The world today looks at Christianity... and laughs.

We have "backward" thinkers, "illogical" premises, and we can't even get along with each other! One of the major barriers to people of other religions is the numerous divisions among Christians. This does not surprise me. Jesus foresaw this. In John 17:20b-21, he prays to the Father:

"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

The implication of that last statement is that if we are all together, as a community, then the world will know that Jesus is Lord. Conversely, if we do not do so, it will be quite unlikely that the world will see us as the Truth.

In the article, "Election Day," we learned about the nomination and election process. Denominating, being the opposite of nominating (the call of Christ), proves denominations are not Christian as they have believed themselves to be. The misconception is so widespread, the world lumps all of them together as Christianity. This includes Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and a host of others, on top of denominationalism.

I am beginning a two-part lesson. With the recent election and inauguration, I believe I can use these current events to draw an appropriate analogy to our Christian walk. Today, we will speak on election, and the election process, as it relates to Christians and God.

2^nd Peter 1:4-11, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

There is a prophecy relating to churches of Christ of which many are unaware. In 533 A.D. pope John II was named "Lord of the Church." (Christ is the only Lord of the church.) This completed catholicism's break from the church, and sent us into hiding; "The Dark Ages." Revelation 12:6 says the church would remain in this wilderness "1260 days." In 1793 (1260 years after pope John II) the Restoration Movement began. The church became known again. See the homepage of my group, "Traces of the Kingdom," for proof that the churches of Christ are not new, nor are we another denomination among many, but are in fact the church that pre-existed catholicism and was in hiding during its days of poitical power and persecution.

To see how the church remained in existence after apostacy started, please see my Church History Chart at geocities.com/preacherman_1962/ChurchHistory.html and traces-of-the-kingdom.org.

In early Israelite days, God chose for the people to have judges. These judges would direct the people in the ways of God. But the people were unhappy with this system of rule. They looked around at the other nations and saw how all the nations around them had a king. They said to Samuel, "'Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations'" (I Samuel 8:5). They rejected the will of God. "The LORD said to Samuel, 'Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them'" (I Samuel 8:7). They went by their gut-feeling rather than trusting in God.

A number of years ago I had the opportunity to be engaged in a Bible study with some men who were members of various churches. One of them was a member of the Church of Christ. I began to ask Bible questions of those present. The answers given by the man from the Church of Christ seemed to differ from the others in that he would not answer with "this is what the Church of Christ believes . . .", and then he would allow me to read what God taught in the Scriptures. This really impressed me-to see a person appeal to the Scriptures for all his answers. Later I was to find out why he made us read the Bible to find the Lord's teaching.

How do you build the Lord's church to be what He wants it to be? According to Paul it seems that building a church into a vibrant and active community requires involvement of every age level. (Titus 2:1-8). As the preacher, Titus, was to teach the appropriate doctrine. He was also to encourage the older men and women to possess certain qualities in their character and lifestyle. The ladies were then to give special encouragement and instruction to the younger women on how to be good wives and mothers. Finally, Titus was to give special instruction to the young men watching out for his own life and character in the process.

We need to ask ourselves, "How are we doing in building the Lord's church"? "Are we working together, helping and encouraging each other to be more and more Christ like"? We may have some areas that need adjusting. As a young man I enjoy hearing and learning from the wisdom of older brethren. They've been down the road and have invaluable experiences that I could profit from greatly. Young men and women need the wisdom that the older generation could share, and the older generation needs to share what they've learned.