House Churches

(Cross-post with my other blogs)

Some of you who read my blog already know that I attend a "house church" instead of a traditional church. I've grown alot in the past almost 2 years now since we started meeting in this way. My relationship with those in my church family has become more intimate and meaningful. More importantly, my relationship with God has deepened and therefore my walk with Him and my obedience to Him.

This morning I was listening to Air1 and the news segement had a short blurb on a how house churches are growing. It was very short, but I found it very interesting. Tonight I got on their website to check it out and found the original article the news blurb was based on.

Here it is for your reading pleasure if you are interested.
There's no place like home, these Christians say

I found it very interesting, especially considering I've fellowshiping and worshiping in this way for almost 2 years now.

Church of Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29)

Church of Thyatira (Revelation 2:18 - 29)

Praises
* Love & faith
* Service
* Perseverance
* Doing more than before

Rebuke
* Tolerate the Spirit of Jezebel

(It does mention that there are some who do not hold to Jezebel's teachings)

My Notes:
Jesus has some very harsh things to say about the woman Jezebel and what will happen if the church does not repent.

* Cast on a bed of suffering
* Those who comitt adultery with her will suffer intensely
* Will strike her children dead

God searches our hearts and minds.

I've heard of the Spirit of Jezebel before. Originally I had thought it only had to do with sexual immorality, but recently I've been learning this is more of a spirit of control. This makes sense in a way because many use their sexuality as a means of gaining control over others. And I've noticed sexual sins tend to have a greater control over us than any others when we fall into them.

Jezebel was an actual character in the Old Testaement (1 & 2 Kings) who persecuted God's prophets. The evil which possessed her was in existence prior to her, however due to the extent it manifested itself in her, these spirits have become known by her name. This is a spirit which is still very active in the world today and unfortunately seems to be overly present in our country. In some cases the results of this spirit are not only tolerated, they are wholly accepted and encouraged.

Here are a few articles I found regarding the Spirit of Jezebel if you are interested in learning more. Please note, I don't always agree fully with the articles I recommend, however I believe it is good to look into these things and bring them to God in prayer and compare them to His Word. I also believe this is a spirit we all need to be aware of in our world today.

Jezebel - The Latter Rain page
Jezebel in our Society

I Dig Jesus

It's been a bit since I was actually tagged for this, but I feel it does fit in with this blog and is fun, so here goes!

I was tagged by my friend Melly at A Cup of Tea With Me

Here are the Rules:
* Those Tagged will share 5 things they dig about Jesus.
* Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers.
* Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.


5 Things “I Dig” about Jesus:

1. He died for all of us, but even better, He would have still done it if He knew it would have only saved me. I know I am his favorite (yes, so are you, but I keep telling myself I am!) He is so awesome that we can all be His favorite.

2. Jesus knows me better than anyone (probably even better than I know myself) yet He still loves me more than anyone else ever could. He loved me before I was born and will love me long after I'm gone from this world. I am His Princess.

3. He is ever faithful and true. I know that no matter what He will always be there for me. Even when I can not feel His presence, I know He is there with me. No matter what happens on this earth I know that He will never betray me.

4. He is my Hope! I know He holds me in His hands and will never let me fall. Even when I don't understand, I can have faith that He knows what is going to happen, He is the victor in the end and His plans for me are the best things that could ever happen to me.

5. He is RICH!!! I know that there is nobody richer than Jesus and He wants to give me more than I could ever even imagine. Of course, sometimes in my limited knowledge I don't realize that His riches are best, but in the end His gifts are the best I could ever receive!

Tag, you're IT!!!
1. Becki at Vote for Becki
2. Shauna at Pass the Chocolate
3. Dana at Life Turned Upside Down
4. Angela at Domestic Divapolooza
5. Practical Chick

Church of Pergamum (Revelation 2:12 - 17)

Church of Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17)

Praises
* They live in a town ruled by Satan but still remain true to Jesus
* They do not renounce Jesus or their faith in Him. They boldly speak of and share their faith.

