Freedom in Christ and how we meet!

The other day I was with a group of believers and the question was asked, "does anyone have a song they'd like to sing?"
Of which the first thing in my mind is they don't want me to sing, because I would scare everyone off! Yet, as I sat there and thought some more the Lord reminded me that for those who are not gifted at singing can recite the Psalms. After all they are all about bringing glory to God in worship.
I feel that for so long in the I.C. we have been brought up to think we must have someone lead our worship time and that we must sing songs.
In the bible there are freedoms to an extent of what you can do when you meet. I won't elaborate on them in this post, but I do know that just reading the word outloud and just praising God with our voices is allowed. We don't always have to have a song to be sung in order to glorify our God and Father in heaven.
The way everything is structured in the Institutional Church it makes it out as if you are not "having church" unless you do.
I am not hammering the I.C. no, only using what I have experienced to bring about what the Lord is showing me.
In our house church meetings we don't have people in our little fellowship who sing well or have the gift per se. Yet the Lord still blesses us with His presence by putting things in our hearts to say.
So much seems to be questioning on what to do when you meet in a home church or how to start it etc.. I know for one in our little fellowship we have not had a boring meeting just because no one leads a worship song or has a big teaching.
What works in our group may not work in others. Because of who is present and who the Lord may have gifted to do certain things. Again we may just recite a few Psalms as the Lord lays them on our heart. Or someone may have a scripture they read. There are also times of just being quiet and waiting.
Yet, in all of our meetings the Lord gets glorified and we come out edified.
My conclusion is don't worry about how a meeting is supposed to be held. Don't worry if you don't have the "right" songs to sing. Don't worry if only one person is doing all of the talking if the Lord so wills.
We have made so much out of so little. We have tried to move away from tradition and in doing so we still try to bring a little of it in out of desperation.
Our little group consist for the most part of 1 young man, two older single men, my wife, kids and myself.
Yet so much wisdom comes out of our meetings, because there is a freedom for anyone to speak what the Lord has put on their hearts.
We love to pray together, we love to visit and we definately love to eat! Especially when you 3 single men who don't get to many home cooked meals. Our feast consist of a fellowship meal celebrating the Lord's Supper as a meal.
Right now as we are small we don't have a certain leader. The Holy Spirit has been our guide using the word to edify.
Usually what one has to say out of the word coincides with the atmosphere of the meeting.
Plus we don't always meet every week. Work schedules cause some not to be here and sometimes we do go and meet at a big box church just for the extra fellowship.
So just remember that there is freedom to how we meet and we don't have to be rigid.
More later.....

What are you defined by? And who defines you?

I was going to title this post..."I am a heretic and have been for 15 years."
You see the original defintion of heretic was someone who used to be a Roman Catholic and leaves, then no longer believes what that group teaches. Of which I did leave it in 1995 after being in it for 25 years. Later on that same year I wrote to the Ft. Worth diocese and told them to take my name off the list as I no longer consider myself a Roman Catholic.
I took serious what I felt and know the Lord told me. When I knew I had to leave that church.
I loved and still love the people of that group. I have lots of friends and family who still belong to that church group.
At the time I had questions of why! Why did the church do such and such? Why? And no one not even the priest couldn't answer these questions I had. Then the great defining moment came when I was at a parish meeting along with other older parishners trying to find a way to get more people involved. My wife and I were youth group ministers at the time.
The big scratching of the chaulk board moment came when an older gentleman said, "We need to have more devotions to Mary." From that moment on I knew that I had to leave. I knew that something wasn't quite right with that statement.
Needless to say my wife and I gradually moved away from the Catholic church. For about a month or more we were searching what to do next. Then I had the opportunity to meet with my neighbor at the time who happened to be a pastor of a non-denominational charismatic type church group.
We ended up going there and stayed with them for 10 years until we moved.
As we were at our new state and home we became involved in another church of which had reformed baptist ties and were bordering on the gifts and waiting on the Lord for such.
We stayed there for 4 years. And now are meeting in our home. As we feel the Lord called us to.
I learned a lot from each place I have been apart of and am continuing to learn.
So now to why I titled the post what I did.
I could have continued on allowing my Catholic roots to define me, but I left most of that behind.
I could have allowed the charismatic church define me, and also the reformed baptist also.
Meaning people could have defined me by where I was meeting at the time.

Right now people may try to define me as a heretic in another way. Why? Because I am going against the grain of religion that defines most of America. I meet with other believers in a house.
Not a church! No, a house. I also meet with other believers outside at times. Or in McDonald's etc.
You see I don't want a building to define me. I could be following a Martin Luther, Calvin or Armenius.
I could consider myself a backslidden Calvinist! And an Armenian who keeps losing his salvation! I could consider myself modern day heretic because I don't meet in a building with a cross on top of it with at least 50 people meeting every Sunday morning, night and Wednesday nights.

