We were able to once again get out on the streets on Friday, January 26. We even had a person from our church that had never been out before! It seemed as if most were receptive to the message and certainly Brother Mike preached the gospel clearly to those who could hear in spite of getting over having had pneumonia earlier this winter. My voice wasn’t any better, but we were able to to talk to a young man who was encouraged by seeing us out on the streets. He was a born-again believer, and really seemed interested in street evangelism as he didn’t know anybody around here did it.

Please keep our street evangelism ministry in prayer. We have switched it to 4pm on Fridays and, as we suspected, the traffic was pretty heavy. Thanks to all who were able to make it out!

Pastor

One of the great privileges of being a born-again believer is to be able to tell others! It is always a tremendous blessing to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the surrounding community through Street Evangelism, door-to-door witnessing and tract distribution. As a church, we have been entrusted with the Great Commission in order that Christ might receive the reward of His suffering!

Pastor

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. I John 4:14

The following was written by Pastor Keith Hoover of Bible Believer’s Historic Baptist Church of Mesick, Michigan.

Have you ever wondered why? Why is the earth the only place we have found that can sustain life? If evolution is true, why do we not see transitioning life forms? If I evolved by chance am I an accident? Why do I exist? If I am an accident, why do I feel? When in the course of human evolution did the ever improving creature begin to experience want, hatred, satisfaction, or love? What is love and why does everyone have this seemingly innate desire to experience it?

Love is something that few people truly find. Children dream of it. Young people seek it. Middle aged people hope they have found it and many older people have given up on it entirely. One dictionary describes love in this way, “A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.” It goes on to describe it as, “A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.” To me love is not only being accepted, but truly wanted. It means that someone puts my needs and desires before theirs. The Bible addresses this uniquely human emotion in 1John 4:10, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

You see, the answers to life’s most important questions can be found in God’s Word, the Bible. You exist because you were created by God. You feel because God gave you that ability. You fear because God wanted to protect you from harm. You feel disappointment because he wants you to strive to be better. You feel the need for love because he wants you to know him. Paul the Apostle realized this when he wrote in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”

Why does it seem like almost all human relationships break down over time? What is it that ruins them? From the human perspective, relationships break down when one or both parties wrong the other. Parents neglect children. Children rebel against parents. Friends lash out in anger against one another. Spouses cheat on one another. To experience love, we must have the ability to give it and it is much harder to give it than to receive it. Love breaks down because of another uniquely human trait, selfishness. The Bible refers to selfishness as sin. Sin is the basis for the destruction of everything that is good and we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Our sin not only ruins relationships with other people, it has separated us from God. Our relationship with Him is broken. The Bible refers to us as spiritually dead or dead to God. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” For our relationship with God to be restored it takes someone who had no sin, someone who was completely unselfish. It takes Jesus Christ.

Most people know that Jesus died. Many have been told that He died for the world. Have you ever asked yourself why He had to die? Our sin did not just ruin our relationship with God. It had eternal consequences as well. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The punishment for sin is death. Christ died to take your punishment and restore your relationship with God. He paid the price for this gift and he offers it to you. If you want to receive this gift, however, He requires something from you.

Repent:
From the beginning of His time here on earth, Jesus taught repentance. Mark 1:14-15 says, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Paul preached the same thing in Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” What is repentance? Repentance is very simply a turn or a change. It is a turn from sin, to God. A person who is not repentant responds to the Bible’s message like this: “I am a good person. I have never done anything really bad. Jesus should accept me just like I am. I will pray that prayer with you but I get to stay just the way I am. I don’t need to go to church. You have your religion and I have mine.” A person who is repentant responds to the gospel like this: “I am a sinner. I have no way to get to God except through the gift of Jesus Christ. What do I need to do?” In Acts 16:29-30, we see a man who did exactly that. “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas responded to this repenting man by giving him the next thing that God required of him.

Believe:
Acts 16:31 “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The next thing that God requires of you is that you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again to restore you unto God. Another word for belief is trust. You must trust Jesus Christ. John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Call:
Romans 10:9-10 explains that you need to confess or admit to God through prayer that Jesus is the Lord, that you need His gift of Salvation and that you believe that his payment for your sin on the cross is able to save you from death and restore your relationship with God. 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.” The chapter goes on to say that this requirement for salvation extends to everyone. Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Friend, you are not an accident. You are not the product of time and chance. You were created by a God who loves you to live with Him eternally. Do not let your pride stand between you and salvation.
Repent and believe!

John 8:1-2 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

When first reading the context of the passage of the woman taken in adultery, of course we are all struck by the outflanking of the pharisees when they set a trap for Christ. They did this time and time again and yet they could not best Him. They tried intellectual traps and traps of tradition and in this particular case, they tried to hang Him, so to speak, on the trap of the law. They tried to get Him to implicate himself in either violating Moses’ law or the law of Rome. Although it is not my desire to linger on it, I want you to notice what was going on around this event and then we will address the event of the “Woman Taken In Adultery” itself.

In chapter 7, we have the Pharisees attempting to have officers of the law take Christ into custody. They won’t do it.

John 7:44-46 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

They were moved by His speaking and by the evidence that He was who He said He was. The Pharisees were livid, but none of them could catch Jesus and do it lawfully. Nicodemus, one of the pharisees tries to restore reason to the group but they cast him aside. They mockingly called him a Galilean and appealed to his knowledge that there would be no Messiah coming out of Galilee from the holy scriptures.

As is typical for bullies, they appeal to authority to make their argument against Christ and even that did not go well.

John 7:48-52 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

They said there were no rulers or Pharisees that believed on him. Then old Nicodemus, the same one found in John 3, simply suggests they hear what Jesus has to say for Himself. He is mockingly accused of being a Galilean, which was a slight at that time and rest their case on the fact that scriptures did not predict the Messiah would come out of Galilee, but out of Bethlehem. One has to ask at this point, what if they simply would have investigated His background or even asked Him where He was born. What would they have found out? Hindsight is 20/20.

I want you to notice something in verse 53 and going into the passage in John 8.

John 7:53-John 8:1  And every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

Now this is a fact that I had never considered, but Christ had no place to lay his head. Of all the people that were around him, some believing him and some not, there was not one person that would invite him in for the night? None is recorded. He went into the mount of Olives. I don’t suppose we should make such a very big deal out of this, the commentators hardly mention it. Maybe he was heading over to Bethany to spend time with his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus or maybe he was just trying to avoid being ambushed in the night by his enemies. Regardless of the reason, we find him coming back down to the temple early in the morning to teach.

John 8:2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

This wasn’t a teacher in hiding. He was in the temple teaching. He was accessible. As was the usual case with the Pharisees, their self-importance forces them to break up a perfectly good teaching meeting because they needed answers to their questions. I can almost imagine being in that crowd, having come down early to hear Christ teach, sitting on the edge of the crowd and here come the Pharisees again. Now, I would dare not say anything against what they were doing. You know I would have burned inside for the incessant interruption they were to the teaching of the kind, gentle, miraculous man sitting before them. Then it all happens. Laid out in front of all of us, the students, observers, maybe a Roman guard or two to keep peace.

John 8:3-6a And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.

The very act of adultery. This was a violation of the law that was punishable by death.

Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.Deuteronomy 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

It was certainly there in the Law of Moses in black and white, well in black and yellowish, as would be the look of the scrolls of the day. My only question here would be, where was the man? If the woman was caught in the very act of adultery, where was the man who, according to the same law should suffer the same fate?

Adultery is a horrible crime and sin against God. It is one of the ten commandments given to Moses and the nation of Israel. It defrauds your neighbor, your spouse and yourself. It is a horrific sin in the sight of God and man. It is often overlooked these days to a large degree as the basic bonds of society are breaking down. That, in no way, lessens the severity with which the Bible deals with adultery.

The fact is, however, that in practice this would have almost never been done, and certainly since the Romans had outlawed execution for religious purposes at this time.

Here, the Pharisees thought they had Jesus Christ trapped. Open and shut case. What would Christ do here? If he was to say she should not be stoned, He would be violating Moses’ law and disqualifying Himself as the Messiah. On the other hand, if He said to stone her, He would be violating that law of the ruling Romans for instigating the death penalty outside their system of justice. It would have been considered murder under Roman law.

