Denomination

[Smalcald]

name='sdktlk' timestamp='1297180653' post='1647400'

Here is something that has to do with the myriad of NAMES that the body of Christ has as recorded in Revelation 16:13-14.

Verse 13 - And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet

Again: "...And I saw proceed out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet/religious imposter three foul spirits, like unto frogs..."

This is the literal way in which this verse is written in the Greek. It is important to put it in its proper order as the three foul spirits, like unto frogs are a direct tie-in to verse fourteen. Frogs point to unclean; were part of the judgment of God upon Egypt, and they came forth from waters turned to blood. (Ref: Exo 7:15-25; 8:1-6) We have seen the Dragon go after the beautiful woman (Rev 12:15, 16) and cast out of his mouth water as a flood. That water was, of course, bloody water.

Because of the historical time frame covered in Revelation chapter twelve there did not, at that time, exist a resurrected head beast, that is the fourth manifestation of the Church, the Church in Thyatira, or an image to that beast. Note: the image of the beast is the false prophet, a religious imposter. So, that being the case, there was only the Dragon, and those individuals whom he could entice, to cast out the foul water. Here we see, in this historical time frame, that the Dragon has brought into existence both the beast and the image of the beast. Therefore, these frogs, these unclean spirits, proceed out of the mouth of all three. And, "...The great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan..." (Rev 12:9) is the originator of this event.

Verse 14 - For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty

Again: "...As they are spirits of demons, making signs, which project over the kings/kingdoms of the earth/earthy, even the entire habitable globe, to assemble them, until that great warfare period of God Almighty..."

"...As they are spirits of demons, making signs, which project over the kings/kingdoms of the earth/earthy, even the entire habitable globe, to assemble them..." These foul spirits have a to the point assignment. They are to cause signs to be made which project over, or above, the kings, the kingdoms, of the three, of the earth/earthy, manifestations of the Church for a very specific purpose. These signs, by instigation of these unclean spirits, are every where upon the habitable globe, and they accomplish exactly what the unclean spirits desire them to do. And, that is to cause the three, of the earth/earthy, to assemble under them. This assembly is not in one specific place on the globe, it is all over the globe.

"...until that great warfare period of God Almighty..." These signs will remain and these assemblies will continue, UNTIL the time when The Lord God Almighty brings them to naught. These signs are everywhere, they are all over the planet, and they are not hidden, if we have eyes to see they are easily recognizable. These signs were caused to come into existence by these foul sign making demons, as they inspired the carnal minds of men in this Harlot, this man of sin system to come up with them. And, we say, "what are these signs?"

Let us remember that a sign is, that which distinguishes a person or thing from others. It is, very simply, the NAME which projects over every Christian assembly and organization that exists on the entire planet. That name, which is over every entity that has been brought forth by this three, of the earth/earthy system, has proceeded forth and came out of the mouth of the Dragon, and the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet. The assignment of these three foul spirits has manifest itself through the carnal minds of MAN. And it is under these names of man where the three, of the earth/earthy, assemble. These signs are all registered with secular government and give these three, of the earthy, the authority to ply their trade. And so it will be, until the time of that great warfare period of God Almighty.

Of course in order to see these things clearly one has to understand everything that has been revealed by the Spirit up to this point in the Unveiling. These things are what the Lord has shown me with respect to NAMES. And much more besides.

I believe that your study of names is "far" fechted and has nothing to do with denominationalism in reference to individuals choices in where they go to church at.

There is nothing wrong with calling a church by a name. The temple is suppose to be a place of worship, a sacred or a holy space that's built first or primarily for the national worship of God.

The temples mentioned in the Bible had a name attached to them.

1)The Temple or Tabernacle of Moses although this temple was mobile as God gave Moses specific instructions on the contruction and putting up the temple and taking it down again.--Moses tabernacle or temple was desecrated by Nadab and Abihu. (ex. cpt. 25--30; 35:30--40:38; lev. 10:1-7)

2) Solomon's Temple was planned by David (sam.7:1-29;} Solomon's Temple was constructed by him as David had set back materials so Solomon could use them in building the temple (1 King 8:1-66;) Solomon's temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. (jer. 32:28-44)

3) Zerubbabel's Temple Zerubbabel had envisioned the rebuilding of the temple when Haggai, Zechariah and Zurubbabel himself all prophesied to the Jews at Judah and to the Jews in Jerusalem. After this Zerrubbabel rose up to rebuild the temple along with the sons of Shealtiel, Jeshua, Jozadak, the prophets also pitched in and helped Zerrubbabel rebuild the temple. (Ezra 5; 6-22;) This temple according to the Word had been constructed by Zerubbabel along with the elders of the Jews as the positions of the elders were restored. (Ezra :1-8; 4:1-14;) Zerubbabel's temple had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes.

