Every church should want to look like the one we read about in the New Testament. One area where this needs to be examined is the organizational structure of the local church. In faithful churches of Christ, elders, deacons, and saints make up local churches just like you find in the Bible. You see elders […]
One of the biggest misunderstandings about elders is thinking that the pastor and preacher are the same. As a result, I am often called a pastor by denominational people before I correct them. In the denominational realm, the one who does all the preaching is the pastor. In the New Testament, there is a distinction […]
We have seen the simplicity of the organization of the local church. It is made up of elders, deacons, and saints (Philippians 1:1). The only exception to this is when a local church does not have men who qualify to be elders or deacons. We must realize that there is a distinction between elders and […]
We have seen that the New Testament church (in the local sense) is made up of elders, deacons, and saints (Philippians 1:1). While being an elder is the most important role one can have in a local church, being a deacon is an honorable role as well. 1 Timothy 3:13 (ESV) 13 For those who […]
The denominational world has a great misunderstanding of elders in the Lord’s church. I indicated in last night’s blog that in the New Testament, there was always a plurality of elders in local churches that had them (Acts 14:23; 17:20, etc.). These elders only had authority over the flock that was among them (1 Peter […]
In Acts 11:30, we read of elders in the church for the first time. When a famine hit all over the world, the brethren in Judea were especially devastated by it, and brethren determined to send relief to them. They sent that relief to the elders of local churches (Acts 11:27-30). While we have just […]
The liberal media loves to use the terms anti-LGBTQ and anti-gay. They love the term “anti” because of the negative connotations it gives, nothing new to those of us who are conservative Christians. It is not just the media though. All pro-homosexual advocates label those of us who oppose such a lifestyle as being anti-something. […]
In Acts 9, we have the first record of the conversion of Saul. Saul of Tarsus ultimately became Paul, the apostle, the most influential Christian of all time. While the conversion of Paul was not complete until he was baptized into Christ in the city of Damascus (Acts 9:17-19), the process began when he met […]
Today, the majority of so-called religious leaders, those who have the most influence over churches associated with the 16th-century Protestant Movement, teach that man is saved by faith alone. This leads most denominational churches to reject the necessity of baptism. Any suggestion that one has to be baptized to be saved becomes a major controversy. […]
Someone once said that the church would be perfect if it wasn’t for people. The problem is the church is made up of people. So, without people, you would not have a perfect church, you would have no church at all. The statement does imply this truth—every problem that arises in the church is a […]