Mississippi

Good morning, Bloggers!

I am off to attend the gospel meeting at the Goodman Oaks church in Mississippi tomorrow. It will be interested to see what God has in store for them as well as for me. It will be beneficial because it will be extremely good to see other brothers and sisters hungry for the Lord and His Word. So please pray for me and the rest of the family at Goodman Oaks! Thanks..

Here's an interesting article I found on the web for you bloggers to read:

"Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian." Eph. 2:19 (LB)

Today, a lot Christians are what I call "floating believers." It is an expression of America’s rampant individualism. Anywhere else in the world, being a believer is synonymous with being connected to a local body of believers. You rarely find a lone ranger Christian in other countries.
Many American Christians, however, hop from one church to another without any identity, accountability, or commitment. They have not been taught that the Christian life involves more than just believing – it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship to other Christians.

C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay on church membership, reminding us that the word "membership” is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all its original meaning.

Today, most people associate the term "membership” with paying dues, meaningless rituals, silly rules and handshakes, and having your name on some dusty roll. Paul, however, had a very different image of membership. To Paul, being a "member” of the church did not refer to some cold induction into an institution but rather it meant becoming a vital organ of a living body (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians. 6:15, 1 Corinthians. 12:12-27). We need to reclaim this image!

THE MEANING OF MEMBERSHIP

Joining a church used to be an act of conformity in our society. You joined a church because everybody else did. Now the rules have changed and conformity is no longer a motivating factor. In fact, George Gallup has found that the vast majority of Americans believe it is possible to be a "good Christian” without being "added to His number" (or even attending) a local church.

Membership is now an act of commitment. The way you motivate people to join today is to show them value-for-value what benefits are in return for their commitment. When people understand the meaning and value "being added to His number", they get excited about it.

There are numerous benefits to "being added to His number":
1. It identifies me as a genuine believer (Ephesians 2:19, Romans 12:5)
2. It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage me in my walk with Christ (Galatians 6:1-2, Hebrews 10:24-25)
3. It gives me a place to discover and use my gifts in ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4-27)
4. It places me under the spiritual protection of godly leaders (Hebrews 13:17, Acts 20:28-29)
5. It gives me the accountability I need to grow (Ephesians 5:21).

Nothing helps this picture come into focus like personalizing the purposes of His church (worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, mission). This is especially important when convincing attendees in your crowd to "be added" to His church.