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Whenever people ask me why to have an evening service, my two points are 1. It was the only service time we know of that Jesus attended after his resurrection (John 20:19-29). and 2. Work Schedules are so messed up now days that many people can't attend Sunday morning. Our church recently had a young couple that attended (and got saved) because ours was the only church with an evening service and being in the military he had to work in the mornings. Those are the reasons I like them but not every church needs to have them, particularly when it's a bi-vocational or small/Rual church. Each church will have to decide which types of services/community outreach ministry times that they have based on its people and its opportunities or limitations. Nor would it make the church better or worse off for not having one "just because". Just because churches die because they care more about what has always been than about reaching their community.

We do not currently have a Sunday Evening Service. Working a full-time job takes up a lot of my resources, but the goal is to have a Sunday Evening Service one day.

A realtor friend of mine was just given a diagnosis of terminal cancer. They've given him six months to a year to live. He's saved and is active in several different forms of ministry as he's able. He's just 3 days older than I am. We're both associated with the Cowboy Church movement. His son Harley was the one that I had requested prayer for last year after he was shot 5 times. This has come as a shock to many of us, and has probably hit a little closer to home for me as I have been given from 5-7 years because of my lungs. Please pray for Steve that he'll continue serving the Lord and not become discouraged. Thank you BT

We have an adult Bible study at 9.30am, main service at 10.15am, evening service at 6pm, prayer meeting Wednesday night. Evening service and prayer meeting are poorly attended, but as we have our own building it costs us nothing to have a service for 9 or 10 people. Only the morning service is well attended. The number of services and the times of those services are not important, but my personal view has always been that you should be in the house of the Lord as often as you can. I don't understand people who ask why they should be in every service..... my question to them is always "Why wouldn't you want to be in every service you can?" Psalms 122 1 A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. (My annual post is now done! )

Yes, the Bible does set standards. As I said, that is why hubs and I stand firmly on divorced men pastoring/deaconing. Your question about counseling, however, is not something the Bible speaks to. So in that case, it would depend on the spiritual growth of the person. Just as a point of correction, Reagan did not coin that term. Not sure who actually did, but it became policy during Clinton's regime. It was not in play at all during Reagan's years. Nor even Bush's. @Napsterdad - I truly get the conundrum. There are a number of folks I personally know who were divorced before salvation. There is, in fact (or was a few decades ago - I have no idea now if they still do this) a college where a professor claimed that God said, "you got a what?" when someone said he couldn't preach because he was divorced before salvation. Sadly, it came out that this man and his wife were child abusers...I know, different sin, but my point in it is that when someone is involved in what he was, it casts serious doubt on ALL of his teachings. There is nowhere in scripture that teaches God would say, "you got a what?" Ezra 10 does indeed talk about the men putting away their wives and the children from those marriages. The reason was because they married outside of Israel, thus bringing pagan beliefs into the tribes. However, we have to realize that this bit of history is not instruction for us to follow in regards to marriage. This was OT economy not Church under grace actions. I do wrestle with this sometimes - even though I firmly believe it - because my mother heart hurts for my son, who had a bad first marriage. He can preach with the best of them, studies and learns his Bible, leads his family in the ways of the Lord, witnesses, etc. But...he is in agreement with us that he cannot pastor or deacon. God has most definitely forgiven him and restored what the locust ate. But actions have consequences even when we've been forgiven. As to the husband of one wife instruction...it is commonly accepted that this was stated in allusion to the fact that polygamy was common and Paul was instructing Timothy that a pastor was not to have multiple wives. It has become very popular to say that a divorced man who has remarried only has one wife. I believe that is in response to the fact that so many pastors have been divorced and remarried as a way to put a stamp of approval on their remaining in the pulpit (or being "restored" after a certain time of repentance). I know it's not a biblical "argument," but in reference to the idea that this passage is simply speaking of polygamy/polyandry (multiple husbands) it is interesting to note that divorce and remarriage is considered "serial polygamy." Which means having more than one wife, just not all at the same time. Just some thoughts. Oh, and I want to add...neither my hubs nor myself look down on folks who have been divorced who remain in the pulpit. We have enough on our plates without trying to eat their food.