(matt. 24:15)

4) Herod's Temple Zerubbabel's temple was rebuilt restored by Herod the Great and the Romans destroyed Herod's Temple. (mark 13:2, 14-23; Luke 1:11-20; 2:22-38; 2:42-51; 4:21-24; Acts 21:27-33)

5) The Present Temple which is our earthly vessels of clay. The presence of God is found in the hearts of the believers. The body of the believers is the only "Temple" until the Messiah returns. "You Are The Temple of God" (1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 2 Cor. 6:16-18)

6) The Temple foretold in Revelation 11 This is to be built during the Tribulation period. The Anti-Christ will begin construction on the temple during the tribulation period. This temple also will be desecrated and destoyed. (Dan.9:2; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 17:18)

7) Ezekiel's Temple The prophet Ezekiel had envisioned that the Millennial temple would be built by the Messiah during His millennial reign.

(Ezekiel 40:1-42:20; Zech. 6:12, 13)

8) The Temple of His Eternal Presence This will be the greatest temple of all "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are it's temple" It's a Spiritual temple The "Eternal" Kingdom of God where we will last forever in the eternal temple of His presence. (Rev. 21:22; 22:1-21)

IMO there is nothing wrong with having names put on church signs and there is nothing wrong with putting ones name on the roll book, if the Lord in heaven keeps a record of our lives then it cannot be wrong for churches to keep a roll book. I understand that having your name put on a roll book does not in any way save your soul for being saved is only by the shed blood of Christ Jesus. But everyone has a right to their own ideaology on these issues. The temple of God or the Church of God are all the Body of Christ where Jesus is the head. To my knowledge there is no place in the Word where it warns us not to put signs up for our churches nor does it teach putting your name on a roll book is a sinful practice. Instead I see in the Word of God many times over names given to churches at the place where they were located at.

Exactly much of the New Testament was sent to congregations with names, the church of Corinth of Rome etc.

I was thinking about this topic and it is a disturbing one, I think it is one that gets in the way of faith in Christ. What I mean is that we are called to worship with other believers and we called to be under authority, to hear the Gospel to Baptize, to take the Lords Supper, all things done in a Christian congregation, so indeed we are called to be members of a congregation or a Christian Church. It is the reason I belong to a specific Christian denomination. The problem I think comes when we think that the particular group we belong to and are with is special in the eyes of God, that somehow this particular group must be defended, must have wordily influence, must be the biggest, the best and of course must be right! None of those things will help us on Judgment day; none of them will really give us hope or peace or strengthen our relationship with Christ. They may delude us into thinking we are on a winning team or give us pride in thinking we are better than those other guys who are one step away from being pagan, but that is about it. Nothing in Scripture allows for Christians to critique other Churches, certainly rank heresy must be identified, but that is different and even here there is no reason to dwell on it to go on and on, this does not help our soul and that is all that matters.

I think the Mormons for example in their denial of the Trinity and their addition with the Book of Mormon to the Word of God are outside of Christianity. But I don't hate them and beyond identifying those main things where they are off base there is no reason for me to go on and on about them. It does not help my soul to do so. I don't agree with some Southern Baptist doctrine, although they are very much Christian, however it does me no good to point out what I disagree with, why?

We are called to be at peace with each other.

