"Thou Hast a Name..."

In Revelation, the apostle John writes to the seven churches in Asia Minor. From the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea he can see the coast of what is now called the country of Turkey. It is a well worth study (and  Revelation 1:3 promises a blessing to those that read this letter) to see how the seven churches represent a historical panorama of the church. For a summary, see Dolphin's work:
http://ldolphin.org/cleanpages/rev02.html (copy and paste)
Notice how John through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit refers to the church of Sardis in Revelation 3 as "having a name". Sardis according to the historical timeline of the churches refers to the Reformation church. The Protestants broke from the Roman Catholic church but did not break free of many of the trappings of the RCC unfortunately. As an example, the Lutheran church formed as a result of this split. Today, there are many "Synods" of Lutheranism that have formed. They differ on things such as liturgy, sacraments, and the definition of words used in Lutheranism. They also differ in modern ideologies such as the ordination of women, homosexuality and ecumenism.
    Sardis was built on a mountain and it's high walls overlooked the plain below. No armies were thought to be able to conquer Sardis because of this natural geological deterrent. The inhabitants were confident that Sardis would be safe from attackers. Sardis was confident in their surroundings. They had born in a city that was thought to be a great defense. They were confident in their works as well. Sardis coined the first coins that were made from pure silver and gold. Before this, coins were made from various ores that could not be guaranteed to be of any particular metal. They invented a process of separating the metals out from the ore. They trusted in their temples as well. They were set, so it seemed. Confident in their currency, their trade (the Lydians had the popular purple dye), and their works. They had a name... Well as it turns out, Sardis was invaded many times in their history. Cyrus the Persian, Alexander The Great, The Ptolemies, all successfully scaled their defenses. The Sardians were not known to be great warriors. They depended on the natural defenses and their popularity as a center of commerce and wealth an notoriety.
    As a young man growing up in the Lutheran church, I felt confident of the name.... I was a Lutheran. I was
OK. I was set. I had been baptized, confirmed and was a member of a well known denomination. When confronted by a born again Christian or convicted by a tract that talked about a personal relationship with Jesus, I had the confidence and backing of a name.... Lutheran. Don't be too confident in your church name. Whether it is Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, or whatever...it is a personal relationship with the Head of the true Church, the Lord Jesus Christ is what is life-saving, not a name. Read carefully Revelation 3:1-6 and look what it means to be given a personal name in the Book of Life! Heaven is not sectioned off by denominations. Trust in Jesus and He will give you an everlasting name!

About (Part 7)

Now where to go to church? That was the question before me as a newly saved believer in Christ Jesus.
I looked in the churches section of  the yellow pages (remember them?) and "Evangelical Free Church" seemed to stand out to me. I knew that back in 1985 at least, the word evangelical had the meaning of : a messenger going forth proclaiming the good news of the gospel. I liked the name of that church. Next Sunday I found myself in a small strip mall store space with folding chairs and a makeshift podium and about 30 people ready to worship. No liturgy here, just a few hymns of praise and then the sermon. Afterward I asked the pastor if I could speak to him for a moment.Well that talk must have lasted at least 30 minutes. I just poured out to this young minister all that had happened in my life recently. It was like I just had to speak about my testimony to someone. The man that had cut my hair for the last 10 years gave my wife and I the location of a church that he recommended. He and his wife became very close friends and prayer partners. Little did I know that this man was a believer that had been praying for me over the years. Next Sunday my wife and I attended this church. It was called a "Community Church" and was non-denominational. I liked the idea of non-denominational. I just wanted to be known as a Christian now, not placed into a category or denomination. The pastor preached an incredible sermon. We felt blessed for having come. Unfortunately after the service we found out that that was the last sermon for that pastor at that church. The church's elders had voted in a different pastor! We briefly chatted to this outgoing pastor about where to fellowship and he recommended a nearby Bible Church. God knew that we needed rock-solid biblical teaching and discipleship and He directed us to the right place. Some of the elders and teachers at that Bible Church were quite elderly and they knew the bible backward and forward and were great men and women of God. Some had authored books and commentaries and others had vast experience with missions and the mission field. Learning about missions and talking to missionaries was an eye-opening experience for my wife and I and our children. Never before had we heard of Christians that were currently in the mission fields risking their lives and even dying for being a Christian missionary. We were honored to have a few missionaries stay in our home. We were so blessed by this. That was nearly 30 years ago. That was my testimony. That finally ends "About Me". Your comments are greatly appreciated.

