Do You Go To Church?

[Iryssa]

Although I go to church only on Sunday mornings, my relationship with God and His people are not lacking.

I simply believe that quality of church trumps quantity of church any day.

Took the word's out of my mouth!

Agreed.

I love going to church, personally...We have a great little fellowship of Believers at our church. And I mean "little"; now that the college is gone, there'll be about 30 people or less there on any given Sunday...not because the church isn't growing--it is--it's just we live in a very small town with more churches than the regular population can fill without the Bible College in session (but let me tell you, they're PACKED when the college IS in session). Anyway, I love the times of fellowship, prayer, learning, praise, and discussion we have there. Our service has two parts: the liturgical service of morning (or evening, once a month) prayer, and the "Coffee and Whatnot" time (as it has been unofficially dubbed) afterwards where we have great fellowship.

*sigh* It's going to be very hard for us to move away from our church family when we move to the city...but we'll go back for evening services.

[hupo]

You are making a BIG mistake joining in study with a Jehovah's Witness.

You are doing it out of weakness and not strength, and I advise you to stop these studies immediately. You are opened to extreme doctrinal error and spiritual starvation.

You know dear sister, this kind of reaction is precisly what got me to check out JW in the first place.

Do you know my weaknesses?

How do you know all this about Jehovah's witnesses?

You've either been there yourself, or not.

If you haven't, your advise isn't very relevant.

If you have, you should allow me to do likewise. I mean, you managed to "get out" didn't you? Were you strong enough for that, where I am weak?

It makes me sad to get reactions such as this........

It shows me you are really missing something, but if this is your way.....so be it...........

God bless you in your way. Maybe you are right.......... I have yet to find out

Blessings in Yeshua

[hupo]

I go to a fellowship meeting every other Saturday.

I don't particularly enjoy going there.

I realize I'm going because of two good friends.

That is not the "right" reason for going but that's what-is.

I try and avoid playing (guitar) if I can as I feel my playing is too much about my enjoyment and hardly about Yeshua and the spirit.

All in all it is kind of mellow and I don't find I am learning much...

so.....

I looked in other places and find that I get most of my Bible study done with either non-believers or far out views on faith, such as Jehovah's Witnesses. I have been warned many time of such people and that was enough for me to go ask this particular JW person, why I should be afraid of him? The outcome is that I now study with this person. Our views are really far apart and I am forced to study the Bible very thoroughly in order to have any kind of answer to JW views.

I know it sounds crazy but studying with a JW is a real blessing

I also have a very good friend who doesn't believe in God. We talk about God, Faith, Yeshua....

Have you any idea how much you can learn by being forced to find Biblical answers to atheist questions about God?

I always have this picture in my mind which might explain something:

I'm standing on ice with two skates on my feet. I will never be able to move unless I turn the skies sideways to get some "FRICTION" to propel me forward..... it is that FRICTION that I need in order to move forward in my study of God's word.

Go figure

I hear ya bro... It was a similar occurance with me. I had a roommate who was having a "meeting" with some mormons and he dis-invited me because he was afraid I'd be brainwashed by them or something. I thought to myself, "What is so dangerous about learning what they believe? Am I so weak in the faith that they could change my mind?" It was that occurance that caused me to launch my studied in religious histories. I wanted to know what they believed, and why they believed it...and what my response to those beliefs would be. You are very correct in that studying with other faiths is challenging and rewarding.

Now...it is still important that you fellowship with Brothers and Sisters in Christ. While these "studies" you are doing are exciting and challenging, you should still seek the fellowship of others in Christ. Have you talked to your friends about your feelings towards the church? Have you talked to your pastor? Also, have you examined your own heart to see if the problem is within you? People who are dispondent about their church are often the ones who have nothing invested (not saying this is true about you, but an observation.) I would say pray, go to your pastor and friends and pray with them. God will lead you...he always does.

The balance between studying other doctrines and following Yeshua, is very important. I agree with you on that.

To that end I have not given up the fellowship I attend. I'm trying not to let my feelings run my life , so to speak.