[enoob57]

I was thinking about this topic and it is a disturbing one, I think it is one that gets in the way of faith in Christ. What I mean is that we are called to worship with other believers and we called to be under authority, to hear the Gospel to Baptize, to take the Lords Supper, all things done in a Christian congregation, so indeed we are called to be members of a congregation or a Christian Church. It is the reason I belong to a specific Christian denomination. The problem I think comes when we think that the particular group we belong to and are with is special in the eyes of God, that somehow this particular group must be defended, must have wordily influence, must be the biggest, the best and of course must be right! None of those things will help us on Judgment day; none of them will really give us hope or peace or strengthen our relationship with Christ. They may delude us into thinking we are on a winning team or give us pride in thinking we are better than those other guys who are one step away from being pagan, but that is about it. Nothing in Scripture allows for Christians to critique other Churches, certainly rank heresy must be identified, but that is different and even here there is no reason to dwell on it to go on and on, this does not help our soul and that is all that matters.

I think the Mormons for example in their denial of the Trinity and their addition with the Book of Mormon to the Word of God are outside of Christianity. But I don't hate them and beyond identifying those main things where they are off base there is no reason for me to go on and on about them. It does not help my soul to do so. I don't agree with some Southern Baptist doctrine, although they are very much Christian, however it does me no good to point out what I disagree with, why?

We are called to be at peace with each other.

Our emotions may not be in accord with Scripture sometimes!

Luke 12:49-53

49 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

NKJV

Love Steven

[Isaiah 6:8]

I have not read the whole thread, but I will say this.

When it comes to choosing, I have chosen not to choose. Aka I am non-denominational.

Heres how I see it

If your beliefs line up with the Bible on the major issues, such as Who God is, How do we get saved, etc. then you are a brother of mine. If you deny the diety of Jesus, if you say that we can work our way into heaven etc, then we have issues. Also if you twist the scriptures to make something acceptable, when it is black and white clear, then we also have issues.

How ever, if you are pre-trib, or if you think that drinking is a sin, or you don't think drinking is a sin, or your post-rapture, or you believe in speaking of tongues, or you don't, I do not see these as major salvation issues. These are all disagreements on the interpretation of passages of scripture that can go both ways, and while important, are not necessary for salvation. Many people never that love the Lord, have not even been privileged to read the bible to even begin to argue over such things, and they die, sometimes with out ever seeing a bible, but yet they have heard the word, and they believed, in Jesus. that was the most important thing.

Now with those issues, you can debate the interpretation, as long as you do not twist the word to prove your point. Such as those that twist the word to say that God is okay with homosexuality, and that he made them that way. This does not line up with the word on any level, but yet they preach it. If a denomination starts to do that, then they are heading into a cult like practice.

So in a nutshell, if you decide you want to pick a denomination, then Major on the Majors and minor on the minors.

[nebula]

Part of a song from way back -

Now you can call yourself a Baptist

And not be born again

A Presbyterian or a Methodist

And still die in your sin

You can even be a Charismatic

Shout and dance and jump a pew

But if you hate your brother

You won't be one of the chosen few

'Cause it won't be a Baptist

That's sitting on the throne

A Presbyterian or a Methodist

That's calling us home

And it won't be a Charismatic

That plays that trumpet tune

So let's all just live for Jesus

Because He's coming back real soon

From "Oh Buddah" by the Imperials

[enoob57]

Part of a song from way back -

Now you can call yourself a Baptist

And not be born again

A Presbyterian or a Methodist

And still die in your sin

You can even be a Charismatic

Shout and dance and jump a pew

But if you hate your brother

You won't be one of the chosen few

'Cause it won't be a Baptist

That's sitting on the throne

A Presbyterian or a Methodist

That's calling us home

And it won't be a Charismatic

That plays that trumpet tune

So let's all just live for Jesus

Because He's coming back real soon

From "Oh Buddah" by the Imperials

just exactly in that order....

[Smalcald]

I was thinking about this topic and it is a disturbing one, I think it is one that gets in the way of faith in Christ. What I mean is that we are called to worship with other believers and we called to be under authority, to hear the Gospel to Baptize, to take the Lords Supper, all things done in a Christian congregation, so indeed we are called to be members of a congregation or a Christian Church. It is the reason I belong to a specific Christian denomination. The problem I think comes when we think that the particular group we belong to and are with is special in the eyes of God, that somehow this particular group must be defended, must have wordily influence, must be the biggest, the best and of course must be right! None of those things will help us on Judgment day; none of them will really give us hope or peace or strengthen our relationship with Christ. They may delude us into thinking we are on a winning team or give us pride in thinking we are better than those other guys who are one step away from being pagan, but that is about it. Nothing in Scripture allows for Christians to critique other Churches, certainly rank heresy must be identified, but that is different and even here there is no reason to dwell on it to go on and on, this does not help our soul and that is all that matters.

