John 2:16-17, “And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”
Nowhere in the inspired Holy Bible are we taught that going to church will keep a person
spiritual. In fact, the church at Corinth was as carnal as could be, living
in sin (1st Corinthians 3:1). So many believers have the wrong idea that
attending church is some kind of magic pill that will automatically make
them spiritual. Yet, some of the biggest hypocrites, backstabbers and
unethical people faithfully attend church. Just because a person attends
church regularly means absolutely nothing spiritually.
In this edifying sermon by Evangelist Justin Zhong, titled: 'Balaam, The Son Of Bosor,' he points out that in Matthew 11:1 Jesus gave the power to cast out devils to His disciples, including Judas Iscariot. Judas was known thief. According to John 6:70 Judas had a demon inside him at the time he betrayed Christ to death. I am reminded of Jesus' words of warning in Matthew 7:21-23 about those false prophets who do “many wonderful works” in Jesus' name, and yet they are servants of Satan, still hellbound in their sin of unbelief. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. This is what we see in umpteen pseudo-Christian cults today; namely, Roman Catholicism, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Lutherans, Church of Christ, United Methodists and Jehovah's witnesses.
Jesus told us to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES in John 5:39. You'd be surprised how many churchgoers don't like to talk about the Bible in conversation. Church is a social gathering for them, a fun center, a place to show off the latest fashion styles or impress everyone with their talents. For others, church is a place where they are accepted as unrepentant homosexuals, foolishly taught that they were “born that way.” Some churches even teach that abortion is perfectly acceptable. One ungodly church's female pastor suggested making abortion a sacrament. In the Unitarian Universalist Church 18% of their membership are professing atheists! Going to church doesn't mean anything nowadays. Even Satan's seat is in the Church (Revelation 2:13). So what if you go to church, so does the Devil.
Preachers are dime-a-dozen these days, but men of God are rare. A genuine man of God preaches the truth, afraid that he won't offend people. Unethical ministers, used car salesman turned pastor types, never do anything for God. They talk about passing the mantle to the next generation (to all of their 25 church members), while scoffing at church growth and soulwinning. They are full of lame excuses why they cannot grow their church. The truth is they're lazy! I asked this one Baptist pastor if I could go soul-winning with him and he refused. His heart wasn't right with God.
Dear reader, going to church just means that you are going to church, nothing more. I have know men who faithfully attended church every time the door squeaked on its hinges, who one day ran off with a girl half his age. I have known several women who faithfully attended church, but then suddenly divorced their husband. I have known countless faithful churchgoers who were dishonest, unreliable and abusive toward others. You stay right with God by abiding in His holy Words in the inspired King James Bible (John 17:17; 1st Peter 2:2; Psalms 1:1-3; 2nd Timothy 3:15-16).
I am all for attending church, and I think it is very important for Christian fellowship, family development and spiritual growth. However, tens of thousands of Christian missionaries around the world simply do not have a local church to attend, they are the only church in their region of the world. So, how do they survive spiritually?
Here in the United States, I receive countless emails each year from frustrated believers who tell me that they cannot find a decent church in their town. Nearly all of today's churches have become religious cults, who preach another gospel of Lordship Salvation and misunderstood repentance instead of a free grace Gospel (1st Corinthians 15:1-6).
I cannot sit in any of these churches in my current home town because none of them believe what God said about Jesus. No. It’s better to stay at home; in fact, our very first president, George Washington, said that it’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. In fact, the bible tells true believers to never give money to a false ministry and to never wish an unbeliever “Godspeed.” Now, since Jesus is, in fact, God the Son, He, with an authority equal to that of God the Father’s authority, says most strongly the following truth: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). —Evangelist Michel P. Bowen, 'I Never Knew You,' p. 117
I couldn't agree more with Brother Bowen. My heart goes out to him, and to the millions of Christians just like him, who stay home on Sundays simply because their only other choice is to attend a religious cult that perverts God's simple plan of salvation, which according to inspired Scripture makes one a partaker of their evil deeds (2nd John 1:11).
Attending a local church is not a magic pill folks. The individual pastor and his wife makes the church. If the pastor is recklessly mishandling the Word of Truth, that is not a good place to be on Sundays. If the pastor's toxic wife is a mean jerk and deliberately mistreats people (which Pastor Bill Adam's rotten wife did to me in September of 2024 at the wicked Smyrna Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida), then it's best to avoid such wicked places that woefully lack God's love and compassion for sinners.
Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) saw that the churches were dying 50 years ago...
“Let emotion in. Let tears in. You're missing life. Let love in! ... America's dying for a lack of love and compassion! And our churches are dying.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Take The Shield Down”
Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935) saw the church deteriorating over a century ago...
“We've got churches, lots of them. We've got preachers, seminaries, and they are turning out preachers and putting them into little theological molds and keeping them there until they get cold enough to practice preaching.” —Billy Sunday, “Criticism and Criticism” (chapter 18), from his biography by William T. Ellis titled, “Billy Sunday: The Man And His Message”
Yes, dear reader, tragically, churches today are pathetic. It's is nearly impossible these day to find a genuine man of God who is in the ministry for the OUTCOME rather than the INCOME.
Thankfully, if this article applies, you can still walk with God and grow in your faith at home as a child of God. I have also had much difficulty finding a good church in my area. The last wicked church that I attended is wrong on repentance. That's the Family Baptist Church in Pensacola, whose official Statement of Faith requires that you repent of your sins to get to Heaven, but like all heretics, they refuse to explain what it means to repent of your sins. In 2022, I heard the church pastor, Brad Moffett, say from the pulpit that to be saved, “You must repent to turn away from your past sinful ways.” Folks, that is a perversion of God's saving grace! That is NOT the Gospel taught in the Holy Bible. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.
The demonic Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) with their 47,000 corrupt churches have done much to contaminate American society with another gospel. In their official Statement of Faith, the SBC wickedly requires that you receive jesus as your LORD, and commit to a “genuine turning from sin” to be saved, but that is works, not grace. Not one verse in the entire inspired King James Bible requires a lost sinner to make Jesus LORD of their life to get to Heaven. Not one verse in the entire inspired King James Bible requires a lost sinner genuinely turn away from their sin to be saved. Ungodly religious fools added those extra requirements to God's Word (Proverbs 30:5-6).
Going to church will not keep you spiritual, but it may drive you farther away from God by weakening your faith if you attend a corrupt so-called “church.” The First Baptist Church of Pensacola downtown does a lot of good deeds to help the poor and needy in our Pensacola community, but they are tragically wrong on the Gospel. They preach hard core Lordship Salvation, and no wonder, since they are a member of the Satanic SBC.
A man who attends Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, recently argued with me, trying to convince me that there are some conservative good churches in the SBC. I'm sorry, but that simply is not true! To even become a member of the SBC you are required to support their Statement of Faith, which is corrupt concerning God's simple plan of salvation. The damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation has infected nearly every church and Bible college today. Those institutions and churches are pulling on the same rope as the Devil! RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!
