In our societies we have new ideas, new churches and ministries verses the traditional established institutes all the time. Which ones are closer to the truth and righteousness of God?

Which ones are the true churches?

Lord Jesus actually spoke on this subject.

Luke 5 v38:

But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. -NASV

NU: But new wine must be put into new wineskins.

Christ Jesus brought us the New Covenant(for both Israelites and Gentiles) and the people with Judaism and other old religions found it different to their established religions, hindering their understanding and acceptance, to the extend that they even persecute the believers/receivers of the New Covenant.

God allows the existance of the OT and the NT and tells us that the old is passing away, having its glory; and the new one will be dominant in the days to come. God has established hope for us all. God assured us that patience is worth the while and is good. Everything has its timing.

New Covenant like new wine, must be put into new people and new establishment formed. The new people will not benefit the old religions by mixing/mingling with the old.

It is our share of the Kingdom to set up new assemblies and ministries regardless of persecution.

God is in control! Victory and glory are for sure. This is good in the sight of God the Father.

We need to obey and heed the Great Commission, preaching, baptising and teaching.

Christ tells us while on the cross that it is done, finished, achieved.

The New Covenant unto Salvation is at hand. It is totally achievable, for it is achieved.

The established Judaism is preserved with the OT. And the new believers do well in the NT.

They have their alloted time, mission, and function.

Both are taken care of by God. Alleluia!

Luke 5 v39:

NU omitts immediately.

"Better" is "Good" in NU

ie: And no one, having drunk old wine, desires new; for he says, "The old is good."

Here Christ tells us that the Old is pleasant. We must not deny the comfort and enjoyment of the old. We must understand those who have been enjoying the comfort are not ready for change and take up the new. But this is the Will of God that we who are people of the New Covenant ought to heed the Great Commission regardless of our disadvantage.

Though we are the least desirable by the people of old establishment, we will move on for the new. And remember the harvest is great.

God loves the people of the OT and preserve them within the OT.

It is the sovereign care of God to revive the old and effect the new.

The new brings upon people unfamiliar excitement; reminding them that God does not grow old and wither away. God is!

At the day of the first Pentecost, the believers were accused of being full of new wine. We see that there were people willing to fill themselves with new wine. We also see that they had very different unfamiliar behavior, and bringing in harvest that we did not calculate or foresee.

We are to bring in the harvest of believers/brethren, Christ has prepared.

We are not to sit in complacency of the old. We are to enter a new Jerusalem where God enthrones Himself.

Later Glory will be Greater than the Former.

I meet with many pre-conceived ideas and hostile action in my ministries.

From time to time I meet with attackers from established institutions(eg: Baptist Church, Alliance Church) acting in opposition in the Gospel field. They often claim that they are Christian, they are church, and I am (we are) not.

I just have to trust God and keep at my ministries.

There are of course more sympathizers of the Old establishment and regime. We are so very small.

Remember, God is bigger than our problems and enemies, and little ones can do great things with/in God.

We are to be His faithful people, and light of the World.

Darkness has not overcome/comprehended light, no matter how small the sparks might appear to be at times.

Brother Charles:

Neither were the thoughts of Christ. I never have been able to find anywhere in the New Testament Christ or the apostles contracting with the Roman gov't for a financial incentive. Those who are ordained by untraditional means are labelled "fake". Those who are not and might be leading a Bible study are labelled "Koresh type".

Sooner or later Christians will be gathering as they did in the NT. At that time it won't be a matter of ordination, only a matter of being brave enough to do so. Marriage must be bigger business than I thought. It's about power and control. It seems independent ministers have freedom of religion as long as they stay out of the marriage "business".

God Bless,

Bro. Charley

\o/ \o/ \o/

Posted by Bro. Charley on July 14, 2004, 8:03 am, in reply to "The time has come for St. Luke's to get a building"

Brother Dave:

I will be praying for you to locate an affordable facility. Secular society and probably most of the body of Christ can see validity only if you have a building, tax exemption, and one or two weekly services. I know this contradicts previous statements of mine but I do think a "brick & mortar" facility will help to keep the "by whose authority?" types from attacking.

God Bless,

Bro. Charley

\o/ \o/ \o/

We should keep this situation in our prayers. Some states seem to have an issue with anything other than a pre-conceived notion of ordination. It should come as no surprise to anyone when Christians, or the Christian faith itself, are persecuted.

\o/ \o/ \o/

well I'm going to keep watching this even though i'm in NY.

We all need to agree in pray that no state will come against our mail order ordinations.and the press will be kind.

the press can almost hurt us as much as the goverment.People read this and then we're laughed at when asked where we got our ordinations.People won't want us to pray for them any more than want us to marry them.

The biggest danger I see is the fact that Goverment is deciding who is a minister and what is a church.It seem's the end times are coming up fast.

Hell in a hand basket | The Washington representative of a national Jewish organization is urging federal officials who attend the McLean Bible Church to distance themselves from the northern Virginia institution, which has launched a drive to convert Jews (Forward)

statements against Pastor Quang, referring to him as a hooligan, a

gangster, and a "habitual criminal."

The news releases by the Vietnam News Agency on June 30 and July 3 outline the "criminal" activity of Quang, including various arrests and his imprisonment from 1984-87 for

"disseminating counterrevolutionary documents." The charges against him have included organizing illegal meetings, obstruction of police officers, organizing protests and obstructing the demolition of illegal construction.

VOM spokesman, Glenn Penner: "Quang was arrested because he was fighting for the religious freedom of Christians in Vietnam,"

Pakistan's blasphemy law has been frequently misused against Christians.

Detained/accused Christians are often subject to attacks and abuse by guards and inmates and

pressured to convert to Islam.

The law has often been used against Christians simply because of their religious identity or for the personal gain of the accuser.

Pressure Continuing Against Unregistered Christians (Uzbekistan)

Preacher in Sweden imprisoned for speaking against homosexuals - July 2004.

Maldives : The few indigenous Christians live their faith in secrecy and extreme isolation. When discovered, they risk loosing their citizenship.

The Kingdom of Bhutan: According to local sources, mental torture is heavily inflicted on those who become Christians. They lose all their rights and are denied access to facilities and services of the government, such as education for their children and job opportunities. Some lose their rented facilities once their landlords (who fear government reprisal ) know they are Christians. No religious materials except for Buddhist religious texts are allowed to enter the country.

International Christian organizations had been labeled as Terrorist groups by the Bhutanese government.

The Iraq insurgent group responsible for the beheading of Kim Sun-il.

It said Kim was murdered because he was Christian (The Korea Times) July 2004

The Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War), an Iraqi insurgent group that kidnapped and murdered Kim Sun-il last month, posted a message on its web site indicating that the killing was linked to religious activities of Gana Trading Co., the company the late Kim worked for (The Chonsun Ilbo, South Korea)