Hey, Mike,
2 questions…. answer whenever you can…
1. How should I handle the situation of a person that wants to accept Christ after hearing a message? (loaded question).
2. I heard you say that any church that has by- laws is not the true church, and while I understand what point you were making, our church here had to have by- laws to be able to get a building to hold “religious meetings” and all these little laws we had to go by…. would you say we need to get out and just meet in homes?
God bless you Mike. I’m soaking in a bunch of knowledge right now and feel like a baby!
M____

Hi M____,
Thank you for your questions.
Your first question was:

1. How should I handle the situation of a person that wants to accept Christ after hearing a message? (loaded question).

The very first thing any of us needs to realize is the truth of this verse:

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [ that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

So I always assure those who ask any question, that their desire to know the truth, is not of themselves but is of God.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [ Greek, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Assure anyone who “wants to accept Christ,” that they are so special to God that He has given them a desire to want to “know Him,” because that is the very meaning of eternal life.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

It is of utmost importance that we, like Christ, let all who come to him know that their faith is not their own but is Christ’s faith within them. They do not even contribute the desire to know Him of themselves.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

But at that very moment you need to let them know that being saved is a life- long process that must be “endured to the end.” I think you are well aware that there is no truth to the ‘once in grace always in grace,’ doctrine.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

There is no need to go beyond the “milk of the word” doctrines at the very beginning of a person’s spiritual experience, but it is essential that we never so much as appear to be furthering any of the false doctrines of Babylon, Like the ten second sinner’s prayer.
All I can ever do, is to point you to the scriptures, and in the scriptures we are told that our relationship with Christ is one- on- one with but one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

1Ti 2:5  For [ there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 

Over the years since IWWB was first put up on the web, many have come to see the truths that we have been privileged to share with those who are given the eyes to see those truths. In all of those years there has never been a single outward ritualistic “altar call” to ‘come out of Babylon and be ye separate.’ Yet many have done exactly that, and for those who do come out of Babylon, there is no scriptural call for an outward profession of such an event. Here is all Paul tells us to mention to “carnal babes in Christ.”

1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

It simply is not possible for a babe in Christ to receive any more than Christ and Him crucified. It takes time to be able to see that we are crucified with Him and to be able to accept these words:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of [ the] Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

So be careful not to give “strong meat” to babes who can only see Christ as dying for their sins, and are not yet even converted:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [ to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [ am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Again, there is no mention in any of Paul’s epistles of the modern day “altar call.” The modern day ‘altar call’ has no basis in scripture. On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the whole multitude that they needed to repent of having slain Christ. He did not invite them to an outward display of their decision by coming down to ‘the altar’. He and Paul both, at first told their converts to be baptized, but later Paul tells us this about baptizing others.

1Co 1:17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Such rituals as an ‘altar call’ are additions of men who want to dominate the lives of those who will allow such domination. Christ’s cross is our altar and we accept Him by “taking up our cross and following Him.” We need no approval from men that we have done so. We “confess with our mouth” not by ritualistically repeating a 10 second sinners prayer, but by living a life that reflects the new man that we are in the process of becoming.
Your second question was:

2. I heard you say that any church that has by- laws is not the true church, and while I understand what point you were making, our church here had to have by- laws to be able to get a building to hold “religious meetings” and all these little laws we had to go by…. would you say we need to get out and just meet in homes?

I think you have answered you own question when you confess:

Our church here had to have by- laws to be able to get a building to hold “religious meetings” and all these little laws we had to go by….

If you read what I wrote about by- laws then you know that they are a legal statement that legally divides the body of Christ and leaves out the vast majority of the word of God. We are not to be divided and we are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and not by legal by laws. There are no nonessential words that proceed out of the mouth of God. The sum of God’s Word is the by- laws of all who are His. Can you imagine the Son of God asking Herod if He could have legal permission to speak the Words His Father had given him to speak? Can you imagine Christ submitting to Herod a set of bylaws, so He and His 12 apostles could travel around preaching from their bylaws? It never happened and it will not happen among those who “come out of her.”
You ask if you should “get out of [ a building] and meet in a home?” There is nothing wrong with renting a hall to meet in. We do so ourselves at all of our conferences. What is unbiblical is having a set of bylaws which are accepted of Caesar and Pilate and Herod, which omit the vast majority of God’s word. Many times the buildings and property are legally placed into the hands of men who then become the heads of a legal empire over which they are the lord.
Here is what we are to live by. Here is my own statement of beliefs:

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

We are to obey the laws of the land, unless those laws are in direct opposition to the word of God. In such cases these are our instructions.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the [ other] apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

By- laws are just that; they may include some scriptures, but they are not scripture, inasmuch as they legalize the division of the body, and they legalize the omission of the sum of God’s word, and legally replace it with a tiny fraction of the words that proceed out of the mouth of God. The if anyone in that particular legal organization put the word of God ahead of the legal by law of that legal organization then the church leaders can legally expel those who dare to challenge the doctrines of that legal entity. Christ is not a legal entity, and His body is not a legal entity. It is a living spiritual body, and a spiritual organism called Christ Jesus, who personally heads up His church. That is not a popular doctrine, but it is a biblically sound one.

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is[ the] Christ.
1Co 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14  For the body is not one member, but many.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Christ is to be preeminent in all things, and Christ is “the Word.” So God’s Word is to be preeminent to by- laws, and that is both a spiritual and a legal impossibility.
I hope this is of some help to you. There are very few who “tremble at Thy word” these days. But it is to those who do so that the revelation of Jesus Christ is given.

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Isa 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

It is a great honor to be “cast out for His name’s sake, because “His name” is His word, and His word gives none of us any authority over any of the rest of us.

2Co 1:24  Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

When we seek only to be the “helpers of the joy” of our brothers, we need no legal powers or authority to do so. It is a commandment of our Lord.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike