One of the problems I have observed throughout my Christian life while listening to or speaking with those in the Lord’s body as well as others which hold different beliefs is they don’t seem to fully understand what it is God expects from them. Although some barely grasp the fundamentals; generally, members have relied on professional ministers and/or elders to tell them what they should believe. There doesn’t seem to be any concept as to what liberties or freedoms we as Christians have or in what areas we may worship that is sanctioned by the scriptures. Focus, it seems, has been on getting everyone to conform to just one way of thinking, which is a subtle way of saying, “obey the elders” without exception, and follow the beliefs of your denomination as there is no room for deviation from accepted traditions! The corporate system we try to worship under today has become centralized and so financially driven, complicated and formalized we have lost the true meaning of what first century worship consisted of and how it was meant to be done on a daily basis, not just on “the Lord’s day” as Sunday is often called.

Fear and ignorance seems to be the norm. Fear often comes from ignorance. And there is as much on one side of the pulpit as the other. Leaders may be sincere and have an excellent grasp of fundamental doctrine yet, fail to understand their proper role in God’s Ecclesia; and routinely act out of ignorance, poor judgment or perhaps fear they will lose control of their charges. Do they really believe every Christian must obey them without question? Should all they advocate be viewed as correct? In over fifty-five years in the Lord’s body my experience has been, yes, they believe themselves correct in all things, expect to be obeyed, and yes, the membership usually believes they must also.

It grieves my heart to see just how often members of the Lord’s congregations are intimidated or often bullied into strict obedience to things God never commanded; or held to standards he never set. How often have members been told, “You can’t do certain things in this congregation because it is not one of our traditions or because elders or ministers have ruled against it; when in reality, they can. And week after week it is hammered home, often by salaried employees with more spiritual and moral problems than those he preaches to, just how sinful and carnal minded members are for not conforming to the leadership’s standards; and are made to feel guilty if they don’t comply. Whether it is an over-bearing preacher with a “messiah complex” that thinks he is God’s answer to all of of God's children's problems or some group of elders that truly believe God has turned over complete control of his body to them only compounds the problem. But I find no verse of scripture that tells me I must obey any person because they have been given some “official” title by their denomination such as, elder, bishop, priest, deacon, ordained minister or any man-made commandment for that matter!

Regrettably, a desire for control more so than spiritual considerations are the real motives behind their actions. Even to the point sometimes of forbidding members to discuss congregational issues among themselves; claiming it is sinful or divisive; when they are guilty of the same. Much of the material found on this website obviously will be considered controversial because it goes against many traditions taught in the Lord’s body as well as other denominations and exposes them for what they are; not binding or scriptural!

This website is an effort by an individual who has served as a minister of the Lord’s faithful for over five decades, but come to realize much of what we call worship is not necessary, too formal and in many cases highly questionable! Therefore I have striven to correct numerous misunderstandings, erroneous/harmful traditions, mistranslations and misapplied scripture prevalent among a majority of its members. I realize some reading articles posted here will agree but may remain comfortable with their situation and will do nothing to change it. That, of course, is your choice.

However, if you want to actually worship as they did in the first century; it is not only possible but practical and extremely easy and can be done almost immediately. Only two things are required; 1) you must first understand what they were allowed to do and not do. Who were actually considered “leaders” and how they led their congregation; what is applicable to us today and what is not. 2) You need to stop trying to worship under a corporate structured system that was nowhere authorized or recognized by Christ or any apostle. Therefore we need to get rid of all of the little cliques, clichés, favoritism, church politics and spiritual mumbo-jumbo continuously spouted by overly pious, ineffectual leadership. Knowing what has been commanded and what has not, is truly liberating. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Jn 8:32. This website serves two main purposes: 1) to give a deeper understanding of what the first century Christians actually taught and practiced and 2) how we may return to its teaching and to encourage you to do what you know to be right.

J.D. Williams~