A line was crossed

I was going to say nice things about him.

After all, his goal, as he states it in his newsletter, is to "serve Christians and the RV community . . . as they spend time traveling and living in their motor homes and travel trailers while here on earth." Well, I have to say that’s my goal too, so there is one thing we have in common.

He describes the denomination that he belongs to, the well known "Church of Christ" as "not subscribing to any church discipline, creed or manual other than the Bible". That pretty much describes my vision of the Church, and the Christian life too.

I am fully aware that he and his denomination see things in the Word of God that I have never been able to see in my many years of study and I respect his differences and his right to practice his faith as he sees fit. I respect his right to remain aloof from the Christian community here at Adventureland for the sake of his conscience. I have no intention in this blog, or in any other forum, to engage him in debate. I’m not really much of a debater anyway.

I agree too with brother Arlis, that there are a lot of really lame worship services in some RV parks. I have written about that in my book. Just for the record, let me say that I don’t think that RV parks hold the patent on lame worship services, or what he calls "will worship". There is also far too much of this going on in the Church at large as well.

But a line was crossed when he compared the activities of the Adventureland congregation, none of which he has ever observed, as being the same type of thing as what Paul encountered among the pagan idol worshipers at Athens in Acts, chapter seventeen, and accused us of holding worship services only to assuage our guilt. Brother Arlis, you have no clue as to what is going on inside our Worship services, and our Bible Studies, as you have not observed any of them.

I’m sorry brother Arlis, I don’t have a name to call you back. I’m not really into name-calling either. I just want to point out three things:

1. What has happened here at Adventureland over the last eight years is a move of the Holy Spirit such as I have not witnessed before in my lifetime. I am sorry you are missing it.

2. Jesus once replied to a disciple’s skepticism by saying ". . . believe me for the sake of the works [you have seen me do] themselves." (John 14:10). The evidence that God is moving within the Christian community at Adventureland is seen in the lives that are being changed.

3. My "last word" comes from God’s word, Romans 14:4:

" Who are you to condemn God’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord’s power will help them do as they should."

Your use of the term "will worship" from Colossians 2:23, was indeed an interesting one. If God is willing, I will write about that in my next post.

In the mean time, I will worship Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord, and I will walk in His Holy Spirit in my daily life.

Thanks for spending this moment with me today.