Church of the Temple

Can you believe what you are fighting to believe: against society, family, internal desire and conflict? How do you believe, remain true within yourself, true to God, talk to those that are of this world, keep a job, and not bow to the image (ref. Daniel Ch 3)? How far is giving in, conceding, or allowing, before it is giving over, when you are talking about choices related to God Himself? Worship can be overt and in secret. It is also, in God’s esteem, simply that which chooses Him or not Him. This is an important point. Expedience, steps to avoid unpleasantness, the easy path, even just avoiding conflict, when done so as to not confront God’s Truth is the very basis of God’s definition of sin. Choosing what man has declared instead of what God has declared is the foundation of the fall of man.

A ministry to . . .

• Support faith
• Counter fear
• Support health and proper stewardship of the body
• Work with, to build, to better, to improve, to strive to value the Temple of the Lord
• Support understanding of the spiritual implications/aspects/distinction related to the physical body and God’s explicit declarations of His place in us

I Corinthians 6:19-20

What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

I Corinthians 6:13

Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

I Corinthians 6:15

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

I Corinthians 3:16-17

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

References:

I Corinthians 9:27

But I keep under my body, and bring it to subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

II Corinthians 4:10

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Galatians 6:17

From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:20

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be in life, or by death.

John 2:21

But he spake of the temple of his body.

* Read the preceding and following verses for each referenced verse to appreciate what the referenced verse is to convey. All scripture references should be diligently reviewed and set in context, understood with meaning as written and intended, cross referenced with each other relevant teaching to see and to bring within us the value as God desired us to know.

The first concept to understand, what is physical and done to or with the body is not the foundation of corruption; it is choice, the willful acceptance of what is done to or taken in that substantiates the concept of sin. Choice is a fundamental precept to understand. An example: making a building is not an act against God. Attempting to show that you can make bigger than God or even reach God Himself by your own power, that is blasphemy. That is sin, as the desire is to do without God Himself, let alone not acknowledge God as center. Compare that with eating or working or having a pleasant life. None of these things is wrong, meaning sin, as an act of itself. Any of these, however, done without tribute to God in heart and deed is the opportunity we lost, were ashamed of, were afraid to acknowledge, even to just show God, what value we place in Him. When choice is made in spite of God, in fear of man, in search of empowerment to gain ease, time, or life by the machinations of man himself rather than by the grace of our holy Lord, we have spoken our choice. Sin is not an act, it is a choice.
If we build up the body, the residing home of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, to glorify and offer honor for what we have and what we are given, that is worship. If, on the other hand, we take into the body by selfish desire, for personal glory, or out of fear for what man will do to us, that is the act of forsaking the Lord. Further, as purposeful in choice, it is a willful act proclaiming there is one to fear more than God, as God is of no consequence.

The specific ministry here is not the totality for, nor the entirety of, the salvation message. It is purposefully for the true believers. It is for those with doubts or questions. Those feeling oppressions generated by those of this world to chip away initially by the smallest of bits, then with more until you face the full driven onslaught.

It is a beacon for support. A rallying cry to stand solid in your beliefs in God, His Word, His promise, our purpose. A place to confront the challenges presented. A place to be comforted by a knowledge societal pressure is not the answer you should take comfort in. It is to affirm you have reason to stand strong. Come here and bolster against the batterings, against the railings to common sense, which is the basic nature God has bestowed on us in knowing Right and Wrong. Compare your desire to act with the word of God and you can know Right and Wrong with all certainty. This ministry is to help support that.

This is also a welcoming home to any that are trying to make sense of the world. Those that question. It may be you were directed here by a small quiet voice, nudging you to look. These also we can support. Know you need not be perfect to seek God. You may still even have many doubts because of how you live, or what you choose. This is the very essence of who God wishes to reach – those that desire more than what man can offer; the greater answer, the greatest purpose, the true meaning of why we were created and what we are to do with that creation.

That very creation, our bodies, the home of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, the seat of God within us – do we understand that concept? Our body, His Temple, what can we do with what He has given us? Conversely, what do you see is the alternative: what is it we have done to this body and what do we choose to do against Him through this self-same vessel?

The Church of the Temple is a church home for a ministry. It is not a statement about who may or who may not belong; God answers these questions Himself and is abundantly clear for those earnestly seeking to know. It is a ministry of support. It is a place for those who see the damage and wish to know there is more for them. Come here and be supported.