Joining a church

[damo1]

the denomination you belong to or are a member of wil not give you a free pass into heaven i got rid of the denomiatonal barrier in 2006 i tend to sus things out first i tend to go over the doctrines they hold onto i also go over their missions statement i also lift this up to the lord and i ask the lord is this the right church for me i even sus out the pastor

i have been taught by my old pastor what to look for when deciding if a church is going like a home base were you get fed were you can develop and were you have fellowship with other believers you cant do this on your own its just impossible

their are bad denominations and their are good denominations

i have had similar experiance it was nothing to do with member ship

more to do with racial issues the one church i looked at was an all out white church i saw no other cultured group like asian chinese aborigonal or even a yugoslavian i got like a bad feeling as i walked in and sat at the back with in 10 min i got up and walked out the door and never came back

i have no problem committing to a church i do what is asked of me i even help set up the chairs greet people as they come to the morning service i even help with morning tea i also help clean the church and i dont mind topping up the communion cups for the communion service

if the church has a function i will put my hand up if the church has a working bee i will be their helping do the lawns washing the windows and so on

we dont force this on our members in the philippines we have 5 churches planted with in bacolod we are a 4th square church but if some one wants to become a member we welcome them

i sit in our anual meetings we also have a bible collage i have offered to help with the move as they are about to move to a new building due to me being a cleanner and no longer working as a cleanner i offered to do the cleanning for nothing

i was not going to respond as i did not want to sway the topic due to me only comming back to this forum i have been away from this forum for some time i am a member of another forum and i like it i was encouraged to come back to this forum

you all know each other well and you stick to the people you know i read from the start so i can see were this topic was going i thought hard before i decided to put this post up

very intresting what has been discussed but one thing i have learnt since my fiancee is a filapino pastor is not to be critical like i was when i was just a member i tend to avoid the spirit i see in some christians god has been working on me i tend not to judge what a denomination does or what doctrines it believes in as i know we all wil face god when he decides to judge us

yes the disciples and apostles did not expect those that sat under their teaching to become members the perfect church as i see in acts 4 and acts 5 i have been going over acts 4 and acts 5 daily people were being added

Acts 4 English standard version

32 Now the full number of those who believed were one in heart and soul and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own but they had every thing in common

do i see this in the denominations that are scattered in my country no every one has their own revelation of how things should be run and what should be preached from the pulpit how a pastor should behave and how the church should function who we should help

today pastors are not allowed to be them selves

i looked at the way jesus taught the disciples and how he picked the 12 all he said is come follow me thats it but he does say if you love me follow my commands

if you are being fed if your needs are being met i cant see why you would not want to support the church that does this to were you obey with out creating trouble or gossiping

when you join an on line christian forum you agree to abide by its rules and doctrine this is part of the member ship you are guided to the rules section and you read the rules and you read the missions statement to what the moderator of the forum believes in so this is like a denomination with many joining hear from all over the world and from diffrent denominations so if you have no problem joining an on line christian forum i cant see why you have a hard time deciding if you will agree to be a member when it comes to the local denominations

God bless from damo

[Guest Biblicist]

Well, colleen....but....you...joined...Worthy....

LOL my husband and I were just talking about that. Had I had full access to the boards I wanted without joining....hehehehehhehee.

Wouldn't you think that church would be the same way...

Only members can have full access to certain things. If it's OK at a Christian Forum, why not in a Church? Contrary to popular belief, Christianity is not an all inclusive religion, there are bounderies. It is an "exclusive club" so to speak. In much the same way Worthy or any other forum is.

There are problems here, and at other forums. There have been bad experiences, and hurt feelings. So why am I still a member? Because this is the family of God. And as such, part of my family. [i can't believe I'm saying this] There are certain blessings I recieve being a member here, as I do in being a member of my local congregation. It's totally different than being an outsider, just attending, or a guest and just reading. As sheep, we need to belong to a group, for safety, there is safety in numbers and the good Shepherd can easier watch us if we are all together. Whether or not you like to admit it, we are sheep. We need to belong, and we need to be led.

If you want full access....sometimes you have to join.

