Seven Wrong Acts Associated With Christians

SYNOPSIS
The rare-to-find classic, titled “Seven Wrong Acts Associated With Christians” is a must-have and must-read gift which acts as a watch dog; searching the lives of Christians, identifying certain wrongs and proffering bible-based remedies to them.


It is makes vivid the acts of hypocrisy depicted by Christians in many churches. By extension, it identifies these acts as being portrayed by the so-called men of God. With the use of bible-based scriptures and true-to-life stories and instances, the work piece promises to be worthwhile; captivating readers and keep them to the edges of their seats.

The easy-to-carry-along masterpiece can be used by all Christians, irrespective of denomination; Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Protestant, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Methodist and so on. Simply, it is an all-Christian-friendly search light!

Its purpose is aimed at creating a “resonance”, that is, a thorough agreement in the behavior depicted by Christians in churches and attitudes shown outside the recognition of their churches. By re-defining the apparently unknown Christianity-associated phenomena through bible-based references, insight-given assertions and life instances, it intends attaining the bull’s eye.

Chapter Sample

WRONG 1

“Sunday-Sunday” call to service
The following are possible reasons some Christians choose to come on Sundays to worship God. Each of the reasons ascertains the varying levels of spirituality these Christians have attained and (therefore) will be discussed.
a) Religious obligation and parental upbringing
b) Demanding schedule at place of work during weekdays(as in the case of men)
c) No-position status in church
d) The not-conducive nature of the church-setting and people
e) Pressing home chores during weekdays (especially women; housewives)
f) No business coming to church during weekdays
g) Freedom from engaging in church responsibility.
Let’s digress a bit. If there is no service in your church, then it means you will not come until a week later. Will you? Perhaps, due to logistics, on a Sunday service, you, together with other members of the congregation were told that next Sunday’s service will not hold but will be held on a Saturday, the day before. As a ‘Sunday-Sunday’ church goer, will you really make it for Saturday’s service?

In concrete terms, we will identify the seven reasons some Christians chose to attend church services only on Sundays.
a) Religious Obligation (belief) and parental upbringing
Many Christians in the world believe the best day to worship God (attend church services) is on a Sunday. The reason? They incline their conviction on the efficacy of the scripture given in Genesis, ’on the seventh day, God rested’, in paraphrased terms. Hence, a great number of Christians argue the seventh day is on a Sunday while others assert is on a Saturday. Nonetheless, the bottom line is a majority attend services on the ‘seventh’ day. Therefore, they believe, without a doubt, attending services is only on the rest day_ the seventh day. Physically, being the fact the weekdays are busy, akin to the days God created the heavens, earth and other entities and eventually rested on the ‘seventh’ day, they see that attending church services is only on the ‘rest’ day.
Parental upbringing is another factor responsible for the ‘Sunday-Sunday’ call to service. During the growing years of the on-Sundays church goers, they were meant to believe going to church is only on Sundays (or Saturdays), as the case may be. Hence, they followed suit.
Unequivocally, these Christians are carnally minded; sense-governed. Just as what happens when one fails to properly diet; the same thing occurs when one flops to spiritually equip himself. There is an obvious stagnation! Spiritual empowerment, analogous to physical diet, is best carried out when there is a regular attendance of services from the weekdays through the weekends, if or where necessary. Sunday-church-going Christians have denied themselves the much-needed spiritual growth and impetus to govern the spirit-controlled world of theirs. Yet, the Holy bible admonishes us not to forsake the assembly of our fellow brethren. In this, we secure our growth, sword of truth and preclude ourselves from the servitude of hypocrisy of attending services on a Sunday-Sunday basis. The best way to carry out this spiritually obligatory advice is to attend services regularly, not only on Sundays. In addition, the Holy bible urges parents to train their wards (children) in the way they should go (that is, in the way of the Lord) in order not to depart from it, when they grow.
b) Demanding Schedule At Place Of Work During Weekdays (as in the case of men)
As a pastor in your church, I would like you to do me the favour of keeping records of observed (perpetual) on-Sunday church attendees. Then, ask them (probably after service) the reason behind their Sunday-church attendance. I bet you, a great percentage of the congregation who are working class men will amazingly use the above-mentioned subject matter as alibi.
Granted, the bible asserts there is no food for the indolent. Yet, it states undoubtedly the Lord of Hosts feeds the birds of the air, terrestrial animals, and fishes of the water without their asking for it, let alone His most adored creation. What they fail to ‘see’ is the grace of God placed upon them to ‘stresslessly’ make fortunes, money and acquire wealth to His glory. Apparently, the ever-increasing demand of the world’s workforce has made a tough nut to crack task in regularly attending the ground and pillar of all truths, the church. Still, in comparative terms, the income generated from their working places or salaries they earn cannot commensurate with the daily expenditures they incur. So, where is the ‘extra’ money coming from?

