OLD SCHOOL

AGREED!

All I can say about that kind of music is, when I went to my aunt's funeral which was in a church across town, it was the first time I felt like I was in church in years with the old time hymns they sang and the way they sang them. Those songs have doctrine in them. There is another church just a bit too far for me that has grown to over a thousand members recently doing it the traditional way - good old time preaching and singing. The drama is just a gimmick of the non-traditional churches but to each his own. God bless.

My position: I'm taking the 3-point spread on Calvin. Ok, that was a bad joke. First of all, the best way to remember the 5 points is to think of the word TULIP. T = TOTAL DEPRAVITY U = UNCONDITIONAL PREDESTINATION L = LIMITED ATONEMENT I = IRRESISTABLE GRACE P = PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS ==================================== All that said, I believe: T - Total Depravity. Just read John 3 to see how depraved man really is. It paints a pretty bleak picture even referring to the old man in us once we're saved. U - Unconditional Predistination - I believe I predistination but not unconditionally. My understanding is extreme Calvinists say people in hell never had a chance for salvation since God always knew who would go to heaven. I believe people had the free will to receive or reject Christ. They unfortunately chose the latter. L - Limited Atonement - For God so loved the world he gave his only begotton son and whosoever believeth in him shall not parish but have eternal life. God loved all of the world, not some of it. I - Irresistable Grace - Bible says for by Grace are we saved. End of point. P - Perseverance of the Saints - that means eternal security. Ephesians 1;12 says you are sealed with the promise of the holy spirit as soon as you believe on him and God says once I have him no man can taketh him from my hand. Nuff said. AMEN.

Joseph Smith was one of the greatest tricksters this side of Lucifer. He's duped nearly 9M current Mormons into believing they're Christians plus the vast majority of the rest of the world into believing Mormons are Christians. They're such good people and they are. Fact is, they cannot be Christians and Mormons at the same time. As pointed out above, they can become Christians if they denounce Mormonism and receive Christ. I mentioned that in a Mormon chat room one time and someone said what do you mean you have to be saved? I explained it and asked if he wanted to be saved. He said yes. We started praying right then when I got booted out of the forum. Why would Mormons be so upset if they believed in Christ? The big false hoods of Mormonism is they believe God was created and actually has a heavenly mother. They don't believe in the Trinity. They belive Christ as a good person but he's not the way and the truth and the life as the Bible says. Joseph Smith said he took Christ's place as the true messiah. Worse yet, they believe they will become Gods when they die. Brigham Young completely re-wrote John 1:12 which says if you receive Christ he gives you the power to become the sons of God. YOung changed that verse to read you get the power to become Gods. Also, they baptise the dead. One man was baptized for the 1 millionth time after baptizing all his ancestors. LOL. The Bible also says do not add or subtract from the Bible. Mormons say their Book of Mormons is the inspired supplement to the Bible.

tsth: Thanks so much for sharing that with me. You know how it feels. There aren't many good fundamental churches to go to. I went to a church last night that was pretty good. I like Sat even services but not sure if I'll join. The pastor was good and leads a Bible study on Tues mornings. I'm not 60 yet but have been retired for 3 years and love the traveling and doing nothing-lol. You're right about the the seeker services and the big numbers but these non-traditional churches water down the scriptures to lure the "un-churched" in and entertain them with drama and what not to keep them in. Their services are equivalent to a rock concert blowing everyone's ear drums out. No thanks for me. But thanks again for your wisdom and encouragement and God Bless YOu. OLD SCHOOL

Here's a great link at bottom of post that lists just about everything being said by Warren, McLauren, Bell, Southerland, Campolo, McManus, Sweet, Jones and other EC leaders, and it is a fact that these are their leaders or some of them. As mentioned above the EC is post modern in theology and is actually re-writing it. They've also fought back at their critics calling them "leaders from hell." So that name calling alone should tell you something about them. The EC is big on Contemplative Prayer which the link below describes in detail which is basically far eastern mysticism along with the new " breath prayers" ala prayer chants by Buddists. Math 6:7-8 - do not speak in vain repetition. ============================================================= "When [Richard] Foster speaks of the silence, he does not mean external silence. In his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, Foster recommends the practice of breath prayer?picking a single word or short phrase and repeating it in conjunction with the breath. This is classic contemplative mysticism. ============================================================= Who is promoting "breath prayers?" ============================================================== Who is promoting Breath Prayers? Rick Warren "With practice, you can develop the habit of praying silent 'breath prayers'"