How much clearer could the Scriptures be as to what His Church, the body of Christ, is in the mind of God? It is His people! They are His body! They are the Church! All of us who are of like precious faith are His body.

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand". (John 10:27-28).

This is the true Christian Church! Nothing more and nothing less! The Christian Church is made up of those who know Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord, and they follow (obey) Him. Pretty plain and simple, isn't it?

Jesus never meant to make it complicated, as has the organized church. Satan really likes to muddy the waters, doesn't he? He'll use anything to get our eyes off of the simple truth of the gospel. And I'd say he has done a pretty good job of it through organized religion.

I've seen it all! I am seventy years old. I've been a believer for forty-two years. I've been involved in several different churches. I've been a minister, a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, and just about everything else one can do in the church. And I will state very candidly that organized religion, in general, is not keeping the Great Commission, nor is it making true disciples of Christ. At best, it is just ministering to the needs of it's people, and I even have doubts about that.

As I see it, the organized church is failing the Lord for several reasons. They are as follows:

(1) The whole religious system is counter-productive to winning the lost to Christ because the pastor is paid to do all the work of soul-winning, rather than training the flock to do it. And the flock is happy because they can do nothing. In reality most pastors spend most of their time visiting church members,visiting the sick, preparing sermons, and officiating at weddings and funerals, leaving them little, if any, time for prayer and Bible meditation. Whereas, the Bible says, in Acts 6:4-5, "We (the disciples) will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word".

This is the model I see set forth in Ephesians where we read: "And He (Christ) gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 'till we all come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ". (Ephesians 4:11-13)

God's work must be done God's way, and in God's power, if it is to be effective. And it must be backed up by much heartfelt believing prayer. Every other method has failed, and will fail. And it is failing, at the present time, in the organized church!

(2) Missionary work is failing too because in large churches other priorities are usually placed much higher than missions, and in the small churches (and there are thousands of them) there is little or no money left after paying the pastor's salary. So again the missions program suffers.

(3) The hierarchy in the church puts undue pressure on their pastors to fill the church coffers and increase church attendance. This is their barometer for how well you are doing your job. I have seen many a church "cook the books" to make the numbers look good to the district superintendent. The last church I attended put several people down as members who had only attended services three or four times in the year, and had never joined the church.

They also expect you to lower your Christian standards by appealing to the world by using the world's methods, standards, and enticements. And when you succeed in getting the world into the church, what do you end up with? A worldly church without God’s blessing and without the power of the Holy Spirit. God will not bless nor empower unclean vessels! No repentance. No revival. No real church.

(4) The church's position on sin is getting weaker and weaker and weaker. A man and woman in the last church I attended both had serious sin problems. He was addicted to drugs, and told me he had no plans to quit. His wife was having an adulterous affair with another man, and had no remorse or conviction about it. I know these things because I was counseling them at the time. Not only that, the pastor put her in a leadership position during some so-called evangelistic meetings being held at the church. When I asked the pastor why he did this, he said it was none of my business. Had I not been serving as their marriage counselor, he may have been right; but I had a sincere interest in this couple's spiritual well-being.

(5) I have yet to see a local church that employs the method Jesus used to make disciples, nor are churches structured to do so. Jesus poured His life into twelve committed followers. Some were impulsive. Some showed envy and jealousy. Some were harsh and judgmental. All showed lack of faith. So why did Jesus bear with them? It was simply because they continued to follow Him! Can we learn from their example? Christ poured out His Holy Spirit on them, as they watched and prayed... and look at the phenomenal results. The then known world was turned right side up for God.

(6) Every denomination I've been involved in thinks they have all their doctrine right, and all other denominations are wrong; and if you do not adhere to every point of their doctrine you are considered deceived by the devil. Sometimes I think seminaries are the enemy of Christ. They are if they put their denominational biases ahead of Christ. If you try to show them some new truth from God's word, they get argumentative and hostile. I thank God often that my mind has not been shaped by men but by God.

I am currently facilitator of a small men's group of four. Two of the men attend the same church I recently left. Both men are receiving pressure from their pastor to disassociate themselves from me - and all we are doing is pouring our hearts out to God in prayer and studying how to be true disciples of Christ. We are studying sanctification, the Holy Spirit, revival, and what it means to have Christ live His life through us (Galations 2:20). Why would any pastor in His right mind oppose that?

These are just a few of the many things I have seen that have caused me to lose faith in the organized church.

I recently placed an article in our local newspaper promoting a discipleship training class to be held in my home. I stated that any born-again Bible-believing Christian was welcome to attend, and that this class was open to people of all Christian denominations. I also conveyed that the class was not meant to take the place of any church, but rather to supplement it and strengthen it.

Guess how many responses I got? ZERO! What does that tell you about the condition of professing Christendom today. Even the folks who might be interested in being disciples of Christ are afraid to stand up and be counted for fear of reproach by others in the church. The church needs revival NOW!

Where are the preachers like those God used in The Great Awakening? Where are the George Whitfields, the Dwight L Moodys, the Duncan Campbells, and the Robert Murray McCheynnes. They'd be no more welcome in today's church than would Jesus Christ himself. Isn't that what got Jesus nailed to the cross? He told the truth and the religious leaders didn't like it, and they still don't!

Tens of thousands were converted under the preaching of these Spirit-filled men of God, and the Holy Spirit fell like fire upon the people, saved and unsaved saved alike. There was great conviction of sin, saloons were shut down, and houses of prostitution put out of business. All because a few brave souls had the holy boldness to preach the truth in love.

Oh God, please revive us again, in the midst of the years!

God save the church! (our brethren who are still trapped in the organized church system)

In His Amazing Love,
Brother Milt Partee