Please do not refer to a church building as "God's house!" Nothing runs more contrary to the New Testament understanding of the church. God does not dwell in buildings made by hands (Acts 17:24). That believers are the house of God should be universally understood by Christians at this point. In fact, it ought to be at the level of cliche by now; yet I guarantee that next Sunday morning thousands of ministers and "laymen" across the country will gesture toward the sanctuary structure and say, "This is God's House" or "Don't run the house of the Lord" or some other such thing.

How will believers ever realize the riches of Christ that have been given them if they don't regularly hear that THEY ARE GOD'S DWELLING PLACE? Let us never say again that a building is a "church." What a travesty. On the other hand, take a few moments this week to remind a fellow believer (or yourself) that "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit."(1 Cor. 6:19)

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Week of April 24, 2005