The Faithful Christian a blog of The Lighthouse Ministries

I  cry out to the LORD with my voice; with my voice to the LORD I make my  supplication.  I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble. Psalm 142:1-2 Someone once said you can’t purify water by painting the pump. And yet that’s what we try to do. We think that somehow if we can change the exterior, if we can make conditions such that we never have any hurts or pains, then we’ll be just right. But Jesus focused on what you are, not on what you have. He didn’t say blessed are those who have popularity, those who have position, those who have personality, those who have possessions, or those who have power. I can show you people who have all of these things and are perfectly, exquisitely, miserable. Jesus didn’t say blessed are those who have certain things, but blessed are those who are certain things, including those who mourn. Many church services are filled with cheerleader enthusiasm. I’m not speaking against joy. The Bible says there’s a tim...

  “Church is not a museum for saints, its a hospital for sinners.” This phrase or something like it has been bandied about for years in order to keep Christians clear on what they should expect as members of Christ’s church. Scriptural support for such a statement comes from Jesus' words to the Pharisees in   Mark 2:16 , “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” At first hearing the clever retort feels right. However, it may be misleading. The church is not a hospital for sinners. First of all, this phrase gets abused by people who like to think of sin as an illness and not a personal guilt. Oftentimes people throw this one liner out to lessen their personal responsibility for error. The same could be said of the thoughtless excuse, “I’m only human.” or “Hey, we’re all sinners.” In a related fashion we like to use this phrase in order to dilute the depravity of our sins into just mistakes, temporary boo boos, and poor decisions. Finally, this phrase gives the fa...