Dear Lighthouse Trails:
We’ve already read through a quarter of the Lighthouse Trails Research Journal (the Spring 2024 issue) received recently and, as always, appreciate the time, effort, and resources invested to produce these.
We enjoyed reading about the trial effort to bring Christian widows and widowers together; that’s great. Becky knows that experience well. As our age-group rapidly passes on, we believe this will become increasingly important, and we wish them great success.
There’s another group in a similar situation. A while back, I sent either links or material to those who, in increasing numbers, find themselves in churches where they are no longer welcome, be they founding or sustaining members, or new arrivals seeking a place to worship and share with likeminded believers. Some stories detail how people were actually booted out of churches they helped start and financially support. Many, like us, had horrible experiences and had no choice but to leave. In this and earlier LT Journal issues, there are stories and letters from people who find themselves in similar situations; in our case, it’s been decades, but here we are!
In my mind, I think it’s important that folks reading LT materials (be it Journal, booklet, or other) understand that they are not alone and that in a growing number of cases, it’s not the fault of the departing believer but the pastor and church. Just because someone is churchless doesn’t mean it’s their fault; yet we’ve heard countless preachers issue stern mandates that Christians absolutely must be churched.
We thank the Lord regularly for our both having obtained a solid foundation in God’s Word at Bible school and are also grateful for bringing Becky and me together in unusual circumstances; but almost every married couple’s meeting-story is unusual! It’s literally just the two of us and the Lord. We have the idea that we’re a rather rare situation and that most other people have more, if not much more, social exposure than we do, but that assumption could be wrong.
Anyway, thanks for yet another excellent Journal edition and for all that went into it. We take nothing about it for granted and are happy to pray for and support the ministry.
Prayerfully yours,
Rich & Becky S.
(photos in image above from istockphoto.com; used with permission; design by Lighthouse Trails)
It would be great if Lighthouse could make available a list of churches that they and the readers recommend.
Teresa,
You have shared a very legitimate concern.
May I bring into the conversation another difficulty in today’s church that drives people to be “Churchless in the Church”? My husband and I are forced to watch our church’s services online, for the sole reason that the worship music is too loud. The pastor is a very good teacher, and the worship leaders are lovely and gifted for their service. My husband already had substantial hearing loss from an industrial accident, and wears hearing aids, but last year he tested at 15% less hearing ability than the year before, and we have no doubt what the cause of that substantial loss is. He has talked over the issue with the overseer of the sound ministry, but was given what we later realized was nothing more than a pat on the back, and “there’s the door”, given with a loving smile. When nothing changed, we knew he’d been patronized.
I can’t believe that we’re the only people of retirement age who struggle with this. We were born again in the late 1970s, and are not strangers to contemporary Christian music, so it’s not the style that we object to, but the volume. Weather permitting, we could sit outside, but my husband feels separated from the rest of the Body when we do, and many opt for that so they can chat during the service, or have their little ones with them. (Even outdoors, the volume can be unbelievably loud, anyway.) We’re hoping and praying for change, and I’ve been putting off writing a letter to the pastor regarding this, since he’s made it clear in his sermons that he doesn’t care to hear such complaints. We’re saddened by this situation, but praying it through.
In the most recent issue of the Lighthouse Trails newsletter, I was interested to read the letter to the editor “Churchless in the Church.” More than 30 years ago, my husband and I left a church that abandoned solid biblical teaching. We had been active participants in the fellowship, attending services regularly, supporting the ministry financially, and teaching Sunday school. We were nourished spiritually and encouraged to share the gospel and invite others to come to the church.
All of this changed after the pastor and board of elders decided to grow the church by making it more attractive to those with a broad range of beliefs, including those that are religious but non-biblical. This led to compromise on basic Bible doctrines such as creation, sin and redemption, law and grace, inspiration of scripture, and even the gospel. Teachers were advised to avoid taking a firm stand on biblical truths to avoid offending anyone. As those who believe that God’s word is his revealed truth, we were asked to soften our position or resign from teaching. We chose to leave.
