He giveth more grace Posted February 15, 2012 Group: Royal Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 123 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 2,049 Content Per Day: 0.32 Reputation: 267 Days Won: 9 Joined: 10/22/2006 Status: Offline Share Posted February 15, 2012 Thanks for the beautiful graphic, 2Joyful. For about four years, in the early '90s, I helped a Vietnamese Baptist Mission, later church, and I have just gone back to the Viet Church. The Anglo sponsor church disbanded because of demographics and low numbers and they gave the property to the Vietnamese church and their precious people. They are so humble, zealous, and loving and they make me more loving. I have many friends there and I love them. I have a distaste for a lot of Anglo churches and I'll leave it at that. I am excited to be back where I can serve the most and am so loved. Interested fact: The Pastor raises his hands to bless the people just like High Priest Aaron did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Joyful Posted February 16, 2012 Group: Royal Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 48 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,901 Content Per Day: 0.35 Reputation: 365 Days Won: 29 Joined: 08/16/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks for the beautiful graphic, 2Joyful. AND... Thank you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.J. Posted February 16, 2012 Group: Members Followers: 1 Topic Count: 4 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 59 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 11 Days Won: 1 Joined: 11/21/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/09/1967 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Mathijah, if Jesus of the bible is close to accurately described in the bible then I would say he was a good and brave men like Socrates. Remember that Socrates died a same death due to refusing to accept the wrongful decission of the courts. When I say dame death I mean as an innocent person .Socrates maintained his morals and ethics all the way like Jesus did, no different. You see I find it hard to believe everything in the bible. However a lots of stuff in the bible is I think spot on truth. Thanks Ervin, You say that Socrates died the same death as Jesus because Socrates was an innocent man. Socrates was not an innocent man. He sinned like we all do. Jesus, on the other hand, did die an innocent man. He committed no sin. Plus Socrates did not die someone else's death. Jesus died a death that we all deserved. If you believe some things in the bible, but not all of it, how do you distinguish between what is true and what is not true? I can tell you what I look for in a congregation. I read my bible, I pray and I choose one that as close as possible matches what I see is portrayed in Scripture. Be careful on jumping into a denomination without having a strong base in the word. One can easily be led astray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Mathijah, if Jesus of the bible is close to accurately described in the bible then I would say he was a good and brave men like Socrates. Remember that Socrates died a same death due to refusing to accept the wrongful decission of the courts. When I say dame death I mean as an innocent person .Socrates maintained his morals and ethics all the way like Jesus did, no different. You see I find it hard to believe everything in the bible. However a lots of stuff in the bible is I think spot on truth. Thanks Thanks for answering. There's a difference between Socrates and Jesus. Jesus claimed to be God come in the flesh. While the things He said may be claimed to be admirable and good if He is not speaking the Truth all of the time He is a liar and far from Good. Worse yet, He is the worst sort of man because His lies have created many thousands of millions of followers throughout the last 2,000 years who have spent their lives for His lie. All of Christs Disciples save one died horrific deaths for a lie and went to their graves holding onto a lie. How do you explain this? Scripture also says there were around 500 folks who saw Jesus after His resurrection in addition to the remaining 11 disciples, and many in the first century could have asked these eyewitnesses and verified their story. The ruling class of the time had to resort to bribery and lies in an attempt to discredit the story. . . Why do that if it wasn't true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted February 16, 2012 Group: Royal Member Followers: 10 Topic Count: 5,823 Topics Per Day: 0.76 Content Count: 45,870 Content Per Day: 5.95 Reputation: 1,897 Days Won: 83 Joined: 03/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/19/1970 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I belong to a small nondenominational church. Worship is led by a band, most of our songs are contemporary, the congregation is encouraged to participate in our Sunday morning gatherings - for instance if someone has something to share, they are granted permission - there is a service format we follow but once in a while because of how the Holy Spirit is working some Sundays that format gets disrupted. But it's ok, for we worship God not our program. When you search for a church, consider if you'd prefer a larger church or a smaller church. The larger churches will have more programs, but it's hard to get to know people. The smaller churches can be more intimate, although the church still needs more than a service to get people interacting. Also consider if you prefer hymns or contemporary (more recently written) songs. Do you prefer liturgy or less rigidity? Things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted February 16, 2012 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 683 Topics Per Day: 0.12 Content Count: 11,128 Content Per Day: 2.00 Reputation: 1,352 Days Won: 54 Joined: 02/03/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/07/1952 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I belong to a small nondenominational church. Worship is led by a band, most of our songs are contemporary, the congregation is encouraged to participate in our Sunday morning gatherings - for instance if someone has something to share, they are granted permission - there is a service format we follow but once in a while because of how the Holy Spirit is working some Sundays that format gets disrupted. But it's ok, for we worship God not our program. Much the same as me and South. We are also on the leadership team. South sings in the worship group and we have Home Group at our house on Tuesdays and prayer on Thursdays. We meet on Sunday evenings for church. Because of where we live and the fact that we are very family orientated (we have dozens of kids attending church), during the day people are fishing, in the game reserve, on the beach, etc. It works well for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evergreenjo Posted February 16, 2012 Group: Junior Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 51 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 9 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/12/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted February 16, 2012 Most of my life I attended and participated in a Roman Catholic Church. Over a period of years I realized that I did not nor could agree with some of their doctines which were based on their traditions and papal mandates. I sought answers in the scriptures. I would have departed sooner than twelve years ago but my husband was not ready to do that yet. We are now both involved and continuing to grow in another denomination. Our main campus is large but we have some services in other locations in the city with smaller congregations. We are on the prayer team of one of the branches, thus a smaller congregation, with about 300 or so attending. Even though we are involved in leadership as part of this team neither one of us consider ourselves in a "box" so to speak. And we thank God that our church welcomes many and is open to what God is doing in other churches as well. You can check it out here: www.livingwater.com There are online services there with worship as well as the sermon each weekend as you will see on the website. We are also part of an interfaith intercessory prayer ministry where we pray weekly here at home for the various needs of our county. People of various Christian services are part of that. As others have said here..the answer isn't in a Church alone..but in finding Christ..in being committed to Him. In that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth and also to a church which is right for you. Focus on getting a relationship with Christ and count on being blessed and getting new insight into life as you grow in the knowledge of Jesus through the Word (Holy Bible). I would surely recommend a bible believing church. Always check out their statement of purpose which is usually available online. And if you start attending one and it doesn't seem right after giving it some time visit another. Sometimes it takes a while to find just the right "church home." peace and prayers for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AndrewCothran Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 In the past I have had some interest in Jehovah's witnesses. I also went to the unitarian church for couple of months. I have known a uniting church minister and have gone to some bible study classes. I am not a Christian, not yet anyway. I have joined this forum in order to join about Christianity from Christians themselves. I am still trying to work out what's the truth. Is it a specific religion true or is the truth best represented by Omnism( Omnism is a belief that all religions contain some truth). Right now I would like you to tell me what denomination do you belong to and why so that if I decide to go to exclusive Christian church I can make up my mind from the ones you go to. Thanks Ervin i am at a stand still in my faith but i would suggest that you look for a church that believes the bible yet encourages people to think for themselves .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts