Articles
A Missing Candlestick
In the eyes of the Lord, a local church of Christ is symbolized by a beautiful candlestick [lampstand]. Christ once promised a church that if it did not repent He would come and remove its candlestick from its place (Revelation 2:5). How much time Christ will grant for repentance, or how far a church may stray from His teaching before He will finally remove its candlestick, only the Lord knows. Yet when I see a congregation begin to. . .
Institutionalize its work,
Immortalize its elders,
Glamorize its preachers,
Organize its members,
Subsidize its activities,
Modernize its worship,
Demonize strong preaching,
Compromise God’s standards,
Minimize divine authority,
Apostatize from the Bible pattern,
Baptize the untaught or unrepentant,
Fraternize with the world,
Advertise carnal appeals,
Rationalize its actions, and
Criticize those who won’t go along,
chances are, the Lord has already pulled a candlestick!
— Adapted from a 1960’s church bulletin