I grew up in "three to thrive" IFB churches, plus as an mk, often attended multiple missions conferences a year. I was in church throughout the week all throughout my childhood and well into my adulthood. The church I attend now does not have Sunday evening services. They have a Bible study before the morning service and recently have started a Wednesday night Bible study service. It's a small church that has multiple ministries serving the community. The lack of a Sunday evening service doesn't mean they are serving God less, ministering less, or fellowshipping less. I read the article, which is just an opinion piece that doesn't Biblically explain why Sunday evening services are important. It seems to be a nostalgia-filled article on why Sunday evenings are special to him. I added my thoughts to his main arguments: "It was special because we were able to hear the preacher again. " "He spoke directly to us. He challenged us more. He exhorted a bit more." Why preach differently? Sunday morning services shouldn't be different than Sunday evening services. "It was a family meeting where he could be more candid with the members of the family." No, again, Sunday morning shouldn't be any different. Why should visitors cause someone to respond less, listen less, or fellowship less in the morning service? It's almost like once the visitors are gone, you can breathe after holding your breath. Are visitors really that much of an 'outsider' presence that it changes the atmosphere of the church service? "It was another chance to become closer to one another." "After all there was no one there that we were trying to impress." Impress? Really? Church services shouldn't be about impressing anyone. "It puts sports, football in particular, in its place." With streaming, this is a moot point. Any sports fanatic will find a way to watch their team in between services and stay up to date on that oh-so-very vital information, that's not putting sports 'in its place'. "It gave us another chance to do something for the Lord." This is probably the only point I agree with. For those in larger churches space for special music, or other in-church ministries is limited, so another service will give someone who desires to serve God in a church service an opportunity to do so. People who work or otherwise can't come in the morning have a chance to do so in the evening. However, these are not Biblical reasons for Sunday evening services, it's just a good point.

Oh, totally! The moment someone sneaks a map of Paul's missionary journeys into the back, it's all over. Absolute heresy right there!

Heresy cannot be judged by understanding the point of view of any group. That kind of reasoning is called relativism. Truth is judged by the written Word of God. You seem to be concerned with the intent of the teacher instead of the teaching itself, which is very difficult to assess. As someone once said, one can be sincere, but sincerely wrong.

We have 11 members and two faithful attenders who are not yet members, plus visitors. When he first became pastor, hubs was working an outside job. He actually has a decent paycheck - an amazing one considering the size of our church. We are in no way rich, and there are times - just like everyone has - that it seems there isn't enough money. But just as TGL said, the Lord provides. We have the added blessing of living with my mom, which eliminates rent although we do help with things. @TheGloryLand, yes, of course it applies to preachers. God expects obedience from all of His children regardless of their responsibility in the church of which they are a member. A pastor must teach his flock all parts of scripture, and that would include biblical giving. And he must also biblically give, else he is a hypocrite. As BrotherTony said, though, the amount each pastor receives is (or at least should be) up to the congregation (unless, as my hubs has done, the pastor says he does not want a raise in pay for one reason or another). Smaller churches can sometimes find it difficult to give enough and so the pastor works an outside job to relieve the burden from the people. A loving pastor doesn't insist that a small, hopefully growing church give him a large salary. He teaches them, as I said, to give biblically and the Lord takes care of the rest.

My husband invites folks forward during the invitation if they want to accept Christ. But he doesn't stop there. When we have new folks, he sits with them and talks privately with them about the state of their soul. This is, IMO, much more effective than asking folks to come forward if they want to be saved. Simply because many folks don't want to be singled out. Anyway, it's been almost a year since we had a baptism (there were 2 then), but as Joe said, our church is small. We witness, we invite, we share the Gospel. But if folks don't respond, it is not the fault of the church.

I was 10 and taken to a Baptist church by my family. We were there forany months. The pastor was a good man, Pastor Bowman. One Sunday night I felt led to answer the call and walked to the front with others and gave my life to Christ. I was later Baptized in a lake in our hometown.

Looks like climate change is striking again here in West and Central Florida. Are you prepared? As a Christian, how do you look at hurricanes? Do you prepare or do you say, the Lord in control. I don’t have to do anything. Do you watch the news and hope for the best. The Pastor said, do not pray that the hurricane goes up to the north or to the south, we pray that it weakens, I agree. Be Safe

There are so many ministry areas beyond pastor and deacon.... if divorced people want to serve God, they are barely limited by this restriction. I feel like maybe there's some pride involved with those that want to lead despite this disqualification (and if that's the case, they really shouldn't be leading!).

Myself being a divorced Christian, disqualify myself as being a deacon, or pastor. But I can be an evangelist, teacher, in the music, an usher, I can baptized a person. I can be an advisor to the pastor or other elders and leaders. This comes with time, learning and well earned respect.

