Come Home

Praise the Lord, Chosen Women!

I pray that this is a wonderful week for each of you! I want to invite you to meet me this Saturday at Christ Missionary Bible Church -- detailed flier on this page.

Now, to the blog . . .
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This week I would like to continue and expand a Facebook status that I wrote yesterday. It said:

It's Sunday - time to get ready for the house of the Lord! "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together." Got hurt in church and haven't gone back? Read on . . . If we get hurt @ work, @ school, etc., we somehow find the ability to press our way back into those settings. Why? Because we understand that we must persevere because we have an ultimate goal (graduation, pay check, etc.) Please do not allow a former church situation that caused you hurt to keep you from coming back. You miss out on the benefits associated with being there. You miss out on pursuing that part of your purpose found in the house of God. I know it hurt -- but growth takes stretching and even breaking. You survived! And you've grown. It's time. Come home.

I got some responses to the comment, and they were positive. I know that there are negative responses -- they went unwritten. I want to address a few of the responses that commonly prevent one from coming home.

I AM SAVED! I DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH -- I AM ALREADY A CHILD OF GOD!

Yes, that might be true. The problem is that you are a disobedient child if you do not obey the Word of God. The Bible categorizes disobedient saints as rebellious, on milk rather than meat, and immature. (Hebrews 5:13-14; I Corinthians 3:1-3; Titus 1:15-16)  The writer of Hebrews 10:25 tells us to come together and exhort one another. Did you realize that gathering together in church is not about you as much as it is about you giving to others? Somebody needs your gift -- your smile -- your exhortation -- your testimony -- your hug -- your song -- your message -- your face. It's time to once again render your gifts to the body. Even if you do it other places God said to do it there too. Come home.

THE LORD KNOWS MY HEART!

He does. In fact He described it in Jeremiah 17:9 as "desperately wicked." God knows your heart -- the problem is that we do not know our own heart. We need the experience of the washing by the Word of God within the setting of corporate worship anointing as a part of our heart cleansing and perfecting processes. The church family or church experience produces friction sometimes. But this friction is a sometimes needful experience. Resistance and difficulty sometimes causes us to push back right into our destiny. All church experiences are not bad. There are wonderful ministers, saints and laborers in the local church. But even bad leadership and bad church experiences can have a purpose. They can teach us to pray harder, stand stronger, or even give us a vision to live and to do better than what we have seen. Let us not paint everyone with the same brushstroke. Corporate church experiences help manifests maturity, growth and spiritual insight. Come home.


CHURCH PEOPLE ARE JUST LOOKING FOR A CRUTCH!

Some people see individuals like myself that faithfully attend church as weak, dumb, and needy. They need to perceive us as ignorant to exist within their secularist mindset of superiority. Funny thing is I am far from dumb or needy. I just believe the Word of God. Revelation 21 tells me very clearly that the fearful and unbelieving are going to hell with the devil and his demons. I experienced horrible things in church and the worst of leadership at times that tried to tear me to shreds. It hurt. I went through. And now I say, "So what?" They misrepresented God -- but they were NOT God. Jesus is God! His Word still stands. I am well educated. Yet I do not care if someone regards me as less than because of my pentecostal, holiness, apostolic, tongue-talking, foot-stomping, shouting lifestyle. My life is not just in the church -- I live this life daily. I am not ashamed.  I am not fearful. I am not unbelieving. I do not put my trust in man. The preacher and evangelist are not God. But Jesus directs me towards association with His kids through His Word. And I must obey. I encourage you to obey as well. Come home.

I JUST CANNOT STOMACH THOSE  HYPOCRITES!

Yes, some hypocrites exist in the church. But they also exist in your neighborhood, your business, your job, your school -- probably within your family. Did you stop educating your children because of the hypocrites? Did you quit your job to avoid them? What about shopping? Did you stop shopping because of those hypocrites checking you out at the register? People kill me. We play God to the left -- it's really sad. People persevere past hypocrisy and other negatives in areas that are important to us. Yes, I will again acknowledge that some have misrepresented God and even abused or mishandled their role of church. I cannot make their wrong, right. Wouldn't try to. I simply say what God says in Romans 14:10, "But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." S/he will be judged for his/her actions -- but so will you. You cannot use them as an excuse for your own disobedience. If I was an abused child it does not give me a free pass to abuse my own child. My challenge is to get help and healing for myself so I do not become what I experienced -- an abuser. If you know better then you do better -- and better represent the living God. My heart goes out to new saints. Who will be an example of righteousness for them if we all just check out? And I do understand that this work of righteous living is not just in the church -- far from it. But God still requires that as a part. Come home.

If this message speaks to you then respond -- react -- move. Time is winding down. Come home.

In Service for the Master,
Evangelist Lisa Y. Mitchell