God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9, ESV)
Chapter Nine - My Testimony
Some of you might be asking, why am I saying these things? What ‘angle’ of Christianity am I trying to sell? Why am I so blunt? Well, I too was a child of tradition and denomination, but God had other plans for me. God led me through a few challenges that forced me to reevaluate a number of presuppositions. So, I thought I would briefly share some of those experiences that brought me to writing about this uncomfortable subject today.
I was raised in a Christian family, and we regularly attended a mainline denomination church, I was taught that Jesus died for my sins at some point in the past and would someday return to earth. But little to nothing was taught about what to do now, the period between now and either death or His return. Essentially, we were instructed to just wait and continue going to church on Sunday morning. But the Sunday morning experience was pretty much the same every week, same things spoken, the same series of prayers offered, the same songs of praise and hymns sung, and after a while the same messages from the Bible were repeated. At one time I thought there might be more to ‘church’ and experimented going to other churches, but never found anything that interested me, so I stopped going to church. After a few years a friend asked me to join a mid-week Bible study at my old church, which I did and found it enjoyable. After several months my friend, who was also the teacher, told the class that she had to be away for a couple of weeks that if they wanted to meet during those weeks that she would need a volunteer to teach during that time. For some unknown reason my arm went up in the air and I volunteered. Although frightened out of my mind, I did enjoy the experience. The following year I was asked to teach the class on a regular basis, and since it followed a mostly read curriculum that was written by a local pastor of the same denomination, I said okay. A little time went by and soon I was attending church again. I got involved with a number of committees, boards, and served in a number of roles, including being an elder and congregation president. On occasion those that produced the mid-week Bible study curriculum would offer a short weekend retreat for the teachers. I went to one of those retreats and listened to a pastor talk on the power of prayer where he challenged everyone to pray with expectation.
I did and God came through, I was amazed! This was a new experience for me. I approached my pastor and told him about my experience. He said that he recently read about a prayer seminar and asked if I wanted to attend. I said yes.
Meanwhile, I had a good job of which God allowed me to advance in and I truly enjoyed what I was doing. Then one day after a few months of downturned economy I was laid off. My work had become my identity, it was everything, after working nearly 12-14 hours per day for many years, suddenly nothing. I was devastated. I turned to God and prayed with expectation, just as that pastor had instructed. One morning while I was praying alone in my bedroom, I heard an audible voice say “Matthew six twenty-five.” I was stunned, with tears running down my face I grabbed the nearest Bible and looked up that passage which read, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (ESV) God was telling me that I was not to worry about my employment. Whenever you have a “God encounter” you are never the same.
Then it was time for the prayer seminar. Four of us from church, including the pastor, attended this three-day seminar. It turned out to be actually a spiritual warfare and prayer seminar. During that seminar I was prayed over, which was a wonderful experience and listened to a number of great speakers. We all learned a lot. Actually, we were all completely overwhelmed! But one thing was now clear to all of us was that being a disciple of Jesus was to serve and obey Him. We learned that Christianity was not about us going to church, it is about helping others find Jesus.
We also learned in that seminar about Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God that Paul wrote about in his epistle to the church in Ephesus (see Ephesians 6:10-20). We also learned that five parts of the seven components of God’s armor were for defense (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes, shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation). The remaining two were both to be used offensively and defensively, the sword of the Spirit, being the Word of God, and prayer.
At church we began a weekly prayer meeting and the transformation in each of us was notable. I had a hunger to learn more abound the Bible. I must have asked various pastors and others a thousand questions. So when I learned that there was a movement that was teaching men to rise up and learn how to be men of God, I was certainly interested in attending one of their gatherings. The opportunity came and a group of men from church went to a local Promise Keepers event. It was there on that Friday night where God touched me in a way I never had been touched before. The Holy Spirit came into me that evening and has never left. I was a changed man. That hunger to understand God’s Word became even stronger.
Then one morning during prayer, God told me that I was to teach. Knowing that I was still just a student, I foolishly argued with God and said that I was a long way from being able to teach, that I had a lot to learn. He then said, “I will teach you.” I immediately collapsed and cried for a while.
