It may seem strange that the church resembles a tent as residence or meeting place, but she is the house of God (all of us who have trusted God for salvation).  She is not sanctuary:  neither miqdash nor mishkan.   The way we conduct the heavenly Father’s business is in way too many instances a circus of entertainment and mind manipulation.  “Jesus loves me” is not defence of the faith. The activities under the big tent will continue to be can-do searches and loveless banks until we learn to defend the faith-once-delivered.

A handy pair

I’m sure you have heard a message from a Christian leader peppered with hallelijah and glossolalia.  You are also familiar with men and women in the pulpit whooping and hollering, jumping up and down, and saying nothing that touches the grand mission of the Saviour nor our missions as stewards of the salvation mystery.

The pillar and ground

God’s choices, like his ways, buck the human trend.  When given the authority to choose humans created the misery of the current age. 

I began my due diligence by asking questions in the last church where I had a membership. My questions were simple. Usually they took the form “Where does the Bible say what you just read [or said]?” By the time I got to college to study pastoral ministry I was sure that even a church with impressive credentials can be anything but truth’s pillar and ground. I learned to read and listen. Reading the Bible in its original languages has no substitute. I do not mean being able to say the words. I mean understanding the writers’ intention. I only struggle to connect what I read with life as it is today. I do not guess or depend on commentaries, by anyone. The Holy Spirit is not involved in making connections without Messianic hooks.

… know how you ought to conduct yourself in God’s house, which is the church of the living God, truth’s pillar and ground.

1 Timothy 3:15b

Behave yourself in the light of the incontrovertible