In Search of a Church
Collin
Posts: 4,931
I've seen it on here many times, people (Americans, mostly) who go out looking for a church.
Is this a social thing? You don't like the people in church A, so let's go over to church B and see if there are any pearl jam fans in there!
I read that Obama thread about how he'd have to find a new church, and I was again very confused by this whole church hunt.
So please, can some one explain la recherche de l’église?
Is this a social thing? You don't like the people in church A, so let's go over to church B and see if there are any pearl jam fans in there!
I read that Obama thread about how he'd have to find a new church, and I was again very confused by this whole church hunt.
So please, can some one explain la recherche de l’église?
THANK YOU, LOSTDAWG!
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There are lot of factors that go into decided what church to attend. The pastor is probably the main one. Even in the same denomination, pastors can have very different styles and beliefs. Some people like pastors who dig into a book of the Bible for 8 weeks in a row, while some like pastors who do topical preaching and preach on different topics every week. When a church changes pastors, it is not the same church. A pastor plays a large role in the church, and therefore it may take you a first church visits before you are comfortable with a pastor.
If you have kids, you probably want a church that has a lot of people your age with kids as well. You probably are not going to want to have your kids being the only kids in Sunday School. So you may visit 4 or 5 churches and look at their childrens program. Worship styles are also important. Some folks like the conventional hymns with the organ, while younger folks like the churches that have guitars and drums. That's more their style of worship.
I think growing up I went to about 5 churches. Pastors come and go, and the church can completely change, and stand for things you don't agree with.
I thought your entire post made a lot of sense except this last bit. But thanks for answering my question. Where I live people aren't very religious and there's just one church in a town (you might have a few different churches i.e. jehova's witnesses, protestant but it's mainly catholic churches here). The people who believe go to that church, there is no such thing as Sunday school here, so that's an interesting factor. Also, I don't think many churches have guitars and drums here. Young people aren't very religious here and if they are a lot of them don't go to church.
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Not going to change that now.
How in the world do people know what the truth is? What do they have to line up these preachers with? How do they know?
I mean, there are thousands of churches out there that teach different things, but which one preaches the truth? Are there thousands of truths? Do people go purely for society? Do they go to ease their conscience?
No wonder there are so many atheists.
I had a friend, well, more of a person I knew, we weren't really friends, who went to this church that preached that woman should remain silent. That just doesn't sound right. What a confusing mess.
http://www.myspace.com/illuminatta
Rhinocerous Surprise '08!!!
Right. My first church was just awesome. So many friends. One pastor retired and a new one came. Instead of preaching from the Bible, he started referencing more Christian books. He got away from the Bible and went more into the psychological, feel-good culture we have today.
Well, I think most Christians find their truth in the Bible. That's the only logical place. That and prayer. You make think it is funny and stupid, and you are entitled to that. But human beings are flawed, and if the Bible is supposedly the word of God, it is logical that one would rely on the Bible, and would attend those churches where the words preached in the pulpit are from the Bible.
When I said that I didn't quite understand you last statement ( that churches can stand for something you don't agree with) I was sort of thinking along the lines of what ForestBrain posted.
I guess it all amounts to how one interprets the bible, and then consequently choosing a church that is closest to one's personal beliefs (not taking into account the pratical reasons, of course).
And how do you view for instance a church you left and the people who go to that church? Are they still christians in your view? Are they wrong?
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There's a song by a band named Pearl Jam called "Faithfull" that addresses these very questions. It's a very good song.
for the least they could possibly do
In your garden variety Christianity, there's only one non-negotiable tenet: You believe that you are a sinner, and that God sent his son to absolve you of your sins, and that by asking forgiveness and trusting God's direction for your life from here on out, you can be saved.
So long as a church, or a person, believes that, they are considered to be Christians. Everything else is just details.
You can leave a church because you'd prefer to be baptized by immersion, rather than sprinkling, but it doesn't really affect whether or not you are a Christian or other in the church are Christian.
for the least they could possibly do
Okay, I met a very friendly woman in the States and her church believed Jesus Christ was walking around on earth today, that the son of god, was just living among us mortals today.
If that's acceptable, what about christians who believe Jesus will come back next year as a robot and cause mayhem on earth, killing all the infidels with his laser eyes. It's a bit extreme, I admit.
What about that westboro baptist church?
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have at it....
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
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Yeah, it does come to how one interprets the Bible. Generally I think a church would be okay if its main teaching tool is the Bible. Once you start to get into the Christian books written by man (flawed), and use those as your main teaching tools or inspiration, a church is likely going to fall of the track. Again, these statements are assuming one is Christian and believes the Bible is infallible. To understand evangelicals (the good ones - not the idiots on tv), you have to understand they see the Bible as infallible and the word of God. If you are a Christian, and the Bible says Jesus is the only way to heaven, and your sister was not a fan of Jesus, wouldn't you want to talk to her about Jesus? There are nice ways to do it (not like the TV evangelicals who preach hate more than anything). Anyway, back to the point.
But as to your question"
"And how do you view for instance a church you left and the people who go to that church? Are they still christians in your view? Are they wrong?"
