INTRODUCTION
Bro Eli Soriano came our way again with the blessings of the word of God. We have been enjoying the blessings from the Word of God shared with us during this indoctrination program. Always, our eyes are opened to the truth in the word of God. We learn how to live and please God. We also learn about the things God wants us to do as christians. We get to understand the true doctrines of the church as was led down for us by the apostles.
We believe that God will give us a heart that is submissive enough and willing to obey the doctrines of God as we are learning about them. The word of God is our light, when we understand it we will not have any occasion to stumble. True doctrines are those based on the Bible. There are many false doctrines everywhere, but when we know the truth we shall be set free from every deception.
THE CHURCH OF GOD
1 Timothy 3:15 (KJV) But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
As explained to us by Bro Eli, the church is the institution which Jesus Christ alone established. No other person or entity established the church. It is not like some manufacturing company or corporations which any man can put up. It was solely established by Jesus Christ. He bought the church by His blood. The church is the collection of those whom Jesus has redeemed by His blood. The mere fact that no one else died for the redemption of mankind or paid for the salvation of humanity makes it clear that no one has shared ownership of the church.
Being enlightened by this analysis, I came to realize the hidden truth from what Bro Eli taught in the MCGI Mass Indoctrination. The right identity for the church should be named after God. Since God is the owner of the church, The church should be named after Him. So the concept of christening the church as The Church Of God is not overemphasized. No person or entity should claim the ownership of the church. We should not try to name the church after ourselves.
CLEAVE TO THAT WHICH IS GOOD
Romans 12:9 (KJV) Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
According to the scriptures as explained by Bro Eli Soriano, it is better to join what is good. The Bible says that a good name is better than great riches. We are advised by the Word of God to shun what is evil and rather follow on with what is good.
Proverbs 22:1 (KJV) A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
We should not become members of a particular church just because we want to patronize the founder. The church should not be viewed as a business organization. When we get to church, we are going there to worship God. Let us not give ourselves to groups that are not truly affiliated to God.
Naming the church as the Church Of God is good. But when the foundation of the church is solidly built upon Jesus Christ, the founder, I do not see any problem with that. Let the true identity of the church point to God.
SINGING IN CHURCH
One of the things we do in church is singing. There are several things which we observe to do in church. Sometimes we pray; another time we can attend to one another's needs. We can also offer thanksgiving to God through our songs of praises. The church services are spiced by good spiritual songs.
Colossians 3:16 (KJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
We have come to know that songs are media through which our souls are elevated. Different people sing for different purposes. Bro Eli Soriano cited examples of songs rendered for different sets of people and different events. Our God too deserves to be praised with songs. Good spiritual songs revive our souls and spirits in the church.
CONCLUSION
The church is God's institution. We should only be members of the true church of God. Ascribing churches to people and nations is wrong.
Let us endeavor to detach from what we know that it is not right and cleave to what we know that is right.
Worshiping God is part of our activities in church. Therefore, with good spiritual songs, we sing unto our God.