Recently at church an
event occurred that greatly troubled me, so much in fact that on that Sunday I
didn’t feel right about taking communion.
My fiancé sings in the choir at church and comes out to sit with me
after the choir is finished. I was a little tired, she was a little late and I
met her in the hallway as I left my seat prior to the pastor starting his
sermon. I went to get a cup of coffee with her prior to going to our seat and
there at the coffee booth was an individual talking about a current politically
driven subject, telling the person he was talking to that he needed to consider
taking some serious steps and talking about “religious” exemption.
Now don’t get me wrong,
discussions like this, although I may strongly disagree with the opinions are
fine with me, outside of church. I must wonder, why do people go to church? I
also ask the question, do we as individuals who say we are followers of Jesus
give him the time he deserves in trying to understand his word, the teachings
of the church and so forth?
The Bible is clear on the
role and responsibility of the pastor, it is also clear on the responsibilities
of the attendee of church. The pastor
historically is called by God, prepares, and prays about the teachings the
congregation needs to help better equip the congregation in the carrying out of
the gospel, (the good news of Jesus). It isn’t that politics are never
discussed in church, but as the Bible is taught, where political concepts are
taught, it is in context to the teachings of the Bible, not a political
position. Unfortunately, the church in many ways has become married with the
political process, despite the reality that research clearly shows that one of
the greatest deterrents to people going to church is that it has become
politically driven. With that the case, and reality, what should people be
doing when they go to church.
I think the first thing
one needs to understand is that church is not nearly as much about them as it
is about the worship of Christ and coming to the place to worship God almighty,
and in that love, equip and be there to show love for each other, but mainly,
it’s about God. The pastor prays, seeks God and direction from the Holy Spirit
in that teaching, often spending hours upon hours in prayer and study. When
there are those in the congregation who either pull people away from that teaching
or are involved in other activities in the church in ways other than the
worship of God and the study on how to become better followers of Jesus, maybe
we are going to church for the wrong reasons.
Many over the years have
called The Virtual Pew “the first online church.” Let me make it clear once again, we are not a
church. We are instead more of a mission organization or what is sometimes
called a parachurch organization. I
believe it is critical and called upon by the follower of Jesus to be involved
in, plugged into, and a part of a body of believers often called “church.” The size of church doesn’t matter, the
denomination I think does as I wouldn’t encourage anyone to be in a body of
believers who taught differently than what the Bible teaches but even here,
there are many appropriate denominations.
All of that said though, each follower of Jesus should be involved in
church for the right reason, and in the right way, not to “network,” as a
social club or anything of the sort. It
is about God, the worship of Christ, and the receiving of the teachings and
influence of how to use the Holy Spirit in our lives to reach those in a world
that needs to hear the message of Jesus.
Yeah, I was bothered
about what was not only politically driven conversation, but including some
advice that was in my opinion, frankly detrimental and not well thought out
that could do harm to an individual, and his family if he had a family. It’s kind of sad in a lot of ways really,
most importantly, because as usual, the pastor had a great message, clearly
inspired by the Holy Spirit and information and teaching about how to actually
carry out the work that Christ has commanded us to be involved in.
My thoughts in closing,
pray that God would teach you when you go to church, have a heart to listen and
ears to hear what God may have in store for you to hear. Be prepared to worship
a God who loves you, and to take home the message to apply to your life to make
you a more Christlike follower as opposed to one going our on way, like sheep,
who have been led astray.
The following is information on how you can support the work of Mike through The Virtual Pew and his Movie Reviews that provide spiritual insights.
For going on some thirty years now I have done the work of The Virtual Pew, in part planting seeds but another huge part is getting to know people and being called by many Pastor Mike by my involvement in social media. From engaging in life, I have seen the impact of my work on people on the fringes all over the world. I have run homeless programs, housed homeless people worked with drug addicts, prostitutes and much more. All while giving back my salary, and for the last 8+ years not taking a salary. You can help tremendously by supporting the work, not just from the movie reviews but the work that goes along side that in the development of relationships of helping save lives and give purpose to the lives of others. I appreciate your consideration in this calling that I have seen and know God uses.
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If desiring more information about this ministry or the testimonials from others, please don’t hesitate to ask. I really am dependent on others to support this missional ministry to keep it going. I have nothing left to give as I’ve depleted, and I’m not complaining, my savings and retirement accounts, now, it really is dependent on you to allow yourself to be used by God to help us out.
I am more than willing to share at your church, business and so forth. I have shared across America as to the work God has done and done for me. I love those opportunities.
Blessings and thank you,
Mike Furches
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