A dearth of Simplicity?

[Fez]

Where has the simplicity of Faith gone? This not an attack on anyone, or indeed Worthy itself, but it seems to me that more and more we Christians argue semantics, and try to fit the world into our faith instead of allowing our faith to direct our world.

Where has the simplicity of the Blood and the Cross gone? And are we guilty of allowing it to slip away?

I seldom, if ever, see us discuss a church whose teaching we all agree with, and all we seem to do is slate churches as being dens of iniquity, beset with all sorts of sin.

But I just know that there are good, solid churches out there. Many of us attend such churches I am sure. But all we seem to hear is why we should not attend churches, what is wrong with churches, the wide path churches are leading us down, etc.

Give me some positive feedback here! The boards seem filled with doom and gloom of late.

[SavedByGrace1980]

Where has the simplicity of Faith gone? This not an attack on anyone, or indeed Worthy itself, but it seems to me that more and more we Christians argue semantics, and try to fit the world into our faith instead of allowing our faith to direct our world.

Where has the simplicity of the Blood and the Cross gone? And are we guilty of allowing it to slip away?

I seldom, if ever, see us discuss a church whose teaching we all agree with, and all we seem to do is slate churches as being dens of iniquity, beset with all sorts of sin.

But I just know that there are good, solid churches out there. Many of us attend such churches I am sure. But all we seem to hear is why we should not attend churches, what is wrong with churches, the wide path churches are leading us down, etc.

Give me some positive feedback here! The boards seem filled with doom and gloom of late.

I agree 100%.

Human beings do love to argue - and that is okay, up to a point. But Jesus was known occasionnaly to use the "least of these" (little children) as a example that we should follow. A little child has pure faith - pure trust. A little child can accept things at face value.

We do want to use our reason and logic, of course. Another term for reason and logic is wisdom, and wisdom is a gift from God. And, to take it a step further, we need to be able to recognize and call out heresy when we see it. But heresy (to those who know Scripture) is usually obvious. It goes beyond simple denominational differences - or should.

We look around and we see a lot of negativity. Perhaps some of us are dealing with overwhelming situations in our personal lives. It's easy, then, to forget that God prevails in the end.

For me, I am going to strive to have more of that "childlike faith" that Jesus spoke about.

Blessings!

-Ed

[wyguy]

Give me some positive feedback here!

I wish I could my friend, I really do.

Let me tell you a bit about just the last 3 churches I visited:

The first one taught that unless you speak in tongues, you are not really saved.

The second one taught that if you commit even one sin after you are saved, you've lost your salvation and must get re-saved.

The last one I visited showed secular movies on their big screen and formed sermons around them.

So many churches are falling away from the simplicity of the gospel that I am totally convinced that the return of the Lord is near.

A quick story about that second church I mentioned: One Sunday, an elderly lady, who had attended for a long time, stood up, and in TEARS admitted that no matter how hard she tried, she could not even go a single day without sinning. She talked about how she felt like such a failure, lamenting about how she must disappoint the Lord, and just wanted some hope. The Preacher and the rest of the congregation could offer no words of encouragement except for her to "try harder."

As she sat back down, dejected, I leaned over the pew and whispered that if she had indeed repented and placed her faith in Jesus alone to save her, ALL of her sins, past, present and future, were forgiven and forgotten by God. And I told her to rest in the joy of that knowledge.

She simply smiled and thanked me.

She passed away about a month later.

It made me so angry that the folks in this church could offer her no real hope, that I requested a meeting with the Pastor, laid out the reasons why I was leaving, and never looked back.

Before anyone asks, the only reason I stayed after I learned what they taught, was I was naive (and egotistical) enough to think I could change their minds.

[MorningGlory]

Where has the simplicity of Faith gone? This not an attack on anyone, or indeed Worthy itself, but it seems to me that more and more we Christians argue semantics, and try to fit the world into our faith instead of allowing our faith to direct our world.

Where has the simplicity of the Blood and the Cross gone? And are we guilty of allowing it to slip away?

I seldom, if ever, see us discuss a church whose teaching we all agree with, and all we seem to do is slate churches as being dens of iniquity, beset with all sorts of sin.

But I just know that there are good, solid churches out there. Many of us attend such churches I am sure. But all we seem to hear is why we should not attend churches, what is wrong with churches, the wide path churches are leading us down, etc.

Give me some positive feedback here! The boards seem filled with doom and gloom of late.

It's the same doom and gloom that is permeating the world right now, fez. And, IMO, it's going to get way worse. But I agree with the need for simplicity. Every time I read or hear the stuff you're talking about I try to immediately ground myself in the Truth. God's word has not changed and it never will. We just have to fight the temptation to try to read into Scripture what we want to be there.

[mizzdy]

Where has the simplicity of Faith gone? This not an attack on anyone, or indeed Worthy itself, but it seems to me that more and more we Christians argue semantics, and try to fit the world into our faith instead of allowing our faith to direct our world.