Yes I have brought the subject up. I believe that bringing things into the light, stops all kinds of "shadows" coming in.

I have talked with our pastor too. As for "giving".... unfortunatly it is a kind of vicious circle.... I have been leading the praise for a while and due to what I see as "wrong reasons" I have been tending to avoid leading the praise, which is actually what I have to contribute to the fellowship.

The process now is to consult God on this.......... I trust He will show me the way..........

Thanks Brother and God bless

[Floatingaxe]

You are making a BIG mistake joining in study with a Jehovah's Witness.

You are doing it out of weakness and not strength, and I advise you to stop these studies immediately. You are opened to extreme doctrinal error and spiritual starvation.

You know dear sister, this kind of reaction is precisly what got me to check out JW in the first place.

Do you know my weaknesses?

How do you know all this about Jehovah's witnesses?

You've either been there yourself, or not.

If you haven't, your advise isn't very relevant.

If you have, you should allow me to do likewise. I mean, you managed to "get out" didn't you? Were you strong enough for that, where I am weak?

It makes me sad to get reactions such as this........

It shows me you are really missing something, but if this is your way.....so be it...........

God bless you in your way. Maybe you are right.......... I have yet to find out

Blessings in Yeshua

I know about JW's. My mother studied with them until she was rescued and came to Christ.

Your weaknesses were expressed by yourself in a former post.

You don't have to have been a JW to know that they are a cult and deny the standard of God's Word. I am glad you openly admitted to what you are doing, for you just may have continued on in your error. Now, at least you may take a real look at what you are doing, because you won't have the approval of Christians about it. You have already stated you have been warned, so you don't need to be put off by the reaction here.

[hupo]

I know about JW's. My mother studied with them until she was rescued and came to Christ.

Your weaknesses were expressed by yourself in a former post.

You don't have to have been a JW to know that they are a cult and deny the standard of God's Word. I am glad you openly admitted to what you are doing, for you just may have continued on in your error. Now, at least you may take a real look at what you are doing, because you won't have the approval of Christians about it. You have already stated you have been warned, so you don't need to be put off by the reaction here.

This fits in with another topic.... I do NOT need the approval of Christians about it! I need the approval of the Holy Spirit!

With all due respect, the approval of fellow brothers and sisters is NOT the way to go, unless it is parallel to what the Holy Spirit is advising.

The Holy spirit is NOT telling me to avoid mislead human beings, and that in my eyes is what JW are.

Yeshua went to heal the sick, not the healthy, and while i'm not saying I am in the healing business, I do want to follow Yeshua's example.

I won't bother with my weaknesses. I know I have even more than you can see. I have the Holy spirit to guide and support me and that is why I don't have to worry too much about what I will have to say at the time (i can't recall that scripture but it's there somewhere)

So, I trust God and you can too

He is not going to give up on me too easily, so if I'm mistaken or misguided, He will show me the way

Thank you sincerely for your concern and Blessings in Yeshua's name

[Jesus*makes*me*smile]

I go to church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings.

[Floatingaxe]

I know about JW's. My mother studied with them until she was rescued and came to Christ.

Your weaknesses were expressed by yourself in a former post.

You don't have to have been a JW to know that they are a cult and deny the standard of God's Word. I am glad you openly admitted to what you are doing, for you just may have continued on in your error. Now, at least you may take a real look at what you are doing, because you won't have the approval of Christians about it. You have already stated you have been warned, so you don't need to be put off by the reaction here.

This fits in with another topic.... I do NOT need the approval of Christians about it! I need the approval of the Holy Spirit!

With all due respect, the approval of fellow brothers and sisters is NOT the way to go, unless it is parallel to what the Holy Spirit is advising.

The Holy spirit is NOT telling me to avoid mislead human beings, and that in my eyes is what JW are.

Yeshua went to heal the sick, not the healthy, and while i'm not saying I am in the healing business, I do want to follow Yeshua's example.

