This was not the church.
When Jesus established His church, He established a new way of worship.
Is the church spiritually dry?
- Thread starter Blain
- Start date
-
Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.
If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!
To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
When Jesus established His church, He established a new way of worship.
It is not judging when it is discerning the truth or lack there of to judge a church in a judgemental way it would mean you are saying something that isn't true but the fact is many churches have lost their fire many churches have watered down the teachings and lessons and many churches have even conformed to more worldly things I went to a church once when they were advocating the right for abortion
And again this is not every church but it is a common theme and even in the book of revelation out of the seven churches only one did Jesus approve of
As for worship well David knew of this worship he would often do this very thing when praising God if I am remembering correctly
There is a church near me, called the Journey church, it's like a dance club in there. With the strobe lights and all. They are not preaching the word of god in there I heard. When people ask for help for things they need, they are ran off.
They punish them by saying stuff to them, to make them feel bad for asking for help.
They punish them by saying stuff to them, to make them feel bad for asking for help.
So in your pride you believe you have the gift of discernment.
So when you do not see or feel what you want to in a church you discern that it has lost its way.
Jesus established a new way of worship.
As for David, don't think he danced in the Tabernacle.
^^^ Truth be told, techno beats appeal to the fleshy nature (not that it's a bad thing; so does food) and I think anybody could get down to this video. We need to worship in spirit and in truth... as long as we're doing that, I'm not going to judge the "how"; even if it's like this. 
The Church is not spiritually dry.
It is thriving teeming with life.
The people are rejoicing and on fire for the Lord.
They wish to be Christlike led by the Spirit and shun hypocrisy.
They like helping the poor and needy.
There is no problem with the Church.
Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Church cannot be spiritually dry for only people acting Christlike being led by the Spirit can belong to the Church.
The hypocrites do not belong to the Church.
I know what you are saying many Churches are spiritually dry but if they do not do right they are not part of the Church.
For the Church will not be spiritual dry.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
2Ti 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2Ti 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
Find a Church that stresses being Christlike led by the Spirit to please God.
So you know the Spirit is working there.
And do not be discouraged by the hypocrites for God said there is some to dishonor so there will be a few rascals running around.
But it is still a great house.
Which should not be many for the most part hypocrites would not want to attend a Church like that.
But certain circumstances could cause them to be there like it is closer to them, their spouse wants to go to that Church, parents that make their teenagers go to Church with them, and maybe they really want to make a change but have not made the change and maybe they will not but they like the attitude of the Church and that it is loving and caring.
But there is a lot of Churches that seem to not have the Spirit working among them like God would like.
But the Church cannot be spiritually dry and has the Spirit working in it.
The people wanting to be Christlike and shun hypocrisy.
And the hypocrites bad actions cannot reflect badly on Christianity for they do not belong to Christianity.
But God said if the hypocrites purge themselves of not acting right they will be a vessel unto honor.
For as long as we confess Christ as Savior believing His blood washes away our sins and believe in His death, burial, and resurrection God will not give up on us even if we are hypocritical.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance on His part.
Which He will not give up on Israel or the hypocrites.
And if Israel as a nation comes to the truth the nation will be back to restoration.
Which God is going to make sure they come to the truth.
And a hypocrite that stops their hypocrisy are welcomed.
Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
A lot of people are hum drum not having excitement and enthusiasm.
And some Churches the preachers might be trying to be exciting but the people are not getting on board.
If their football team scores a touch down they get excited and dance around.
But not at Church.
If they win a trip to Hawaii they are boogalooing all around the house.
But not at Church even though they won a trip to the New Jerusalem.
When I attend a local assembly of Saints every Sunday AM and PM it is about me and my Lord.
I come to hear the Word taught and preached.
There are Sundays when what is taught and preached touches my heart more than other Sundays.
I seldom leave without tears in my eyes.
I see others who also have tears and often go the the altar in the front of the building and and fall on their knees and pray. Some times I join them and some times I do not.
We sings Hymns that are based on Scripture.They are not about entertaining but about teaching the Word in song.
This also often brings tears to many eyes.
We all greet each other, often embracing each other as a family should.
We all receive the Word in our own way. Some show emotions openly others never do.
It is not my place to judge others in the assembly as to their fellowship with God.
I do not take it upon myself to DISCERN what their spiritual state is, nor the spiritual state of the assembly.
I come to hear the Word taught and preached.
There are Sundays when what is taught and preached touches my heart more than other Sundays.
I seldom leave without tears in my eyes.
