The Full Restoration
The restoration of man back into the image of God

The Full Restoration is the outcome of working among Churches of Christ for over 40 years. I converted to Christ while serving on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. I was baptized off the coast of Smyrna, Turkey, in 1975. 

There was a small group of Christians meeting on the ship who all wanted to learn. We were studying and often had baptisms to perform whenever we pulled into a port. I noticed during this early time that the most undependable member was the son of an elder. He should have been the leader of this small group. Everyone else had been a Christian for two years or less. Instead of being a leader, we saw him the least.

When we returned to the States, I was excited about the chance to attend a "real" church. We were a small group of young, inexperienced men. We were too embarrassed to sing out loud. Our lessons were exercises in shared ignorance. 

I quickly realized there were serious problems in the church in Virginia. The Bible study had so much arguing that I usually had no idea what they were discussing. Classes sometimes covered less than a verse because of all the bickering. I wanted to quit but didn't know where else to go (2Tim. 2:14). I thought that church must be an anomaly and everything would be better in other places. I was leaving the Navy soon and moving on to greener pastures, or so I hoped. 

Preaching was the only thing I wanted to do when I left the Navy. After moving to FL for school, I was asked to be a witness, along with the local preacher, in a property dispute between two brothers. As a witness trying to determine the truth, I looked into the business dealings of one of the brothers. When asked, his business partners always described the "faithful deacon" in animal terms. They always used terms like weasel, skunk, and snake. 

The preacher rebuked me for looking into everything. He said a witness must not investigate. They should just listen to the brothers and decide based on that. I was just trying to figure out the truth. The real problem was I was finding the wrong truth about the wrong person. That couldn't be tolerated. I ended up walking away from that congregation. 

Too soon, and with minimal instruction, I started preaching "full-time." I was unaware of how ignorant, naïve, and unprepared I truly was. The first congregation I worked with had elders. They ensured that certain men led singing during hunting season. Any who were not assigned song-leading that day would be deer hunting instead.  At least they were responsible enough to show up on the mornings they were assigned song-leading most of the time. Everything else with the group was as careless and slack, with great resistance to change. I also found out that the congregation was known locally for fist-fights in the building in past years.  

I worked with another congregation in FL. They claimed to want someone to do personal work. We had 19 baptisms in the first 11 months. Some members got upset. "It was our money and sweat that built this building. Now, these new people will come and take over!" That was just one of the problems. The most mean, bitter, hateful behavior I have ever seen was in their business meetings. So much for sound, faithful churches; at least that's what some people call them. 

One of the members in FL warned me of the plot that succeeded in running me and all the new converts off. I moved on to KY. That's when I began to see the jealousy, gossip, and worldliness among some preachers. Similar lessons have been learned in other states as well. 

A member called another church in KY "the church of the darting eyes" while I worked with them for a short time. It was both funny and sad because it was so true. The church had two groups sitting on opposite sides of the center aisle. I heard both sides make many charges against other members, including Satanism. I was never able to confirm the Satanism charges, but with the members involved, I still cannot deny them.

By this all will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another.

John 13:35

In my years of preaching, I have had the privilege of meeting some of the best people and also with some of the worst. The best have been wonderful fellowship, and the worst have been very educational. They have helped me better understand the true purpose of the church better than I ever have before.

Satan uses false religion to blind people from "seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:4). The gospel isn't just good news; it is the greatest news. Christ is the true Son in the image of God, and we can share in His glory! 

What is it to be part of a congregation where everyone hopes for God's glory? They would love each other as Christ loves us. And, they would strive to be as pure as He is. As more congregations fill with Christians living like Christ, people will see the good news of his glory. 

In reality, churches are too often like old Israel. Sin filled Israel as the people failed to live before Jehovah with joy and thankfulness. The young children never saw the glory of God lived before them (Micah 2:9). Children grow up today and too often walk away from churches. Often, they are not walking away from God. They are walking away from churches that never learned to live the grace and truth that is the glory of God (Joh. 1:14). 

I walked away from the Baptist church when I was 13. I went into the world and raised myself. I did such a good job that by the time I was 17 I had to join the Navy to escape felony charges during the Vietnam War. I slowly realized we cannot reject God simply because other people do. Without knowing where to start, I started searching. After studying with people from various religions, I chose baptism into Christ (Rom. 6:3, Gal. 3:26-27). 

It didn't take long to notice some doctrinally-sound churches that didn't resemble Christianity. Too often, there was anger, bitterness, jealousy, and fear. Instead of love, joy, peace, mercy, zeal, and thankfulness. 

As an example, I moved to work with a church in TX because of promises of opportunities to teach. After I arrived, the one who convinced me to move admitted his description of the church was dishonest. They had been engaged in internal conflict for years before I arrived. The strife continued. I worked there for six years, never knowing if I would survive another six months. A member asked me what I thought the solution was to their ongoing problems. I said the solution is in Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, and Daniel 9. All three chapters contain prayers of repentance. He exploded in anger and yelled, "There's not going to be any repentance here!" When no one cared about his attitude, I finally gave up at that place. I even told the church I was through with preaching. 

My wife wanted me to quit much earlier for our family's sake. Preaching was extremely difficult for our children. I was too blind to see how difficult it had been until after damage was done. Men I didn't know called to encourage me. They said quitting preaching was the best thing they had done for their families. Very sad. 

I am sympathetic with Jeremiah. I have wanted to quit, but can't (Jer. 20:9). The promise of the gospel is too great. The news is too good to remain silent. The good news is that God still loves all of us and wants to save us all and bring all of us into His family. 

The gospel calls us "for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2Th. 2:14) This enables us to live a life rejoicing "in hope of the glory of God." (Rom. 5:2). Do you know of any better news than receiving the glory of God? Any goal less than receiving the glory of God is the wrong goal.  

Seeing bad behavior in churches has helped me. The solution to our problems is not in restoring the church to its original form. That is always a goal, but it is not the goal. We must focus on restoring the image of God in each one of us. If we do that, then, and only then, the church can become what it ought to be. 

We are called to be filled with the fullness of God. We must live as God's children, reflecting His image in all we do. Yes - you are to be the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19). As when people saw Jesus, they could see the Father (Joh. 14:9), when people see us, they should see Jesus living in us.

We now have God's eternal plan revealed, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). If Christ is in you, you have a real hope of glory. If Christ is not in you, there is no hope for you at all.   

We must be Christians who continue to grow more like Christ because we want to be like Him when we see Him as He is (1Jn. 3:2-3).