The church that is in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19)

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For quite some time we have desired to visit with the brethren who worship in the town of Ilula. In the central part of Tanzania where we now live, there are few congregations.

Ilula is a town about 40 kilometers from Iringa. We arose early on Sunday, picked up Charles and Editha, and headed down from Iringa town to the main road. It has been extremely windy recently, and during the drive I felt the Land Cruiser being buffeted by the winds. At one point I stopped just to double check that the tires were fine (since last week I rotated the tires).

Our travel time took about one hour. Once we reached the town, we rendezvoused with the preacher and he directed us to his home. It certainly is reminiscent of New Testament times when a congregation met in the home of a member (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:19). Once we left the paved road, we made our way along a walk path, and I parked the vehicle on the edge of a recently harvested corn field.

We were warmly greeted by the small group of brethren. The congregation consists mainly of the preacher and his family, his daughter in law, and one elderly man. Once we were all seated, we sang a few songs, and then began a Bible class. The format was somewhat unusual, but understandable since they very rarely have visitors. The preacher read the verse from 2 Peter 3:8 and asked the question: "Does this verse have any connection to the days of creation?" It was sort of expected that I be the one to give answers. I made it clear that this context was dealing with the fact that even though mockers misconstrue the continuation of the world (3:3, 4), in actuality God is thoughtfully allowing the world to continue in order to give men time to repent (3:9). Verse eight ought not be torn from its context and misapplied to the creative activity of Jehovah. The context of Exodus 20 uses literal language to speak concerning days of labor for the Jews, and to illustrate the point reference is make to the days of creation. Read Exodus 20:11. Any honest Bible student will admit that were it not for the humanistic theory of Evolution, such a bizarre wresting of Scripture as the "day=age" theory would never have been conceived. Even our Lord stated clearly that "male and female" (a reference to Adam and Eve) were "made" from "the beginning" (Mark 10:6). If the "days" of creation were long eons of time, then this statement of the sinless Son of God would be inaccurate. What sober-minded Christian would dare to blaspheme so?

The next question raised was whether or not anyone can predict the time of the Lord's return. Another obvious abuse of 2 Peter 3:8 is to characterize it as a formula to be employed in the mathematical manipulation of date setters. Long have charlatans and self-proclaimed prophets taken: One day = One Thousand Years and plugged it into their "predictions." Speaking of the end of the world, Peter said it would come "as a thief." (2 Peter 3:10). Since when have thieves made an appointment with you; to politely see what was convenient for you?! See also Matthew 24:36.

During worship I delivered a sermon concerning Authority. We seem to respect Christ's New Testament authority regarding worship (i.e. no adding of what is not authorized; Colossians 3:17), but we need more work on personal holiness which is also enjoined upon believers (Romans 12:1, 2; Hebrew 12:1, 2). It was the first time in a long while that I preached, sitting down.

Following worship we all had the customary greetings and handshaking. It seems that the time was mutually encouraging. I asked myself how it might be if I worshiped week after week with only my family in our home. Such a thought made me appreciate how our visit must have felt to them.

We are giving consideration to making at least monthly visits with them in the future.
George 2011

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