Post by pitbull on Sept 2, 2008 4:49:33 GMT -5
10 DAILY WISDOM
“For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth [cometh] knowledge and understanding.” [Proverbs 2:6]
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
15 BIBLE REASONS A CHRISTIAN SHOULD JOIN A BIBLE-BELIEVING CHURCH
New Testament Christians joined a local church. The churches had membership lists, either in writing or in memory. Since the scripture was given for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16), God evidently wanted us to follow their example. Although there is no specific verse that says, "Thou shalt join a church," there are fifteen places that either require or teach by example that we should do so.
(1) THE FIRST CHURCH HAD A MEMBERSHIP. "And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)" (Ac 1:15). This Jerusalem church had a list of about 120 names that made up its membership. Even though the Bible says "about an hundred and twenty," it does not mean that there was any uncertainty. The events of John 1:39 and Acts 5:7 did happen at a specific moment, although that moment is not recorded.
(2) ALL THOSE MEMBERS ASSEMBLED TOGETHER ON PENTECOST. (Acts 2:1)
(3) SPECIFIC PEOPLE WERE ADDED TO THIS MEMBERSHIP ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. (Acts 2:41)
(4) THE LORD ADDED PEOPLE TO THE LOCAL CHURCH. (Acts 2:47)
(5) THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND OUTSIDERS. (Acts 5:11)
(6) SOME PEOPLE DID NOT DARE TO JOIN THE CHURCH! (Acts 5:13)
(7) SPECIFIC MEMBERS ELECTED OFFICERS. (Acts 6:3)
(8) THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE CHURCHES INCREASED. (Acts 9:31)
(9) THE CHURCHES WHICH PAUL ESTABLISHED "INCREASED IN NUMBER DAILY" (See Acts 14:21-23 and 15:36, compared with 16:4-5)
(10) ELDERS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN PEOPLE. (Acts 20:28)
(11) TROUBLE-MAKERS CAME FROM INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. (Acts 20:29-30)
(12) THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH WAS COMMANDED TO EXCLUDE SOME BRETHREN. (1 Cor. 5:11,13; also see 2 Thes. 3:14-15)
(13) THERE IS NO WAY TO EXERCISE CHURCH DISCIPLINE UNLESS THERE IS A MEMBERSHIP. (Mat. 18:7; 1 Cor. 14:23-25)
(14) 1 COR. 6:1-11 DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN "THE UNJUST . . . THE SAINTS." (1 Cor. 6:5-6)
(15) 1 PET. 4:17 DISTINGUISHED BETWEEN "THE HOUSE OF GOD" AND "THEM THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL." (1 Tim. 3:15)
The point is that we have no instance of New Testament believers refusing to belong to a local church. Joining the church was the normal thing to do, after conversion. The person who has settled the matter of salvation as the Bible shows us should then be baptized, following Christ's example and command, and join a Bible-believing and Bible practicing church.
RELIGIOUS AWARENESS
Animism
The term Animism is derived from the Latin anima, meaning "soul". In its most general sense, animism is simply the belief in souls. In this general sense, animism is present in nearly all religions.
In a more restrictive sense, animism is the belief that souls inhabit all or most objects; it attributes personalized souls to animals, vegetables, and minerals wherein the material object is—to some degree—governed by the qualities which comprise its particular soul. Religions that are animistic in this more restrictive sense generally do not accept a sharp distinction between spirit and matter, and they generally assume that this unification of matter and spirit plays a role in daily life.
Originally souls were pictured as very similar to persons and only in later non-animistic religions in the course of a long development did they lose their material characteristics and become, to a high degree, 'spiritualized'. British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor argued in Primitive Culture (1871) that this belief was the most primitive and essential form of religion. Though animism itself is not a religion in the usual Western sense, it does contain the foundations on which religions are built.