Why Go To Church?

In a story called The Lonely Ember, Dr. John MacArthur writes:

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.

After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.

After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination.

As the one lone ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and “dead as a doornail.”

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.

Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.”

Satan wrote you a letter.

Pray.
Really.  Pray.  Find a quiet place, calm down, relax, take away all distractions, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart.  Throughout the past few months, Satan has tried to sift you like wheat.  Our church has great Godly leaders and pastors, and workers.  We follow the Word.  We preach the Word.  We volunteer our time and inspiration, but do we pray?  One of our pastors has taken upon himself to pray over every seat in the sanctuary once a week.  
If we are truly going to do what God has called the church to do, we should BEGIN everything and END everything with prayer and pray IN BETWEEN times as well.  It should envelope our lives, our children, our husband and wife, our workplace, our workouts, our problems, and our praises!  At this time in our church history, we need prayer for guidance and direction, finances, soul winning, etc. more than ever!  Satan never takes a vacation from you, why do we do that with God?

Here is a letter from Satan to you.  

"Hello.
I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores.  You awoke without kneeling to pray.  As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals or pray before going to bed last night.  You are so unthankful, and I like that about you.

I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living.  Fool, you are mine.

Remember, you and I have been going steady for years, and I still don't love you yet.  As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God.  I am only using you to get even with God.  He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay Him back.
You see, Fool, God Loves you and He has great plans in store for you.  But you have yielded your life to me, and I'm going to make your life a living hell.  That way, we'll be together twice.  This will really hurt God.

Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we've had.  We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes.

Surely, you don't want to give all this up.  Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever.  I've got some hot plans for us.  This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you.  I'd like to say 'THANKS!' for letting me use you for most of your foolish life.  you are so gullible, I laugh at you.

When you are tempted to sin, you give in - Ha, Ha, HA, you make me sick.  Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life.  you look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood.  So go ahead and teach some children how to sin.  All you have to do what you are now doing.  Do this in the presence of children and they will do it too.  Kids are great like that.

Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now.  I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again.  If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left.  It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning; it's becoming a bit ridiculous.  Don't get me wrong, I still hate you.  It's just that you'd make a better fool for Christ.

Your Enemy,
  Satan."

Be careful!  Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. 
(1 Peter 5:8)

Pray.
I mean really pray. Quiet your heart, remove all distractions, and ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart...because what you are about to read may be the most important thing you see all week.
My prayer for you? Treat this letter like it is real, and written for you.
- See more at: http://www.dare2share.org/devotions/a-message-you-cant-afford-to-miss/#sthash.QY9XftXL.dpuf

Pray.
I mean really pray. Quiet your heart, remove all distractions, and ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart...because what you are about to read may be the most important thing you see all week.
My prayer for you? Treat this letter like it is real, and written for you.

A LETTER TO YOU FROM SATAN
I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so unthankful, I like that about you.
I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine.
Remember, you and I have been going steady for years. and I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.
You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me, and I'm going to make your life a living hell. That way, we'll be together twice. This will really hurt God.
Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we've had. We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes.
SURELY you don't want to give all this up. Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you.
When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life.
You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is smoke, get drunk or drink while under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.
Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning; it's becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.
Your Enemy,
Satan

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. (I Peter 5:8)

- See more at: http://www.dare2share.org/devotions/a-message-you-cant-afford-to-miss/#sthash.QY9XftXL.dpuf

Pray.
I mean really pray. Quiet your heart, remove all distractions, and ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart...because what you are about to read may be the most important thing you see all week.
My prayer for you? Treat this letter like it is real, and written for you.

A LETTER TO YOU FROM SATAN
I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so unthankful, I like that about you.
I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine.
Remember, you and I have been going steady for years. and I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.
You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me, and I'm going to make your life a living hell. That way, we'll be together twice. This will really hurt God.
Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we've had. We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes.
SURELY you don't want to give all this up. Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you.
When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life.
You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is smoke, get drunk or drink while under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.
Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning; it's becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.
Your Enemy,
Satan

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. (I Peter 5:8)

- See more at: http://www.dare2share.org/devotions/a-message-you-cant-afford-to-miss/#sthash.QY9XftXL.dpuf

Pray.
I mean really pray. Quiet your heart, remove all distractions, and ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart...because what you are about to read may be the most important thing you see all week.
My prayer for you? Treat this letter like it is real, and written for you.

A LETTER TO YOU FROM SATAN
I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so unthankful, I like that about you.
I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine.
Remember, you and I have been going steady for years. and I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.
You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me, and I'm going to make your life a living hell. That way, we'll be together twice. This will really hurt God.
Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we've had. We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes.
SURELY you don't want to give all this up. Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you.
When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life.
You look 20 years older, and now, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is smoke, get drunk or drink while under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.
Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning; it's becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.
Your Enemy,
Satan

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. (I Peter 5:8)

- See more at: http://www.dare2share.org/devotions/a-message-you-cant-afford-to-miss/#sthash.QY9XftXL.dpuf