As we are going through this process of Corporate Repentance, we’ve looked a lot at Revelation 2-3. These letters to the churches were a wake up call to most of them, I bet. Nearly all were recipients of a serious reproof by God. I suspect none of them saw it coming. They did not know the serious sin they had allowed themselves to slide into.
\nAs we open our eyes & ears to what the spirit is saying to our church, our minister has asked each of us to write our own ‘Letter to the Church in Columbus’, in the spirit of those in Revelation. These are short (not my writing style!) and direct. Jesus does not mince words. He also does not follow a strict formula. Some churches get praised others do not. Most, but not all get challenged. So, if He were to write us a letter, what would it be? Here are my thoughts:<\/p>\n
To the angel of the church in Columbus write:
\nThese are the words of Him who is both grace and truth, man and God, word and flesh. I know your deeds, how you give of your wealth and time when there is a need. You rise to the occasion when there is an outcry for help. I see that you have a reputation of love, yet one on one you are distant and isolated. Your relationships are polite and pleasant rather than honest, vulnerable and challenging. Wake up! Remember how deeply you once loved, how you gave of yourselves, how you held nothing back and sacrificed to strengthen each other. Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your love complete in the sight of my God. Therefore repent! Give of yourselves completely to one another again, get involved in each others lives. Speak the truth in love to each other that you may save each other from a multitude of sins. To him who overcomes I will give life to the full, in fact it is already there for the taking, if you would only love deeply. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is a little hard to do for several reasons. First of all, I am not God nor do I have the direct line the Apostle John did when he penned Revelation. This is from the Bible, my observations and discussion with others, yet filtered through my perspective, emotions and whatnot. So this is perhaps closer to what Doug says to the church than what the Spirit says. Others may not feel this way. They may feel that they personally have given much and loved deeply. I feel that I have on some levels, but held back on others. I am confident that what I’ve written does not apply to some individuals in the church, but from my perspective it is accurate for the church as a whole. We have become shallow.
\nI’m interested in hearing tonight what some others have written.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we are going through this process of Corporate Repentance, we’ve looked a lot at Revelation 2-3. 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I know that's almost inconceivable, but look at it this way. You know that among human beings, when they get together in a family, or a club, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God and Church"","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/03\/new_links_3.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":427,"position":1},"title":"New links","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"March 2, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm posting a few new links today. Since these are all related to my church, The Columbus Church of Christ, I'm doing a combined 'about' blog for them all. The first is our church web site. Back in 1996, Maria and I quit our jobs and moved to Columbus to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Salguod.net stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Salguod.net stuff","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/salguod-net-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":438,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/01\/i_pray_for_your.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":427,"position":2},"title":"“I Pray for Your Movement Every Day”","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"January 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"ICOCinfo published yesterday a letter from an evangelist in the \"mainline\" Church of Chirst named David Yasko. His roots in the COC go back to the thriving campus ministry days which gave birth to my family of churches, th International Churches of Christ. Back in the 80's he was a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God and Church"","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":376,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/08\/before_i_get_ca.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":427,"position":3},"title":"Before I Get Carried Away","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"August 30, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Boy, I'm having serious flashbacks going on here. On one hand, it seems like 1979 all over again, with Kip \"Calling out the Remnant\" from the ICOC now, just like he did with the COC shortly after taking the reigns at the Boston Church of Christ (then the Lexington COC).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God and Church"","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":144,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/05\/a_new_era_for_t.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":427,"position":4},"title":"A New Era For the Columbus COC?","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"May 30, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Monday night was a monumental night, or at least it could have been. Time will tell. The deacons of the Columbus Church of Christ (myself included) met with the evangelist to discuss the state of the church and its future direction. 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