What are your thoughts when you read this headline question?
Have you ever thought much about it, other than to ask someone that question, or to answer it?
I have come to realize that asking someone what church they attend actually causes division. Think about it.
- It causes us to decide whether or not we are interested in continuing much of a conversation with a brother or sister in the Lord, based on their answer.
- It causes us to immediately make decisions about what we think that person believes or doesn’t believe.
Both of those points are really just a nice way of saying we start judging them when we find out what church they attend.
I thought if we are part of the Body of Christ, 
that makes us all the church. Putting titles and labels on The Church divides us in a way that I don’t think is healthy, or something God intended.
Just asking this one simple question is something that actually puts a hole in the wall of unity, causing a crumbling and weakening in the Body and Church of Jesus Christ.
I am not talking about unity at all costs, nor am I talking about other religions that do not believe Jesus is exactly who He says He is; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Himself (john 14:6).
I am talking about how the enemy is very sly, very cunning, and will slip in something unnoticed whenever possible to cause the slightest bit of division, because he knows the power of unity.
Most of us are familiar with the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapter eleven. The people were heathens (not followers of God, but worshipers of false gods and idols). They were trying to build a tower to reach the heavens.
God saw what they were doing, and here is His response. “Look, the people are united, they all have a single language, and see what they’re starting to do! At this rate, nothing they set out to accomplish will be impossible for them!”(CJB)
That completely amazes and astounds me. It shows me how powerful unity is; when people come together with one purpose and focus, nothing they set out to accomplish will be impossible for them!
If this is true for heathens, how much more for Christians who are united as one body under the blood covenant of Jesus Christ! Unity is powerful; there is no doubt about it!
This makes me think of something Jesus said. To set the stage, He first asked his followers, “Who do you think I am?”
Peter’s answer was one of deep truth and revelation. “The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus first tells Peter, “My Father in heaven has personally revealed this to you—this is not from any human source.” Then Jesus declares, “…upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:13-18 TLB)
The true church of Jesus will be built on the powerful unity of the revelation of who Jesus is. It cannot have division, or the enemy will be able to come against it.
A few years ago, I was attending services with a body of believers, becoming part of their fellowship, and was on a couple of ministry teams. That was when our oldest daughter left this earth for her eternal home with Jesus. In my time of intense grief, some strange things happened, and at one point I was accused of some very serious things. I humbly did my best to submit to the authority of the pastor, to figure out whether I was at fault in any part of what was going on. I wanted to deal with the root source of what was happening, especially if there was something on my end that was causing a wall of division.
Not only was I in deep grief, but I became very weary and wounded in how the process being used seemed to continually come against me and break me down instead of strengthen me and build me up. Things escalated in total confusion, until I received a text from the pastor’s wife telling me I was no longer welcome to attend the church until I admitted my part in causing division and did things their way. To say I was stunned is an understatement!
I felt my ministry board of directors needed to know I had basically been kicked out of a church, which according to scripture is a very serious thing, so I called for a meeting. The 
response of one of the board members was, “Laura, you can’t be kicked out of a church. You ARE the church!”
I share this, because I believe it is a perfect example of the difference between attending church, and being the church.
So now do you see why I believe that equating The Church with a congregation of people who gather together under the same roof, is something the enemy has slipped in, unnoticed, to cause a wedge of division? It is so subtle, and yet so powerful.
So is it wrong to ask people what church they go to? I can’t answer that for you. All I can say is that for myself, I try to avoid asking anyone that question. I might ask what congregation they fellowship with, or something similar.
I don’t want to be a piece of one of many local churches. I want to be The Church that Christ is building His kingdom on, that the gates of hell cannot stand against. Yes, we may worship and serve in different locations, with a name over that place to identify our different congregations. But we are all One Church, we are all parts of One Body, and we all serve One Risen Lord, who is Jesus Christ.
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And there’s more! He always offers to birth something that brings new life, if we don’t give up! Wow! That is amazing! Only God can bring life from death! And may I remind you, He has lots of experience and does it quite well!
(That question makes a couple of worship songs come to my mind immediately, that I know I have raised my hands to and sung from my heart as a prayer to Him.)
Surrender to His process. Surrender to His plan to birth new life through you. Don’t stop your birthing process because of the pain. Don’t make your own fires to guide yourself.
in the Word, because Jesus is the word Himself. He’s the Word of God. So when I speak the word of God into a situation, I am hidden behind that word because I am hidden with Christ. So it isn’t me the enemy sees; it’s the Word, which is Jesus, Himself, and he must respond to Jesus. He must respond to that authority of the Word in which I am hidden.
When Becca died (you can read about her story by 
is bringing life from death!
I never knew how much work is involved in writing a book and getting it published. And unless you are already a big name person with a huge public following, the greatest part of the leg-work of promoting and marketing a book falls on the shoulders of the author. And when you think about it, no one else is going to have the heart and passion for what was written on the pages more than the person who wrote it, so it makes sense that the author should be the strongest promoter.
many things we can do to open the door to hope in our lives. In this article, I am only going to talk about four of them. They are things you probably already know in your head, but I am praying after reading through this, you have a new revelation of them in your soul that you will act put into action.
night before lying down, write at least five things you can be thankful for. It might be a big event you were blessed to be a part of. It might be something as simple as, “I woke up today and got out of bed.” Hearing your children laugh, you have a place to live, you had money to get a haircut, you got to eat your favorite meal; these are all things to thank God for. It doesn’t matter how trivial others may see it. This is not for anyone else but you!
Any kind of slavery steals hope. When you’re hopeless, you are lost and in bondage.
There is something about getting away where you can focus on allowing God to bring the hope you need through direct ministry, and time with the Holy Spirit. It catapults you in a way like nothing else seems to do. Ask God to lead you to the right event, and pray for Him to provide the finances, if that is an issue.
for a long time. When you feel hopeless, discouraged and depressed, it can often be the last thing you want to do. I have been to the place where I didn’t have the emotional or physical energy to exercise, even if I wanted to (which I admit, I did not want to).
