2 Timothy 4:3-4 English Standard Version (ESV) For the time is coming when people will not endure sound^[healthy] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Has this time come or has it been going on for some time now? The answer to that will be different based on experience. Church shopping will often give the shopper a wider range of church doctrines upon which to select their new home church. What the shopper is looking for will often be nothing more than trying to establish a comfortable place.

The answer to what makes church doctrine should be more complicated than just saying teaching. It often comes down to being seen as teaching but are those teachings healthy for the listeners?  The ESV footnote for sound is healthy and this is why the word appears in brackets above. Does the teaching of the church promote health or just appease the senses? Most people do not think in those terms. There are some that want their pastors to have graduated from seminary school.

How many of the churches we are familiar with have pastors that have a doctorate in theology? Very few do if we are being honest. Most have been ordained which is merely a consensus agreement by other ordained ministers that these men have been examined and found to be sound in their faith enough to be qualified to be ordained.

What if those ordained ministers were of a church order that did not teach sound doctrine?

That is a difficult question to answer for anyone who is not already led by the Holy Spirit in truth.

Look at the congregation when seeking a new church. Are the people spiritually healthy?

Isaiah 28:16 King James Version (KJV) Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Over the years, cornerstones have served a variety of purposes. As a means to preserve time, buildings have been marked with a numerical representation to remind people when the building was erected. This has given correlation to architecture and the design of the time. Additionally, cornerstones have become a strong symbol of a new era. They have indicated prosperity and opportunity—showing a sense of pride for what is possible at the time of construction. Cornerstones have also been turned into pieces of memorabilia, marking present buildings or denoting previously standing buildings. Source: newstudioarchitecture.com

Reading Isaiah’s description of Jesus we must see that Jesus is more than just a cornerstone as man has redefined the architectural meaning. He is a sure foundation upon which all scripture rests. This sure foundation does more than align the building and orientation of the walls, He supports everything built upon His Word.

Included in the reference from New Studio Architecture is an example of what man has done over time and living in a “new era”. Key in this redesign are the words “a sense of pride”. Jesus is not memorabilia of a time gone bye. He is the living God who dwells in the temple He is building in us. As such the truth that abides must override the human mind, our pride of accomplishment, and the clever redesign man has created with new church doctrine.

In this new era many architectural designs place the cornerstone over the head of the entrance for all to walk under as they enter. Taking the cornerstone and moving it destroys the intent of the original design. We do not worship a memory. We worship a living God.