There was no good way out of this situation. The Pharisees had found the perfect flanking maneuver, had finally outwitted their nemesis and sat and waited for the answer. And so did the students and observers. All would have been quiet as they waited for the response.

John 8:6a But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

This would have been somewhat comical from an outside perspective. Jesus, who had been standing, stoops down and begins writing with his finger on the ground, not even responding to what the supposed religious authorities of the day had to say. He ignored them. Some have speculated that perhaps it was the sins of the Pharisees that Christ had been writing on the ground. There is no evidence for this. You can almost see the faces, especially of the younger set of Pharisees, who had not learned to control their passions, turn beet red at this rebellion. The silence must have been deafening as the Pharisees stood waiting for a response from a man who was not paying any attention to them.

They persisted, demanded an answer, but it was not an answer they were looking for.

John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

The students would have been confused, the woman who had been standing by this whole time would have been confounded and the Pharisees would have had to consider an answer that had never crossed their mind.

She was guilty. Christ pronounced the sentence of guilty. At least internally, the woman was probably frantic. She knew she was guilty but to hear it pronounced by a teacher in the Temple was to seal the sentence. She had not been asked to testify and yet she had not tried to proclaim her innocence either. The Pharisees knew she was guilty. The woman knew she was guilty. The students knew she was guilty. Christ declared her guilty and that the punishment of that sin was death.

Violation of the Law

Let us think about something for a second. Are we guilty? Oh, I don’t mean guilty of adultery necessarily, but are we guilty of violating the law? The answer to this can be found throughout scripture.

James 2:9-11 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.Romans 3:19-20  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
I John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

The fact is, we are all guilty of violating God’s law, and this is called sin. Transgression. We are guilty. Each one of us is guilty before God and has no excuse. The penalty of this sin is death according to the word of God.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

You don’t think this applies to you? Then let us look at just the 10 commandments and see if we haven’t all violated at least one of these.

Exodus 20:1-17 And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

How did we do? Are there any reading this that would say we have kept every part of the law, let alone every part of the 10 commandments. The answer to this is, of course, no. We are all transgressors. All condemned and guilty under the law, just as this woman was. Christ had declared her guilty, but who would be the first to pick up a stone? After all, Jesus was right in His condemnation of her, and of us and of the Pharisees and of the students and of the Roman soldiers. Here was the challenge.

John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

All were guilty of violating the law. This was a direct challenge to the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. All were guilty of some facet of the law and all they needed was a reminder.

The Pharisees’ reaction at this point was very telling. It is interesting to note that those who were the oldest hung their heads first and melted away, followed by the younger. I began to ask myself why this would be? Could it be that the older Pharisees knew that what Christ was saying was true, and that they had been violating God’s law repeatedly. It is quite interesting to see this fit of conscience and self-condemnation when they were called out. Look what happens!

John 8:8-9a And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:

One thing you can tell in this is that the older men at least had the decency to know when they had been beat. When the room began to clear, the younger ones reluctantly followed. That had been soundly whipped and their consciences pricked, but would they then give credence to the truth that Christ taught? Of course not, their whole religious system was built on pride. They weren’t going to quit that easily, but they had been defeated at this particular point of time.

It is true what Christ said in Luke about the Pharisees:

Luke 12:1-3 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

He said even worse things than that about the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23 and other places. As Christ wrote in the dirt again, completely ignoring the high and mighty religious dictators (whatever he was doing, doodling, pronouncing sentence on the Pharisees in writing or pointing out individual sins of the accusers), the Pharisees took the opportunity to leave the area and regroup.

We must be very careful that we do not accuse others of what we are doing. This rank hypocrisy sometimes runs rampant in churches and it ought not to be. Can a preacher speak strongly against sin? He better make sure he is right before God first. Where is our humility in dealing with one another? Do we stand strongly pointing our fingers at others while we continue in some unrevealed sin? These things ought not to be!

Romans 2:17-24 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Are we alright before God? Is our heart right with him? Do we claim to be able to instruct others and we instruct not ourselves. That is a question the Pharisees needed to answer and that we need to answer in ourselves.

What now?

The woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery now faced Christ alone.