We considered other churches but found none that had a strong biblical foundation and commitment. For the past 30 years, we have been meeting as a small house church. At the beginning our group was very small, just our family. My husband has a strong biblical foundation, having attended a conservative Christian seminary. Each week he prepares a Bible lesson for our Sunday morning meeting. God has been faithful to bring others into our group, which has remained small. Some have formed their own house church ministries. We thank God for sweet fellowship with those He brings together. After we retired we moved to another state. Since then we have used online meeting services such as Zoom and Skype to continue meeting with our house church. My husband maintains a web site on which he posts notes and an audio file for each Sunday’s Bible lesson. He also creates a podcast of each week’s lesson, and the podcast log indicates that many are listening.
The early assemblies of the body of Christ met in homes, small groups who gathered together to worship the true and living God in a godless culture. The apostle Paul and those who ministered with him founded many of these assemblies. They travelled from place to place preaching the gospel of the grace of God and teaching how to walk in newness of life. I believe that most of what God has been doing for about 2000 years is invisible to the world, not bound by buildings and organizations and budgets. God brings us together as members of the body of Christ, joined together by Christ who is our head, the one who nourishes us as we grow in grace.
We appreciate your ministry of discernment, exposing individuals and ministries that compromise or abandon the truth of God’s word and deceive many with lies and deceptions.
If you publish some or all of these comments, please do not include our names to avoid offense to some who re
Kootie-itized, too?
Been there. Done that.
False narratives prevailing . . . check
Wolves-in-shepherds’ garb railing . . . check
Pastoral pretenses failing . . . check
cue spiritual warfare detailing
Freakish, turbulent sailing . . . check
Close friends bailing . . . check
Faith flailing . . . check
Lives derailing . . . check
Powers and principalities assailing
victoriously staved off
by God’s love and faithfulness availing.
Check and Checkmate
By God’s grace, an internet trail landed me at LHTR, an oasis of like-minded saints talking true Bible sense.
[Whew! The Rapture has NOT transpired and left me behind.]
I am forever thankful for articulate explanations for WHAT is GOING ON?!
and
for Commentary by the Contingent of the Kootie-itized Remnant.
Blessed (Matthew 5:11) Kootie-itized Contingent
The words of Trevor Baker’s song sum it all up so well. – I Don’t Fit In (youtube.c)
Holy Spirit’s comforting Words via our brother Paul:
Philippians 4:1
I am with you! We have struggled finding a church that loves the word of God and seeks to live a righteous life. When I encourage people to read their Bibles, they imply that I am legalistic.
Most of the churches we encounter promote their idols. The reason I know these are idols is because they push them on the congregation, challenging anyone to question their love of the idol
While knowing it can cause a problem for some and maybe a danger to children and the church body i.e., excesses like junk food, Harry Potter, pro football, yoga, alcoholic beverages etc. They love their liberties, and refuse to care for the weaker brother, by not creating stumbling blocks for them.
They love entertainment, the movies and parties and Facebook!!
So heartbreaking !
We have found a good Pastor, who doesn’t promote his idols, and actually calls sin out and reads the word of God, but his worship team, that was in the church before he became Pastor, sings shallow, hymns, and contemporary music, and often of key and makes the congregation stand for all the worship songs in a row . The elderly are forced to sit down in pain, partway through which separates them from the united body, and There’s no solid words to train the children in the knowledge of God and the music lacks beauty, it is repetitive and boring
We will try to support this Pastor and wait for people up by giving them truth in baby steps.
Vanessa,
Thank you for sharing so openly. Sorry that it’s been so hard to find a good loving Bible-based church. These are hard times, but it is good to hear you are continuing to read the Bible and study it. It will be your strength, and the Lord promises never to forsake us, even if we can’t find a good church. Praying that the Lord will bring you one or two to fellowship with.
I, very likely, would be labeled as a church hopper. I renounced my membership as a Methodist several years ago. Just before the current ongoing split in the denomination. I won’t be going back.
