Finding the Right Church

Do We Need Christianity, Really?

Posted on March 16, 2013 by mcalmond

If what we call Christianity today, is our only hope then we are in real trouble. For me, I do not believe our nation, our cities, our families or even the world is in need of the institution that is described as Christianity. I do believe with all of my heart and soul that we are in desperate need of a Savior and that savior is and can only be Christ Jesus, God the only begotten Son of God the Father.

What the world needs now is Jesus, Christ Jesus. They do not need Jesus the man, while He was a man who lived in our midst for an all too brief of a season, yet just long enough. They do not need Jesus the historical figure, yet he was a very real historical figure who indeed changed the world forever. Nope! They and we all, need Christ Jesus, God the Son, who is both Savior and Lord.

Acts 4:12 (ESV) And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, A Simple Reminder, Absolute Dependency, Churches, Distractions, Finding the Right Church | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

A Few Thoughts About Our Pastors

Posted on August 25, 2012 by mcalmond

This is another post by my daughter Dana who has begun to write for her own blog. If you are interested, you can find it here. While this same post is on her own blog, I asked her if I could post it here also.

I read a poll a while ago that asked the readers to share whether or not they had ever been hurt by their pastor.  Of course the comments were full of stories of pastors who were reportedly abusive mean, harsh, had too high of expectations, etc. I do understand that there are a few pastors who should be in a different profession rather than ministry and sometimes people genuinely do get hurt.  But I have always been protective of pastors because I have seen the other side.  I have seen pastor’s being hurt, attacked, criticized, lied about, etc.  I believe that you should err on the side of caution when it comes to criticizing a pastor and jumping on the “bad pastor” bandwagon.  In my experience, there is always more to the story.

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Categories: Being a PK, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Character, Church, Churches, Discipleship, Finding the Right Church, Following Through, God's Faithfulness, Growing in Faith, Hearing The Lord, Ministry, Ministry Motivation, Pastor, Vulnerability | Leave a comment

Will The Real Church Stand Up?

Posted on November 5, 2011 by mcalmond

There is truly only one universal church. This universal church is, in spirit and in truth, The True Church or The Body of Christ Jesus. It is made up of many and varied members. These members are those found throughout the world in various local church fellowships, missions, organizations and denominations, etc.; a scattering of salt throughout the world. They may not be fully aware of their place strategically within the Body of Christ Jesus, but as genuine believers in Christ Jesus they should be aware that they are indeed a part of the Body of Christ Jesus. It is in so many ways a church without boundaries, for it is a church of the Spirit. For me, this is the bottom line.

Not everyone who says they are a believer is a believer in spirit and in truth. This is also true of the church, not everyone or every church, mission, organization, etc. is actually a genuine part of the Body of Christ Jesus just because they claimed to be. Having said all of this I am aware of a very real danger. This danger is that one would leap into trying to discern that which is the true church and that which isn’t? I am saying that this is a danger in that we are not exactly called to this. We could say as scripture says, that we shall know them by their fruit and this would also be true for the church or churches as it is for individuals or even nations, etc.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Authenticity, Awakening, Being Built Up, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Death, Dependency, Disobedience, Dying to Self Will, Empowerment, Family, Fear of God, Finding the Right Church, Flesh, Genuineness, God's Righteousness, Grace, In Spirit and In Truth, Last Days, Loving One Another, Ministry Motivation, Now Word, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Presumptions, Priorities, Process, Prophetic, Readiness, Repentance, Simplicity, Spirit, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Surrender, Teaching, The Power of God, Training, Truth, Word, Word of God, Work of God, Worship | 2 Comments

There Is Always More Than We See, Hear, Or Know

Posted on July 24, 2011 by mcalmond

This post is a bit different than I would normally write. Well, I think it is anyway. I am going to share with you what I received from the Lord Jesus Christ one morning, some time ago, while we were at church. We were not attending our church, rather we were visiting another church where we had been to only once before.

All too often we settle for far less than the fullness of the Lord’s intended purpose for us in any given service or even moment in His timing. For there is always more than we see, hear, or know, that He desires to accomplish. Yet too frequently we stop with just a taste and have seemingly lost our thirst and hunger for the more of His Fullness. This is a true story of such a time.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Being Built Up, Benefits, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Church, Church Forms, Encouragement, Fields of Ministry, Finding the Right Church, Following Through, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Healing, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Inspiration, Intimacy, Lies, Light, Ministry, Noise and Distractions, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Paradigm Shift, Prayer, Priorities, Process, Prophetic, Prophetic Revelation, Protection, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Signs & Wonders, Spiritual Barreness, Spiritual Desperation, Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, Stirrings, Surrender, Teaching, The Lord's Fullness, Transcendence, Truth, Vulnerability, Waiting on the Lord, Wind of the Spirit, Witness, Work of God | Leave a comment

A Bit of Early Church History, Pt One

Posted on April 16, 2011 by mcalmond

Acts 15:21 (NKJV) For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

With all that is being said and questioned of today’s Church and its Forms, I thought I would post a little bit of Church History that has to do with the structure and form of the very early church. Church structure has a well established History that extends well beyond the time of the Lord’s disciples. In the end, however, I am fully convinced that it is not so much that we need newer and more progressive church forms but rather new hearts in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, each other and the world in which we live.

The early Christian Church structure in all probability came from the Synagogue System that was vibrantly in place at the time of Christ Jesus. While there seems to only be vague and uncertain evidence of the synagogue before the exile period of Israel, there is evidence that the synagogue system most likely began during the exile period. It was very likely under Ezra that this system of worship was developed, even while the nation was in exile. So this puts the synagogue system beginning before Israel’s returning to the promise land or possibly very shortly thereafter.

Either way it began in a simple way, with a simple structure and grew from there. We find possible evidence of what the synagogue worship structure may have been like, in the gathering of the people of God in the 8th chapter of Nehemiah. It is here that we see a gathering of all who could understand, men, women, and even children. We see public prayer, thanksgiving, and the reading and explaining of the scriptures, by a variety of leaders led by Ezra, so that all who heard could come to understand what was written. There was also corporate responses to what was said; especially the responsive, “Amen, Amen followed by a lifting up of the hands, a bowing down of their heads and worshiping the Lord God Almighty. It is thought that this was clearly an early form of synagogue worship. Later in history we see this very similar form take its rightful place in the synagogue system at large. [1]

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Categories: Body of Christ, Church, Church History, Churches, Empowerment, Fields of Ministry, Finding the Right Church, Foundations, History, Questions, Simplicity, Source, Teaching, Temple, Timing, Training, Work of God | Tags: | 4 Comments

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