Quote from Forum Archives on January 28, 2009, 12:00 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries.
Celebrating 10 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

<Scott Montgomery please contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@theburningbush.org>

The Burning Bush Devotional

Welcome to the 141 new subscribers since January 1, 2009!!

01.28.09

Church Lovers

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the
head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. - Colossians 1:17-18.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching. - Hebrews 10:24-25.

These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I
am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth. - 1 Timothy 3:14-15.

Last Sunday, one 23-year-old ended up unexpectedly going to church in
Limbach-Oberfrohna in eastern Germany. The driver missed a curve going
through a guardrail and then up an embankment where the car was launched
into the air for over a hundred feet before crashing through and lodging in
the roof a church. The driver was rescued from the vehicle and taken to the
hospital but the current condition is unknown. What a ride that must have
been!

Early last Saturday morning in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Robert Schumake
(43-years-old) was driving while intoxicated and crashed into the Bethel
Lutheran Church destroying a $10,000 stained glass window. Last year, Roman
Zeferino (48-years-old) was teaching himself how to drive in Covington,
Louisiana when he lost control of the Ford Explorer and crashed into the
Iglesia de Dios Ebenezer Church. Earlier this month in Avoca, Pennsylvania a
driver crashed into the United Methodist Church. The driver fled the scene
and may face charges.

Have you ever heard the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you
can't make him drink?" You can lead a person to church, but you can't make
him attend either. Even though I once had a vision of a church and a few
hours later my car broke down in front that church it was still several
years later before I began attending church faithfully. It was not because I
didn't know I should be in church, I just did not go.

Now just to be clear the church building is not the church. Believers are
the church; however, a place where believers regularly attend is a special
place because of the presence and prayers of believers. Prayers are often
said for those entering into a church building and for those passing by a
church building.

Why should anyone want to attend church, assemble with other believers? The
first and really only reason that matters is that God says that we ought to.
It is not a suggestion in the Book of Hebrews but a command that we attend
church. Whose idea was it to have church? It was God's idea. The church is
".the pillar and ground of the truth." Jesus Christ is the ".head of the
body, the church.."

While God will not force you to attend church, He will try to obtain your
attention about your need to attend. You may not crash through a guardrail
and fly through the air to land inside of church, but He may speak to you
about it in His still, small voice. God may not give you a vision, but He
may send a friend who will ask you to come to church with them. Is it God's
will for you to attend church? The answer for every believer is "Yes!" Have
no doubt about that and when you fail to attend church you are outside of
God's will for your life, unless there is some unforeseen event or some
condition that prevents your doing so.

My only regret about church attendance is of the years that I did not
attend. How much more quickly I would have grown in the Lord and would have
much sooner found God's will for my life if I had only been in church during
those years. Are you seeking God's will for your life? Then, make sure that
you obey those things that you know are His will like attending church. You
will find His will for other things in your life much sooner if you are in
church. Make a commitment to be obedient in church attendance, and I promise
you will never regret it. Every believer ought to be a lover of the church.

Copyright © 2009. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi, Cody, and Mica who are young boys
with cancer. Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the
Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they
will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always
in need of prayer - please pray for me.).

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designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

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Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube at:
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You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

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