Newsletter: 2006-01 Home worship or church worship? Or both?

Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

“It is surprising to find that roughly 10 million

born again Christians adults [in the US] are unchurched.”

- Pollster George Barna – www.barna.org

The above quote almost seems like an oxymoron. How can born again believers be unchurched. At first glance, it would seem to be a born again believer, you would have to be, or want to be part of a church. So what is going on? It appears that many people who rediscover Christ, becoming born again, are eventually growing disinterested and distrustful of the traditional mainline churches and their congregations. The reasons vary; there might be a lot of infighting, money and donations become more important then Christ, or maybe it is because they do not really teach the Bible anymore. Church hopping is another trend. People move from church to church for much of the same reasons that other people leave the church altogether.

The problem is that many of the faithful are growing distrustful of the mainline religions, but still are spiritual, and to answer the call a new trend of non-denominational “mega-churches” are springing up across the country. These are not churches with a soothing melody of organ music and hymns, they are more like auditoriums with banging drums, loud amplifiers, loud bands, and sermons blasted through loudspeakers that would wake up the dead. I’ll quote from a news story:

“Mostly evangelical in doctrine, megachurches have changed the religious experience for thousands of worshippers who come from miles around for more than sermons and prayers. Usually founded or headed by charismatic pastors, the market-savvy churches target busy baby boomers and their kids, promoting one-stop shopping under their roofs. Take in a sermon, work out marital problems, then work out at the health club. Sip a latte at the coffee shop, browse in the bookstore and make a deposit at the credit union.” – USA Today

Seeing this trend in mega-churches and their new style of worshipping, one can’t help but wonder, does it really glorify our CREATOR-YHWH? And is it teaching and furthering HIS Word? The mega-churches are not without their critics. I’ll quote:

“On the whole, America's Christians today do not want to hear the truth. They want a place where they can be made to feel good, where they can be entertained, where they can socialize and make business contacts, and where their children can have a place to play.

To many Christian parents, it is far more important that their church have a gymnasium and constant youth programs than it is that their children hear the truth of God's Word and learn the rigorous disciplines of a Christian life. Recreation is far more important to them than Bible study. In fact, most parents seem to believe that the only way to "keep the kids in church" is to have constant, non-stop entertainment. Of course, it doesn't work.

Furthermore, it seems that most of today's sermons amount to little more than "Positive Mental Attitude," feel-good drivel: "How to think better about yourself," "How to squander more money on yourself," "How to 'find yourself,'" "How to pamper yourself," ad nauseum, ad infinitum. Comparing the preaching and philosophy of most churches today to that of Bible characters will quickly reveal how unbiblical our churches have become.” - Pastor Chuck Baldwin

The mega-churches may attract people for a while, but the stats showing that 10 million born again believers are unchurched means the glitz of the mega-churches eventually wears off too. Then many believers, who are home alone, ponder what to do. To me the answer is simple, it’s right in front of them, but not everybody understands it. We have all heard the question: “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” So I ask: “what came first, home worship or church worship?” In my minds eye the answer is simple, in the beginning worshipping our CREATOR-YHWH was always done in the home. And is not one verse in the Bible stating that organized community worship replaces home worship. Another example might be seen in the founding principles of this country. Does our country give the rights of freedom to the people, or do free people form a government to secure our freedoms. Our founders agreed, that the inalienable human rights of freedom come from our CREATOR and go directly to the people, and free people join together to form the government. Isn’t it the same with worship of our CREATOR? HE empowers the people, and the people give power to the local church, not the other way around. Technically speaking, many of the faithful forget that YHWH directly blesses HIS faithful, and blessed people form a church to collectively bless YHWH and give thanks. Our CREATOR awaits the day when HIS Creation will be a blessing, instead of always looking for a blessing.

