How To Build A Church In Today's World Without Even Trying

The beginning is the hardest part, for one must begin with one saved soul - And by itself - One saved soul is simply that: One.

For God to be present in a place for a state of worship to exist, there must be a second soul. The Holy Spirit provides the third, and worship may begin. Now, prayer requires but one soul, but worship requires two, yet of the two souls only one must be saved. God is present whenever two or more are gathered in His name.

Now to begin a church. Our saved soul gives the gospel of Our Lord to the unsaved soul in this time and place, and asks the unsaved soul if he might believe in his heart that The Lord Jesus Christ did die for his personal sins thus redeeming him and making him a part of The Body Of Christ. If our unsaved soul answers: "I do so believe." He then becomes a postulate ready for Baptism. Water is poured three times over his head, once, "In The Name Of The Father," once, "In The Name Of The Son," and once, "In The Name Of The Holy Spirit," with the hand of the Baptist being laid on the head of the one being Baptized after each of the three pourings of the water.

Now we have the requirements for prayer with God presence guaranteed us being met, and God will never leave the two who have gathered in His name. If they do not abandon one-another they have a church, if they do, they are two saves souls, and the opportunity to form another new church begins anew.

+ Metropolitan Joel
Apostolic Chancellor


  

The Free and The Hooked Fish.

As we look at the weather tragedies across the United States, our attention is drawn to the Midwest, where tornadoes have cluster-ravaged several states... Centering on The State of Oklahoma.

We are reminded of Biblical floods, earthquakes, and storms at sea. Note that the Bible takes these events in stride; as in, they always have been and always will be. This is because it is the truth. We may ask - Does the Bible offer us no comfort? Well, no, and yes.

For thousands of years writers have grappled with, "the eye of the storm theology". Few of their explanations come near to satisfying us. We want answers and we want them every time a new disaster rears its ugly head. Then the passage of time dulls our appetite for immediate answers and we settle back into the comfortable label: "Acts of God". That is until the next time a portion of our world explodes in earth, wind, and fire.

Okay, you may accuse this writer of saying a lot of nothing about the subject that is something, but with Acts of God, it is hard to do more. So...

We pray for the victims of these latest disasters and those soon to come after I close this writing. Yes, more storms are on their way. More property and lives will be shattered and lost. Then we will pray again. Possibly, a Jewish philosopher explains the unexplainable the best: 

"When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him.

In the same way the human being struggles with his environment and with the hooks that catch him. Sometimes he masters the  difficulties; sometimes they are too much for him. His struggles are all the world sees and it naturally misunderstands them. It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to the a hooked one."

                                                                            Karl A. Menninger 

+ Metropolitan Joel
Apostolic Chancellor