The Spence's We Three

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We have been offline for a few months, but we are back as long as the computer holds up. Hello to all who have wondered.

posted by We Three Spences @ 8:52 PM 2 comments

In connection with the following blog!

posted by We Three Spences @ 8:41 AM 2 comments

Meant to expose - don't get mad or emotional!!!

WARNING:
Before reading this blog I need to make clear a few things: This blog comes from much research and soul searching. I love Jesus that I want you to know foremost. I am not in rebellion. I am not trying to provoke arguement. I am also not speaking of any specific church. Please don't get up in arms over what I feel is right. I am not blogging out of anger or resentment. I simply believe in the Body of Christ as a whole not an institution or corporation

It is my hope to help people better understand God's word and recognize the "churches" departures from its teachings. Many people have been very concerned about what has happened to the Church over the last few decades. I am talking here about those CHURCH INSTITUTIONS and not about those individual saints. The individual is lost sight of in the great, all-consuming concern for what is called "the local church" institution. Today the emphasis is upon church growth and that means primarily in numbers or headcount (church membership!), attendance at the corporate meetings (they are called "the Services"), more and more $$$$'s, more and more employees like the Pulpit Minister, Youth Minister, etc.; and bigger and more expensive buildings. Not to mention all the programs the church rolls out. The role of the church member is to provide the headcount and the money! Some of them, now and then, will be assigned to some role in the ongoing functioning of the church machine, but the ultimate intent is for the growth and advancement of the organization, not for the spiritual well-being of the individual disciple.
This blog is designed for the disfranchized "members;" the rights, importance, and independence of the individual saint have been taken away. That is one reason why I would refer to them as slaves of the institutional or incorporated Church. They have no voice and no vote. All decisions relative to the corporate Church are made by the all-powerful Eldership. Members are to do as they are told. The teaching is that they are to obey the Eldership, without reservation, because to obey the Eldership is the same as obeying Jesus Christ and to DISOBEY the Eldership is the same as disobeying Jesus Christ! Hence, they are to sing when they are told to sing, pray when they are told to pray, teach when they are allowed to teach, listen to the Pulpit Minister selected for them and sit under teachers selected for them; and above all else they must contribute "as prospered" into the corporate church treasury upon the first day of each week. That is the law of the Eldership and the Pulpit Minister. They are told that this giving is one of the "five acts of worship" that must be done every first day of the week. And to help frighten them and keep them in line relative to putting their money into the church plate, they are taught that this money is being given to the Lord, it is "the Lord's money," "the Lord's treasury." It is thought by many to be "sacred money." This is sheer superstition based upon a perverted use and application of the Lord's teaching.
One major purpose of this blog is to awaken, arouse and "free the slaves of men" in these man-made institutions, called churches. That is what denominationalism does to people, regardless of the name by which it may be called. I feel that the Churches constitute a denomination just like, and for the same reasons, that the Baptist Church Churches, Presbyterian Church Churches, and all the others constitute a denomination. I urge you to demand from your Eldership and/or your Pulpit Minister the identity of just one essential requirement of a denomination that is not true of the "denominational Churches". They have every essential piece and part necessary to being a full-fledged denomination. The claim is made that each one is autonomous (self-governing) and independent in its actions, but this is not true. They all tend to associate and work with those churches of their particular sect. They are aligned with certain other churches under the leading of the Pulpit Ministers (clergy), religious papers, doctrinal stance, and affiliation with certain schools and colleges. Just like every other denomination.
That is the main reason for so many divisions and sects (factions) between and among Churches. It is vital that you understand that the alignment or division into sects within the denomination involves local church organizations, not individual disciples. It is the organizations that are aligned. The Pulpit Minister is the prime determiner of where his church is aligned. He is aligned with certain other clergymen and they "influence" where their churches "stand" on certain "issues;' hence, the alignment or division into sects takes place.
You should note carefully that wherever the church institution is placed in the alignment that is where all the members thereof are aligned, and they have neither voice nor vote in the matter. As Church slaves they go along wherever their "master" leads them. The INDIVIDUAL is not important; only the CHURCH counts.Those who have the knowledge, faith, and courage to be just Christians only and NON-denominational in practice and teaching must leave their slavemembership in the local corporate church! You can't remain in Egypt and ever reach Canaan! You can't hold membership in a local church institution, a denomination, and call others to come out of their denomination, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, etc. To urge people to leave their denomination and join yours is the height of folly. Why should they change churches? They can read theirs in the same passages that you read about yours, and not one church institution is found therein. Membership in or belonging to a corporate church is totally opposed to freedom in Christ.
History makes one thing clear. You can't reform or correct church institutions, denominations, so as to make them right with the Lord because they are not from the Lord in the first place. Martin Luther tried to reform and correct the Roman Catholic Church and utterly failed; and no other "reformer" has ever succeeded in the task. The result was that another church/denomination was born - the Lutheran Church.
John Wesley sought to reform the Church of England and failed. The result was the birth of yet another denomination, the Methodist Church. Later some thought that the Methodist Church needed to be reformed and revived. The effort to do so resulted in the birth of the Nazarene Church. This is the basic explanation for the existence of most of the denominations. The Southern Baptist Churches, through their giant Southern Baptist Convention organization, are in a life and death struggle about the direction those churches will take and which faction of clergymen (Reverends, Doctors, theologians, publishers, etc.) is going to control these churches!
Notice carefully that all these fights, alienations and divisions have to do with churches - the control and alignment of institutions! They have nothing directly to do with the individual persons, the members of these organizations. The individual is not a factor except incidentally.
The individual is the victim of the whole church institutional system. As his/her local church is aligned so he/she is aligned in most cases. If his local church is aligned with the "liberal" views, so he will be aligned. They are slaves to the Church institution and for the most part they just accept what happens. They are trusting in the Church rather than in Jesus Christ.



Pay attention! It is YOUR eternal destiny that is at stake here.
MORE TO COME!!!

This blog authored by James

posted by We Three Spences @ 7:18 AM 3 comments

posted by We Three Spences @ 2:46 PM 1 comments

~~~All is well. Peace, be still.~~~

Jan

posted by We Three Spences @ 7:11 AM 4 comments

I just gotta have this!!!

I found an item that I just have to have.

My birthday is June 1st and this is what I want.

Hint...hint Family!!!

And Jim...no!!!! You can't swipe it like you did Kristy's gun!

Jan

ps. If you know where this man is let me know...I don't know any one else that has one of these.

posted by We Three Spences @ 3:59 PM 11 comments

~~~Sometimes I just want to go home~~~

posted by We Three Spences @ 12:53 PM 4 comments