THE DOCTRINE OF GOD THAT MANY CHRISTIANS DON'T WANT

The doctrine of God that much of the world does not want is Jesus.  Yet, this divine man is one's only hope to Truth, Life, and Way.

The doctrine of God that many Christians don't want might surprise you.  It has been regarded by generations as the culprit of all three-letter curse words used in the church; N-E-W.

New makes blood boil.  It is accused, despised, and hated; especially by the modern-day Pharisees.  New is perceived that it must not be something of God or else we would have already known it and done it.

Wrong.

Anytime faith in Jesus drifts toward a formula set in stone, old and dying will creep into the picture.  New is too easily discarded by the guards of the believing camp. And this is a disaster currently burying faith upon earth in tsunami proportion.

When the new of the Son of God is diminished, arthritic inflammation begins to slow the body of Christ.  No longer supple and agile, the church cannot help but note decline with age.

But when new is permitted and sought, life abundant is in each moment.  The Word of God calls for this doctrine.

• Good NEWs.
• New covenant.
• New birth.
• New commandment.
• New teaching.
• New life.
• Newness of the Spirit.
• New leaven.
• New creature.
• New creation.
• New man.
• New self.
• New and living way.
• New heavens.
• New earth.
• New Jerusalem.
• New name.
• New song.
• "Behold I am making all things new."  Rev. 21:5

We are told in very clear terms that new wine won't reside well in old wine skins; yet we as a rather plain people consistently find what work(ed/s) and insist that this is the way to do church because is was once productive.  This is the demise of churches throughout the land; shrinking while critical of new upstarts who don't do church our unsuccessful (but pleasing to us) ways.

Jesus' teaching about trying to put a new patch on an old cloth ought to send reverberation throughout our landscape.  If you are in a church you are likely clinging to an old style of its heyday that won't cut it today. It isn't because believers are liberal.  It is because God is.

God lives as new to provide the new for the new.  This bugs the tar out of control freaks.  He will not abide within the framework of yesterday's best for He has ideas that we have yet to even think about.  He is waiting on us.

While the outer man is decaying the inner man is made to be new day by day.  We are to be fresher today than we were yesterday.  Aging bread will go stale and become moldy.  Yet, this is not to be our state.  We are to feed from the Bread of Life which--as He has clearly shown--is new morning by morning.

The doctrine of God that many Christians don't want is the very thing that would bring new life to our habitual meetings regarding what we are going to do with a dying congregation.  If things don't change congregations will die off; not because we were so absolutely committed to the Word of God as we wish to parade to the public.  No, we will die off because stubbornness of favoring what we like took precedent over what God tried to get us to hear...and we wouldn't hear of it.