DANNY CASTLE - WHY PEOPLE LEAVE A CHURCH!!

Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

There are numerous reasons why people quit going to church. Usually the church blames the person who left, but from my perspective, the church is usually to blame. To get right to the point, people leave a church because they don't feel loved. I know firsthand that lonely feeling of visiting a church, and they make you feel like they couldn't care less if you're there or not. It's like they expect you to be there, because it is biblical, and that's the end of the story. Well, life doesn't work that way.

Yes, it is biblical that every believer ought to faithfully be a part of a local New Testament church. Look at our text passage of Scripture from Hebrews 10:25b, which says, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.” By the way, the reference to “as the manner of some is,” refers to unsaved people, not backslidden or baby believers. Hebrews 10:26, “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” Some false prophets say that this Scripture means salvation can be lost. No, it means that if you reject Jesus as your personal Savior, there is no other way to be saved. Notice the mention to “the knowledge of the truth.” This refers to THE GOSPEL, by which we are saved, to them that believe (Romans 1:16). The Bible doesn't say “if we sin wilfully after we receive the gift of eternal life.” No, it says, “if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth.” So if you reject the Gospel (i.e., the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen), there remains no other sacrifice for your sins, and no other way to be redeemed.

The Holy Bible teaches that every believer needs to be in a local church. The Bible does not say to be there three times a week. I've heard preachers say, “Three to thrive!” That is, being in church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. Yet, if going to church is that critical, then why don't churches have Wednesday noon services for working men? Most men don't have enough seniority to work dayshift, and therefore, cannot attend Wednesday night Bible studies at church. Yet, pastors berate their congregations, making them feel guilty for skipping church. I think many churches ought to offer more services than just three times a week. And a pastor ought to let his people know that they don't have to be at all the services to be right with God. The great preacher, Pastor Dwight L. Moody (called “Crazy Moody” by the ungodly world) had services seven days a week, two services per night, because there were simply too many people breaking down the doors to hear God's man preach. Boy, we need some of that today!!! We've become too mechanical in God's work, playing church, going through the motions. The world is dying for something real, for churches that break the mold. We need pastors who think outside the box of dead Christendom.

The reason why many people and families stop coming to church is because they feel unwanted. I attended a local Baptist church one time on Guam, back in 2009. My life was in shambles, devastated after a divorce I didn't want in 2006. My life is still in shambles, and I am often lonely. I am looking for a wife, and praying, and in the Lord's time I hope to remarry. I remember sitting in back of the church and often crying during the congregational singing and special music, with a broken heart. I have always been a quiet person, keeping to myself, which is my personality (which is why it is hard for me to find a wife). No one reached out to me. The church uses the modern Bibles. They have since officially removed the name “Baptist” from their church. But when I was visiting faithfully for two months in 2009, no one befriended me. I remember the senior pastor saying one day from the pulpit, “Some of you are like big teenagers, you expect us to come up to you and befriend you, but you need to open up and talk to us.” I couldn't believe that he said that. It was a short time afterwards that I left and never went back, not because I was disgruntled, but because I simply didn't feel like anyone cared, that no one loved me there, and I felt like a misfit. I was hurting and at the bottom of life.

You know, that senior pastor is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. He also has a degree in psychology, go figure. And yet he, and I say this kindly, was so shallow that he couldn't even reach out to someone with a broken heart who was a loner. I am indeed like a big teenager, and I admit it, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's why I often wear my cap backwards (or maybe my head is on backwards...lol). I still feel like I'm 15 years old in my heart, and I like that. Brother Hyles teaches in his books that we ought to be a child, adolescent, adult. I like ice cream! I spent over $150 the other day for everything to bake Christmas cookies! I bought a dozen bottles of sprinkles, all the different color decorative icing, cookie cutter molds, four bags of sugar-cookie mix, and five packages of refrigerated cookie mix. I bought cinnamon candies for the eyes for my snowman cookies, and I'm going bake cookies! I overhead the pastor's wife (at a local Baptist church I am attending now), tell a group of small boys a couple months ago: “Men don't bake cookies!” She didn't know I was planning on baking cookies, and I didn't know it either at the time, but I AM GOING TO BAKE COOKIES! I say truthfully... MEN DO BAKE COOKIES! I am not married, so if I don't bake cookies, who will? I can't wait to give her some of my cookies...lol. I am going to decorate and bake lots of tasty cookies for OTHERS!