"Yes, my mother went to every Revival meeting that came through. I was baptized several times," my Grandfather said.
Some where, for some reason Grandpa rejected his upbringing. I don't know why he would believe that all Christians were hypocrites, or why he didn't need the church. Many people have an erroneous view of Christians as being 'perfect', when even at our best we are just people trying to get to heaven. And at that some are trying harder, or accomplishing it better than others.
However, both statements are due to misunderstandings sown by none other than Satan himself. Satan is very good at mixing truth with a lie. Indeed Jesus tells some fellow Jews:
"Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44)
The very first recorded lie was Satan disguised as a serpent speaking to the woman, Eve:
"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5 ASV)
Did Grandpa need the 'church'? First he needed to understand what the church was/is. The church is like the pocket where God/Christ puts his elect. It isn't technically a building and it's not a man made organization. It has been in the mind of God since the beginning, not an after-thought. Human beings do not 'add' other humans to the roll of God's elect, only God does that.
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47 KJV)
I was brought up in a home that even though it may have tried to keep the 'good' Christian principles none-the-less it lacked foundation. Good principles are effective only when there's a good foundation. Principles built on thin air will collapse. In every instance that it has been tried— when the teachings of Jehovah God are rejected as the foundation— the end of the family or nation has followed.
Yes, my Grandparents were good people. They had been raised in a generation that still believed and taught the Bible and in many respects most of the Biblical principles. Since my Grandparents rejected those things our family suffered collapse physically and morally. Grandpa and Grandma were married for the long haul, they didn't drink alcoholic beverages, and they had some good basic morals. Grandma told me when she was a young girl she 'took the pledge—lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine'. However, all three of their children followed their own paths. My mother married three times, became a gypsy of sorts, and continued on a downward spiral of alcoholism that was a cause for the loss of her health and her family.
It was a cause of pain to my Grandparents. At one time they said to me, "I don't know what happened. They didn't get that from us."
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
(Continued)
So, yes, he, and all who want to go to heaven need the church. But wait, there's more.
I was brought up in a home that even though it may have tried to keep the 'good' Christian principles none-the-less it lacked foundation. Good principles are effective only when there's a good foundation. Principles built on thin air will collapse. In every instance that it has been tried— when the teachings of Jehovah God are rejected as the foundation— the end of the family or nation has followed.
Yes, my Grandparents were good people. They had been raised in a generation that still believed and taught the Bible and in many respects most of the Biblical principles. Since my Grandparents rejected those things our family suffered collapse physically and morally. Grandpa and Grandma were married for the long haul, they didn't drink alcoholic beverages, and they had some good basic morals. Grandma told me when she was a young girl she 'took the pledge—lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine'. However, all three of their children followed their own paths. My mother married three times, became a gypsy of sorts, and continued on a downward spiral of alcoholism that was a cause for the loss of her health and her family.
It was a cause of pain to my Grandparents. At one time they said to me, "I don't know what happened. They didn't get that from us."
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
(Continued)
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