Christian

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: the reality of the state of the United States

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As I write this it is one day after the shooting of the Congressional Baseball Practice shooting.
When I heard about it. Many of my con-workers said something that struck a core of difference than in past attacks.
In the past when there was violence and death on a mass scale the first thing that come from their mouths was “It had be to a terrorist.”
Yesterday though it was “It must have been a Democrat.”
As it turned out, that is exactly who it was, but I need to go deeper into this situation.
I needed to test the waters. So I have learned that if I wish to hear the mindset of those upon the left all I need do is say something in the comments of a news article on one of the news services that post on Facebook.
I did this on Reuters. Here is all I said:
“About this attack on the congressional baseball practice. In past attacks be they. Here in the U.S. or overseas. The first thing I heard people say was ‘It must have been a terrorist.’
This time though I heard this:
‘It must have been a Democrat.’
Ponder on that for a bit people.”
As I suspected there was an attack upon my views right away. Note that I said nothing about my views. Also someone posted a long thing implying I was offering “fake news.” The thread went dead as soon as the identity of the shooter was revealed to be a Democrat.
Simply, those upon the left do not seek to live within reality. They live and work in the same world we do. However, as was shown not only by the attack itself, but in how those upon the left live within a belief that they are incapable of doing violence. The reality of the situation through what was shown with the “Weather Underground” to those that comprise “Antifa” today is that those that do the most violence and the most aggressive and deadly are those upon the left. This is even seen if you look back further into history and look to the National Socialist Workers Party of Germany led by Adolf Hitler. Their behavior is exactly the same as those within Antifa with no variation what so ever other than the clothes they wear and the language they speak. None can speak unless it matches what they say should be spoken, which is exactly the behavior of the Nazis.
Unfortunately, this was all prophesied within the Bible as we come closer to the return of Jesus Christ. The only difference this time though is that several of the prophecies are being fulfilled not only all at once but globally. What is mandatory to remember is that we come to understand and study the Bible fully. So that when we see signs like this from the books of prophecy within the Bible that we are able to know that this is happening. This will allow us to straighten out our lives and to live a life that is not just faith or just works. But a life that is both faith and works.
My prayers go to those shot. I will not offer prayers for those upon the left, for that would be like casting pearls before swine, which Jesus made clear we are not to do. Most know of God and of Jesus. Most know the true words of the Bible and they chose to deny them or laugh upon them as myth. It is truly sad, but we must come to terms that there will be far viewer that stand before the throne of God than most realize. Should we weep for them that are so blind? That I would say yes to.

The path to perfection

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This is one thing that most do not understand nor do they really wish to understand. “Pilgrim’s Progress” sought to address this this very same issue, and was a core teaching for Pilgrims. It was one of many attempts to seek after an understanding of what is necessitated to meet the perfection that is glimpsed upon within the Bible.
One thing that must be made perfectly clear. No one will ever achieve perfection in this temporal existence we all live within. That includes myself. Any that say or teach otherwise do not or willfully deny the teachings of the Bible. If you actually study “Pilgrim’s Progress” you come to understand many of the things I try to articulate in my articles that I post.
Most people have an image of redemption that all that is required of them is that they acknowledge Jesus Christ and say they accept Him as their Savior. This is faith alone teachings. However, as is made clear in James 2 it is not faith alone. In fact it makes clear that faith alone is dead.
The path toward perfection is an endeavor of both faith and works. Not only an acceptance that Jesus is our Savior, but following with due diligence the teachings and the commandments within the Bible. This is something that is strongly hit upon within “Pilgrim’s Progress.”
When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts it was from this point that this nation become dedicated to God as a Christian nation. This was this group’s reward for trying their best to follow the teachings within the Bible in their time period. Now this nation has strayed from its roots. Now more than any other time since its creation this nation is in jeopardy. This is all due to the fact that most no longer seek the correct path to perfection. They now see a path that appears to be the path to perfection, but it actually keeps them rooted here in this temporal reality. Not seeking after God, but after the fool’s gold of riches, luxuries and rewards here in this short and temporal life, with a serving of Jesus on the side.
This is not how the Bible says we are to live our lives. The true path to perfection goes through Jesus Christ with the teachings of the Bible and God at its core, with a serving of the world on the side.
Once you place the world, this temporal existence as your master, you have left the true path to perfection. This path is not a path but a highway that is not just well traveled, but is crowded to the point of a traffic jam.
The true path to perfection is both faith and works. The works that are clearly and plainly taught within the Bible. From following the speed limits to not living is sins, like homosexuality. These are things that are taught plainly and clearly. If you speed you sin, if you live in sin… well enough said there. Simply they are not on the path to perfection and it leads to the ultimate imperfection.
Follow the Bible and live a life that is both faith and works. Not faith alone, nor works alone, but both balanced for the glory of Jesus Christ and His Father our Creator God.

