Category Archives: Unity

Vision 6

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blind.jpgAUBREY MALPHURS DESCRIBES a leader without a clear vision to that of a person trying to drive blindfolded…
If this is the case, then according to research, the majority of church leaders are driving congregations blindly. In these cases, there is a mixture of “no vision” and “unclear vision.” This is to say that there are a number of times that as church leaders we believe that a vision is clear when in reality it is not.
A vision cannot be clearly communicated to others until God’s vision has been articulated within a congregation’s leadership. Clarity yields clarity while uncertainty yields doubt and uncertainty. Kenny Norris
KneEmail: “Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” Nehemiah 2.17; cf. Luke 6.39
Bible reading for 01.17.11: Matthew 12.1-23; Genesis 41-42
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Vine

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vine.jpg SOME HAVE SAID all the various denominations are part of Christ’s “one church,” but this belief cannot be harmonized with the Bible…
In John 15:5, Jesus said He is the vine and His people are the branches. Since a single vine does not produce different fruits, the one church built by Christ cannot consist of different beliefs and practices. This point is also demonstrated by the parable of the sower (Mark 4:3-20). When the seed (the word of God) is sown, it cannot produce a variety of religious plants (i.e., denominations).
A principle from the earliest of time (Genesis 1:25) is “everything brings forth after its kind” (KJV). If truth and only truth is sown, the church of the New Testament will always be the result. If some truth and some error are sown, the result will not be a local congregation that models the models the church Jesus built. When some truth and human tradition or make-made councils or earthy headquarters are combined, we will have the result that is now throughout the world: thousands of different denominations.
If the modern concept of denominationalism is right (God accepts nearly any religious group designated as Christian), why did Paul dedicate so much energy to correcting the division at Corinth (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2, 13)? If religious division is good (and this is what modern denominationalism says), Paul should have left the Corinthians alone in this regard. He should have congratulated them on their diversity and encouraged it. Paul refused to leave the problem of religious division alone. He also promised to address the lack of unity, if the Corinthians refused to correct this problem themselves (2 Corinthians 1:1-6, 8-11).
There is only “one faith” (Ephesians 4:5), and this faith is practiced in every congregation of Christ’s church. When we become a Christian as the Bible describes, we are members of “the church of the Lord” (Acts 20:28) and the “temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). The church consists of those who are “in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2). People enter into Christ through baptism (Galatians 3:27). Brad Price
KneEmail: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10; cf. 1:11-17; 3:1-4
Bible reading for 04.21.10: Luke 16; 2 Samuel 12,13
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One

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praying2.jpgMAY I KINDLY ask a few questions for your personal study and reflection…?
How many churches did Jesus promise to build? Matthew 16:18
Did He say, “I will build a church?” Did He say, “I will build My churches?”
Since Jesus promised to build HIS church (singular), how can we endorse and authorize religious division today? We have hundreds of different churches in our country. Each of them wears a different name. Each of them promotes a different and often times conflicting doctrine. Is this what the Lord had in mind when He made His promise?
Is the church the same thing as the body? Ephesians 1:22, 23
How many bodies did Paul mention? Ephesians 4:4; cf. Romans 12:4,5; 1 Corinthians 12:20
Since the church and the body are the same thing, and since Christ is the head of the body, how can we teach different, yea even opposing, doctrines? Does the Head of the body contradict itself?
How many faiths does Paul mention? Ephesians 4:5
KneEmail: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; they they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:20, 21
Bible reading for 10.19.09: 2 Thessalonians 2; Isaiah 56 – 58
Recommending reading:
1. How many? http://www.forthright.net/fidelity/how_many.html
2. Big Boy Tomatoes http://www.forthright.net/fidelity/big_boy_tomatoes.html
3. What Denomination Do You Follow? http://www.forthright.net/fidelity/what_denomination_do_you_follo.html
Be a missionary. Forward KneEmail to a friend, loved one, or co-worker today.
To SUBSCRIBE or find ARCHIVES, go to: http://forthright.net/kneemail/