Pray For Our Enemies

I totally see the beliefs of obama and hillary as only evil from the get go, buy we Christians must remember that God is calling for all men to come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth. We are called to pray for our enemies and it is my hope that they would repent and come to the knowledge of the truth. Another reminder is that when someone spews hate towards a Christian, even the immediate dead, we can be reminded that they hated Jesus as well, so they will hate us as well.

A Better Way

    My road of faith and it's hills and valleys have been many through the years of my Christian walk. Since  I left the institutional congregation of believers, I feel as if I have been wandering in a desolate wilderness while stumbling over rocks and boulders strewn along the landscape. My connections with like minded-believers, who have found the same path, have been few and far between. Sometimes, I feel like a man without a country, but I know that there are others of you out there who are in similar situations on your journey.
    My journey has been filled with research, reading, and reflection on numerous authors who have been on similar and more extensive travels through the home church wilderness. I have concluded in my mind after all this time and research that the way that the early New Testament believers met is the "better way."
     A few weeks ago or maybe months, I came across a listing of what one home fellowship sees as a thread weaved through the fabric of their meeting together as a body of New Testament believers. I believe that as I have read through this listing that it fleshes out what I see could be foundational to a body of believers meeting in the home so let me share it with you:

• Jesus is the head of the body of believers
• Understand that Jesus' desire for believers is that together they will conform to his image and be prepared for mutual ministries to each other and outreach to the lost world,
• Believe in the "priesthood of all believers" for the work of the ministry, not a professional pastor.
• Enjoy prayer, praise, worship, bible teaching, the Lord's supper, testimonies of the Lord working in the believer's lives as a common practice in the home environment.
• Encourage teaching, learning, and sharing times that are open to questions and discussion
• Include children as part of the gathering and ministry time.
• Enjoy practicing all the one another's listed in the scriptures
• Let elders have a functional mindset and emerge naturally over time.
• Make decisions for the body by consensus (Acts 15:22,25) looking to Jesus, the head, allowing the Holy Spirit the opportunity to bring the whole body of believers into one mind.

If you can think of more let me know.

Mixed Feelings

    I wonder if your having a wealth of mixed feelings as I am. I have been out of the institutional church for quite a number of years. Could it be at least ten? Truth be told, I just don't remember. Well, that's beside the point.
     I feel like I've been in the wilderness forever. Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up my faith in God and my Savior Jesus Christ and all that that entails. All I've given up is the ceremonial rituals and the sermonizing.
     I still, at times, meet with other believers for Bible study and enjoy that fellowship even though they are from, mainly, institutional churches. I do care about those who attend, but there is this feeling of not really being connected. If I were to bring up the notion of not going to the church building and meeting in our home as New Testament believers did, I think that they would look at me like I was an alien from another planet. Actually, I am confident in saying that it would not even get this far.
     So, what I'm asking is that I can make connections with other believers who are feeling like they are in the same boat. It's my desire to develop a spiritual community that is centered on the truth of the Bible.
     Please, let me assure you from the onset that I do not have an ax to grind with those in the institutional body of believers, I just see a better way after reading numerous books and research about meeting in the home