I think the Mormons for example in their denial of the Trinity and their addition with the Book of Mormon to the Word of God are outside of Christianity. But I don't hate them and beyond identifying those main things where they are off base there is no reason for me to go on and on about them. It does not help my soul to do so. I don't agree with some Southern Baptist doctrine, although they are very much Christian, however it does me no good to point out what I disagree with, why?

We are called to be at peace with each other.

Our emotions may not be in accord with Scripture sometimes!

Luke 12:49-53

49 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

NKJV

Love Steven

I know the need to win and be correct often are stronger than what we are called to do:

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you[a] all."

[churchmouse2]

Denominationalism is a deterant to the UNITY of the Body of Christ at large and a deterant toward the accomplishment of the Great Commission. One of Jesus Christ's major concerns was the UNITY of BELIEVERS as He prepared to complete His mission here on earth for His first coming and leave us. Examine His long prayer (all of John ch 17) and although He may catagorize His concerns as Himself, His desciples, and believers; all are believers and a close look will reveal one of His major concerns repeatedly called forth, if not the major one in this prayer, is UNITY, that all believers be one as He and God are One. I believe this is because He saw the future of satan's ploy of divide and conquer to weaken and disable the Body of Christ globally in order to thwart, if not destroy, the accomplishment of the Great Commission of Global evangelization which all Christians have been given by Christ (Acts 1:8) as He ascended to heaven. As one becomes familiar with God's Word, especially the NT, they quickly see that we Christians have been given a purpose for living here in this troublesome world and that we aren't here on earth just to enjoy ourselves, if at all ("deny yourselves, take up your cross". Lk 9:23) Sometimes I think some Christians think that a churches function should be all self-centered, maybe with a little given to missions but for selfish reasons. In Acts we see the early church living together in a community and sharing all they owned but it wasn't because their focus was not on fulfilling the Great Commission. Acts is all about them doing just that to the point of death. In their day Christians lived in a very hostile world. Christinas were hunted down, captured, and publically fed to lions and the women were stripped and wiped with a lion or jaguar sex scent and presented publically to be raped and mauled to death by the beast just for entertainment and there were many more horrible things from which Christians banned together. But with all that against them they still ventured out to promulgate the gospel even unto death to further the cause of the Great Commission.

It can be claimed that this and that church accomplishes missions toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Great! I know this is true. But we are stewards of what God has given us, too; aren't we? We will

give an accounting of how we managed His blessings and gifts. Consider all the consolidations of businesses going on out there and why it is happening. The expenses of overhead and operaions can be greatly reduced and resouces shared overall enabling a higher profit margin (potentially higher productivity, too) which in our present economy, compensates for a reduced outflow of product. When and if the economy picks up this consolidation will be in a position to be quickly more productive and profitable than any of the individual groups would have been alone, provided they hadn't gone under. The bottom line is that by consloidating resources and expenses the oragnization becomes more efficient and effective. By definition the church, Body of Christ, is an organization and all as stewards and agents towards a global mission we should be consloidating our resources and efforts. I say this in a business way as we Christians have a way of ignoring Christ's and the apostles spiritual concerns and admonishions towards UNITY and continue to fracture and break off from oursleves and form "new" churches ever increasing the burden of overall expenses to the Body of Christ. The church or Body of Christ (equivelant) is at war whether we like it or not 24/7 with a very powerful adversary who is mounting an ever increasing stronghold. The seriousness of the churches "loses" in its operations and missions is not lost jobs. It is lost lives to eternal suffrage and damnation.

There is a BIG hurdle in this consolidation or UNIFYING the Body of Christ. It will take the cooperation of local church leaders to shepherd their flocks toward this merger and one of the impending factors of consolidation is layoffs. Who is going to be "let go" as the result of a more efficient operation? The Body of Christ needs to and can deal with this dilema differently than the world. Additionally, there should only be a temporary reduction in staff required. Chistians are not supposed to be greedy and so they don't have to cut every penny right a way and can reallocate duties (some new liason positions would be needed), retrain, and whatever temporatrily till the fruits of this incentive's labor are harvested- more people who are reached due to the greater ability to do so who become addtional flock needing a shepherd.