For those that chose to let sin be your master.

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Understand this please and allow it to filter into your heart, your mind and your soul.
When you accept God into your life, through Christ Jesus, you become dead unto sin, unto the world. You are a new and separate being. Now alive instead of dead. But understand this, we are still human, we are still within a corrupted body and it will seek to take governance over you. In Romans chapter six it explains this. For again you must realize that all the books of the Bible were written unto to those that counted themselves to already be saved by God’s Holy grace. In verse twelve it says this:
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
Now allow that to sink in for a few moments.

A sin that has dominion over you and it operators through lust. There are many sins that operate through lust if not all. A good share of them are sexual in nature though. Now when we turn from sin, when we repent, that sin losses total control, but it is still an issue that we must confront time to time so it will not come back over us. These are a few sexual lusts, . Fornication includes masturbation, lusting after and coveting after someone in a lustful manner. Adultery is any sex between male and female that is outside the bonds of marriage, as well as homosexuality. These are all sins and according to the verse above we are not to let it have “reign” over us.
When these sins become predominant in someone’s life then it is their master it has control of them. If this is the case then if you were saved your salvation goes into question to the point that it can be lost and God will break you from the vine.
2 Peter 2:20 – For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
John 15:6 – 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Jesus Christ pronounced it Himself. If you do not abide in Him and let sin be your master then you shall be broken off by God, given to men and the cast into the fire. Christ Himself!
Not me, or one of those that wrote the books of the Bible in letters and sent them out to the world, which were inspired by the Holy Ghost, but Jesus Christ.
Yet thousand question this, if not millions. Many thinking they are one with God and His Son, when Jesus makes it clear this is not so. I just don’t know what to say beyond this other than good luck with your choices, especially when you go and formalize your wish to live in sin with a legal document.

Love the sinner, hate the sin, but if you truly love them tell the sinner they are sinning

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This is what we are called to do:
2 Timothy 4: 1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
We are told to reprove, rebuke and exhort.
Reprove is elegcho in the Greek which means to –convict, convince, and tell a fault. Is this not what people call judging these days? Why yes it is. So if we are instructed within the Bible to tell those that sin of the faults and we are to convince them to turn from the error of their ways. Then are we judging them? No we are not, we are a tool of God, one of His servants through the grace of Jesus Christ, as long as we do not do the same sin and use facts found within the Bible.
If we do not reprove those that sin, if we do not rebuke those that sin and if we do not exhort them to turn from their sins then are we not in disobedience to God? Yes we are.
So yes love the person that sins, and yes hate their sin for their sin is more important to them then God and for this reason alone you must tell them of their sin. You must ask them time and again to turn away from that which is evil, which is of this temporal existence. For our ultimate goal is not to be happy here, but to be eternally joyous in our service to God in our eternal life promised to us by the Bible.
We are to learn how to do that service here in the short time here upon this plain of existence. Then we are to learn more during the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ Himself who we as His body are to serve alongside Him and learn from Him. Teaching, caring, instructing those that either survive the Great Tribulation or come after it.
Even in this time there will be failure for at the end of the thousand year Satan is to be let loose upon those that live upon the earth at that time and others will choose to follow him into the abyss than to serve God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the fate for all that chose the sin over God.