About (Part 6)

The following Sunday I went to church with my family which was the Lutheran church I had attended since my teen years and in which we were married in. In the Lutheran church there is a certain pattern to the service called the Liturgy. Depending on the church seasons, you turn to a certain page in the Lutheran Hymnal and follow the pastor and congregation in reciting certain passages of the scriptures in a singing manner. There is also usually a gospel reading, an epistle reading, a sermon, hymns and lastly a benediction. Now, for the first time, I really was listening to the liturgy with my new spiritual ears. Psalm 51:10-12 was being read/sung as part of the liturgy as it had been on a majority of services going back as far as I can recall. This time, however, it spoke to my heart and I could barely recite the words. This is what had actually happened to me! God had created a "new heart" within me. A new heart with a new spirit...His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. As best as I can recall, I am not sure what the occasion was, but I met with the pastor shortly after this "heart opening" Sunday service and expressed to him that I felt like more emphasis should be placed on the true power of the gospel and how each member of the church should be shown what it meant that Jesus had come as a man and crucified and rose again to save each individual and that it was a personal thing and not a church thing. I told him how the Old Testament prophecies had Jesus all throughout them but how I felt most people did not truly understand the impact of that. Sadly, my words were met by a blank stare that I can only interpret as a lack of understanding of the new birth of which I was trying to put into words. Now here is how the Lord will direct your paths... the following Sunday as I looked around at the congregants, I wondered how many of the Lutherans attending truly were saved, not because they were members of this church or because they were baptized as infants, or because they had their Confirmation in their teens, or because they partook in Communion every month or attended church every Sunday or were involved with charitable activities or even because they simply had the head knowledge that Jesus had died on the cross for the sins of the world...but simply because they personally had accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior having asked God to forgive their sins and accepting Jesus as Lord not as a denomination, congregation or by benediction, but in the only way one can be saved... personally, one on one. Just as I was thinking on these things, I opened my folded bulletin and found inside a light green colored pamphlet. Yes, I even remember the color. It was titled: "but when you get asked...Have You Been Born Again?" It was a Lutheran treatise on what baptism according to Lutheran doctrine was and why a Lutheran should not be concerned or offended when confronted by born again Christians posing that question. I really took this pamphlet as my "pink slip" for leaving the Lutheran church. So now, how was the Lord to direct my next steps and to what church was I to attend? (to be continued...)

About(part 5)

     I know this is getting ridiculously long, but this is the best part if you read this far. The Lord used Cumbey's book to knock me over the head. The next thing was checking out the book's references which included Marilyn Ferguson's book The Aquarian Conspiracy.  Cumbey's book also included many biblical refernces  to the New World Order(NWO) and the end times scenario. But there was this constant urge for me to read the bible. I started by obtaining a copy of Gordon Fee's How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth. The book suggested I read the bible in a way that I would be reading the Old Testament and the New Testament at the same time. In other words, read a section of Genesis and Matthew in one reading. I cannot stress enough how  powerful this urge was to start to read the bible. I found an easy to read version called The Living Bible  and went to work highlighting verses that I started to see in the OT and NT. I discovered many verses quoted by Jesus in the NT from the OT. I also noted that the prophets were foretelling the same things even though they wrote at different times. In April 1985 I had read through the Gospels and was reading the book of Isaiah. I was at chapter 53 in particular. Isaiah is describing "a man of sorrows" that suffers horribly so that man can be redeemed, This man shed His blood and suffered the worst beatings and disfigurement because of His unconditional love for the lost. Suddenly, as if blinders were lifted off my eyes, I understood that this prophet Isaiah was describing a person that would suffer and die for His people more than 500 years in the future! It all suddenly made sense to me. That the Gospel, the Good News of what Jesus did was for ME. All the prophecies written about Jesus and His first coming back 2000 years ago had ALL been predicted and had all come to pass! Where He was to be born, where He was to live, how he was to be betrayed, how He was to die and even how he was to be buried. When this TRUTH finally was made clear to me, I had many emotions come over me. I wept because I had missed this TRUTH for 30 years of my life. I knew that Jesus had saved me at that moment that He revealed Himself to me through reading the Word of God. I then also knew that God's Word is absolutely TRUE in every sense. I was amazed that I had missed the most important thing in this world for anyone to accept: that Jesus died not only for the sins of the world but for MY sins. The absolutely Holy, sinless God Himself came into this world as a MAN and provided the ONLY WAY OUT of darkness and death. I was amazed that all I did was finally understand this wonderful thing that God had done for ME. I was so grateful that this saving grace was  
was absolutely a free gift. I could not earn it or work for it or ever be good enough to deserve it. In conclusion, I realized that I had been born again. A new creature had been created. (to be continued...)