God's Way Is Better

example of the lack of fruitfulness, under stress, of man's "attendance based" religions

9/13/2004

Part of an interesting article I read recently…

© 2004 WorldNetDaily——At least 80 Christian leaders attending the general conference of the Iranian Assemblies of God, being held near Tehran, were arrested and questioned following a police raid three days ago. Ten pastors taken into custody are still being held, and their families are not being allowed to communicate with them……

The 70 or so Christians released after questioning this weekend were told not to attend church services this weekend, a moot point since their pastors were still being held incommunicado. “There will be no one to preach when the congregations gather for services,” Compass Direct’s source noted.

-gw

Hmmmmm........ Besides the obvious heartbreak of the news story and persecution, there is another “story” here. Clearly, there is a serious “paradigm” problem in cultural christianity worldwide, compared to Jesus’ Plan.

God’s Way is better. God’s Way is rare though, since it, according to the Bible, requires crucified lives of all of the “members”—unlike the “attend me” religious organizations of our generation that choreograph a ceremony, a song, a prayer, a speech, some entertainment, takes people’s money on a holy day by a holy man—and then sends them back to live separate lives in pagan culture.

Jesus, in His Body, is better than man’s way—whether under “pressures” of persecution as above, or NOT.... Clearly, few have developed a relationship with God in the news article above—as evidenced by their need to “shut down” when the “medicine man” is not present. No doubt, from an emotional vantage point, if “attendance” rather than Growth and a Cross is all folks want, the “teaching” and “service” was probably “okay” on “Sunday”. HOWEVER! : ) The church Jesus is building, that the gates of Hell itself cannot withstand, is 1Cor.12, Heb.3:12-14, Eph.4:11-17, and Acts 2:42-47 “based” not “attendance based.”