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NASB | Ephesians 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:12 [and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God's people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church]; |
Subject: How is the body built? |
Bible Note: Good counsel EdB - since my husband is the spiritual head of our home,the decision to leave the church is his to make. At the present time, he is wounded, but feels not called to leave. Because he does not have a thorough knowledge of God's Word (not do I!), he does not always recognize when things that are preached are inconsistent with the Gospel of Grace. A couple of years ago, the pastor of our church told us that he rejected my husband's offer to help in the church because he had examined our giving records and determined that we were not tithing. Recently, the pastor said from the pulpit that if a person is not tithing, it is a demonstration that he has not settled the ownership issue with God and is not fully surrendered to the Lord. Because we do not feel the need to defend our giving records to any "man," we are able to forgive this and we have learned to wait on God for His direction, allowing HIM to dertmine how HE wants to use (all that HE has given) us. My personnal struggle is in not having the freedom to challenge a teaching that I believe is not consistent with God's Word. In another message we were told that challenges from the body were divisive and only served to break the unity of believers. Several months ago, after seeking God's direction, I went to another of our Pastors to express concern over a message that he had given without noting that he had taken it from another well-known national Bible teacher.(The circumstances that led to my discovery of this were completely a "God thing")Plagerism in the pulpit CAN be a problem and when I expressed my concern, he basically told me that my feelings were not important because God's Word was preached and that was all that mattered. So now, I'm just a tad "gun shy." This has certainly influenced my thinking about the "church" but I'm not about to throw the baby out with the bath water. Through these experiences, my relationship with the Lord has deepened and HE has taught me! Blessings, mommapbs |