@HappyChristianThank you for the well-reasoned response. More grist for the mill. There is a good amount of gray area here. Perhaps this is one of those issue that we will never have a definitive answer to this side of Heaven. And when we are there it really won't matter anymore will it?

We have too many pastors out there with strong convictions, but when those convictions apply to themselves, they no longer hold to them. Didn't Jesus in Matthew condemned those who enforced standards on others while not adhering to them themselves?

Biblically, my hubs and I believe it is still wrong. As to a divorced man giving counseling, well - if he has learned from what brought about the divorce and has grown spiritually, I personally wouldn't have a problem with it. I don't think the Bible addresses it, either, so there's nothing we could say is unbiblical about it. Now, if the man is an unrepentant adulterer, then no way (and believe me, there are far too many unrepentant adulterers in pulpits and/or involved in ministries).

Haha, sounds like you’re doing all the hard work! If only you were a pastor, right? Then you could just preach, shake hands, and have all the free food show up. But for now, it looks like your wife is keeping you busy with all that car washing and laundry folding!

I understand that. The real issue for me would be if someone added something to the Bible and claimed it as part of the Word of God. Anything else is just there for helps. For the record, I won't be buying a Trump Bible either.

Sometimes humor can be good. My point was that you misquoted his quote of you. Don't take offense when folks comment. His point was valid in that maps are manmade, ergo if historical documents are wrong, so are maps. Whether he meant it funny or not, I thought it humorous.

Well, they aren't changing scripture at all. Simply adding some documents. There are plenty of Bibles that have one particular person's notes in them (sometimes more than one person). These notes have never been presented as scripture but simply as notes from whomever. Notes, historical documents. Same/same. I get where you're coming from, but scripture about adding to/subtracting is speaking of changing what scripture says. Not incidentals included in the printing.

A "Trump Bible". Really? Doesn't that sound just a tad bit oxymoronic to anyone but me? It's not even truly "his Bible" as he just took Lee Greenwood's pre-existing Bible and pasted his name on it for political and monetary gain. (FYI, Greenwood's Bible was supposed to be NIV, but Zondervan withheld the rights, so they had to go KJV as it is in the public domain). The main thing I see when I look at Trump is pride and arrogance. I don't see Trump in any way as a spiritual leader. I'm only voting for him because in this nation's current sad state of affairs he is the least harmful. His name certainly doesn't belong on a Bible. Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Proverbs 16:18-19 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

I don't think I'd pay that much for it, but I'm glad it contains the founding documents. Folks need to reacquaint themselves with them. We have many copies of them here, so don't need more at this point. The last time I paid that much for a Bible was when I got a KJV/RVG 2010 side-by-side (RVG is Spanish from the Textus Receptus). I don't speak Spanish, but I do like to read the verses so I can see them in both languages. It's worth every penny.

Small churches are not a problem, really. Local churches can be of many different sizes, depending on the area and the people of the community, and their reaction to the Lord - rejection or acceptance. As to separation and racism in the church...I hesitate to describe it as racism. When folks who are black desire to attend church with like-melanined folks who share a similar culture, that is their choice, When Koreans start churches for fellow Koreans, that is their choice. When Hispanics form churches to reach other Hispanics, that is their choice. I don't see it as racism. I see it as reaching the lost. There is a biblical separation. One that is taught in scripture. When churches do not practice biblical principle, it is important to not associate with them. Regardless of language. The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Sadly, there are times when preachers who begin in the right way get bit with the money/fame bug and begin to compromise until they are miles away from where they began. It is true, also, that some "preachers" begin with a view to become rich and famous. As we get closer to the coming of the Lord, I think greed will increase. Folks give to these types of folks because they want to believe that these "preachers" are godly. I think we should be aware of preachers who are "in it" for the money...as BrotherTony said, their money could be used in more soulwinning efforts (although it is their money, however obtained). Men Like Jakes are not biblically sound and, IMO, regardless of their net worth, should be called out.

One, not all churches are the same size, and pay for a pastor is based on what a congregation can provide. @HappyChristian and her husband have a small church. I don't remember just how small, but her husband may have to work an outside job. I am a member of a church that runs between 80 and 120 people. Our pastor receives a much larger amount than most pastors in chuches of the same size because we have several members who are more affluent. My mother in Illinois attends a church that runs between 500-750 people. Their pastor is paid a larger than average salary, benefits, and love offerings. It really seems that you should be able to understand economics and nonprofit entities.

