Church History Articles:

Early Church History - Founded around 30 A.D. by Jesus Christ. Jesus was killed by Romans in Jerusalem, a main city in Palestine. He spent no more than 3 days and 3 nights in a tomb. He rose from the dead and appeared to several people over the next few weeks. He then ascended to a place he called heaven. At that time, there was no real organized church...

The Spirit of Christmas - The history of a holiday: Our modern "Christmas" was invented over a short period of time during the 1800's, about 1810 to 1860, a period of fifty years. Before that, it was mostly a pagan/Christian holiday, centered around various nature worship religions. Around A.D. 350, the Catholic Church had taken care of rival religions by absorbing their rites into Catholic tradition...

A History of Calvary Chapel - Calvary Chapel began about 40 years ago. It started as an alternative Christianity for the dropped-out generation. Chuck Smith, its  founder, adopted the hippie "peace-truth-love" slogan for an upbeat Christian approach. He was trying to reach a generation that had been taught to love itself above all gods and religions; and he was going to reach them with love. They preached love - so did he...

Church & Statistics:

Where is The Church? - The modern "christian" church in America generally meets every Sunday; such a meeting usually has 45 minutes of worship, and 45 minutes of teaching. This modern church meets in large cathedrals, or buildings, or warehouses; it usually owns one or more properties, of which it is most often indebted. (Note: many modern churches own multiple facilities, which they rent or lease out.)...

Who Give 2 Cents for Christ? - The facts are in: you give two cents for Christ; If you are a regular church-going American you can proudly boast you give two cents out of every dollar for Christ. In America, prior to the Great Depression, churches were the main source of giving to families and persons in need. In other words funds given to churches through tithes, giving, etc were dispersed in evangelism, missions, aiding local people in need (often called ‘benevolences’) and in feeding the hungry around the world...

The False Church:

Find the Local Church - The term 'the Church', capitalized, is THE Church, or the Body of Christ. It appears that The Church is scattered abroad, but is doing the will of the Father. The 'modern-day church', however, is what is located, in most occasions, on the corner of every city block across America, 300 feet away from a liquor store. The ‘modern-day church’ is a term for what the Bible refers to as ‘the false brethren’, or 'false church', those who strive to ensnare the children of God into bondage. (Gal. 2:4)...

I Went to See a Counselor - I was feeling kind of low, so I went to see a Counselor. “Doc,” I said, “I have feelings of insecurity.” “Feelings of insecurity?”  He asked.  “What do you mean ‘feelings of insecurity’? Could you be a little more specific?” “Like something bad is going to happen to me.” “Go on, I’m listening.” “That’s about it, I guess,” I said. He waited for more, eyebrows up like, ‘I know there’s more, you can do better than that, c’mon.’ So I said, “Well, it’s like I’ve done something wrong, but I know that’s silly because I know we’re not perfect and I cut myself lots of slack there, I never judge others, but I feel like I’m being judged. I feel guilty for something even though I know I’m innocent. It eats away on me day and night, but I just can’t seem to shake off this feeling of dread.” “So, you have feelings of insecurity, then?” he said...

False Brethren - Many pastors and evangelists nowadays talk about love. They do not talk about hate, unless they are coming against the preaching of the gospel by unlicensed persons. To them, hate does not belong in the Christian's vocabulary, except to condemn lay preachers. But let us see how the apostle Paul used the word hate: "Let love be without falseness. Hate that which is evil; cling to that which is good". Romans 12:9. So here is a good use for the word hate: It is good to hate evil. Paul said, Let love be without falseness. Is it evil to love falsely?...

Predators in the Pulpits - A book review: The title of this little book says it all. It is a warning about false teachers in our churches, placed there by the devil himself. If this book were written by a man who was noted for exposing various conspiracies or other forms of demon-chasing, then I would not recommend it for serious readers. But, this book was written by the author of "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" and "A Layman Looks at the Love of God" - not what you’d call whistle-blowing epistles...

Do you Impersonate? - All Christians have various teachers from whom they have gained wisdom, understanding and enlightenment in regards to God's Word. We grow up under these people, learning doctrine, being strengthened in the faith, being encouraged to do what is right. It's probably how Timothy felt about Paul the Apostle...

The Church - It is no simple task to explain the church. But for brevity’s sake, I will differentiate between the ordinary sense of the word and the mystical. The Bible mostly speaks of the ordinary, practical, church. As we look through the New Testament, we see that the church is an organized assembly of believers. Jesus spoke of the church in the gospel of Matthew only. In one passage, He uses the mystical sense; in the other the practical sense. “…upon this rock I will build My church.” (Matt 16:18) and, “…if he refuses to hear them, go tell it to the church.” (Matt 18:17)...

Casual Chapel Reply - A Casual Chapel Pastor found something offensive in an article about his preaching. His response was typical of all clergy devoted to their own authority. He wrote:  “To whomever you are, you have chosen to take a message, distort it, and use it as a soap box for your pet issues. Your comments are ridiculous. I don't care if this is posted or not, I only hope the author reads this. In the love of Christ, I feel I must tell you that you display a very critical spirit. If you were just passing through this church, then I hope you find a church which shares your views, for surely you will not be content until you do. If you attend this church, why? Perhaps you should start your own church. It seems you have judged the rest and found them wanting.” As you can see, there is no reference to what matters he found offensive. I can guess what articles he read, I can guess what he found offensive in them, but I can only guess and therefore cannot engage in any meaningful dialog that might prove edifying...

Faith Healers - Isn't it strange that we receive many reports from Christians that they or someone they know received a healing at a Benny Hinn convention (or equal), but the authentication of such healings is not available to us? We are not privy to the medical history, mental or otherwise, of these people. If we stop and think about it, those who give reports of healings are quite ill or dysfunctional...

The Antithesis of Grace - The seeker-sensitive movement and most 'progressive' modern congregations would unequivocally agree with such opinions as these, regarding preaching the Gospel: ‘Don’t warn them about Hell, or the wrath of God’, ‘Just let your light shine’, etc. However, these sentiments smack in the face of Biblical hermeneutics, reformers such as Martin Luther, great preachers like Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards, whom stress warning the lost of Hell as an essential component of Grace through Faith...

Their Hypocrisy Knows No End - The Catholic Church, known for its hypocrisy, has many friends in most Protestant churches. She is their mother, for crying out loud. Anyway, the mourners of the late pope-what’s-his-name added to the hypocrisy by attending another sham church function led by the nurturer of sodomites within the Church’s ranks - Cardinal Law. This would be humorous if it weren’t so deserving of death...

Preach Without Persecution - No doubt there are other ways to witness without receiving ill will in return for spreading good news; but why not use the most popular method of your peers? Here are the steps for this way: First, visit www.livingwaters.com and purchase the gospel tracts that really aren't tracts; they're fake money. Get both the $100 bill and the million dollar bill. You'll notice the $100 bill is super-sized, don't worry, the text size isn't proportionate and by the time the recipient both notices the hidden text and reads what little gospel is therein, you'll be well out of site...

Bless himself - The Christian church is in a "bless my soul" mode nowadays. I can see down through church history how men have gone from one extreme of condemning themselves to the other, excusing all the time. The church is in the excuse mode. Because the church has become so adept at forgiving itself, through its own made-up priesthood, God has let them defile themselves...

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