The Great Symphony (The Bride of Christ)

Reposted from July 2010 (from The Living Image: God Purposed You to Bear His Image and Know His Will)


I love symphonies, a thousand sounds blended together in perfect timing to produce harmony and structure. The undertones and overtones of harmonic blends.  The striking melodies and the beautiful harmonies.

The church is like a great symphony. God has brought millions of people together at just the right times in their lives so that they can glorify Him through the life that they live individually and in community.

For those times in life when discernment seems a little harder than just reading God’s Word and praying, you have an incredible asset at your disposal. Think about it! You not only have a group of people that know the Word of God and have a relationship with Him from which to seek guidance on your behalf, but they also know you! What an incredible combination! God makes this incredible being that is completely unique and a true one-of-a-kind (you) and then puts you in a place where other people can grow with you and know you and all your uniqueness in order to help you live your life to the fulfillment of what you were created for. The only other relationship that comes close to this and actually surpasses it is marriage (and one day, this great symphony will culminate in a wedding feast!).

If you are truly in a spot in life where God’s will seems hidden from you, then Scripture, prayer, and the community of the saints should all affirm for you a way for you to go. They always work together, and since the Holy Spirit is the author of all three of these, the answers will be made clear when all three agree.  Yes, sometimes God is quiet, but He is not vindictive.  His silence is not a test to see if you choose the correct option from all those He has laid out before you - waiting to strike if you choose wrong while He remains silent.  Trust the saints, the Spirit guiding the Bride, and the Word of God in you and them.

Community is a two-way street, though. If you want people to know you, then you have to offer yourself to the relationship and allow people to get to know you. Don’t always be an observer of the symphony, get in there and play so that when you need it, it is there for you, and so that when you are needed, you are there to be called on.  Life with the Bride is a lot more beautiful with you in it.

With you for His glory

Stop Pretending

"We believe that the policies, practices, and worship of the church should be ordered by the Word of God. The Word clearly says that the local church is "the house of God, the church of the living God" (1 Tim. 3:15). As such the will of God revealed in the Word of God must regulate church life. `Lord Pragmatism' (`what-will-work') and `Lord Tradition' (`the-way-we've-always-done-it') rule in many churches, not the Lord Jesus. Our modern generation of church-goers needs to be told that when these two `Lords' rule the church the result is condemned as "will-worship" (Col. 2:23) by God's holy Word!"

So concludes a brief portion of testimony from a modern day baptist confession.  In Titus 2, Paul exhorts a young under-shepherd to teach sound doctrine and more importantly - to live it in reverence to a Holy living God.  He ends by stating, "Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority.  Let no one disregard you." 

Imagine a church claiming such confession, where the Senior Shepherd has lived a life of reproach and shame both by the words of his mouth, the thought life which those words betray, documented immoral and unprofessional actions, witnessed, documented, and recorded false witness, bending local ordinances and breaking laws for selfish causes.  In this church, all this is excused because the Senior Shepherd is loved by his people.  

Now imagine a church, the worship leader will not talk to their own in-laws and has not for years, even though they attend the same church - because of family dispute.  This same leader allows all kinds of evil entertainment into thier home with the excuse that if they did not, their children would not "fit in" with others.  This same worship leader is adored by the church because of great skill in the lead musical instrument which is played in service and because the father of this individual has always been involved in worship leading, even though the other biblical red flags are common knowledge.  Ephesians 4:30 says that such behavior [specifically within the body] grieves the Holy Spirit.  Christ says in Matthew 5:24 not to worship before being reconciled to one another.

Now imagine a Church where the elders have on several occasions, chosen to protect these and other individuals rather than obey Gods Word to correct and rebuke these individuals in private and, if necessary, in public so that others will fear God [Holy Fear 1 Timothy 5:2
20-21].  Paul tells the Corinthians [1 Cor] in 5:11-13 not to associate with someone inside the church who claims to be a Chrisitian, but acts in such manners.  He actually says to "cast them out" of the local body and calls them "evil".  He later says that doing so publicly with love, reminds everyone that God is Holy, and not to be mocked(1 Timothy 5:20-21 gives the strictest charge and imperative to obey this command without exception).  


Imagine a group of elders charged with governing God's local body, who don't know the biblical qualifications to be an elder, and in many cases, the instructional content of the Bible.   Because of this handicap, they are forced to continually uphold their actions and decisions by referring to every conceivable authority [denominational decisions, websters dictionary, church constitution, their own poor memory] except for the Word of God.

Now imagine all of this in the same local body.  Would you call this the Kingdom of God or a kingdom of a few men, maybe even one man?  Would you call this Christ's Church or man's?


God has given us His words and a few non-negotiable directions for governing for a purpose.  Some things in church government are negotiable, others are not.  Contrary to popular pinion, we are to judge each others conduct within the Body for the purpose of honoring God.  To withhold obedience to these instructions in order to "preserve unity" or "peace" is a facade and a condemnation on those who know.  

When men choose to love each other over Gods holiness, they have deceived themselves into believing they are demonstrating love.  Anything that denies a love for God's holiness, a respect and fear for His Word, and a humility that the Kingdom belongs to Him first and foremost, is not real love.  It is a false love and a masquerade of peace.  Proverbs calls such people who continue to operate as such are misusing the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and calls them fools.

The Lampstand has been removed from such Church's because their first love is not the Lord Jesus Christ and His sovereignty, but their own proud establishment (Revelatins 2).  To remain with them if not possible to cast them out or reform, is a direct disobedience to God in lieu of Titus 5:11-13, 20-21.  