You just can’t say “I am Christian”

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Most in today’s world go about their lives and think they are fine with God. All they have to do is say “I am Christian” or “I am Catholic” or even “I am Muslim” and they believe they are going to heaven.
Sorry to say this, but it doesn’t work that way.
Then there are those that say “I am saved” or “I am born again.” Yet they show no visible signs of this salvation. As you look at them, as you watch their behavior they seem like all others. Act like all others. Well that is because they are like all others. They have lost the very salvation they thought they had received.
2 Peter 2:20 – And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
True salvation brings about a change in the person. What they once loved becomes something that no longer brings them happiness. Their hearts and they minds change, but as can be seen above. There will be those that say “Okay now that you are saved you are free to live as you like.” This is a lie.
For with true desire to serve God through Jesus Christ there comes a need to stop living in sin. Any sin. It is made clear in John 15 that you can be saved. You can be a part of the vine of Jesus Christ. Yet you bear no fruit showing your salvation. God sees this and sees that your branch is dead upon the vine. So God Himself breaks you off and cast you to humanity. Who gathers you up and then cast you into the fire. The fire of damnation, not salvation.
It is not faith or love of God alone. It is both faith and works.
James 2:14 – What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? 21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
Faith is dead without works. But what are the works? The works are the teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles. They are the commandments. Which is not just the twelve commandments (yes 12). But those commandments that were not directly changed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ upon the cross. You must seek to live these teachings, every single hour, of every single day, of every single month, of every single year, for the rest of your live.
Will you stumble and fall? Yes. For none are perfect. But if you cling onto a sin and refuse to reject it. That sin is your god. That sin is you master. That sin is your damnation. God is to be the center of your lives. Not ourselves or our lust and desires. If you place anything other than God at the center of your life. Then that is your god. That is what you worship. Be it money, sports, clothes, a home.
The only way to true salvation is to surrender yourself to God through Jesus Christ. To abandon sin. To not live in sin. For as long as you desire the world. Then that is your fate.
Romans 1:18 – But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

The world is full of heathens

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Now that I got your attention. Let me explain this title. To do this we must first define the word “heathen.”
It is defined as “a person who does not belong to a widely held religion (especially one who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim) as regarded by those who do.”
Now what defines belonging to a religion? Here is a big clue of what I mean. In my research to answer this question in a definitive and insightful manner, I only found one source that could answer this question. A person showing how to be accepted in the Religious Society of Friends, otherwise known as Quakers. Here is that example:
1 – What does membership mean to you, personally and as a monthly meeting?
2 – What is the relationship between membership as a form and as an expression of stewardship, commitment, conviction, and service?
3 – How do you welcome individuals fully into your community and recognize their gifts?
4 – What is the essential function, intention, and reason for membership?
5 – Is there a difference between being a Quaker and being a member of a monthly meeting?
6 – How can we re-pattern the way we talk about our spirituality?
7 – Quakerism is in its essence about one’s relationship with the Divine; what role does membership play in that?
8- How can we examine and question the way we talk about membership and not challenge membership’s importance in the life of the meeting?
9- How does the meeting community nurture and meet the needs of its members and attenders at various stages in life?
10 – How can we value, connect with, and support community for young adults and others who do not fit neatly into meeting membership or other established patterns of belonging?
This can be translated over to any religion in actuality, but my point is starting to be made. What can be seen is an actual interaction with the teachings of the Bible. An interaction between God and the person and then extending that to involvement with the others that share your views and ideals that arise from having a true relationship with God.
The mere fact that it is nearly impossible to find anything like this for other religions is that people have made assumptions that this knowledge is passed on from one generation to another. This is the furthest thing from the truth. When God was removed from schools in the 1960s this transfer came nearly to a complete halt.
As most know. Those going to church has diminished greatly. Mainly due to the previous statement. Most would rather shop at the store, watch or play sports than spend time with God. This is hedonism. They may say “I am a Christian!” however in reality they are not. They are heathen for they do not “belong.” What they worship is the leisure, the sport the activity that is more important than God. What they wish to do before God is their god and so they are in reality not Christian, or Jewish or even Muslim. This leaves only one thing, they are heathen as is shown in the definition of the word.
We are given commandments that must be followed. Not out of a requirement to do so, but out of love and a desire to please that being that is at the center of our lives. Per the greatest commandment that is God Himself.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied, “’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Christianity on trial