It is surprising to note: toiling day and night is no guarantee to secure wealth. In fact, it becomes an avenue for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. However, the bible assures us the wealth of God adds no sorrow. Don’t you think it’s best you attend the citadel of all divine truths that is wealth-assured rather than giving your best only to receive a tip of the iceberg?

What do you anticipate of the spiritual life of a man whose energies, intellect and other virtues are committed towards the enrichment of the programmed-to-fail system of the world?

c) No-position status in church
Quite a number of Christians are contended being addressed as ‘just church members”; contributing little or nothing towards the steady growth of the churches they claim to attend. In fact, the business or concern of the churches is really not their paramount concern. They are Christians who for a long period of time have occupying the positions of ‘bench warmers’. Amazingly, they expect results! How possible is that?

What they do not realize is that the church is a spiritual contribution of every congregational member towards the edification of the body of Christ. Also, they have obscured themselves from the truth; working in the vineyard of the Lord is the greatest favour man can do to enrich himself. Working in the vineyard of the Lord involves prioritizing God’s business (church concerns or business) above personal or individual needs. It is the working in the vineyard of the Lord, that is, being an active member in church, one gets to realize personal aspirations should be engulfed in God’s dream by putting Him first in his or her dealings to ensure unfathomable success in life. Moreover, working in the Lord’s vineyard enables Christians to see that spiritual growth is ascertained through heartfelt commitments towards the things of God (in the church). Obviously, hypocrisy is out of the picture!
d) The not-conducive nature of the church; the setting and people
It is interesting to see many Christians complain about the ‘eye-saw’ state of the churches they attend, how environment-unfriendly their churches are, outdated the facilities used by the churches they attend and the not-really-good people they see as ‘fellow brethren’. Hence, their Sunday church going.
Yet, they cannot see with the eyes of the spirit that the church is meant for the continued perfection God’s people and the things they do. Also, they have perhaps forgotten the bible explains the truth about the things which are seen are temporal but things which are not seen are eternal. Therefore, the attitude of being people-conscious should be left alone because the bible makes us realize though man looks at the appearance (physicality), God looks at the heart (spirituality).
As a matter of fact, fellowshipping with other Christians in church is one of the ways to correct each other in love, spiritually, contributing ideas, money and other resources towards the steady development of the church. Rather than condemning the body of Christ with disparaging carnal remarks, don’t you think seeking for character development, collective efforts of other members to the very growth of the body of the savior of the world should be of importance?
e) Pressing home chores or activities during weekday (as in the case of women)
Majority of women, especially housewives, when asked the reason behind their ‘Sunday-Sunday’ church attendance, assert that certain pressing home activities during the w eek did not permit them to attend services during the weekdays, where necessary.
On a second thought, if God decides to attend to them only on Sundays, how well will they properly handle or leave up to the responsibility of the affairs of their homes?
God designed women as help-meets to men. Therefore, rendering spiritual support to their husbands by encouraging them to attend services regularly, irrespective of pressing circumstances, becomes imperative. But a situation where a woman is the Sunday type of Christian, what would you expect of her very-busy husband?
The bible makes it clear; except He looks after a house, the watchman watches in vain. Therefore, attending to pressing household chores at the expense of perpetual service attendance is like building castles in the air.
F) No business attending church services during weekdays
If you can willingly submit yourself to promptly meet up with tight business schedule, then why say; ‘no business attending church services during weekdays’? If everybody were to be like you, then, who would perfect the body of Christ whose sinless life was sacrificed for you?
People who portray such a disposition fail to recognize the truth that their not coming to service on weekdays, despite busy schedules will not only lead to their absolute imperfection but also engender unforeseen imbalances in their endeavours
h) Freedom from engaging in church responsibilities
On earth, who is living that is free in the first place? In practical terms life does not vividly recognize absolute freedom. Rather, it is either in the bonafide stewardship to God’s glory or an endless wild goose chase of slavery to the world.
The bible makes us realize one of the greatest truths told to the New Creation Christians (born again Christians): you were bought with a price! Then, where is the freedom? If your reason for attending services on Sundays is that it gives you freedom from engaging in church activities, then, re-examine yourself. Maturity is responsibility and responsibility means service. In other words, the more responsible you are for God, the higher your level of spiritual maturity in truth (vice versa)
On the other hand, the world gives us a view of what absolute freedom is: absolute freedom does not exist. Simply, humans and other non-living entities are not free, even in Freetown! In simple terms, your allegiance to the world is to give ‘all’ you have (as slave) towards its enrichment only for you to receive meant-for-dogs crumbs as reward for your effort. Therefore, your commitment as a slave to the world determines the level of maturity, tantamount to what you get as reward. Remember: the system of the world is programmed to fail.
Agreed, the bible tells us where the treasure of man is, so lies his heart. The question therefore is: ‘where does your treasure lie; in the bonafide stewardship towards God’s glory on earth and in heaven or in the earthly slavery, the endless wild goose chase pursuit aimed at enriching the programmed-to-fail system of the world’?