indeed have decided on joining a specific church that is
very sound in doctrine. This church may also have all the extra
amenities that you like: beautiful building; child care during
services; exquisite sound system, highly skilled musicians, and
worship singers. The church may not even ask too much of your time
and money. But God may just want you at another very doctrinally
sound church, that happens to be in the bad neighborhood; where the
church building needs some improvements; where many of the people at
the church are not of the same race as you; where the worship team
isn’t so polished as far as their singing ability. What if God
reveals that you should join that church? Are you open and sensitive
enough to the Holy Spirit to obey God? Or, would you justify how you
have worked hard for the Lord all your life in ministry? Would you
convince yourself that it is only fair for you now to retire from
hard work? A friend of mine who was looking for a church had a
specific criteria that she wanted a church: “Where I don’t have to
work so hard.” The question is: “What does God want of you?”
CONCLUSION:
Yes, God can lead you directly to the church he wants you to join
without using this process that has been outlined above. But, if God
does not show you His choice immediately, feel free to use the
advice that I have given above. Selecting a church to place your
membership at is one of the very important decisions you must make
in your life and it should be done with much care.
Again, make sure it’s God leading, wherever you decide to join. And
don’t use the difficulty of finding a good church as an excuse not
to go to church because God is not pleased with that.
Lastly, if you are in the Northern California Bay Area, (Oakland,
Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Hayward, San Francisco, etc.), and you would
like a referral to a godly little church that is highly recommended
by Holiness.com, let us know.
God Bless,
And happy searching.
|