John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 

Set this picture in your mind. The tension that must have been in the air as the woman probably looked down at her feet. She could have had no idea what was going to happen now. She had already seen things she would never believe, utter defiance of the authority of the Pharisees, their anger then shame then their departure. What was next?

I want every reader to understand this one thing. When we meet Jesus Christ it cannot be by committee. When we have been exposed in our sin and brought before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, it will not matter who else is in the room. Here she was, face-to-face with Him. Her guilt already declared. No excuses. No holding back. Nothing for her to hide. Just bare guilt. Just her and her Creator.

Have you ever gotten to that point? The point where you stood fully exposed in your sin before God? At His mercy? Admitted your guilt to Him? Confessed your sin? Holding nothing back, knowing that you are worthy of condemnation? There she was. There we are.

For the first time in the event, a question is posed to the woman. She is now on trial.

John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

It was all actually somewhat relaxed from an outsider’s standpoint. Jesus Christ was no longer hunched down drawing in the dirt, and he stood up and looked around. What did He see? Nobody but the woman. You can almost imagine him taking a bit of time, looking around, turning directly to the woman and asking “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” Her response was simple. “No man, Lord,” recognizing his authority to condemn her.

Then Christ comes back with this:

John 8:11b Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

One thing we can be sure of when we meet Christ and he becomes our Saviour is that we no longer are under condemnation of man or Christ.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.Rom 8:33-34 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Christ has cleared us of any condemnation and paid the penalty for our sins on the Cross.

He pardoned this woman and he is ready to pardon those who come to Him in faith and repentance. We will never know on this earth if the woman had a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but we do know that Christ called her to repentance and told her to “go, and sin no more.”

That is His call for you today. Repent and believe and be cleansed of your sin and be made whole again and be saved by the power of the Holy Spirit through the blood of Jesus Christ.

I Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.II Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

So what are we? The condemned? Yes but for the grace of God. The hypocritical Pharisee. Yes, but for the grace of God. All have sinned. All are called to repentance.

I John 4:9-17 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

In some supposedly Christian circles, the word “doctrine” is a bad word. We are told it is divisive to teach doctrine in our churches and that we run some sort of risk of having people not come back to hear the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. At Cornerstone Historic Baptist Church, we not only teach doctrine, we do so in accordance with a command of Scripture itself.

When Paul writes Titus to instruct him in the ministry and qualifications of biblical positions in the churches, he is sure to mention that the pastor must do the following:

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Titus 1:9.

It was not just to the pastors though:

But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Doctrine is for the church.

To do otherwise than to teach sound doctrine is to violate scripture. Doctrine is not only divisive, but when absorbed and accepted from our final authority for all matters of faith and practice, the Bible, it will change a person and a church.

We have included a section entitled “What We Teach” on the main menu bar on this page. Check it out. Look up the scripture references. The truth of God’s word will change your life.

Pastor Jason Burton

The following was written by Pastor Keith Hoover of Bible Believer’s Historic Baptist Church, Mesick, Michigan.

I was recently asked the following question, “is your church a strong church?” I found this to be a hard question to answer. What did she mean by “a strong church?” It was an honest question. She seemed to sincerely want to know the answer, but how could I answer her without defining what a “strong church” is. Questions began to run through my mind. How does the American public measure the strength of a church? Does the Bible give us a standard by which to measure the strength of our church? Finally I had to address the question in my own mind. Is our church a strong church? In my next few blogs I will be attempting to answer these questions. So, here goes.

1. How does the American public measure the strength of a church?

I thought when I googled this subject that I would get dozens of hits that were not Biblically correct. There were a few. Some view a strong church as a church that is growing in numbers. Some say a strong church is one that has a program for everyone. The main goal of these churches is worldly success and popularity. This view is obviously wrong. I was somewhat surprised, however, to find that most of the web-sites I visited did a pretty good job of defining what a strong church was. I have to give credit where credit is due. I looked at Baptist websites, Church of Christ websites, Reformed websites, Community Church websites, non-denominational websites and Family Life Center websites just to name a few. Though they all had varying perspectives, they were highly informative and basically correct. Here is some of what I found.

What are the marks of a strong church?

1. “Commitment to the unity of the people of God.” I thought this one was pretty good. I guess it depends on what you mean by it but, here is a verse to back it.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

2. “Strong leaders.” This one is true based on the following verse.

