The Church – The Kingdom
The Church (Body of the Chosen Ones) – The Kingdom (Family)
Different Bible versions are all over the bookstores, other variety stores, and all over the internet, and to obtain a copy, you have to pay for it. Getting it from the internet, we can go to different sites wherein we can only read but cannot make a cut and paste to use it to share with others. Of course, by getting it free, we would share it free, which is the essence of sharing the word of God free of charge, and more people will have a chance to hear and see the work of God. It is for not only the fortunate but also more for the unfortunate.
When we lend to the poor, we lend it to God. When we help the poor, we please God. When we help a mega-church or churches close to financial freedom and who already have accumulated financial wealth, God has a piece of good advice and warning. This is what God said: in Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. “Proverbs 22:9 “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.” Proverbs 22:16 “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.”
Why would God say these things when these people serve Him? God knows the consequences of the rich getting richer because they will never be contented. For example, there are church leaders with more than two houses, mansions, as we say, a few vehicles that will not fit in a two-car garage, and jets that they actually do not need. Some preachers of God claim that God gave them that richness. Another painful truth is that many of these leaders have been bought by politicians and, in return, dictated to the congregation members whom to vote for. The church that should guide the members to avoid voting for these corrupt politicians closes their eyes and plug their ears, but they leave their pockets open.
God uses people to expose this wrong, but some ignore the revelation and go on supporting someone that makes their life more challenging. I know one head of the church that made it big by selling books, and some defended this leader, stating that this leader invested his own money and deserved to make a profit. Another one claimed that he went to heaven and came back, and made a book and sold it for profit, there are a few old professional speakers of the word preaching that Jesus is the only way, but when interviewed live on television, they recant that resulted in compromising the Christian religion.
God allows us to work to make money for a living but not to love it. Love of money makes us develop a spirit of greediness, discontentment, and never-ending lies to continue money getting into the donation basket. Working hard to make more money is now the work of lower-ranking church members. This happens when the church leaders ask volunteers to pledge, and of course, the financial burden falls onto the volunteers, while leaders become like businesspersons with employees. This type of situation is challenging for other members who would be working hard to make collections flow.
Instead of the leadership working with the members and being a model church to serve as an example to other churches. However, those were the days when evangelism was the means to get new converts and new members and share the gospel from house to house. As time goes by, membership is depleting because no new young members are coming and attending the service, which results in the church sliding fast and losing members. The reasons could be; younger generations are not joining to replace the old and dying members; maybe due to a lack of interest, lack of evangelism, Doctrinal views that do not fit today’s generation, the promise of prosperity that does not work, the obligation to tithes, witnessing in the media about pastors get rich scheme, mega-churches not giving enough to help the poor.
So many negative words of mouth to discourage young adults from joining. Even the parents are involved in not encouraging their young to join, unlike the parents of yesteryears who force their children to go to church. The end of the traditional church is coming, and the kingdom preached by Jesus Christ is at hand… It is easier to establish your own congregation within your house and do the fellowshipping, which is biblical; they called it a house church during the time of Paul or St. Paul, and now it is more of a kingdom which means a family. In my youth, the famous slogan “the family that prays together stays together” allows me to add a word. “And be blessed together.”
In addition, Jesus, with his striking words, says: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)
However, some Churches were not shaken and remained open, while some of the traditional churches had to be shut down by COVID. Why did God let it happen? Is it about the grace given to humankind that the end is near and about to expire? Is it high time to come to God and acknowledge that He is the only one that can change the existence of humanity? What is grace mean? The United States of America is the show window of the world. When it goes down, the world will go down.
When the economy of the US slows down, many countries around the world will get affected. The United States was and is a chosen country, the Promised Land, and confirmed when it supported God’s chosen people to have their own country. The United States became the first country to recognize the independent state of Israel in 1948, followed by Russia and then Britain.