House Church Talk - holy places? a disappointed God?

[neilandlizpeterson at ntlworld.com]

Hi Dave,
 got your message, it is true that God had a perfect relationship within the Godhead, however, He also chose to have relationship with His creation also, therefore there must be something important to God about relationship with His creation man than we fully understand.

The church is not made of brick or stone, it is a living organism made up of you & me & whoever else have put their trust in God.  It seems hard for people to accept that God does not live in the house & therefore there is no Holy place except in the hearts of men where He has chosen to dwell.

One thing I noted by your e-mail, it sounds as if you are angry, am I right???  Something that has hit me a lot when I go out to share the message of God each week is the verse from Jn 3:16  For God so loved the world that...  God's motivation to reach out to mankind is His unending & perfect love.  Our aim on the street is to show people His love through His church.. God wants relationship, that is enough for me!

Check out www.belfastcentral.co.uk  see section Theo-thoughts, re Temple veil being torn.

Neil
> 
> From: David Anderson <david at housechurch.org>
> Date: 2004/08/16 Mon PM 07:41:33 GMT
> To: <House Church Talk  at housechurch.org>
> Subject: House Church Talk -  holy places? a disappointed God?
> 
> 
>      Hello church,
> 
> Allow me to muse with you just a minute before returning to my corner of 
> the rock pile. Thanks, I feel better already...
> 
> I am becoming a little annoyed by all the talk of Iraqi holy places like 
> Najaf and Karbala. Sneaky "Cleric" Moqtada al Sadr had been hanging out 
> in Najaf knowing that Coalition forces would not attack the sacred places 
> of Islam.
> 
> My feelings, for certain, need to be transformed into charity and to 
> activity. I need to pray for the growing church in Iraq and for the 
> apostolic message to go out freely and for clericalism to fizzle out. 
> 
> Here is a portion of the apostolic message:
> 
> Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he 
> is Lord of heaven and earth, DWELLETH NOT IN TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS!!!!
> 
> Observe, too, the next sentence which is in contradistinction with some 
> "home church" and "deeper life" material which I have encountered over 
> the past few years which portray, in essence, a defeated, frustrated God 
> who just can't get people to cooperate with Him. One guy appeared on 
> House Church Talk  several years ago and made the statement that since the church 
> was the bride of Christ, then what Christ really wanted to do was to have 
> sex with his bride. One girl on another house church list spoke of 
> getting into the back seat of a car with Jesus. (I suppose that if she 
> were impregnated then the world would have another "Son of God.") Oh, 
> brother... 
> 
> Here is the next sentence:
> 
> Acts 17:25 Neither is he worshipped with men¹s hands, AS THOUGH HE NEEDED 
> ANY THING, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.
> 
> God does not need anything or anybody. Away with the idea that the 
> eternal Jehovah is somehow incomplete or unhappy unless this or that 
> thing happens upon earth. Furthermore, nowhere is it revealed that God is 
> needing "a relationship" with anyone. We are already related to him as 
> creature to creator and as an enemy or a friend. It is true that he 
> desires intimacy and prayerful connectedness with us but He is not going 
> to die of loneliness, sadness, or sorrow if it doesn't happen. The 
> Scriptures do not teach that He made man because he was lonely or 
> unhappy. Father, Son, and Spirit were perfectly happy from eternity past. 
> Their fellowship was uninterrupted except momentarily by the cross.
> 
> Folks like John the apostle who were truly intimate with the Lord fell 
> down at his feet as dead, unworthy to be in his presence. Rev. 1:17. 
> 
> Two texts from Isaiah come to mind with respect to today's defeated Jesus:
> 
> Isa. 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, AND SHALL BE 
> SATISFIED. Why? Because all that the Father gave to him in eternity past 
> shall come to him in real time. John 6.
> 
> Isa. 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times 
> the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I 
> WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE.
> 
> Our God is an awesome God. Bow or burn - either way, he will receive 
> glory. Praise his name that he delights in showing mercy to those who 
> fear him from one generation to the next.
> 
> But there's more - here's good news from Revelation: Rev. 21:22 And I saw 
> no temple therein (the city also called the bride, Rev 21:9-10): for the 
> Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 
> 
>       David Anderson
>  
> 
>      
>     
>

        ------- <><><> -------
        
> 

-----------------------------------------
Email provided by http://www.ntlhome.com/