"Why are so many Churches DYING?"

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

I know some will read this and think I am over reacting or overzealous, but remember this one thing…Satan wants you to remain ineffective! If your church is stagnant, prayer meetings dead, and the people of God immature that’s where the devil wants you to stay! Rise up and decide today to address the question, “Why is my Church dying?” I think our churches have become “clubs”, If you don’t wear the right clothes and know the right people, you can’t ever advance in the “Kingdom of Church”! It is a shame that many of churches in the inner city are filled with insensitive people that look down on people that don’t dress like YOU DO! The fashion show MUST stop! Ministry means servant-hood and caring! If you can’t hug a homeless person because you are wearing Gucci or Armani, then you need to go to the altar for some serious prayer!

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."

Jesus said that NOT me!

[Hezekiah Ben Israel]

Is the Sabbath, not the Sabbath of the Lord? If it was made for man, then don't you think man should use it?

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH WAS ONLY A SIGN AND SEAL OF GOD’S OLD COVENANT WITH NATIONAL ISRAEL.



Ex 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

Ex 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Ex 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Ex 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

Ex 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

If the Saturday-Sabbath were indeed meant for all nations then it could not (at the same time) serve as a unique sign and seal of the Old Covenant to Israel.

[Hezekiah Ben Israel]

You don't think Jesus came and died and took away animal sacrifice. That is the whole problem, you have.

[James Pierce]

Mark,

It is also for those who attach themselves WITH Israel IN THE COVENANT. If you keep not the Sabbath, then you're not walking as Messiah walked?

[Hezekiah Ben Israel]

He's right Brother Mark.

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

Do you advocate stoning homosexuals and disobedient children? That was under the Law too!

[Zealot X]

The new covenant is also with Israel.

[Zealot X]

Right. It was made for man. YHWH doesn't need a day when he doesn't work and when he can remember himself as the creator. We are the ones who need rest. We are the ones who need to remember.

[Zealot X]

Mark, that was a very good message from an honest man. You have spoken well. Churches (in general) tend to be clubs. I have never gone "clubbing" but from what I've heard it has its own lifestyle associated with it. People go to clubs just like they go to church. There's good looking people. There's music that moves them. There's the chance of meeting someone of the opposite sex (or same sex). And there's drinks. It seems to me that a church has all the elements of a club without the drinks. It is probably no surprise then that many who go to the club also go to church. And if that's true, how long is it really before the two worlds start to merge?

And then because its more of a club a new generation of church DJs (pastors) simply play what the people want because they know what will bring people in and get people to spend money at the club which is how they are profitable. The problem is that many of these people who come are coming just for show while those who have more righteous motivations are pushed away by the show/circus/club by their real consciousness. And then you have people who are just too "real" to fake it in church and do not see the church as an effective tool to solve the problems in their life. And they see just how fake it is when the same people at the club are in church and there are really no rules that the church enforces. You can do whatever you want and just say "Jesus died for me".

If the church isn't a refuge from sin then what's its usefulness? What is the usefulness of the gospel if it doesn't have the power to make the people that claim to be Christians, righteous and holy? What's the difference today between the world and the church? Are churches really dying? Or are they just undergoing a final merger? The first merger was with pagan sunworship. The final merger is with complete and utter lawlessness.

There are many things that are not of G-d that are dressed up in Christian clothes (ie. Christmas and Easter). Really.... how long was it before this would apply to Christians themselves (again)?


shalom

[jose sapien]

sirs, i am not a preacher, i haven't been a good christian, and that is one reason why i was looking for an internet site so that when i read my bible maybe i could cross reference and get a better understanding of parts of the bible that i had difficulty reading. then i came across your site. sirs, if you are all men on god and are noligeble of the word of god, what is all the bickering about? is there not just one god, one bible, and one doctrine? god's word is not to be argued over. he only gave 10 simple commandments to follow. if i am trying to find salvation for my sole, would you say that you all are setting a good example? or showing the path to salvation? why are churches dying? do preachers and members leave the altars and pews and go help look for lost sheep any more? on my journey in search for salvation i have visited different churches, i have yet to get a guest slip to fill out so maybe some member or preacher might encourage me to return. why are the churches dying?

[Mrs. Denise Jones]

My..my my Bro. sorry to hear that you have yet to fill out a guest slip.  Church's are dying because they are putting dead people on the alter and can't nothing come from anything dead.  Any and everybody that goes to these so called PASTORS and tell them that God has called them to preach they allow them into the pulpits and God has warned them that they are defiling, polluting the santuary with STRANGERS...non of them are called.  Why would God call someone and don't equip them?  He has never done that...these so called pastors falling and living their lives as ordinary people and not the NEW CREATURE who has been ordained, because they are not called.  God did not send Moses without POWER or any other servant of His without POWER to do what saith the Lord, and when they disobeyed...He did the same to them, they NEVER MAKE IT TO THE PROMISE.  Sorry to say, and it is not my saying, only a few will get in.  Those that are called are equipped....But God is exposing ALL these churches now, because He's coming back for an UNSPOTTED church and all these people keep forgetting that, because they have been given up to their own REPROBATE mind.  God is not a liar.

 

So read God's word and pray and He will send you to a church, that you can abide in until His return for you.  But don't just be a reader of His word, be a doer....it is easy, for His yoke is easy, if we just believe and obey.

 

In Love, Sis Denise