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As I delve ever deeper into the book of Daniel going through chapter 11 which dealt with prophesies of Medo-Persia and Greece and especially With Antiochus Epiphanies. Beyond him is the future Antichrist, but he is an echo of what to look for in the person that is to come and cause havoc to the Jewish nation just before the advent of Christ at this second coming.
When I look at this “little horn” I see things that have happened to this nation since 2008 and I am astonish and just how corrupt the current administration is when compared to this that person that defiled the Temple of God in the second century B.C.
I could only come up with one conclusion. Christianity is on trial. God is purging out the chaff from the wheat and seeing who is truly loyal to Him and who prefers the world. As I ponder these facts I am shocked at just how many are falling short in the eyes of the Lord. Not me, for I have no room to comment. You see in Timothy 3:16 – 17 and Timothy 4:1 -5 we are told to as Christians we are to teach, profess and exhort the Holy Bible and to let people know that are sinning they are doing so. This is all I can do for if I do not I am disloyal to God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many do not like what I say, and I know why this is. But I will allow them to figure that out if they so desire.
What is important is that this trial, this purging is creating much more chaff then I would have ever dreamed as I grew up. I am somewhat bewildered by the silence of the body of Christ and the horrors of human sacrifice are allowed to continue under the guise of woman rights. I was stunned by the celebration for the human legitimization of sin and still those that profess to be a child of God were and are silent. Most do not see what is before them because they do not read the Bible themselves. If they hear the word at all it is usually bestowed unto them through someone who themselves does not believe that God is real. This I know to be fact for I have heard it in person.
What is to befall those that profess Christianity is already occurring in the Middle-East and many think it is impossible for such things to reach this nation, but in some ways it already has. What must be done is a revival. If this does not occur then this nation is destine to harsher and harsher hardships all because people refuse to acknowledge that this nation was formed by God for Christianity. For nothing can happen without God approval, even our judgment to see if we will awaken before it is too late.
Will Christianity awaken in time?

What will be in the eternal life?

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re-post
One think I can say for sure. Those that make it into the eternal life will not be sitting upon a cloud playing a harp.
What the Bible says will take place? There will be those that are called up into the Rapture and they at that time will receive an eternal body. These will then follow Christ upon His return to earth.
There will be a thousand year reign of Christ. With Him will be those from the Rapture helping Him rule. Simply they will be serving God helping to govern those that are alive after the Great Tribulation. Those that were martyred will serve God Himself in whatever task He so desires for them to do.
Once the Thousand year reign is completed and Satan is finally thrown into the pit of fire. Any that followed him will join him there with their own eternal bodies but instead of happiness they shall suffer for all eternity.
All we know for sure is that those that come through as loyal servants will be able to live in New Jerusalem. It does not say they will stay within it but that it will be where their home is.
Now the eternal body. This is something that needs to be understood more fully as well. It will be perfect and free of corruption for it says the corrupt shall put on the incorrupt. There will be no sex. Jesus stated that this will end. Why? For one reason there will be no need to reproduce since we will no longer die. This is the evolution to a higher live form that many think will take millions of years to take place and will only be open to those alive at that point when this evolving takes place leaving those that died before hand out.
The Bible makes it clear that ALL shall receive eternal bodies for all humanity that has ever lived but those that followed Satan will be destine to pain and misery. While those that followed God would be rewarded and see happiness.
The Great White Throne Judgment also addresses those that never heard of God. Their live shall be judged and there will be those that never knew God but lived good lives and they shall allowed to live in New Jerusalem. Those that are found wanting in the sight of God will join Satan in the pit.
So here is the thing. If you wish to “evolve” serve God and accept His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and follow all the teachings within the Bible and understand this: If it is called a sin in the Bible then it is a sin and you should turn your back upon it no matter the pain you must suffer now. For the pain you suffer now will never compare to the undying pain promised Satan and all his followers be they angel or human.

