X-ATI Guy

Guest Blogger: Should Christians attend a church?

People frequently ask me whether Christians should regularly attend a local church. Most believers who ask this question reference Hebrews 10:25, which tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

The Greek word for "assembling" is "episunagoge," and it means to gather in one place. But significantly, the definition does not reference a formal church setting. Many ATI parents have told me that the benefit of gathering with other like-minded ATI families is richer than their local church life. Whether they gather at Knoxville, at a Regional Seminar, at a Basic Seminar, or just in their homes, these families are clearly following the Scriptural mandate.

More importantly, I believe we should give special emphasis to the second half of Heb. 10:25: "...but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the say approaching." It's clear from Scripture that God intends us to gather with other believers for the purpose of exhortation. But if exhortation is not taking place, Christians should flee.

Many families have experienced heartache by staying in a local church that exposes their young people to the dangers of peer influence, sensual music, and a live-for-myself theology.

The problem is that there are Christians who are comfortable as regular infantry, while some Christians are called to be Marines -- the elite of the elite. God has called us to accomplish Great Things for him, and if the local church is interfering with that vision, then there is no obligation to continue attending.

Bill Gothard

10 Comments:

Anonymous said...: http://xatiguy.blogspot.com/2004/07/disclaimer.html; 3:38 PM
S Fitzsimmons said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8:53 AM
S Fitzsimmons said...: :P Scratch that... yes, I'm that gullible.; 8:55 AM
Anonymous said...: I find it interesting that, by Mr. Gothard's definition of church, every session at every conference is a church service, and yet they fail to follow the correct order of worship as demonstrated by the first century church in Acts.; 11:23 AM
Anonymous said...: MARINE CORPS!!!; 7:17 AM
Anonymous said...: X-er, I've read everything on your site, this is one of the best pieces of satire you've ever posted. 2 thumbs up; 6:05 AM
Anonymous said...: I HOPE this is satire!; 7:04 AM
Viki said...: Welcome back, X-er! Missed ya.
But you know what.. I think this site is only therapeutical up to a certain point. After a while, the stuff just isn't funny anymore. Or maybe it's just me. I mean, sure... I'm glad I'm not in ATI anymore. I wouldn't call myself a great Christian anymore, I'm not even sure I'd call myself a Christian at all anymore. But assuming this is intended to be satire, and not really from Mr. G, I'm not sure where the humor is. He's quoting Scripture. Even if you don't agree with every single little thing he preaches, I don't see the need to present that whole schpiel above as satire, and intend people to poke fun at it. Whether or not it was genuine, I think that references to Scripture and conclusions drawn from the same should be respected at least. Even if you do disagree. Not sure if I'm making any sense here... and for reference, I'm the submitter of a post here about a year ago. Guess you could say I've grown a little since then... while I still do resent what happened to my family, it wasn't because of ATI's teachings. It was because of a twisted individual, who was able to use ATI for his own agenda.
http://xatiguy.blogspot.com/2005/11/broken-lives.html; 8:33 AM
Anonymous said...: "The problem is that there are Christians who are comfortable as regular infantry, while some Christians are called to be Marines -- the elite of the elite."

*snort* Yes... I have been called to be a Marine, the elite of the elite, after the order of Melchizedek.; 11:17 AM
Unknown said...: Semper Fi; 6:26 AM

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