Hello. Thanks for stopping by.

My name is Sigel, the pastor of Love Christian Fellowship in Anchorage Alaska.

I don't wear a suit, I don't sing hymns, and I don't speak "Christianeze". I don't even know the secret Christian handshake! I am a regular person just like you.

I don't want you to send me money, and I don't want you to be just like me. I just want to point you towards God. I want for you to be the best you that can possibly be, I want you to be the you that God intended. 

I do not depend on book sales, donations, or any other source of income that might influence my ministry or cause me to compromise my message or mince words. 

I do not feel any particular pressure to conform to the stereotypes people generally have about Christians.

I teach the Bible in a straight forward manner, and I have no denominational restrictions or biases to conform to. I practice my Christianity the same way the first Christians did before Christianity became institutionalized.

This places me in an extraordinary position to speak my mind, teach what the Bible really says, and to explain to you what I believe God wants you to know. 

I understand that this Church may not be for everyone, but I also understand that there are many Churches that don't fit everyone also. We have been called "alternative" by some, and I don't know if this term actually describes us or not. We love the Lord, we love each other, and we do our best to live our lives in a way that we believe is pleasing to Him. If this is alternative, sobeit, we just thought this is what we were supposed to be doing. 

Becoming a Christian has been the single most amazing thing that has ever occured in my life, and I have been amazed daily for the past twenty six years.

I am completely amazed by the Bible, both by its simplicity and complexity, and know that it contains the answers to the greatest questions in the universe. 

I believe the Bible holds the keys to understanding both this life, and the next.

Love Christian Fellowship is a very small Predenominational Church.

Predenominational means our roots and our teachings go all the way back to the first Christian Church, and not just the reformers.

We meet in a modest building and wear normal clothes. 

We are regular people. 

We serve communion with real bread and wine every Sunday evening just as Jesus' disciples did. 

We play real music, and we teach right out of the Bible. 

We don't-a talk like-a this-a to make the scriptures-a "more exciting", and we don't add false doctrines. 

We don't stomp our feet, yell, or flail our arms to work 
you up into an emotional frenzy.

We don't teach that God will make everybody rich if you just send us money. We don't even send offering plates around and hound you for money. We have a small wooden "Love" box that you can drop your gifts in if you choose to support our ministry.

Matthew 6:3-4 
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

In the Bible, God tells us to use natural stones to build an altar, and that if 
you use dressed stones (those that have been "improved" by man), you defile 
the altar.

Exodus NIV 20:25 
If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, 
for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.

Exodus KJB 20:25 
 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: 
for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

This same idea is true for His Church today. God chooses those He wants use in 
His Church and provides them with the tools to accomplish His desires. 
Too often we judge those in the Church with the same standards of the world. 
We expect those called by God to look, talk, and perform the same way secular people do. We want that same "polish" that we see in business speakers,  the 
same ability to entertain as entertainers, or we want our "ministers" to be as 
beautiful as those we see in Hollywood. 

Is the speaker then, teaching you about God's message, or has the speaker become the message? What about the next speaker with just a little more flash, that is just a little more convincing, but with a false message?

These are God's servants not yours!

God's Word does not need polishing or "improving" to be acceptable to us. We wonder why "prosperity" doctrines, "God wants you rich", bizarre "slain in the Spirit" and "Name it and Claim it" teachings keep showing up in the Church. They keep showing up because many people want to see these things, because they looking for that extra "zing". We just can't imagine that God could use normal everyday people to accomplish His plans.

Well, He does!

Exodus 4:10 - 12 NIV
Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."  The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Unhewn Christians

We tend to dress Church people in business clothes to participate in Church rituals, regardless of their normal attire. We critique ministers according to their ability to "fit in" with the business world, tv entertainers, or academia, rather than measuring whether their heart is open to God. Is it any surprise then, when we are mislead?

I'm not saying that those in business or entertainment should not go to Church, but rather that the Church should not merely turn into entertainment or into a business. The Church is the Body of Christ, and not just another networking opportunity or a place to find new recruits (or romantic interests). 

