Assessing a Good Church, Pastor and Congregation.

Begin your search for a good Bible believing church by seeking the Lord’s direction.

Find a fellowship and congregation that is committed to the Bible as God's inerrant, living Word. The foremost is that they uphold the Bible as their authority, being the word of God. Do they teach through the Bible, not picking certain doctrine but leaving others. Do they teach the whole counsel of God.

Is the gospel proclaimed regularly from the pulpit. A good church will teach the doctrine of the Trinity. This means that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three distinct beings but are one. Do they believe Jesus is the Son of God and is Christ fully God and fully man.

Seek a loving, peaceful, stable church which has a pastor devoted to godliness, prayer and the word. Are they Christ centered and preaching the gospel of grace through faith alone for salvation.

Is there a spirit of worship, love and devotion to Him in their gatherings and in their ministry? Seek a fellowship that has sound doctrine, proclaims the Word, and sincerely lifts up the Lord Jesus Christ in worship and in all they do.

Is the pastor or minister the only one who can do anything "spiritual" or is the Holy Spirit allowed to minister through others too? Is this Church bound by traditionalism or a denominationalism that God isn't allowed to move? Do they seek to work out their faith in practical day-to-day living?

Does the congregation exude an attitude of loving and caring each other. That is part of what we are to be as Christians, and it doesn't come naturally. Find a Church that has a loving atmosphere to breathe. Are they open to fellowship with other Christians.

In this Church are the people all-week or Sunday only Christians.

Does anyone care if you fall into sin, and what will they do about it? Are the steps of Matthew 18:15-20 followed? Accountability need not be threatening.

A church is not a building, it is the body of Christ. You need a church whose preaching and teaching will not entertain you, but will boldly challenge you to advance beyond your comfort zones to live toward God’s high ideals.

The only church in which you will ever grow and mature spiritually is the fellowship is where the people submit themselves to God and to each other. Every church is distinct just like people are.

Always use the Bible as the standard to measure a church not other churches. Find the fellowship that is seeking to bring lives to Christ, both in their community and on foreign mission fields. Such a church understands its purpose and will provide a healthy environment in which to grow.

Learn about the church, talk with the pastor, sit in a Sunday School class, read the doctrinal statement, and asking a lot of questions.

Is ‘giving’ freely encouraged but with no pressure on tithing and raising money. Is there any teaching that your ‘giving’ earns you any favour with God or buys you into Heaven. Are there an open record where the money goes.

Is the church mission-minded. Are sheep producing sheep which will turn into growth for the Church, or are they relying on the leaders or pastor to do the work of the ministry.

Do they accept you for who you are without any conditions and are willing to help you mature in Christ.

A church can be warm and friendly, but later find they are theologically off. Ask for a statement of faith. With a drive toward ecumenism and tolerance among churches, many denominations have been watering down their beliefs in order to fit in with the world.

If you find a church that is actively pursuing these things then you have probably found a healthy environment for your spiritual growth in Jesus Christ- you have found a good church home.

The Practice of Gratitude

My mother used to write at least a thank-you note each day of her adult life. She was asked once, what she did where there was no one to thank. She answered, “There’s always someone to thank.”

Mom had that “attitude of gratitude” that we hear about so much, but she had something more important. She had the practice of gratitude.

Attitude is fine, but it’s invisible. It lives inside your head where no one but you can see it. The real benefits of gratitude don’t kick in until you start practicing gratitude habits.

Gratitude is Good for You

Gratitude helps you stay on an even keel, even in stressful situations. Gratitude helps keep you grounded and humble. Expressing gratitude can help strengthen the bonds of social support.

Write Your Gratitude
Writing helps you concentrate on the things you’re grateful for. It helps you understand how many things you have to be grateful for.

Keep a gratitude journal. Note the things that you’re grateful for. Then, don’t just think about those things, savor the memory of them.

Write thank-you notes and emails. You don’t have to match my mother’s three-notes-every-day standard, but take the time to write. Handwritten notes are especially powerful.

Speak Your Gratitude

Thank people for the good things they do, both for you and for others. Praise them. If you pray, be sure to thank God.

Act Your Gratitude

Show people that you value them and you’re grateful for their presence in your life. Give them time and attention. Take time for conversations.

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Husband of Woman Murdered in Paris Attacks Tells Terrorists: 'You Will Not Have My Hatred'

What would you do if you were to wake up to a reality that someone has mercilessly taken the life of your beloved one? It hard to accept and the pain may last forever. 

In the midst of the Paris attacks, a man lost his wife in the attacks and wrote a letter to the killers. From the letter we can derive a great lesson on how we too can handle handle hatred.

You Will Not Have My Hatred'

The husband of a woman murdered during the recent terror attacks in Paris, France reportedly wrote a letter to the extremists responsible for the attacks, calling the attackers "dead souls."

The man, Antoine Leiris, lost his wife, Hélène Muyal, during the Paris terror attacks that killed 129 people last Friday.

Muyal was one of the concertgoers attending an Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan concert hall.

"On Friday evening you stole the life of an exceptional person, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred," Leiris' letter, posted to Facebook,reads.

"I don't know who you are and I don't want to know, you are dead souls. If this God for whom you kill blindly made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife is a wound in his heart," the husband continued.

"So no, I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you. You want it, but to respond to hatred with anger would be to give in to the same ignorance that made you what you are," the letter adds.

The grieving man's viral letter comes after a video showing a father explaining the terror attack to his son went viral.

In the video, the preschool-aged boy is asking his father about why the terror attacks were committed and why people are laying flowers and candles in mourning.

The father explains to the boy that the flowers and candles are being laid "to remember the people who are gone yesterday."

This is an opportunity for us to learn not to live with hatred within our own lives.