My company provides my phone, which is the ONLY reason I have an iPhone XR. I've had the same one for the past 5 years and it still does everything I need it to do, just not as well as the old Samsung I used to have. As soon as I retire it's back to Samsung, and likely the cheapest one they have on Consumer Cellular. I have no need for the one-pixel better picture quality the latest $1000 upgrade will get you. As for AI, like everything else I believe it is what the user makes of it. If used for appropriate reasons I do not see the harm. Unfortunately, there are always those who will twist whatever technology is out there to the work of the devil. We cannot stop advancing simply because some may use those advances for evil (unless, of course, that advancement is initially intended for evil).

This was funny

Our church has a Jubilee going on through Thursday. Last night we had special music by the Ben Rochester Family and Charlie Lambert, then preaching by Joe Arthur. After that I couldn't bring myself to be brought low by the debate. From what I hear I made the right choice. God is good. If you haven't had a chance to hear the headliners we had yesterday I highly recommend each one. Joe Arthur is good online, but he is fantastic live. I can't wait to see what tonight offers. So much better than anything political.

Poor and smart fella, staying away from all the newest evil devices. they are controlling and listening to people’s lives.

Well, we are anti-Calvinists here and believe their overall theology is false - therefore from the perspective of the main IFB’ers here, Calvinism is heresy.

It's really hard to know if he knew in the beginning where they were being printed. I'm pretty sure that before his being their endorser that Lee Greenwood was having them printed. You really need to get out more, Eddie, and learn how the world works instead of throwing darts at everyone and then whining when you get called on it. As I stated before, and as have others, you really need to grow up.

Sad, that they were made in China. https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/thousands-of-trump-bibles-were-printed-in-china-as-he-campaigned-against-trade-practices&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjT0vns3oOJAxVa4skDHYRcMTAQ0PADKAB6BAgnEAE&usg=AOvVaw32v8XLsEQDa6AugFnE9GeX

Remember, an "alter call" isn't necessarily a sign of repentance or restoration to God. Many have accomplished these things sitting in their seats, taking a hike, or sitting on their own sofa. I know you already know that, but, it never hurts to be reminded. Far too much emphasis is put on the alter call. I will be praying for your daughter. We have a former foster son who claims to be saved but who shows very little interest in the things of God.

I can empathize and sympathize with you. I'm not always able to be in service and watching over the net. I surely miss being there and go as often as the Lord allows me to be healthy enough to be there.

Climate change? Get real. Weather goes in cycles as does the depths of the water along the shorelines. Trying to build a doctrine, ie, climate change, on data that's only been kept for 100 years or less is not feasible... that's why they've gone from "an ice age is coming" to "global warming" to what they're now calling "climate change." Stop drinking the liberal Kool Aid. The Lord IS in control of the weather, and there are things we can do to prepare for inclement and even destructive weather to minimize damage and death. And it's ALWAYS advisable to pray concerning these things.

We decided on something different. We were at Walmart and stopped in at the Subway there. We got a Club and The Boss. We ate the Boss this afternoon and are saving the Club until tomorrow noon. We had a coupon, thank the Lord.

So right now in our kitchen, there is a pot of chili on the stove, a crock of meatless chili cooking, and two crocks of chicken enchilada soup going. We are having Friend Day at church tomorrow, and for the meal we are doing soups. Others are making veggie beef soup and Bortsch (yum!). We'll also have salad and crusty bread. The reason for meatless chili is that there is a possible guest who cannot eat beef. He also cannot have dairy, hence the two chicken enchilada soups (the recipe calls for cream cheese and heavy cream). My bro, who is making the chili that has meat, tasted the meatless and told me to be sure and bring it home tomorrow if it doesn't get eaten cuz it's tasty. lol We have 6-8 commitments, with a few other maybes for tomorrow. We are thrilled and praying that God will really bless the services.

Some of the Egyptians my wife had worked with at both Dell and CEVA Logistics have talked about the Exodus and stated that there are several writings in the Alexandrian library that put it forth as devastating. It's strange how those allegedly interested in history and truth deny the events surrounding the Hebrew Exodus.

That article by MSN is laughable. It sounds like it was written by a middle schooler. Nothing was "debunked". Sure, you can say there's no evidence that a large group of people wandered through the Sinai desert 3,500 years ago (which is a hilarious argument in of itself) but that doesn't debunked anything. Now here's something that can be easily debunked unless you work for MSN: a male and female are the same.