1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

The problem that I see with this one is that since the leader is by nature a member of the church, his strength would have to be defined by the same rule as the church. A strong church will have strong leaders but we have yet to define either.

3. “Strong families.” See number 2. Whether we are talking about a strong church, family, leader or society, the rule of measurement should be the same. If strong families make strong churches, what makes a strong family?

4. “It must praise God.” I agree completely. A strong church must praise God!

Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

One quick question though. Is God pleased, let alone praised, by weak churches? The second and third chapters of Revelation tell us of seven churches that God communicates with. It seems clear to me that only the strong churches were praising God. We can say “Praise the Lord” over and over again but if our lifestyle is displeasing to Him, our words are fruitless and our church is weak.

5. “It loves like a family.” This one is really good. I have been in churches that were correct doctrinally that felt like a tomb on the inside.

1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

A strong church will show love toward one another but a church is not the only society that does this. Shriners build hospitals. Large companies donate millions to charity. Love is a part of what a strong church is but there must be something more.

I found many other “marks of strong churches” listed. I will list a few of them briefly with my thoughts following.

• “It must be pure.” (True, but how do we define purity?)
• “Every member growing” (Sounds great but do you know of a church that has every member growing?)
• “Must have a vision for people.” (I agree. How do we know if it is the right vision?)

I found some valuable information in this search. It forced me to look at church strength through the eyes of other religious societies. I have done my best to acknowledge the good and the bad that I have found here. On to step two, “does the Bible give us a standard by which to measure the strength of our church?”
To be continued………..

The following was written by Pastor Keith Hoover of Bible Believer’s Historic Baptist Church, Mesick, Michigan.

The end is near! Do I have your attention? When I read the news or listen to the ramblings of those who call themselves news anchors today I am drawn to the conclusion that the end must  be near.  Gay marraige, Planned Parenthood murders and worse, A Nuclear deal with Iran; Is there anyone in the mainstream media that can prove  the existence of their own brain? I recently came across an article called, “Is God a man and why does it matter?” The author, (if she can be called an author) was deeply concerned after hearing a conversation between her daughter and son. I assume that they are in their early elementary school years if not younger. Her son told her daughter that boys were better because, “God is a boy”. She concluded that by refering to God in this manner, she had unintentionally caused prejudice in his young mind. Her conclusion was that God should be refered to in gender neutral terms.

To the true Christian this should be appalling! God should be refered to in the way in which He describes Himself. I do not believe that God is a man. John 4:24 says; “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” God does however, describe Himself as male. He is first refered to by the pronoun “He” in Genesis 1:5 and this pattern flows through the rest of Scripture. He is called a Father in Matthew 6:18. Jesus Christ is called a Prince, a King, and a Son. This article, though repulsive, shows the ever changing landscape of what is commonly but, wrongly refered to as Christianity. This woman is willing to change 4,000 years of inspiration and preservation over a stupid argument between children. Unfortunately her article was well recieved. She is giving a voice to many who claim to be Christians and are not. These people have never repented. They have never seen their sin as filthy, vile, and despicable. They are the don’t judge me “Christians”. They are arising in mass, preaching the false gospel of inclusion without repentance, and demanding to be heard.   “Churches” have courted their attendance. They have drawn them in with entertainment. They have pacified them with the “gospel of healthy self image” messages.  They have sought their acceptance and now they will pay the price. This uninformed and quite probably unsaved woman was giving a voice to what I will be describing as, “The New Moral Highground”.

The “New Moral Highground” is based upon the opinion of the masses. It’s central premise is this: “Mass acceptance is the measurement of truth”. It is nothing but the old moral lowground and Those who ascribe to it are unrepentant.

For the true believer, the Bible is to be the only rule of faith and practice. The Bible describes God as a he. He is a he. The Bible says that a Pastor should be a man. A woman cannot be a pastor. The Bible says that salvation is recieved through repentance and faith. It is not recieved by, “Following God” or “Joining Jesus”. The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Silly women may disagree. Courts may rule against it. The general public may call it mean. But then, the world has never liked our God. Should we expect anything else?

John 17:17-19  “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”