Wow!
You mean we can discuss things on this thread in a civil manner? No one is going to say, "Brent, you ignorant slut?"
This is a novel idea. I think I am going to hang out on this thread.
I would like to address the issue that seems to have evolved, "What is the church?" We must first differentiate between
THE Church, and the
Churches.The church is synonomous with all those who who are saved in Christ Jesus. Wherever they are, these people are the church.
The church is NOT the Southern Baptist Convention, the Orthodox Presbyterian Alliance (if there is such a thing), Focus on the Family, or the Assembly and George Geftakys.
All those mentioned above could indeed have members of Christ's church in them, and most likely do, but they are not the church.
When a group of christians assemble together for the purpose of worship, prayer, study, or fellowship, the bible calls them a "church." I'm sure most of us know that the word is
ecclesia. The question arises, "Is every group of people that gather together in the name of Jesus an "ecclesia?"
The answer is clearly no. It depends on who they say Jesus is, and whether or not they gather for a sincere reason. To clarify:
If I start a "church," and teach that Jesus is a space alien, and that he has given me new technology that will change the world, my "church" is not a legitimate ecclesia, no matter how many christians I manage to deceive. The Heaven's Gate cult started out as a pentecostal christian gathering.
Perhaps I start a church, and teach true things, but my main motivation is to fleece my flock. I get a big following, build a vast timeshare empire, and a theme park, and make tons of money. My motivation is not sincere, I am a charlatan, and from the get go I only wanted to get people's money. I used the Bible for my own selfish goals.
In spite of the fact that people got saved under my phoney ministry, my "church" is not really a church, but a counterfeit. History is replete with such stories, and the end of such churches is always spectacular.
I think that latter applies to some extent, to George's Assembly. If George was just one man in the church who had trouble, then the whole thing would be going on just fine. However, the fact is that the whole thing was built on him, and when he fell, the house came down with him.
I find this ironic, because one of the things that George taught us that was quite correct was that a "one man ministry" was a bad thing. I think George's life was used by God to illustrate this truth in a profound manner.
Brent