I see others who also have tears and often go the the altar in the front of the building and and fall on their knees and pray. Some times I join them and some times I do not.
We sings Hymns that are based on Scripture.They are not about entertaining but about teaching the Word in song.
This also often brings tears to many eyes.
We all greet each other, often embracing each other as a family should.
We all receive the Word in our own way. Some show emotions openly others never do.
It is not my place to judge others in the assembly as to their fellowship with God.
I do not take it upon myself to DISCERN what their spiritual state is, nor the spiritual state of the assembly.
In my pride? the gift of discernment is not something that only speciasl people have it is a gift every believer is supposed to have how else will you discern truth from false? how else will you be able to know if someone has a demon or how else will you discern any spiritual matter as a believer in Christ? Yes I have the gift of discernment but that is nothing special it is just a vital gifts that every believer can have
So no it is not pride to admit you have that gift it is admitting what was given to you and every other believer in Christ
Just singing along works best for me if I don't sing along but hum,
My pastor once said a lot of times when people go to church it can feal there being examined, where he says for some it can feal like wedding and for others it can feal like a funeral, because there scared there going to be judged if they don't believe.
And he said many don't come to church for that reason, and when they do come in that state there spirits are never raised that high to begin with, all tho it can have a positive effect to, where there in hope they can receive a blessing, so we try to encourage them with lifting scriptures of encouragement. But to ones who have heard it all before, it can renew them as there sitting there in hope, but to people who rejoice in the word of God, even they can sometimes not rejoice enough unless they hear a new story, such as stories that bring joy to the hearts, this is why my church loves sharing new testimonies a lot.
But he said some times we get a good euphoria of renewed hope, but other times it's a bit of mixed bag, but if we can find a way to help people laugh it's great.
The funniest one i ever heard was a son once said to his grandad when you get the ball, run as fast as you can with your head down,
So his grandad took his advice, and he re ran straight into big old oak tree head down, head first , and you can imagine it was quite a bit of a saw moment.
But When he woke up, the first thing he saw was a blinding light, and he felt reassured he was saved
You make sense and I guess you are right the true church cannot be spiritually dry so what of the others who just go through the motions? what will happen to the lukewatm?
But what you are doing is basing a church's spirituality on how you feel and what you see and your discernment is
they are dry because they do not measure up to your standard. what you have discerned they should be.
That is judgment based on your standard.
And yes it is pride to assume you have such insight.
I see many people on this forum make blanket statements, judgments about churches, condemning all based on the few they have visited.
How many have you really attended?
Sure I do. Have been there myself.
But do I have the right to make that judgment?
I may believe a person is poor in spirit, but I will pray for him and keep my belief to myself.
well yes you can tell if a person is poor in spirit, it's not so much as a judgment more of an observation.
But what if you are wrong?
What is the standard you measure that person by to make that observation?
People often take it upon themselves to make judgments based on the wrong standard when they should just pray for that person and leave it in God's hands.
I believe I gave all the reasons what's can be done from observation in my first post to my thread
.But your observation about making judgments about someone being spiritualy dry,
I don't know really, I would call it low in hope or something as blain never said he doesn't mean spiritualy dead.
Perhaps it would help if Blain told you what he meant by dry
No I am not basing it on how I feel and what I see that isn't how discernment works, are you not able to sense if say a demon is in the room? do you not feel a presence? this is using the gift of discerning spirits or when God is present in your room do you not feel and sense his presence? if not then you are not using discernment if so then you are using it
In the same way one can tell if a church is full of life or not you can either feel God in that place or you don't and if you are not able to sense his presence in that place then something is not right,
I have attended a lot of churches and all different types.
The difference between a real spiritual flock and a run of the mill church, is very noticeable.
In a spiritual church they move in full synchronization with the Holy Spirit.
All gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit according to the commandment of Christ.
1 Corinthians 14:37
If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that
what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves
be ignored. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking
in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
Most churches seem to follow church traditions handed down across many centuries.
In some of those traditional churches there are some very strong Christians in the Spirit.
But these spiritual folk live a full Christian life outside of their traditional church.
I know both sides of the fence unfortunately.
It is tragic that the full power of the Holy Spirit is restrained by a faulty interpretation in 1 Corinthians.
For someone who became a Christian at the half way point of their life it is devastating. To know
that so many churches are lifeless and partly devoid of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even some of the best churches that are alive in the Holy Spirit, will follow a copy of the traditional
church structure to some extent.
It is the way it is, and there is nothing I can do to rectify this problem.