I have since then tried several churches in my area.
Assembly of God, Wesleyan, and a local church headed by a Village Missions pastor couple, and a Word Faith church in another town. Strange that the Word Faith church has the warmest, most loving people. I don’t speak in tongues personally, which limits my fellowship in any Pentecostal or charismatic church. Village Missions are a very conservative organization which supplies pastor couples to small struggling churches. Wesleyan is almost legalistic (I got chastised by a Wesleyan pastors wife for a job that required me working on Sundays if needed). Maybe I’m too picky.
But, I can always read my Bible, do at home Bible studies, and pray without being inside any church. It’s difficult to be in any small-town church, as an older divorced woman. Unless you are in a circle of friends or family members. Otherwise, I’m on my own. No one checks up on me, to see how I’m doing, if I’m ok.
Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
Lord my send me to Acts 13 church.
Definitely not Acts 5 and 6
A church where the Holy Spirit reigns supreme.
And brethren are blind to race, social status and physical background
And the Kingdom of God is the uppermost desire and joint effort.
Not the opinion and idiosyncrasies of unregenerate men and the search for and acceptance of new fads in the manner of Acts 17.
Come, Lord Yehoshua HaMaschiach.
Lori,
It may be true that Ghandi said, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner,” but the concept that God loves sinners but hates sin is a biblical concept. We did a little research after your comment and found that most of the teachers criticizing this statement are Calvinists (R.C.Sproul, for example). We know they would not like that statement because Calvinism teaches that God doesn’t actually love all sinners (just the elect). Nevertheless, we are sorry that you had such a painful experience at that church. That kind of thing is a very hard thing to go through.
I was asked to leave a church by the pastor because he had made a statement in bible study that “God hates the sin and loves the sinner.” I raised my hand, he called on me, and I told him that was a quote from Ghandi, not Jesus. He said I could never come back, even if I did not speak, so I didn’t. Interestingly, a year or so later that church got hit by lightning when only the pastor was there, and the lightning blew off the steeple, burned out the inside of the church and left the outside intact. It was as if God was showing him that they had become a whitewashed tomb; looking good on the outside and dead on the inside. They just got a loan pressed on. I am now in a wonderful, 3 person home church and am learning more than ever before.
Greetings,
I have followed Lighthouse Trails off and on for a decade or so. First time commenting I think. The New Spirituality, Emerging Church, Kingdom Now, apostasy has become the false church’s lifeblood, for so many denominations now. The compromised morality line is just one of it’s many bad fruit to be picked from it’s tree. My wife and I’s daughter attends a local ” Christian School”. We’ve discovered just how compromised it has become. Embracing the Spirituality of New Age, philosophy under the guise of worship. Without being Bereans and doing no vetting, the leadership allowed having charlatans lead chapel ushering in the angel of light. Spewing a different doctrine and abandoning the One True Gospel. Signs and wonders, based on emotional feelings. Thank Gpd my daughter knows the shepherds voice and walked out of there after ten minutes of that heresy. Later on the varsity girls basketball team posed in a team photo of them Flipping the bird. It was meant according to the head coach, who also leads as the schools chaplain, to be seen only by himself and the assistant coach. It was a gesture of endearment and had no ill intent. I confronted him about it and was basically told I was rigid and that I did not understand todays culture. I informed him that God is not the God of todays culture . He doesn’t change with the wind. We do not mold Him into our image. The coach wouldn’t have it so Karyn and I atrended the next board meeting. They gave us ear service but basically wouldn’t have it either.
Manpleasers and mammon worshippers.
We must be involved in the organizations that use
” christianese” language. Our kids spiritual well being depend upon it.
I was just removed from a ladies’ Bible study, being told I had to associate with those who promote pornography and Calvinism in churches. I had to stand with the sexy rock music in the church and a Bible version that was translated to be homosexual-friendly for sales purposes. I had to be one with those who have persecuted me for standing only on the Bible. I had only attended twice before they decided I had to depart. I was lied to as well. A friend invited me. It was all oddly strange from the beginning and the entire situation may have been a set-up.