On the local level how many churches are there in your area with nearly half of the available seating empty on any non-holiday/special Sunday? I know for a fact that in our community there is a good percentage with just enough "congregation" to barely support the overhead (I know of a couple, maybe three, where the pastor works a secular job and the worship and/or weekly meeting hours are odd; probably to fit around his secular job. I know that is also possibly an issue of tithes and offerings or God's will in church division or pastorial calling but please stay with me. How many churches have vans or buses sitting on their properties which are only used a few hours per week? Is it conceivable that this transportation and thier heavy expense burdens be shared among several congregations? Would one (or more depending upon size of community) office for clerical support with shared equipment, furnishings, maintainence, and utility expenses save any money? Money which could go to further the Kingdom?

We Christians need to foucs less on ourselves and our purpose for our lives. As cited above, Christ tells us that if we are to be one of His followers we need to deny oursleves (our particular opinions or ways of doing things, Ro 14:1 - 15:7) and take up our cross (sacrafice.) In doing so we will find the UNITY which Jesus hoped and prayed for in our lives.

Edited October 4, 2011 by churchmouse2

[churchmouse2]

There are so many corrections and additions to this I just copied and pasted from Word. I will do that from now on from the start.

Denominationalism is a deterrent to the UNITY of the Body of Christ at large and a deterrent toward the accomplishment of the Great Commission. One of Jesus Christ's major concerns was the UNITY of BELIEVERS as He prepared to complete His mission here on earth for His first coming and leave us. Examine His long prayer (all of John ch 17) and although one may categorize His concerns as Himself, His disciples, and believers; all are believers and a close look will reveal one of His major concerns repeatedly called forth, if not the major one in this prayer, is UNITY, that all believers be one as He and God are One. I believe this is because He saw the future of satan's ploy of divide and conquer to weaken and disable the Body of Christ globally in order to thwart, if not destroy, the accomplishment of the Great Commission of Global evangelization which all Christians have been given by Christ (Acts 1:8) as He ascended to heaven. As one becomes familiar with God's Word, especially the NT, they quickly see that we Christians have been given a purpose for living here in this troublesome world and that we aren't here on earth just to enjoy ourselves, if at all ("deny yourselves, take up your cross". Lk 9:23) Sometimes I think some Christians think that a churches function should be all self-centered, maybe with a little given to missions but for selfish reasons. In Acts we see the early church living together in a community and sharing all they owned but it wasn't because their focus was not on fulfilling the Great Commission. Acts is all about them doing just that to the point of death. In their day, Christians lived in a very hostile world. Christians were hunted down, captured, and publically fed to lions and the women were stripped and wiped with a lion or jaguar sex scent and presented publically to be raped and mauled to death by the beast just for entertainment and there were many more horrible things from which Christians banned together. But with all that against them they still ventured out to promulgate the gospel even unto death to further the cause of the Great Commission.

It can be claimed that this and that church accomplishes missions toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Great! I know this is true. But we are stewards of what God has given us, too; aren't we? We will give an accounting of how we managed His blessings and gifts. Consider all the consolidations of businesses going on out there and why it is happening. The expenses of overhead and operations can be greatly reduced and resources shared overall enabling a higher profit margin (potentially higher productivity, too) which in our present economy, compensates for a reduced outflow of product. When and if the economy picks up this consolidation will be in a position to be quickly more productive and profitable than any of the individual groups would have been alone, provided they hadn't gone under. The bottom line is that by consolidating resources and expenses the organization becomes more efficient and effective. By definition the church, Body of Christ, is an organization and all as stewards and agents towards a global mission we should be consolidating our resources and efforts. I say this in a business way as we Christians have a way of ignoring Christ's and the apostles spiritual concerns and admonitions towards UNITY and continue to fracture and break off from ourselves and form "new" churches ever increasing the burden of overall expenses to the Body of Christ. The church or Body of Christ (equivalent) is at war whether we like it or not 24/7 with a very powerful adversary who is mounting an ever increasing stronghold. The seriousness of the churches "losses" in its operations and missions is not lost jobs. It is lost lives to eternal suffrage and damnation; not of those already saved but of those not informed or decided yet for salvation. Satan wages war on us Christians to make us ineffective/injured in the war through harassments, oppressions, and obsessions but our soul is secure through Christ’s blood, even if just barely; but the concern here is those unsaved souls.