You see how rediculous all of this can be and where it leads?
I am not a heretic! I am not defined by everything Luther, Calvin or Armenius taught.
I can take bits of each and see what they saw in the scripture and say AMEN!
I will not allow someone define me by a mere man! No, I will allow someone define me by what the word of God says and Who that word talks about. Jesus Christ and Him crucified!
I am not Roman Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, Luthern, Methodist, Presbyterian, Freewill Baptist, Reformed Baptist, Southern Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Disciples of Christ.
I could continue on, but I hope you get the idea. I am not railing against these groups. I pray for them. I don't walk against them. I pray for them.
I don't want to be defined by a man, a movement or a way that is not recorded in the word of God.
I want to be defined by my walk, my love for the Lord and my love for His people!
Love that is what I want to be defined by. Love the Lord with all your heart......
I want to be defined by the greatest commandment.
You see what I am finding out is all the men who people follow as noted on the fronts of buildings were not perfect.
Calvin had his issues, Armenius had his, and as I recently found out Luther wasn't all that great of a man.
There is danger in continuing to say I am of Apollos ie. Luther, Wesley, Calvin, Armenius, and in todays time Piper, Dever, Swaggert, Copeland etc.
I am not saying don't read what they wrote and are writing. As they did leave and are leaving us some great things from the word of God. What I am saying is let's not let everything these men did and are doing define you.
Paul didn't let any man define what he taught or believed except the man Christ Jesus!

Also don't let a building define you. Whether it is a house or a big structure with lots of seats.
I personally believe that we are in a defining moment in the history of church. Where the Lord is making it known what He wants!
We are in a time where the Lord is showing men what really counts and what is important to Him. And guess what?
It isn't man!
What is important to God is that He gets all the glory through His only begotten Son! JESUS CHRIST!

The Cross of Christ was bloody and violent!

The cross that Jesus died on was Bloody and Stained!
Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself for those who believe in HIM!
That same wrath is still held upon the lost!
And quite frankly what we have done to cheapen the gospel to one of only love is what has lead us into the dispair we now have that we call Christianity.
Jonathon Edwards saw the hypocrisy that beladened his congregation and knew that unless God did something they would all perish!
In turn having gotten on his knees and crying out for his lost congregation the Lord gave him this sermon that had the power and backing of the Holy Spirit!
In turn people were cut to the heart convicted and seen their need for a Saviour.
I have been reading lots of history on the revivals.
In those revivals many people were truly saved until one of the great fallacy's of Finney!

Who brought in the alter call.

I will say that Finney did contribute a lot of good in his time, but I feel the whole alter call could possibly overshadow some of those other things.

In today's time we have alter calls being substituted for the "Call". Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. And we also have easy believism that is a heresy!

Which in turn brought in a whole new generations of unbelieving people into the congregations.
Now what we have is people who don't want to be offended, and pastors who don't want to lose anyone by offending them with the truth.

Jesus first words on the scene were REPENT for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!
John the baptist called the religious of his day a Brood of vipers!

We are to be using the whole bible as the word says it is good for reproof, rebuke etc......

To leave out some very very important parts of the bible in an attempt to not offend people is doing an injustice to the Lords work.

The sermon Jonathon Edwards presented was to his church! People who thought they were saved. There comes a time for us to be gentle with people. And then there comes a time that we need to stir them out of their seats of complacency.
We are in that time of stirring them out.
How many churches do we have in the U.S. ? And yet this nation is failing and full of lost souls.
Just like there were back in the day of Whitfield and the like.
Those men saw the desperation of what was needed to bring the people back to God.
They didn't need a seeker sensitive message of Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
No!
They needed to hear the truth about God's wrath that was on them.
Read Revelation where the words says "I will vomit you out of my mouth."
That is not gentle, that is a loving God who warned the people to Repent, but they didn't. He is speaking to people held up in Churches!
Lost hypocrites! People pretending to be one thing and yet are totally another.
As a parent I love my children and give them hugs and praise them when they are doing good.
I also have to discipline them and show some harshness when they are going astray.
God chastises those whom He loves.
So to just be one who only preaches the love part of the bible and nothing else is wrong.
The wrath is upon the lost, that is biblical. And unless we are out there warning the people what is impending upon them, there will be no need to tell them of the love.
I also know there is the time for grace. And in Gods wrath there is grace!
Because He so loved the world that He gave!
The cross was not a pleasant non violent issue! It was a wrathful, harsh, bloody and violent death Jesus suffered for us.
That must be told also!