We just had our second threat towards our county school district. This is a very small county population wise too. What you would consider a "country school". The first was towards the middle school and yesterday towards the high school. Both threats came from neighboring school and one from another state and none would probably have happened without social media and parents just letting their kids do whatever they want on their phones/computers. The school poobahs allowed phones in the school with unrestricted usage until the governor put his foot down and boy did a lot of the moms complain about that on the school FB page. They are still allowed on the buses though. None of the school board poobahs have ever driven a school bus nor understand the added stress this causes to the drivers (only the Special Needs buses have bus aides). No wonder we are so short of drivers. Last year I had a 1st grader showing nude pictures and videos of him and his brother to other kids on my bus and another bus driver had a 2nd grader showing hardcore porn videos to other kids. On two separate occasions on my bus 911 was called by kids fooling around and I was pulled over by the police to get checked on. None of the poobahs had their days or lattes distrupted. There will be no end to this anytime soon. If you have children and can send them to a good Christian school (many are not good) or homeschool them you really should. I know it's not possible for everyone but if it's in your power to take ahold of their education you should seriously consider it.

Seems like you're just arguing to argue. Look, the subject laid fallow showing that nobody agrees with a sixth day crucifixion and there's no justification for it. Commonality or not, what the Bible says is all that matters. We're told in scripture to avoid foolish questions, and this, my friend, seems to fit the bill.

Repenting of sin is turning in your heart from them, not cleaning up your life outwardly - though true repentance will change the outside afterwards.

Just clarifying my earlier posts which you have great difficulty grasping.

Scientists now believe that all life on Earth sprang from one being...But, they still believe that it was an amoeba. It takes far more faith to believe that 530+millions of years ago that the small amount of slime crawled out of the ocean to form into all of these species. How can anyone believe that tripe? It takes far more faith to believe that, especially in light of these questions.... 1. Where did this planet come from if the universe began with a "Big Bang"? 2. How could there have been a "Big Bang" to start everything if there was NOTHING? Is this REAL science? 3. Why is it so hard to admit that their "beliefs" are nothing more than a series of faulty theories? There could be many more questions asked, but these are just a few I raised in my "science" class many years ago. The article below was what caused me to post this thread.... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/all-life-on-earth-comes-from-one-single-ancestor-and-it-s-so-much-older-than-we-thought/ar-BB1q1hjt?ocid=chromentpnews&pc=U526&cvid=8da0ede3e5ad43a5a703dc1b83c4c5e2&ei=40 Scientists are correct that we all came from on being...God who in turn created Adam, or flesh and skin father!

It's crazy how expensive flagship phones are

Lou Dobbs and his people did a report on these things happening. Remember, the MSM and government officials whether they be local or national fed us lies about the plandemic even when there was undisputable proof to the contrary. Ivermectin ring a bell?

https://thefederalist.com/2024/09/11/25-lies-kamala-harris-told-in-her-debate-against-trump/ If you watched the debate, you heard her lies. Did you catch them, though? ABC did no fact checking on her, else she would have had egg on her face. Interesting read.

I wasn't saved at an altar call.... just saying

I agree. The sad part is that these types of people seem to flock together, ie, Dave Hyles. This church is within a half hour of my home. I have a friend who is a big supporter of this church and pastor. He now lives in Ohio now and is a good friend of Dave Hyles. He recommends this church, the Bible collegand the writings/Bible studies put out DH and this pastor. I've had to distance myself from him. There are several other churches here, in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama that have had pastors resign or have fired their pastors because of sexual impropriety. And then we have had the high profile issues with Tony Evans and Robert Morris. Lord help us. So many wolves in sheeps clothing.

This evening we're having the last of the spaghetti that my wife made last night. It's got a wonderful, thick meat sauce that has onions, green peppers, garlic, salt, and pepper in it. With this, we're having part of a garlic bread loaf we picked up from Walmart. It's so great to have some foods that will last two or three meals so that I don't have to cook so many nights. Tomorrow is going to be a LONG day with me going to physical therapy at 7 am, then to be evaluated for new hearing aids at eleven, thirty-five miles away at 11 am. I need to come home in between and take the dogs out for a walk and potty break. Then, by the time I get home..around 1:30 pm, I will have to start getting ready for men's Bible Study at "The Door" church in Unionville, Tennessee. Many of the men from the Bible study that we had in the Cowboy Church movement are going to this with one of the men who graduated from the Ministry Certificate Development Program with the AFCC (America Fellowship of Cowboy Churches) is the one who is leading them. He and I started the program together back in 2020. I didn't get to finish, as I contracted Covid both August beginning sessions, knocking me out for the final two years. So, tomorrow evening will probably be Tomato Basil soup.