God wants true worshipers.  He is interested in His glory and His kingdom not ours.  This is the problem with the emergent church and church leaders [elders] who do not know how to rightly divide the Word of truth.  

The sad thing is that many churches today are like this.  Leaders rule ignorant congregations through ungodly manifestations of authority, loyalty, and truth hoarding.  People simply don't want to believe that their leaders or their family members are part of this group, so they ignore obvious signs.  There are many buildings filled with dead people every weekend singing songs about themselves and thinking they are praising God and thinking they are headed for heaven, but Jesus says he will tell them that he never knew them.

The time has come for people who claim to know God and His Word to become leaders of the Church of Christ.  The Church is the greatest Living Image Bearer of our Great and Holy God.  Problem is, the lost world is justifiably disgusted by the dead, man-centered zombies claiming to be the Living Churches.  There is a difference between fallible and being a foolish steward.

We should be appalled at weak willed, apathetic, poorly educated, unqualified, and subjectively prejudiced men leading others in a masquerade of worship; those who lead others "in the name of Jesus" but love a false peace more than the integrity of God's Word and His Bride.  Thank God for His grace.  May He bless the blind to see and worship Him in Spirit and Truth that all may know the Glory and majesty of our God.  The tragedy is not that churches are closing, but that the local bride of Christ somewhere is completely estranged to the words of their own Lord.  The only idea they can gleam from Scripture is "love", but they don't have any idea what God means by it.  


It time to stop pretending that everything is ok as long as we use the words "love" and "peace".  God forgive us and open our eyes.  Please remove false shepherds and give us those whom would honor You in all that they do.  You said that the leaders of Your Church are to lead so that they may present to You a mature Bride in every way.  Please, please deliver your Bride from her captors, and give us those leaders.

With you for His glory

Living Sacrifices

"How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44)

"Then Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?'"

Jesus (John 11:40)

 Are you a living sacrifice?  If so, by whose account?

Cultural conformity is not new to the foundations of Christian faith.  The prophets, priests and kings of the Old Testament constantly waged spiritual war within their people and themselves to fight against that cultural conformity which displeased God.   Over and over again, God's chosen people neglected their high calling by turning away from the commands of their God and turning towards other Gods.  A people who had seen firsthand, and heard of the wonders of the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth, constantly chose selfish ambition, false temporary security, pride, and self-identity over a life-saving fidelity to their God.  They mistook the Lord's great patience for weakness and ambivalence. 

How about you?  Is your life a living sacrifice to the Holy God of Scripture, or an offering to the cultural conformities of your environment?  

Calling all disciples.  Our God is Mighty, Awesome in power, and His great kindness, forbearance, and patience is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4) - which leads to transformation (Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:14-15) - which leads to discernment (Romans 12:2) - which leads to joyful, powerful and effective living for His purposes (2 Peter 1:3-11).

With you for His glory-

Holy Experience

I would like to recommend a blog to the few of you who follow me.  You may have noticed the "Holy Experience" button to the right.  The woman who authors this blog has a very special gift.  I can't really say much more than that.  But please visit here blog by clicking on the button to the right,  and become a follower.
As always, my intention is to help others in whatever way I am able so that they are encouraged, equipped, and empowered to glorify God in their lives.  I am daily encouraged by Ann's blog, and I wholeheartedly recommend it as a place of quiet waters and green pastures.

With you for His glory

Worship Leading

I know a worship Leader who will not talk to his parents even though they attend the same church because of a family disagreement. The same worship leader invites bloody, graphic, violent, inappropriate video games and comics into his house for his teenagers so that they will not be "out of the loop" with their friends who do the same things.

This is an individual leading others in worship to God every sunday because of his musical abilities.

Is it any wonder why many Christians today don't know the difference between a worship "set" and a life of worship?

Sure, many people are hip and up on the latest post modern readings about community and worship, and "real church", but they really only follow the lingo. Romans 12:2 says not to follow the patterns of the world. It says to renew the mind and prove that what God has said is good is really good. If we are worried about our children not fitting in if we don't allow crap into their lives, then our Sunday morning worship is fruitless. If even the biggest fight in our families is too great for us to recompense and talk to each other for Christ's sake within the Body, then our hearts don't really belong to Him. God said he desires penitent hearts and broken spirits. He said he hates the lip service of people whose hearts are far from him as they recite religion that is simply the invention of man.

We are in danger of handing a faith of gobbelty-gook down to our children because we are too in love with our positions, titles, feeling energized, and being the best. We need spiritual leaders who know the difference between being persecuted for righteousness sake and being persecuted for poor stewardship and irreverence. Many churches are sick with immature believers who shop for churches that make them feel good and entertain them. Worship leader job posting look for men who can play well, lead a team, work with media software and entertain, but very few (if any) ever read, "looking for a man who knows the Word of God, is passionate about it, can faithfully teach it, discern when it is threatened, and lead God's people to respond to it appropriately with their lives."

When and where did the Church turn down this road called self-gratification and place man-centered talent and performance over honoring God? There are many people who see it, but most leaders have compromised the biblical directive of accountability and responsibility for mans perception of excellence and a watered down gospel of love. Love for people starts with a love for God. Honoring people over God is not the biblical gospel of love, it is actually the biblical testimony of spiritual adultery.

God, please send us those who are skilled to communicate the dangers within your Body and exhort others to respond in a manner pleasing to You.

With you for His glory