The scripture in II Corinthians 13:5 commands; "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” Not only should we examine ourselves, our churches also must be examined to see how many of our church practises are scriptural and godly or not. Throughout the centuries since Jesus started building -the church in the world, various men and women have risen up to also build their own churches, though they claim to come from Christ. And in each century, God has raised up men to warn and woo them to build according to Scriptural pattern. While some listened, others keep on doing church in the wrong way, with wrong motives and their end has always been tragic. Church history is replete with stories of men and women like that.

It has been discovered that there are only three kinds of ministers when it comes to practices in our churches. These churches are our churches simply because of what is being practised in those churches. If they are going to be His church, many of our practices will have to undergo a drastic change. Here are they:

1. Ministers who are building their own kingdom - 45%
2. Ministers who are building their own kingdom and that of God - 35%
3. Ministers who are building the kingdom of God only ­20%.

You will discover that ministers that are building their own kingdom carry a whole whopping forty-five and those building their own kingdom plus God's kingdom followed closely with
thirty-five percent. Twenty percent are only those building the kingdom of God . Any wonder why true Christianity and godly churches are a rarity today.

Many of the ungodly and unscriptural practises of our churches can be directly attributed to the eighty percent that are in the ministry to build and feather their own kingdom. Since it is not possible to build your own kingdom and that of God at the same time, we can safely conclude then that eighty percent of ministers are in the group of those building their own kingdom and their practises in the church is a clear pointer to that. And it is these practices that make these churches our churches and not His church.

OUR CHURCHES - DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION
The term - 'our churches', can be defined as religious groups which claim authorization by Christ and the Bible, but neglect to practise the truth of the scriptures. It also means worship centers founded by men who claimed to come from Christ, but in reality are only building their own personal kingdoms due to unscriptural practices and examples.

In consonance with these definitions, there are many churches; be it Pentecostal, Charismatic, Evangelical, Orthodox and Apostolic that can be labeled as 'our churches' today. They cannot all be out rightly labeled as 'cults', but they show a strong bias towards that end. In these our churches, you will find anyone of the following traits being flagrantly displayed. Segmental Biblical Attention: These churches believe only in a segment of the scriptures in dogmatic isolation of the rest of the scriptures. They emphasize one line of truth to the neglect of other truths of the scriptures. If they emphasize faith, they will not balance it with faithfulness. If they emphasize power, they will not balance it with purity. If they emphasis healings, they will not balance it with holiness unto the Lord. Extra - Biblical Revelation: Many of these 'churches' claim special revelation from the 'Lord' that

It is in these churches you will find polygamists as pastors; conducting the Lord's Supper to sinners in a crusade ground, feet washing, candle lighting and mantle. They always claim that these things are being done due to special revelation from the Lord.

One of such church leader claimed that he received a revelation that all the members of his church should come to a vigil stark naked in preparation for a crusade meeting. And many gullible men and women attended and prayed nakedly inside the church for three days. Well, the outcome was that the Overseer slept with and impregnated almost all the members and everything scattered.

There was also another one who usually do feet-washing for his people in the guise that they would come in contact with miracle wherever they go. There are many others that space will not permit here.

False Salvation:
These 'churches' teach wrong basis for salvation. They believe that man is good and should just accept Jesus and everything will be okay. They don't talk about sin, because according to them it will make the people to be sin conscious. Once you accept Jesus and you are prayed for by the leader, you are declared a child of God, even if your life did not change. Many Pentecostal Bishops and Charismatic Churches are found in this error.

True repentance, being sorrowful for sins and having a contrite heart has been preached against and the slogan is; "keep the people happy and everything will be okay". Any small wonder that genuine Christianity have not really increased despite the mush­rooming of these. 'churches'?

Enslavement and Bondage: There is always a man set on top of the pedestal of these our churches - who is always proud, garrulous, extravagant and authoritarian, who will never allow the followers to be free. He preaches against other churches and believes that he is all they need. He has all the anointing, knowledge, revelation and grace to lead them to paradise. The people are thereby kept in bondage, servitude and enslavement. Whoever tries to leave is branded an anti-Christ and dealt with severely. Fear, coercion and threats are used to bring followers into bondage and enslavement.

  Worldly Mindedness:
You could not really differentiate between the world and these so called churches, because they are in active competition. Every kind of fashion, music and pleasure you find among sinners and those who don't know God are also found in abundance among and amidst these 'our churches'.

Worldly standards are adhered to and worldly ways of doing things are brought in to run the show in the 'church'. The people are encouraged to get as much of this world as possible, because we are 'kings and children of royalty'. Actually, they are in the world and of the world, the more reason the world hears them.

You will always find these six traits among and amidst those churches that I have come to label as 'our churches'. Of course, they are not limited to these six, but they are helpful starting points when looking for traits of churches that are ours and not His.

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