Sometimes people will write me and ask what is a good church to belong to. I try not to get into it, I usually say, “if you enjoy the people in your church then continue. I really do not know of a perfect church. My focus is teaching the Bible, and the ancient ways of worshipping at home.” I was a church hopper because I had a hunger to learn, but petty church politics always turned me off. When I learned all there is to learn I moved on. Oftentimes when people find my website they write me and tell me of their spiritual journeys, and many stories are similar to my circumstances. Many people also write that they feel alone in their spiritual beliefs. After learning all this Biblical knowledge I also had the same feeling of spiritual loneliness, that is one of the reasons why I started this website, because I thought there might be others like me out there in cyberspace. When I started my book and website ministry homeWorship101, I was the lone voice crying in the wilderness. I know interest is growing in the subject because my website hits are always increasing. And lately, I have seen more articles being posted on the Internet talking about worshipping at home. I recently came across an excellent article and I thought to share it with you. Log on to; http://www.helwys.com/learningmatters/lm_pages/childarchives/chldarchv_worshipathome.html

"Let them first learn--to show piety at home."

1 Timothy 5:4

When I first started, finding articles on worshipping at home were scarce, and I always wondered why nobody is talking about it. Then one day, much to my surprise and delight, I discovered a wonderful sermon on it delivered over 100 years ago by the noted Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon. Valid still to this day, his timeless sermon tells it like it is. Now I wonder, is it the faithful who do not want to hear it, or is it that the priests do not want to teach it?

“To sacrifice 'home worship' to 'public worship' is a most evil
course of action. Morning and evening devotion in a cottage is
infinitely more pleasing in the sight of God than all the
cathedral pomp which delights the carnal eye and ear.

Every truly Christian household is a church, and
as such it is competent for the discharge of any
function of divine worship, whatever it may be.

Are we not all priests?
Why do we need to call in others to make devotion a
performance? Let every man be a priest in his own house.

Are you not all kings if you love the Lord?
Then make your houses palaces of joy and temples of holiness.
One reason why the early church had such a blessing was because
her members had such homes.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Take charge of your spiritual life! Satan deceives us via the spirit of Romanism that permeates our world (2Cor.4:4); it dumbs down the population until they forget how to take care of themselves, or how to be self-reliant. Then they make a business out of servicing societies needs. Our modern healthcare scheme is a good example. Today, people get sick, but the knowledge of using foods and herbs to cure themselves is long forgotten, so the business of doctors, pharmaceuticals, and hospitals grows. It is the same with religion, priests have more a fee for service mentality then they do for teaching and empowering the individual.

REMEMBER: The head of the household is the provider, teacher, and priest, of the household. Worshipping at home is hands on spirituality, it empowers the individual and family, it is more gratifying, and it gives you a place in YHWH’S spiritual universe. Too many people are worshippers for only 1 hour a week. They sing a few hymns and say some prayers, then wait for the priest’s blessings. That is hollow worship. Worshipping YHWH is more then just performing a specific ritual on a certain day, HE really wants us to develop a GODLY character that we walk with every hour of everyday, and that is what I believe is also great part of Worship and the larger lessons of YHWH’S Holy Days. Worship begins in the home, when the parents teach YHWH’S spiritual mysteries and GODLY character to the children, and pray together on YHWH’S Holy Days.

There is no better religion then being nice to people, a-l-l people. It was once said: “The daily business of a Christian is to… resist the devil, deny himself, overcome the world, crucify the flesh with its affections and lust, imitate Christ, walk with GOD.” - William Plumer, 1864

To learn more log on to my website www.homeworship101.com . The spiritual power tools and spiritual rites of home worship are available to the righteous believer via YHWH’S Covenants, not through some man designed church organization, and I’ll talk about that in my next newsletter.

Enjoy the journey of learning…
> Worshipping at Home http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2003_03.htm
> The Ancient Path of YHWH http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2008_01.htm
> Thinking Persons Religion http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2005_01.htm
> Covenants of YHWH http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c5_sacred_covenants.htm
> Order of Melchizedek http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c4_order_of_melchizedek.htm

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Shine on… (Mat.5:16).

Blessings, Errol.

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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire

e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com

website: www.homeworship101.com

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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

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#WSC 2006-01, posted 02/06/06.

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