With God’s help I formed a Monday night Bible study that would meet at people’s homes. God wanted me to teach on the book of Ephesians. Needless to say, I learned a lot during that first year. The class soon grew too big for people’s homes so we started to meet at the church. I was also asked to teach the adult class on Sunday mornings. I taught going through the Old Testament on Monday nights and taught the New Testament on Sunday mornings. The classes continued for over ten years before I moved out of state.
As God was teaching me, I was also learning about how some theologies were not matching the interpretation of God’s Word that He was teaching me. Some differences would be considered minor, while others were dangerously wrong as they misrepresented God. I soon learned that these errors in the various theologies and the rising ignorance of God’s Word were tied together. I saw in my own denomination several theological issues. So when I moved out of state to be with and help my parents during their last years, I had no intention of continuing attending the same denomination. But God had other plans, as I went to the same church my parents went to, being the same denomination as before, I attended with them. Soon I was teaching the adult Sunday morning class. While I was fully cognizant of the denomination’s teachings, theology, and dogma, I would not (or should I say, I could not) teach something that was, in my mind, contrary to the Bible. I taught that class for ten years.
In each of my classes I could see God moving and changing people. It was truly a blessing. But as time was going on I was getting increasingly uncomfortable being associated with a church that was affiliated with a denomination that embraced a theology that I believed to be incorrect and was directly responsible for inaction as the primary emphasis was given to the Sunday morning worship service. There was no outreach or even an ounce of interest in evangelism, even though I emphasized the need for evangelism in every class session. God called me out of that church.
To be specific, I left that mainline denomination church for the following reasons:
Replacement theology, this denomination teaches that Israel is no longer relevant, that due to the Jew’s rejection of Jesus as their Messiah, they are no longer His chosen people. They believe that the church replaces Israel.
Their eschatology includes preterism (concluding that most end-time prophecies were fulfilled in 70 AD) and since they favor allegorical interpretation of eschatology, they believe in amillennialism (a belief that there is no literal 1,000-year period of time as described in the Bible), which requires several pages of Scripture to be ignored.
They baptize infants, the practice of infant baptism is not instructed in the Bible. I have no problem of dedicating a child to God, but to say they are saved at that early age can potentially negate them from finding and accepting Jesus later in their life. Therefore the practice could be considered misleading as it can replace one’s true confession and acknowledgment of Jesus as their Savior.
Much of their teachings focus on baptism. This is the starting point for all Christians, once done, move on. God wants believers to be disciples of Jesus and not always looking back to when they were baptized. The act of baptism should not be revered, only God should be revered. Always talking about baptism is the equivalent of hanging around some entry point instead of going in and doing what God wants you to do.
Their primary emphasis on Sunday morning worship service. This denomination cherishes its traditions and Sunday morning and for most churches this is where all the action is. By focusing nearly all their efforts on the worship service with little to no emphasis on equipping or evangelism, the service appears to only appeal to those brought up in that denomination.
Then finally, the Great Commission is largely ignored. During my involvement with several churches affiliated with this denomination over fifty plus years, I have seen very little equipping or evangelism effort and virtually no interest in helping believers become disciples of Jesus. To be fair, I realize that some churches affiliated with this denomination have indeed embraced the Great Commission, this criticism is primarily aimed at the national leadership.
God taught me how to interpret the Bible using the analogy of what I have been calling a pegboard. When someone reads the Bible from the beginning, we are given prophecies and models (types) about future events and people. They are like pegs (each a different shape) that will later “plug in” to matching holes in the Bible’s narrative (the pegboard). By the time you reach the last verse of Revelation all of the ‘pegs’ should be in place (without having to pound them in to make them fit) and no pegs should be left over. Most of the theologies developed by those dead theologians have either badly damaged pegs (from being forced in holes that were not meant to be filled by that peg) or have a significant number of pegs left over (as a result of ignoring text).
The need to be part of the solution
The only solution is to teach God’s Word and to encourage true discipleship, to serve God is to serve others, to help them find Jesus. This ministry’s primary goal is to help believers rediscover the Bible, to see it with fresh eyes and encourage believers to be active in serving Jesus.