[Ddavid from NC]

I Haven't read any of the previous 65 post, but I don't need a consensus to form my opinion on this one. Life in the body of Christ is not about independence but interdependence. Life in the body of Christ is where we are taught self denial and submission, which can only be taught and learned in community. The Scripture is filled with commands to love and be accountable to each other. How could that be accomplished without belonging to a local fellowship of believers?

[Guest Biblicist]

Amen Ddavid.

Good to see you again. How have things been with you?

[ColleenLovesMischief]

Well, colleen....but....you...joined...Worthy....

LOL my husband and I were just talking about that. Had I had full access to the boards I wanted without joining....hehehehehhehee.

Wouldn't you think that church would be the same way...

Only members can have full access to certain things. If it's OK at a Christian Forum, why not in a Church? Contrary to popular belief, Christianity is not an all inclusive religion, there are bounderies. It is an "exclusive club" so to speak. In much the same way Worthy or any other forum is.

There are problems here, and at other forums. There have been bad experiences, and hurt feelings. So why am I still a member? Because this is the family of God. And as such, part of my family. [i can't believe I'm saying this] There are certain blessings I recieve being a member here, as I do in being a member of my local congregation. It's totally different than being an outsider, just attending, or a guest and just reading. As sheep, we need to belong to a group, for safety, there is safety in numbers and the good Shepherd can easier watch us if we are all together. Whether or not you like to admit it, we are sheep. We need to belong, and we need to be led.

If you want full access....sometimes you have to join.

Plain and simple...within me there is no desire for that access. My desire is Christ. My other desire is to avoid large crowds LOL. Seriously in order to find a church that believes even close to the way that I do (giftings, not baptising infants) I would have to drive 14 miles one way. I can't afford it plain and simple. The closest church to where I live is about 6 miles away. I just do not see where I need to be a member. If I have no desire to have membership perks then why would I join? Everywhere I have ever attended membership (all I have been to did a membership Sunday where new members were accepted) was one good excuse to eat. Ummm eat......lunchtime!

[OneLight]

I don't think anyone is saying that we should not be part of a fellowship at all. The barrier I find is having to sign a piece of paper that indicates I believe something I do not. Let me add another thought here to consider. Did those who first started the Christian church have to sign their name on paper, or were they accepted in love by their testimony? You see, I do accept accountability and cherish every person in His Body, yet man set a rule in place that should never of been set.

I have nothing against those who do agree with this practice, but I still can not say I agree to something that I do not. That would be lying. I will join a church that does not take away from scripture or adds doctrine to scripture in a heart beat. Until then, doing so would be under false pretense, only to be allowed special privileges. I can do Gods work and share His love without this.

[Guest Biblicist]

What are you all talking about, "signing a piece of paper"?

I've never heard of a church that had a contract. I got a piece of paper when I was baptized, it said that I was baptized, and it was signed by my pastor, as the one who baptized me. I have never had to sign a piece of paper to be a member of a church. You just express an interest, give your testimony and then you are welcomed into the fellowship, usually on a day when they baptize new believers. And yes...we do eat!

We eat a lot together, Sunday mornings, every function, it's a good way to fellowship. People really loosen up when food is involved.

Churches should be a hospital for sinners. If you can't feel comfortable there, to go and be healed from walking through a dry and filthy world all week, then there is something seriously wrong going on in the pulpit.

[Guest Biblicist]

Ministries are a different story.

Children's church, nursery workers, not only have to be members in good standing, but also pass a class about child care and laws about abuse, etc. Our nursery has been growing exponentionally, but the parents are not yet members and it puts a crunch on the workers. That's difficult. But it is a good problem to have!

My wife is in charge of the nursery and I am in charge of outreach, neither of us are members.

I guess that's your churches choice.

We have our reasonings for why we do things, and I'm sure your church does too. In trying to do Church God's Way this is what we decided.

[~pearl]

I chose other. I do not believe you have to become a member of a church, however in some churches, such as mine, only members may hold offices.

If you are called to serve in the church, teachers, deacons, trustees, ect, you have to be a member for accountablility.

If this has already been pointed out in this thread, forgive me, I just skimmed before adding my 2 cents.

[~pearl]

Just wanted to add, while I believe a person doesnt have to be a member of a church, they still need to attend church, regularly, like weekly at the very least.