How hard is it to find a good church today? Are we asking for too much?

• Not hostile to homeschoolers;
• Not hostile to God's Law;
• Doesn't practice legalism and other heresies;
• Doesn't spend a fortune on itself.

We'd like to find a good church, but we'd settle for one that simply didn't serve evil in significant ways. We'd like to find one:

• Structured to embrace homeschooling philosophies of parent-led education, family togetherness, non-age-graduated segregation, etc.;
• Embracing all of God's Word, not just the New Testament;
• No legalism or other major heresies practiced or preached;
• Modest facilities, or better yet, no facilities or staff (i.e., housechurch).

We'd like to find one that didn't believe immersion baptism was saving--or anything more than ceremonially symbolic, just as the [church-rejected] mikvah was for centuries before. We'd like to find one that didn't believe "tongues" (what's called a "prayer language") was the only valid evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, despite what the Word clearly says (and despite the fact that a "prayer language" isn't even Biblical). We'd like to find one that didn't ban dancing in contrast to Biblical commands, or alcoholic consumption in moderation (even going to the ridiculous extreme of claiming Biblical alcohol had no alcohol). We'd like to find one that properly understood that Biblical tithing cannot be practiced today. Tithes are commanded to not be money, but animals and crops, and are part of the economic system of the tribes (namely, to provide for the Levites), and must be delivered at the Temple. Today's contributions are not tithes, but willful, cheerful donations; and you don't "owe" 10%, but the Lord owns 100% of everything anyway. Give only cheerfully, not from obligation and church-induced guilt. We'd like to find a church that didn't implicitly "require" weekly attendance, as if these were enough to be judged Christian. These are all very common legalisms practiced by much of the church today. Looking at formal, published denominational doctrines, all known [to me] denominations are heretical, just based on these few legalistic heresies stated here.

Beyond this, though, we'd like to find a church that embraced all of God's Word, not just the New Testament. So much has been preached on grace that a strawman has been built, named the Law, and torn down time and again. The Law was never a formula for achieving salvation--the Bible never even suggests this. The Law is for our protection and guidance. It's for our safety. If we follow it, we do so willingly and cheerfully, knowing our Father wants only the best for us (not from us). In fact, there are no major doctrines introduced in the New Testament (other than the rapture--and it can be argued it's only a minor doctrine) that aren't already taught more pervasively in the "Old" Testament. With the "Old", the New doesn't even make any sense. We'd like to find a church that didn't throw the baby out with the bath water.

We'd like to find a church that actively studied and sought out God's will in the Word. We'd like to find one with the intellectual capacity to discover, learn, and then teach Biblical doctrine on levels deeper than the most superficial. We'd like to find a church that actively discipled believers instead of merely "saving" them. We'd like to find a church where there was a place for maturing believers, those seeking Biblical perfection (not sinlessness, as most incorrectly believe, but maturity and completeness, as commanded in Matthew 5:48). We'd like to find a church that wasn't collectively so immature as to not even get the basics of the faith correct (see rant on legalism above).

We'd like to find a church that promoted personal and corporate holiness, but didn't "require" it, a la legalism. We'd like to find one actively fasting, praying, studying, remaining silent and listening, and purposely responding to the Lord's still-spoken will. We'd like to find one that allowed for the use of the gifts of the Spirit, but didn't use them to feel superior or make their use the point of the faith. We'd like to find a church whose leadership didn't implicitly demand clergy-worship. We'd like to find a church whose purpose is to nurture and disciple the believers so they may, in turn, minister to the lost and the hurting--where believers are all ordained as clergy and leaders (priesthood of all believers) and equipped accordingly. We'd like to find a church where the 80/20 rule was really 100/100.

We'd like to find a church that correctly recognized Israel as God's prophetic timepiece, so to speak. We'd like a church that supported God's chosen people and nation, that recognized all Christian believers as being grafted into the Jewish roots, that understood roughly the same percentage of Jews as Gentiles are saved, that Jerusalem is the center of the world, that the Law has not passed away. We'd like a church that correctly believes premillennialism and Israel's Biblical role therein.

We'd like to find a good church. Until then, we'll lead one of our own.