Christian music, who is being edified?

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Now it must be said that listening to Christian music is better than listening and supporting those that do not have or share Christian values. However, when we listen to it. We must do it in a way that follows the teachings of the Bible.
The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. So Christian music must seek the same goal. If it does not, it is something that needs to be addressed and corrected when it is necessary. Now this does not mean that we should not listen to music that helps us out time to time in our spiritual walk with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. However if it does not give glory to God or Jesus it should be something that we should not encourage.
Case in point, Francesca Battistelli’s “This is the stuff.” In this song she laments that she received a speeding ticket so she is having a bad day because of its. Here is the thing, per Titus 3:1 that she is speeding is a sin against God. The aim should be to seek forgiveness from God for sinning and also not to speed. However she is saying she is having a bad day because she sinned. So we need to find a way to be up lifted and make ourselves feel better due to getting a speeding ticket. This is not edification of God, but of herself. This also shows she has no true understanding of Christianity.
Let’s look at the titles from her latest album. Now I see “Holy Spirit,” yet its popularity is low. The top downloads from I-tunes is “Free to be me,” “Beautiful, Beautiful,” “I’m letting go,” and “It’s your life.” All have one focal point: the self. Not God, not Jesus. The person. Sorry, but I will never contribute to this woman’s so called “Christianity.”
Now let’s look at Phillips, Craig and Dean. Their top download is “Revelation Song.” This is a song that gives praise and glory to God. This is truly a song that can be called “Christian,” and is something that we should listen to and play as often as possible.
If God is to be our center point of our lives as is taught within the Bible. Anything that edifies and glorifies the person, makes the person the center point and not God. This is opposite the teachings of the Bible. Seeking to have yourself uplifted, reaffirmed and glorified is not Christianity. It is self-worship, and is fully against the teachings of the Bible. So in reality it is anti-Christian.
If you have a true relationship with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Playing songs that edify, reaffirm and glorify our Creator actually fills a person with joy. They remember that this life is temporary and fleeting and that our ultimate goal to one day stand before the throne of God and give Him the praise He is due.
So who is it you wish to edify?

Segregation

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Now this is not about what those on the left and in the black community are doing in the colleges and universities. This is about those that go to church and go into their little groups and who they “hangout with.” This self-segregation is actually nowhere to be found within the Bible.
Now as was hit upon in a previous post (Gather together ), there is really nothing that states we must go to church. Now here you will see and have the typical protest and also the mention of the seven churches within Revelation. Also the hierarchy of a “church” in Ephesians chapter four. However, has was established in Matthew 18. Christ’s purpose of gathering together was for the purpose of a set goal within the Body of Christ. Now again this can point to a “church” in the original meaning of the word. Nevertheless, modern day churches no longer fit this model. Now, for this part, they are nothing more than social clubs. A gathering place to gossip and talk sports, not God or the Bible. Sure some person stands on a dais or in a pulpit and talks about what appears to be a Biblical teaching. But most of the time in most churches this is not the case anymore.
Within this social club you will note that there are groups that hangout together. They will separate themselves from the others gathered there for the so-called worship of God. Yet they are not truly “gathering together.”
This self-imposed segregation is actually against the teachings of the Bible. It is something that must be addressed by those very leaders that are shown to be in control in Ephesians. Yet they do not. They do not wish to upset the status quo. Why? Because it will upset their membership of their social club and drive some of the gathered groups away. I would say let them. The bigger the “church,” the less actually gets done for God. Mainly due to the segregation that has taken place within these social clubs.
Do all get to learn the same lessons of God as other? No for Bible study groups are segregated.
Does the leadership instruct the members that talk of sports is not allowed within the building? No for that would drive most men out of the building.
Does the leadership instruct the members not to talk business? No, for once again this would drive away those within the club.
So as you can see. This is not the “churches” the Bible refers to and in actuality makes a lukewarm community. Thus fulfilling the discerption of the last of the seven churches in Revelation.
3:14 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation: 15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. 20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. 21 Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. 22 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”