Many people are put off going into the ministry because they feel they can not 
perform to secular standards. These same people already have the very attributes needed by the people they should be ministering to, and that God has provided them with. If you are a Christian, YOU ARE IN THE MINISTRY!

James 2:1-4 
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, 
don't show favoritism. 2  Suppose a man comes into your meeting 
wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes 
also comes in. 3  If you show special attention to the man wearing fine 
clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, 
"You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4  have you not 
discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
 

We cherish college degrees from secular universities and credentials from denominational seminaries. Yet, these very institutions are producing Christianity's greatest enemies. Education is a great thing, but it should not replace the calling of God.

Don't force those God has chosen to become "hewn" by man to be acceptable to us!

Which university can qualify someone to serve as a representative of God? 
None!

No act, no level of education, no collection of degrees, no endorsement that any human could attain in their own ability can qualify them to represent God.

God chooses those in His Church, and He equips those He chooses. 
The Body of Christ needs to accept His choices. If someone is called by God, and he has attained a human education, even better, but an education without God's direction is useless! 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 
but to us who are being saved it is the 
power of God. 19  For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom 
of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will 
frustrate." 20  Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? 
Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made 
foolish the wisdom of the world? 21  For since in the 
wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not 
know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what 
was preached to save those who believe.

Can we determine if the messenger is speaking the "Word of God" by how articulate and skilled he is at verbal presentation, rather than by checking the message against what the Bible says?

Don't forget,

many false teachers are articulate and skilled speakers, 
and are very entertaining.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 
If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
 

Concentrate on the message not just the messenger.

Communion is a ritual established by Jesus just before His death so that Christians can experience this rich time of remembrance and anticipation at three levels.

The past, when we remember the sacrifice Jesus made in our place.
The present, when we remember our unique place in the Body of Christ.
The future, when we will celebrate communion with Jesus in Heaven.

Jesus had the disciples break bread at the Last Supper. 
This "unhewn" broken bread, represents the Church.

Sliced Bread

In many ways the modern Church looks much more like sliced bread than broken bread. Each part has become unimportant. Parts may be removed, placed backwards, or rearranged without greatly changing how the loaf looks. Because no single slice is important. Ever missed Church for a Sunday or two, and nobody even noticed that you were gone? 

Matthew 18:12-13
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, 
and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the 
ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that 
wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he 
is happier about that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off. 

This "hewn" bread, has been robbed of it's unique character.  This also 
happens to us as Christians by secularization.. We lose our unique character by conforming to the world. We look the same, we talk the same, and we even develop a secret Christian language, but we become ineffective. We then require that others get with the program also, so that we can all be the same. Don't forget that we all have different gifts.

What are YOUR special gifts? 
How does GOD want you to use the gifts He has given you?

YOU are the best YOU that God ever created!

What is stopping you from engaging in YOUR ministry? Right now?
Are you saying that "God didn't call me into full time ministry?" 

The moment you become a Christian, you become a full time minister
for God! The idea that there are full time ministers, and then there
are "lay" people, is not a Christian principle! Did you miss that one?

The idea that there are full time ministers, and then there
are "lay" people, is not a Christian principle!

This teaching is merely a hold-over from the Catholic church.
At the exact time of Jesus' death on the cross, the curtain in the temple
was torn in half, from the ceiling to the floor! This signifies to us that
there is now no separation between us and God. We are ALL the body 
of Christ and as such, we all have our own unique jobs to accomplish.

God designed YOU to be the best person for YOUR job within the 
Body of Christ! If you don't do it,
then there is only a second best person to do it!
 
 

Broken Bread

Broken bread was the design of the early Church. Each part is unique and important. The precise edges of each piece makes it fit in a specific place, and no piece can be rearranged or reversed without greatly affecting the look of the entire loaf. If a single piece is missing it is noticed and the unity of the loaf is disturbed. This "unhewn" bread helps remind us of the special qualities each believer has, and their incredible importance to God and to the Body of Christ, regardless of how different they may be from us, or how different their ministry may be from ours. Find a place in The Body where you "fit in" and where you can grow and exercise your gifts.

God bless, Sigel & Sue Shroy