Waggles

So then you lot would be exactly the same as the first century apostolic church I read of in Acts and the epistles?

Faith in the true gospel helps.

What is nondenominational? Is that a mishmash of all doctrines?

Of course he did - that is why the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of truth who teaches us of Jesus and of scripture. Furthermore my faith and doctrine is in full compliance with the gospels (especially in John and the promises of the Holy Ghost), Acts and the epistles (written to the Spirit-filled church). My life has been miraculously transformed and healed, I can pray daily in tongues = praying in the Spirit, I enjoy numerous miracles, healings and blessings not just for myself but for others. Even my worldly daughter cannot deny she received an instant healing when I laid hands on her and prayed in tongues. 1Cor 14:26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. And in compliance with scripture this is exactly how we conduct our Pentecostal worship service. I believed the word of God and I was baptised by full immersion and also baptised in the Holy Spirit with the Bible evidence of speaking in tongues, exactly the same as Cornelius and his household.

Salvation and judgement do indeed belong to our Lord and God Christ Jesus. That is precisely why at the end of everything Jesus will refer to the names written in the Books of Life. All of humankind, every person who ever lived on Earth will be judged (except those of the first resurrection): God will have mercy upon who he will give mercy to.

@Questioning and now you see why there are thousands of denominations from one gospel. The same problem as in the Garden of Eden still exists today.

Now you see one of the great problems with believing the "essence" of the gospel of Jesus and the apostles as written. Not all, in fact most, Christians who claim that they have the indwelling Holy Spirit do not have the Spirit of God as they believe the teachings of their churches and not what Jesus promised. The Church of Rome in becoming a State religion and obtaining worldly power reinvented Christian faith and doctrine. The Reformation never returned faith and doctrine back to its first century roots but rather developed doctrines in response to the failings of the Roman church and the Papacy. People need to compare their faith and doctrine stringently against the word of God and then believe ALL of it as true and to embrace fully what is written for us to do. As you would know many Bibles, scholars, churches and ministers do not believe in all of scripture, and like Rome declare that many verses are no longer applicable or that they do not mean the same today as when first written. The theology of unbelief. So do you believe Jesus when he stated the following: Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. I believed these verses and I experienced them to be true. Sadly most do not believe and then go on to deny the truth of scripture.

Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. G1577 ἐκκλησία ekklēsia From a compound of G1537 and a derivative of G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both): - assembly, church. Total KJV occurrences: 115 The Church (of God) are the disciples of Christ Jesus who believe the gospel of salvation. The church comes together for a worship meeting, people do not go to church; but a meeting can be held in a church building of sorts. Entry into the church of God is only by full immersion water baptism and being baptised in the Holy Spirit.

I do not know as I have been sprinkled as a youngster in a Lutheran church font and much later as an adult baptised correctly by full immersion. I never realised that water baptism was such a controversial issue in various churches until I started using Christian chat and forum sites. If you want some answers to your question enjoy the following link Does water baptism precede regeneration? - General Discussion - Worthy Christian Forums But it does raise some profound salvation issues - given that Jesus and the NT uphold full immersion water baptism then what happens when "believers" professing to be disciples of their Lord and God do not obey his commandments?

Now that we all have developed a love of rocks - I digress to make mention of the most famous rock (stone) in the known world - the Stone of Scone - reputedly the very rock that Jacob laid his head upon and dreamt of the stairway to heaven with our Lord God at the very top and with angels ascending and descending. Genesis 28:10-22 The Stone of Scone is also believed to have been taken by Jeremiah (along with the two daughters of Zedekiah) over to Ireland. This stone is underneath the coronation throne of Edward I (taken from Scotland in 1296) and forms the 'foundation' for various claims that the British throne fullfils promises to David that his seed would occupy a throne until the son of David returns to set up his throne (in Jerusalem).

Isa 8:14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offence and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Isa 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. Isa 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 1Cor 10:2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Only in contrast to the previous Covenant based on Moses and the Law. Yes there is liberty in Jesus in respect to living unto God that is free from the theocracy of the Levitical priesthood and the Temple. Now the gospel is to redeem all the nations and open to the "gentiles" of the world: Rev 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, BUT there are plenty of warnings and commandments from Jesus about doing things the correct way that is pleasing to God > obedience is required. One example is water baptism which is commanded to be done by Jesus and the apostles and clearly reiterated in the epistles, BUT there are many churches that do not uphold this fundamental commandment. What then? How does God respond to this? Are they saved? Will God overlook this? John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Deu 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. So God after the rebellion of some angels and also human rebellions divides the nations under the rule of these nations [hence Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, etc]. So if the majority of human beings are under the oppressive rule of fallen angels and only Jacob/Israel belongs to God - then where does that leave the fate of the great majority of humankind in the scheme of things salvation wise??

"everyone" ? please elaborate That is not what scripture teaches us.

No he is a stone like other first century believers would be: 1Peter 2:4 As you come to him [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Yes Matt 17:1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. also in Mark 9 and in Luke 9 Mat 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Caesarea Philippi is at the base of Mount Hermon in the northern region given to Dan. It was both a most pagan worship site due to the flowing springs that fed the Jordan River, but also Mount Hermon was regarded as where those angels that transgressed came down upon and also where the gates to the underworld were located. Bible scholars have written that the transfiguration also occurred on Mount Hermon. Which makes spiritual sense as Jesus came to vanquish the power and rule of the satan and devils. This would be the right place for Jesus the son of the Most high God to confront fallen angels.

NO - Luther broke away from Rome, from the Papacy. The church of scripture is not the church of Rome.

Revelation 20:13 to me clearly describes that all peoples have the hope that their names are written in the Book of Life from tribal hunter gathers to the untouchables of India. Yes millions (?) will not have their names in the Book of Life because of their works. Romans 2:14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

But God does not do that. For he wants his creation, us peoples, to freely love him; and to love doing good over evil. Given that the vast majority of people in the world have only ever experienced poverty and hardship as peasants and labourers, etc. life on planet Earth has not been kind to them. And given that the world is ruled by the satan and his lot - the nations other than Israel - most people in the world have never had a chance to embrace the true love of God.

No I am Australian and spared the bewilderment of your TV evangelists and the many celebrity pastor based churches. Here in Oz the Methodists have died out both numerically and spiritually after they joined up with the Presbyterians to form the Uniting Church. Now the Uniting Church are uber liberal with lesbian pastors and no congregations.

Agreed. but in the end when God judges all of humankind from the very first human beings on Earth to the last person alive He will dispense his mercy and grace according to his judgement: Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

??? Where is that in scripture?

Are you implying that billions of people who are not "Christians" have no salvation?

Matthew 8:14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. Peter who was the most senior of the apostles was married (to a wife). Matthew 19:9 And I [Jesus] say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 1Cor 9:5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Spong Thank God I am a fundamentalist.