I won't bother with my weaknesses. I know I have even more than you can see. I have the Holy spirit to guide and support me and that is why I don't have to worry too much about what I will have to say at the time (i can't recall that scripture but it's there somewhere)

So, I trust God and you can too

He is not going to give up on me too easily, so if I'm mistaken or misguided, He will show me the way

Thank you sincerely for your concern and Blessings in Yeshua's name

Alrighty!

Just know that you need to approach your time with that JW person from a position of strength in Jesus Christ. If ANY doubt arises in your heart--GET OUT.

[Vickilynn]

I know about JW's. My mother studied with them until she was rescued and came to Christ.

Your weaknesses were expressed by yourself in a former post.

You don't have to have been a JW to know that they are a cult and deny the standard of God's Word. I am glad you openly admitted to what you are doing, for you just may have continued on in your error. Now, at least you may take a real look at what you are doing, because you won't have the approval of Christians about it. You have already stated you have been warned, so you don't need to be put off by the reaction here.

This fits in with another topic.... I do NOT need the approval of Christians about it! I need the approval of the Holy Spirit!

With all due respect, the approval of fellow brothers and sisters is NOT the way to go, unless it is parallel to what the Holy Spirit is advising.

The Holy spirit is NOT telling me to avoid mislead human beings, and that in my eyes is what JW are.

Yeshua went to heal the sick, not the healthy, and while i'm not saying I am in the healing business, I do want to follow Yeshua's example.

I won't bother with my weaknesses. I know I have even more than you can see. I have the Holy spirit to guide and support me and that is why I don't have to worry too much about what I will have to say at the time (i can't recall that scripture but it's there somewhere)

So, I trust God and you can too

He is not going to give up on me too easily, so if I'm mistaken or misguided, He will show me the way

Thank you sincerely for your concern and Blessings in Yeshua's name

Shalom Hupo,

Knowing you as I do, I say a hearty "AMEN" to your post.

You are exactly correct, you do nto need the 'approval" of other Believers in the Messiah, you need to follow the Holy Spirit! Only He knows whether this JW may turn to Yeshua by studying with you! I do know that you yourself will be strengthened in your faith and apologetics (what you believe and why) as you study.

You said yourself that your studies prove how far apart you both are in your beliefs so I have no doubt that the L-rd is leading you and guiding you.

As for advice, well, it's like anything, bring it to the L-rd and do what HE says, His direction is more important than someone's opinion. Nobody knows what's best for you except the L-rd. We can only toss in our opinions and they are not worth much since everyone has one!

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

Church. Well it IS simply a gathering of Believers in the Messiah. There are no "rules" about where or how big the gathering should be, or whether it should be inside or outside etc.

As I wrote in another thread, we "house churched" for several years and it was an awesome experience!! A bunch of families met in homes and we shared the Word, we sang and praised and worshiped the L-rd, we prayed for one another, we shared the L-rd's Supper and we shared a Fellowship Meal. And we lived close enough so that we were involved in one another's lives during the week as well as whenever we met, usually on Sunday mornings and sometimes during the week for special meetings.

This was patterned after the first churches where the Believers in Messiah met often in each other's homes.

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

Church. Well it IS simply a gathering of Believers in the Messiah. There are no "rules" about where or how big the gathering should be, or whether it should be inside or outside etc.

As I wrote in another thread, we "house churched" for several years and it was an awesome experience!! A bunch of families met in homes and we shared the Word, we sang and praised and worshiped the L-rd, we prayed for one another, we shared the L-rd's Supper and we shared a Fellowship Meal. And we lived close enough so that we were involved in one another's lives during the week as well as whenever we met, usually on Sunday mornings and sometimes during the week for special meetings.

This was patterned after the first churches where the Believers in Messiah met often in each other's homes.

Do you still "house church"?

Shalom Ruck,

No, unfortunately we don't. We lost one sister to cancer and then 2 families had to move away, one to another part of the state, the other to the Dominican Republic. We met on a smaller basis (less families), but then we had another family have to move and then we did as well (to another state). The group still met until another family moved away.

We truly loved it while we did it though and I highly recommend it!