Growth In Life Breaks The Old Wineskin

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>For The Believers In The Body Of Christ</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For The Believers In The Body Of Christ"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Growth In Life Breaks The Old Wineskin</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spiritual Food"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Spiritual Food</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Psalms, Hymns Spiritual Songs"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gospel Outreach"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gospel Outreach</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id159.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"About Us"</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id186.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Related Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id639.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="JESUS IS LORD!"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">JESUS IS LORD!</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Growth In Life Breaks The Old Wineskin</I></div> <div> <I>Have you ever had a leading from deep within your being that did not "fit" with the church you attend?  I remember being warned by my pastor about reading certain spiritual materials because they were not accepted by the church.  Another time I felt from the Lord to preach the gospel rather than attend the Sunday morning meeting ... God forbid!  As a singer and song writer, I often asked to sing a hymn differently during the service to follow what I thought was anointing from the Lord ... only to get rebuked by an elder after the meeting for changing the "spiritual flow" of the meeting.   On more than one occasion I desired to spend time with certain families based on an inner feeling, yet leading ones would restrict me and prohibit me.  At a prayer meeting I would ask for prayer concerning specific people that were on my heart and would be denegrated for not being sensitive to God's move.  The Lord blessed me with an honest, open spirit so when I participated in small groups I always encouraged saints to pray and speak genuinely from their heart.  This was considered gossip, back biting and evil by leading brothers when a weaker saint would share with them that we discussed something so openly.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Many believers suffer because the church they attend sets all the parameters of their christian faith and does not allow for differences or variations in growth among its members.  The path of growth is defined by the organization rather than by the organic growth in life before the Lord.  Believers often are held accountable to the church they attend at the expense of following Christ.  This is a serious matter.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>As we grow in the Lord, we will also grow in our responsibility before the Lord.  For instance, when we were born, we virtually held no responsibility to anyone.  As newborn babies we were totally dependent on others to care for us and raise us up.  As we grow in life, however, we become more and more accountable for ourselves until we eventually are considered adults.  In adulthood we are accountable to Christ alone.  We will render an account to Him, not to anyone else (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 10:18).</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Saints are brought into a kind of suffering when they begin to reach maturity in Christ yet the group, the organization or the system they belong to no longer matches their inward growth in life.  The group places restrictions, demands, obligations and requirements on saints as if they are still children.  We must realize that it is God's design that we all come to maturity and not remain infants.  Ephesians 4:13-14 says, "</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3333FF" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may no longer be little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teacing in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error</B></I></FONT><I>."  When any person, group or system continues to treat us like little children, we must follow Christ as our Head so that we may continue to grow in a healthy way before Him.  Otherwise we will remain in infancy and experience the consequences of being tossed by waves and carried about by teachings rather than seeking, pursuing and following Christ.</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id596.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wine Wineskins"><U><I>see:  Wine & Wineskins</I></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>