Do You Know?

Do you remember what Jesus told Simon and his brother Andrew? Mark 1:17 (KJV) And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Jesus said “I will make you to become.”    Remember Simon, his brother Andrew, James and his brother John had left the fishing business to follow Jesus. Aristotle said, "He who cannot be a good follower, cannot be a good leader." Let’s look at the first thing Jesus taught these men in becoming. Mark 1:21 (KJV) And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. The first place Jesus took these men in becoming fishers of men was to the synagogue. What was the purpose for going there? To be taught! Can’t learn if you aren’t first taught. First they were taught “DOCTRINE”  Mark 1:22 (KJV) And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. Doctrine is important because it summarizes God’s word, guarantees the health of God’s church, and bears fruit in the lives of God’s people. Remember what Jesus is doing “I will make you to become fishers of men.” For the purpose of bearing fruit. One might say that Jesus was brainwashing these men. No! Jesus was transforming these men by teaching them Doctrine. One of the biggest failures in Churches today is they rarely teach Doctrine. But on a Sunday to Sunday basis how many people who say they are heaven bound even go to a Church?  Church attendance of Americans 2022. There are 20% who go every week, 10% who go almost every week, about 11% who go once a month, 26% who say they seldom go, and 30% who say they never go. We are reaping the fruits of barely attending Church.  Gallup reported “US church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades, before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century.” Membership numbers dropped to 50% by 2018. Could this be one of the reasons we as a country are losing ground? Judges 17:6 (KJV) In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. In 1969 the Isley Brothers came out with a song named “It’s Your Thing. “It’s your thing do what you want to do.” Those were the first words of the song. The first place Jesus took those men was the House of the Lord and began to teach them Doctrine. Do you know Doctrine?