Chapter 16: Myth—God Owns Solid Rock
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Myth—God Owns Solid Rock
Therefore, the new church attendee that protests to his friends, “they
are just a bunch of hypocrites inside that church” — after being exposed to a church that hides sin and evil has every right to do so. In the first place, he or she is exercising discernment like Paul taught by “judging those inside the church.” If they find evil being supported, it doesn’t take much mental
power to conclude that it is not a house of God, even if it professes to be. The true house of God does not condone or hide evil. Secondly, they can get all the evil they want on the streets. Why go to a church and pay offerings to get their form of evil? Besides being hypocritical in nature, it is also sheer
stupidity. The church that does not stand for truth and righteousness is a house of Satan and the average Joe is smart enough to realize that fact. Why? God has placed that much inside his heart and mind. Thirdly, when they inform all whom they know, they keep them from unsuspectingly being taken advantage of by evil. This means they do what the apostles did even if
the church at large doesn’t get the truth that we should “expose the evil.”
I doubt if anyone ever regretted exposing church evil. However, I suspect that many lose much sleep by hiding it. This is especially true when
the knowledge of evil they have hid has resulted in the perpetuation of evil onto another family or child. When you step into a church you have a right to expect God’s people to be there. When you hide the evil, you fail to let people know that there are Satan’s people inside that church.
I had started attending Solid Rock Church in the summer of 1992. My spiritually adopted daughter Karen and her family attended the church and I usually just sat with their family. I had become accustomed to writing dates
alongside Bible verses taught by the pastor. I had done this for many years to help me see the breadth of my Bible studies. I also marked the margins up with notes and the name of the pastor who taught the lesson. I even put a date by my individual study verses so I could see how often I returned to the
verse. Therefore, my Bibles have become quite colorful and dense with study notes over many years. One advantage of this note keeping is that I have a fairly good historical record of what has been taught at the church I attend. For example, William Neal Matthews was installed as Senior Pastor
of the Elk River Assembly of God Church on December 13, 1992 and he taught the first four verses in Jeremiah 23 on righteousness.
Copyright 2005 Edward G. Palmer, All Rights Reserved. Book of Edward—Chapter 16