Thank you so much for posting this letter from Rich and Becky,
My wife and I were ‘called out’ by God from the denominational church we were in over 30 years ago. Before then, we had moved from church to church, because we couldn’t find some teachings we heard from the ‘pulpit’ in Scripture. Over a period of about 5 years, He introduced us to others in a similar position – some of those had already been out 2 or 3 decades. We learnt from those, who were older than us, that our move out was because we were searching for His truth, not man’s. God also showed us that He had moved us from from church to church to show us what we should NOT be a part of.
We too have been ‘us and God’, but having no Bible College experience, we had to rely on the Spirit of God to counsel, comfort and teach us (John 14 and 16). Initially our learning was intense as we had to shed the baggage of misinterpretation. Then, we were introduced to others who were also ‘out’ and searching, so we could then help them, as well as others around the world (through online conversations) who are at various stages of their own journey with Lord Jesus at the helm.
So no, Rich and Becky, you are not alone, be encouraged, there is a worldwide community, in the Body of Christ Jesus our risen Lord, who have been called out and are relying on Him. Some have written books, others had visions, sharing their own understanding as to why He has done this, and what the purpose is.
Thank you again for sharing and I hope our own (brief) testimony has been of some encouragement
Over the years I have had experience in a Pentecostal church, a Calvary Chapel church, two Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, and to a lesser extent a Reformed Baptist Church. I don’t think it would matter if I had attended or been involved with a dozen more denominations and churches. I feel convinced in this era I would come out with the same thoughts and experiences. From what I have seen and heard most churches only show a feigned interest in the word of God at best. Many certainly do not believe it is the infallible word of God. How can a church claim to be Christian when the word of God is either twisted and manipulated for the benefit of the corporation of the church. Or is outright pushed into the background? The speak of it, but does anyone really, really read it in the church, or study it? I have spoken to deacons in one church and they didn’t even know what their church believed regarding the five points of Calvinism. Churches have been and continue to be mostly social clubs. Worse than that the bible colleges and pulpits have been infiltrated to turn the church or the denomination toward the occult and new age beliefs and practices. So very sad
Church gathering is essential but it can be in homes with as few as 3 or 4 families (to start) of like-minded, Bible hungry believers.
Our church is small but we still have about 5 or so small Life Groups that meet weekly to fellowship, worship, pray, and discuss the pastor’s recent teaching.
Praying you find the fellowship you’re looking for.
Its a narrow road isn’t it. Left an IFBC last year, for a laundry list of things. The Christian church I was attending before that one, has now brought in a female pastor who is teaching Lent and Ash Wednesday, among other things. Me and a friend meet weekly at home and read the word, watch a couple sermons on youtube, and converse at length things, especially prophecy. Recently we’ve been really enjoying Billy Crone. I have given up finding a church in our area.
Finding a solid Biblical church is becoming increasingly difficult in this Laodicean church age. The New Testament makes it very clear that God uses the establishing and strengthening of local churches to further the cause of Christ.
1 Timothy 3:15 – “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
Hebrews 10:25 – “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
I am an independent fundamental Baptist pastor that uses only the King James Bible. We started our church with just our family about 10 years ago out of necessity, due to there not being a solid Biblical church in our city of approx 24,000 people (we have lived in this town for almost 15 years).
I was an associate pastor of another independent fundamental Baptist church in town (2009 – 2010) but we were compelled to leave due to the many ungodly influences in the church (including such things as unrepentant immorality). The pastor of that church refused to deal with the many issues and accused me of being judgmental so we left the church not knowing which way to go. (I absolutely refuse to go along to get along.) It took the Lord several years to convince me that we needed to start a church rather than trying to fit in where we didn’t belong.
Here are my theme verses for being a pastor:
Nehemiah 8:8 – “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”
Jeremiah 3:15 – “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
Matthew 9:36-38: “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”