Where has the simplicity of the Blood and the Cross gone? And are we guilty of allowing it to slip away?

I seldom, if ever, see us discuss a church whose teaching we all agree with, and all we seem to do is slate churches as being dens of iniquity, beset with all sorts of sin.

But I just know that there are good, solid churches out there. Many of us attend such churches I am sure. But all we seem to hear is why we should not attend churches, what is wrong with churches, the wide path churches are leading us down, etc.

Give me some positive feedback here! The boards seem filled with doom and gloom of late.

Doom and gloom is what the earth is filled with these days yet each one of us carries within them a joy of belonging to a Creator that is coming again soon. I rarely discuss churches especially if I have never been there or seen any of their teachings. The cross gets taught a lot from what I hear its what happens after the cross seems to be missing. Fact is that a lot of bad things are coming theres no getting around that it was foretold by God way back in Genesis and Messiah will come back to a world and straighten it out by taking out the true evil lawless people. My postitive feed back is that He is coming again no other way to look at it that He will come and bring an end to lawlessness and establish His righteous rule over this earth.

shalom,

Mizz

[Guest]

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Psalms 103:1

[Guest LadyC]

well my church certainly isn't perfect. even my pastor isn't. many people here would be abhorred to know that he often uses the message bible in his sermons. i disagree with him on some issues, i don't think he always takes as firm of a stand as i want him to about some things, and i've seen him struggle with forgiveness. at one point i seriously considered leaving the church for these reasons.

but God had other plans, and i'm still there. despite the lack of perfection in our church, it's still home to me. the members are warm and friendly, we welcome strangers with open arms even when they come in smelling bad, or exposing more cleavage than is appropriate. we're a recovery church, so there's a lot of damaged people whom God is healing, and i'm glad to be a part of that. we're a very small church, but we have a tremendous community outreach in so many areas... and frankly, i've seen far less effort to reach the community in all the mega-churches around.

what is it that keeps me coming back to my church? it is.... the simplicity of faith. my pastor sees his primary duty as being the responsibility to teach us to pray, not just for ourselves but for (and with) others... even if they're strangers we cross paths with in a grocery store.

i wish everyone could experience that within a church fellowship.

[Believer1997]

well my church certainly isn't perfect. even my pastor isn't. many people here would be abhorred to know that he often uses the message bible in his sermons. i disagree with him on some issues, i don't think he always takes as firm of a stand as i want him to about some things, and i've seen him struggle with forgiveness. at one point i seriously considered leaving the church for these reasons.

but God had other plans, and i'm still there. despite the lack of perfection in our church, it's still home to me. the members are warm and friendly, we welcome strangers with open arms even when they come in smelling bad, or exposing more cleavage than is appropriate. we're a recovery church, so there's a lot of damaged people whom God is healing, and i'm glad to be a part of that. we're a very small church, but we have a tremendous community outreach in so many areas... and frankly, i've seen far less effort to reach the community in all the mega-churches around.

what is it that keeps me coming back to my church? it is.... the simplicity of faith. my pastor sees his primary duty as being the responsibility to teach us to pray, not just for ourselves but for (and with) others... even if they're strangers we cross paths with in a grocery store.

i wish everyone could experience that within a church fellowship.

It sounds the way a church should be. Welcoming, reaching out to those in need. Spreading the Word.

[Fez]

well my church certainly isn't perfect. even my pastor isn't. many people here would be abhorred to know that he often uses the message bible in his sermons. i disagree with him on some issues, i don't think he always takes as firm of a stand as i want him to about some things, and i've seen him struggle with forgiveness. at one point i seriously considered leaving the church for these reasons.

but God had other plans, and i'm still there. despite the lack of perfection in our church, it's still home to me. the members are warm and friendly, we welcome strangers with open arms even when they come in smelling bad, or exposing more cleavage than is appropriate. we're a recovery church, so there's a lot of damaged people whom God is healing, and i'm glad to be a part of that. we're a very small church, but we have a tremendous community outreach in so many areas... and frankly, i've seen far less effort to reach the community in all the mega-churches around.

what is it that keeps me coming back to my church? it is.... the simplicity of faith. my pastor sees his primary duty as being the responsibility to teach us to pray, not just for ourselves but for (and with) others... even if they're strangers we cross paths with in a grocery store.

i wish everyone could experience that within a church fellowship.

It sounds the way a church should be. Welcoming, reaching out to those in need. Spreading the Word.

Sounds a lot like our church. we are one big family, and coming from essentially two small towns it helps. We see each other on a regular basis around town, in shops, etc. Some of us fish together on occasion, and there is always someone there for you when you need them. I have many friends in the church, some acquaintances, and some people I do not associate with in a close manner for simple reasons such as not having the same outside interests. But for all of that, we are family. As it should be.

[nebula]

The boards seem filled with doom and gloom of late.

But doom and gloom are so much more fun to talk about!

Heh.

Give me some positive feedback here!

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The Lord bless you and keep you

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you

And give you shalom.