Denomination

[Fez]

Throw as many excuses as you like at why you do not attend a church. The simple fact of the matter is that you are here and able to participate, because of the church, whatever name you tend to try and associate it with.

You tend to forget that blood has been spilled across the centuries by believers who defended their right to associate as a church.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:

Etc.

[sdktlk]

...The black members had no biblical authority to branch off and start another faith group.

"Black" members?

They should have left but they should have restored their fellowship in the practices of the bible and returned to Christ's church.

In principle that sounds great, but in practice did they know of this? Did they know any other way to gather and worship than what was passed down to them?

They made some huge steps towards getting back to the working of redemption as it should. We can argue about how they didn't go far enough, and we can argue about the theological mistakes they themselves created and the damage that caused - true.

But if you research, ever "Reformer" actually did intend to bring "the Church" back to Biblical Christianity.

Separating mercy out of judgment is a dangerous practice. Until you can find the mercy in the life, times, and heritage they had to overcome, plus the general failings of human nature, you shouldn't be taking a superior stand over them like this.

That is not how righteous judgment is done.

If they had done this "Christian" and the "name of Christ" would be the only names they would be concerned with. They would have followed biblical practice and rejected all man made religous inventions including the idea of denominationalism.

But it was a different world back then, and they likely had not the means to organize themselves in any other way than the only way they knew. I do not believe from what I have learned that they were trying to start a separate denomination as we now call them. But human nature does as it does. Even the name "Lutheran" was a label not of their choosing (it was the Roman Catholic Church that called them this, and the label invariably stuck).

The Roman Catholic Church throughout the Medieval times has a history of wiping out all followers of Christ trying to worship separate from the papacy's establishment. It was a miracle this group and those following managed to survive - this time.

Neb, you do see the "mother," (the Roman Catholic Church.) But, the Scriptures say she is "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS" (Rev 17:5,) so who are her daughters?"

[sheya joie]

What are we to make then of the Lord's command,"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate"?

2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate

, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,

Come out of her, my people,

that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

[Matt712]

What are we to make then of the Lord's command,"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate"?

2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate

, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,

Come out of her, my people,

that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Well Spoken! To everyone who reads this post, go to the book of Judges and read a few pages. ANY few pages..... Human beings(God's chosen among them) have been straying and returning for a very long time.... since the beginning in fact. Adam and Eve had scarcely begun to live when they defied God's will for them! Let us always strive to practice our faith with kindness and mercy, to extend God's Grace even to the unworthy, for we ourselves are unworthy of what we've been given so freely. Denominations form because people ARE trying to return to the heart of Christ's message, but tradition inevitably stifles new growth, hence another split and another denomination. I belong to a non-denominational church where we call ourselves only 'Christian', but I know in time it could happen there too. It is the responsibility of church elders to keep the church moving in the right direction, and the responsibility of individual believers to raise concerns before problems become crippling.

[sdktlk]

What are we to make then of the Lord's command,"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate"?

2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate

, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,

Come out of her, my people,

that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Well Spoken! To everyone who reads this post, go to the book of Judges and read a few pages. ANY few pages..... Human beings(God's chosen among them) have been straying and returning for a very long time.... since the beginning in fact. Adam and Eve had scarcely begun to live when they defied God's will for them! Let us always strive to practice our faith with kindness and mercy, to extend God's Grace even to the unworthy, for we ourselves are unworthy of what we've been given so freely. Denominations form because people ARE trying to return to the heart of Christ's message, but tradition inevitably stifles new growth, hence another split and another denomination. I belong to a non-denominational church where we call ourselves only 'Christian', but I know in time it could happen there too. It is the responsibility of church elders to keep the church moving in the right direction, and the responsibility of individual believers to raise concerns before problems become crippling.

Denominations will remain until, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (Mat 24:30)

This in Matthew does not say, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." (1Thes 4:16) They are altogether different things.

Would we not agree that, "that which is born of the flesh, is flesh" (Jn 3:6) and that any name with which we label ourselves, other than Christian, is born of the flesh. And we are to, "hate even the garment spotted by the flesh." (Ju 1:23) If the assembly has any name that is registered as "the name" of such assembly then it came forth from the mind of, "the first man, of the earth, earthy" (1Cor 15:47a) and is not of God. It is then that we, "have a name that you live, and are dead." (Rev 3:1)

Tough stuff, but those during the centuries of the Harlot's reign had to make a choice also.

Rev 18:4 "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

[Botanist]

lol. it's amusing how topic threads evolve and the directions they take.

Paul was comissioned to goto the Gentiles, Peter to the Hebrews.

Paul went to Rome, only Church Tradition claims Peter ever when to Rome (if i recall correctly)

Rome killed The People of the Way.

What did Martin Luther and the early PROTESTANT reformers have to say about the Roman Church, again?

What were they protesting?

Reformation. COUNTERreformation.

M.Luther. Anglician. Calvinism. Methodism.

Remember your history.

____

Someone spoke of being a denominational 'tourest"

My fave tour was attending "The Church of the Very Bright Light"

Yes, they even wore Tinfoil pyramid hats, believed in crystals, thought YHVH lived on a star in outterspace, angels resided in volcanos and when humans die, we become god of our own planetaty star-system.

Prophetic visions from Isis trumped Biblical authority and the Angel Moroni...oops, wait, nevermind.

God does not dwell in temples made with hands, as if He needed anything.

The body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, ect.

Still, evil previals when good people do nothing, so, congergate until that which is perfect is come.

Bye.

[Guest Butero]

My Father was Catholic and my Mother was Baptist. As a compromise, they became Methodist, and I remained Methodist till I was 18 and had a chance to read the Bible and pick my own church. I joined a Pentecostal Holiness Church and remained there till a split took place. I moved to the Assemblies of God, but never really liked that denomination. That church split, and I became part of an Independent congregation, before going to a Church of God. Again, I was never happy with any of these churches, so I returned to the Pentecostal Holiness Church, but unfortunately, they were no longer the same church I had originally been a part of. Today, I am not a member of any local congregation, but do have a church I like, 70 miles from where I live. They have a web-site where I can fellowship with them and listen to their sermons, so until I find a local group that I believe is following scripture, I plan on remaining a "partner" with them. They are an independent Pentecostal Church that came about from a split from the Church of God. The Pastor left because of the compromises taking place. He calls his church "Classical Pentecostal." I will provide a link to anyone interested.

http://www.pawcreek.org

I don't agree with everything they teach, as they are stricter and more of what most would classify as "legalistic" than I am, but I prefer that over a church that caters to all the liberalism of this age. And yes, there are people more "legalistic" than I am, as hard as that may be for some to believe. I also like the fact they are KJV only, which is a must.

[Rick-Parker]

"Born" Catholic, went to a "Christian" church as a kid, then an A.O.G. church for many years. Now we attend an independent Baptist church.

[Smalcald]

A denomination is just a name, a label, non-denominational is also a denomination, every group which does not have 100% fellowship with every other Christian group IS a denomination including if you worship at home. Thus we are ALL members of a denomination of we are Christian even if we don't go to Church even if we worship at home or don't worship at all.

We should not worry about this however. We should stick with faith and scripture and we will indeed disagree but we will not disagree about the important issues relating to salvation.

[Believer112]

I started out in a Catholic church because I couldn