Rebukes
* Tolerate in their midst those who worship Balaam and entice others to sin, idolatry, sexual immorality.
* Have those who follow the teachings of Nicolaitans.


My Notes
When reading the praises what immediately came to mind was a church who is faithful in cities that are considered to be "sin cities" in America. To me San Francisco and Las Vegas came to mind.

Based on the rebukes, my initial impression is this is a church who teaches the love of Christ boldly, but not the righteousness, holiness or obedience of Christ which is expected of followers. Liberal Churches that tolerate and/or condone (sometimes encourage) sin in it's followers lives seem to parallel this church. The Grace of the Savior is taught in a way that everything is acceptable. Unfortunately I believe there are many churches in America that teach this now, and even more troublesome is the appearance that the number is growing.

I find it very interesting that Jesus specifically mentions that this church follows the teachings on the Nicolaitans. These are the practices He made a point of commending the Church of Ephesus for hating. So I did a bit of research on these teachings. It appears there is no definitive documentation of what exactly these teaching were. However, I noted two themes in my research. One was that the teachings were very liberal to the point that paganistic rituals were considered to be acceptable as part of the teachings of Jesus. These individuals lived their lives to excess in all they did. The other theme I found was those who taught the church required a heirarchy for others to grow in Christ. The clergy were elevated above the rest of the Believers, instead of being considered servants to the body as Jesus taught.

For more research of your own visit these sites and/or do some research of your own. It is very interesting.

The Teaching of the Nicolatians
THE NICOLAITANS – an alternative view
Nicolaitans - Wikipedia Definition

The bottom line for me is that our God is a Holy and Righteous God as well as a Merciful and Loving God. Unfortunately, many churches and Believers tend to emphasize one of these characteristics to the extreme and to the detriment of the other. However, we have to remember God is both! Therefore, we need to keep a balance between the two as well. I believe the key to this is being in constast communication with the Lord through a relationship with Him that includes prayer, being in His Word and fellowship with others.

I Need You To Love Me

This is a song I heard on Air1 the other day that meant alot to me with what I've been going through lately. We serve an amazing God!


BarlowGirl - I Need You To Love Me
From the album Another Journal Entry

Why, why are You still with me?
Didn't You see what I've done?
In my shame I want to run and hide myself
But it's here I see the truth
I don't deserve You

(Chorus:)
But I need You to love me, and I
I won't keep my heart from You this time
And I'll stop this pretending that I can
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need You to love me

I, I have wasted so much time
Pushing You away from me
I just never saw how much You could cherish me
Cuz You're a God who has all things
And still You want me

(Chorus)

Your love makes me forget what I have been
Your love makes me see who I really am
Your love makes me forget what I have been

(Chorus)

Label: Provident Music Distribution

Church of Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11)

Church of Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11)

Praises
* Although afflicted and in poverty they are rich (in Jesus)
* They are slandered
* They will (and have) suffered jail and persecution, Satan will come against them
* They will be tested, but Jesus encourages them to stay faithful, even to death.
* He will give them a Crown of Life

Rebuke
None

My Notes:
I find it interesting that the things Jesus praises this church for all revolve around how they are persecuted by others. They obviously are following the Lord and not the world. I can not find one thing that Jesus rebukes them for.

I truely do not believe that we find this church in America today. This is not to say that some of us don't suffer for our beliefs or we would not be willing to die for our beliefs. We definitely do, but not to the extent that this church did back then. This reminds me of the persecuted church in other countries where it truely takes faith and trust in God to follow Him because it is a reality that you likely will lose your life for Him.

On the other hand though, I think we need to prepare for this. I believe one day soon we very well may be living through things like this. I believe we are heading down that path now. It is just a matter of time. We need to be ready so we can truely say it is a Joy for us to suffer for Christ.