There is a BIG hurdle in this consolidation or UNIFYING the Body of Christ. It will take the cooperation of local church leaders to shepherd their flocks toward this merger and one of the impending factors of consolidation is layoffs. Who is going to be "let go" as the result of a more efficient operation? The Body of Christ needs to and can deal with this dilemma differently than the world. Additionally, there should only be a temporary reduction in staff required. Christians are not supposed to be greedy and so they don't have to cut every penny right away and can reallocate duties (some new liaison positions would be needed), retrain, and whatever temporarily till the fruits of this incentive's labor are harvested- more people who are reached due to the greater ability to do so who become additional flock needing a shepherd. The Spirit would have to really be embraced by the congregation and some would probably rather die than change a dot or a dash, but what are we going to let us Christians motivate us to reunify? Our present course of a divided and weakening Body (evidenced by a national and world-wide moral demise or decay) is leading us right back to the persecution of the 1st century Christians. Is this what it will take to motivate us to break down our prideful and stubborn will and self-preoccupation and really love our brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of all the superfluous barriers we have put in the way? The war in which we are engaged, whether we are actively engaged or ignoring it or deluding ourselves with positive thoughts of denial, is not going away and the enemy is getting stronger and intends to take as many people we haven’t reached as possible. Since 2005, it is an imprisonable offence right next door in Canada if you share with someone what God says about homosexuality in earshot of anyone who might object. We must rally our Spiritual forces and going by scripture such as Matt 18:20 our gathering of numbers of believers incites the power of God and just as with the physical realm I am sure that there is an “economy” of the Spiritual (capitalized because it includes God, spelling checker) realm where consolidation reaps an efficiency and effectiveness of forces.

On the local practical level how many churches are there in our area with nearly half of the available seating empty on any non-holiday/special Sunday? I know for a fact that there is a good percentage. Also, it appears that there are a few with just enough "congregation" to barely support the overhead, let alone able to extend something outward. I know of a couple, maybe three, where the pastor has to work a secular job and the worship and/or weekly meeting hours are odd; possibly to fit around his secular job. I know that it may also possibly be an issue of tithes and offerings or God's will in church division or pastoral calling or accommodating to membership availability or something else but please stay with me. How many churches have vans or buses sitting on their properties which are only used a few hours per week? Is it conceivable that this transportation and their heavy expense burdens including shelter be shared among several congregations? Would one (or more depending upon size of community) office for clerical support with shared office equipment, furnishings, maintenance, and utility expenses save any money? Money which could go to further the Kingdom? How about a NPO Christian CO-OP for procuring supplies, equipment, furnishings, books, music, and the like at a quantity/wholesale discount? With all the savings churches could allocate a little to their own needs like; one church may not be able to afford a Christian Psych in their budget but what about dividing that expense among several churches. Many people, Christians, need professional counseling and many times it is the ones without the means who need it the most.

We Christians need to focus less on ourselves and our purpose for our lives. As cited above, Christ tells us that if we are to be one of His followers we need to deny ourselves (our particular opinions or ways of doing things?, Ro 14:1 - 15:7) and take up our cross (sacrifice.) In doing so we will find the UNITY among believers which Jesus hoped and prayed for in our lives and world.

Edited October 4, 2011 by churchmouse2

[enoob57]

Are you saying the interpretation of God's Word which forms us into doctrinal stances is unimportant?

[Massorite]

What Denomination do you belong to?

Were you born into it or did you research and compair the differances then select the one which best suited you?

My main fellowship is a New Testement, Non Denominational congergation which is Pastered by a guy who graduated Vala Victorian in his class i'm proud to say.

I also attend a Sevent Day Adventist Church 'cause i call the sabbath a dellight. I'd join the SDA if not for the extra-biblical writtings of Ellen G. White. I like that they are so concerned about good health and wholeness of being. They're also the last of the Protestant denominations who remember who the Scarlet Woman is.

I also like this Messianic Jewish congeration cause nobody can expound the old and the new like a former Rabbi whos seen the light.

God never intended for us to create all of these denominations. That was our idea because we were trying to improve on Gods already perfect plan.