Yes, for the most part I think they are still Christians (each case is different). As someone said before, the main detail is that you realize you are sinner and that Jesus died for your sins. But a lot of churches are starting to get away from the Bible and truth. Instead of it being black and white, churches are using the Bible more as a way to live, and not a source of truth. In those churches they are starting to preach the message that there are many ways to get to Heaven, or that Heaven is just an idea. There might be a question then about these individuals being Christians. I'm not the one to tell them they are not Christians. On the other hand, some churches only preach the prosperity Gospel, where if you believe in Jesus and pray all over troubles will go away and you will have all of the money you need. This is the "feel good" church, and with this type of message there is no personal improvement, no advanced relationship with God, but just a me first agenda, that will likely lead to frustration when your prayer is not answered the way you want. These folks may be Christians, but it would not be a church I would attend.
Well, I would think that woman is wrong if she thinks Jesus is walking around in human form right now. The Bible teaches that pretty clearly Jesus died on the cross, came back from the dead, and went back to Heaven. I would say her thinking would be flawed. Maybe she meant that Jesus was around us in our hearts, not necessarily walking the earth. But believing that Jesus is walking the earth right, I would not think would preclude someone from being a Christian. That's just changing the location of where Jesus is right now. You didn't need to understand every last detail of Revelation and the end times to be a Christian, but you would need to acknowledge Jesus as your personal savior.
Christianity is a very difficult concept I admit. I've gone to church all of my life, and yet two weeks agao at 27 years old I had a 1.5 hour debate with my parents about why God would create a world where suffering occurs. You've got to have faith in the end, and you need to spend time getting to know who God is. I've got a long way to go on that.
what about them...the only place in christian circles that you'll hear support for them is in their church. They've been condemned by everyone but themselves.
It's interesting to debate the different points of denominations. But sleightofjeff nailed it perfectly when he talked about the basic christiandom beliefs
But as for your question about church, I think you find the one you are looking for when they match what they preach. I thought I did, but after my husband abused me and the kids, he still went their after he left and no one even called to see how the kids and I were doing.
So, I figured that they were also full of shit and we do not go anywhere anymore. But God is still my God and Jesus is still my saviour and I think that He knows how we are in our hearts.
Together we will float like angels.........
In the moment that you left the room, the album started skipping, goodbye to beauty shared with the ones that you love.........
There are some, however, who choose other churches to go to, although, they are still catholics. It may have something to do with what "class" of people go to one church vs. the other. See, us catholics love the poor, as long as we don't have to worship next to them. We'll do clothes drives, give money during collection, even give extra money when they repair (read remodel) the church.
Churches on tv are. The mega churches in your neighborhood probably are. But 98% of them are churches for the sake of worshipping God and congregating together.
no mega churches in my area, but to address your main point, I realize I may sound cynical, and in no way did I mean to imply that most church goers, including their pastors, are not genuinely interested in congregating together to worship their God. i know that most churches are not used to make the people who run the church into millionaires, or rich at all. but churches do have to pay the bills, and pay salaries, and so they have to keep members interested, and they have to compete with all of the other churches.
churches also have to compete with athiesm & agnosticism, although these are not businesses.
i went to a catholic church when i was little, then didn't go anymore till i went w/ a girl i was w/ at the time...i don't know what denomination it was but it looked pretty renovated...lots of stain glass windows, new looking buildings, newly paved parking lots...then the preacher spent the first 10 or so min complaining about ppl not giving enough money and how can they spread the word of god and help ppl if we're not willing to do our part and give?? maybe they should've thought of that before buying all those stained glass windows and repaving some parking lots
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
I think there is plenty of money to be made in perpetuating the non-existence of God.
Why do people still cling to the doctrine of evolution? Why does the supposed genius Hawkings say that intelligent design could exist, but by an alien and not a Creator.
There can really only be one truth, right? There cannot be evolution AND a Creator. And the Bible can only have one true interpretation, right? Well, how do people know what is the correct interpretation? I know there is a verse in it that says that the scriptures are not of any private interpretation...I found it. It says:
"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation; for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
So, how do we know exactly what the correct meaning is?
indeed, look at all the different versions of the christian bible. king james changed things like 'rape' to 'lie with'....kinda 2 different meanings
did god make a typo and then many years later catch it and tell king james???
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Well if the westboro baptist church complies with these basics, then they're just christians like the other christians, right?
But apparently they've been condemned by everyone else. Why? Is it because they spread hatred? Why can't that be the message of the bible? That's how they interpret the bible, they support their claims with bible quotes and passages. How is this different than another denominations?
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I've actually done a lot of research on Bible versions, and the KJV wasn't translated wrong. What happened is that King James spoke old English, because, well, that was the language then, and when he translated, that's what he used. I've learned some Spanish, and I understand how this happened because "Como este" means "how are you?" but "como" as a word means "how" and "este" means "this one".
But anyway, the other versions had to be changed because of copyright issues. I myself have to look into things and know the truth of matters because I don't want to believe something that isn't the truth, which is why I've done so much research. I think, if anybody feels the same way, a good, good book to read is "New Age Bible Versions" by Gail Riplinger. The woman is a genius and she spent years in college and did a freakishly large amount of research. I just think people should look at all sides and not just listen to one, because I've heard the argument that the KJV was translated wrong so many times, but it wasn't.
You could debate a whole lot about the translation of the bible. The truth is only the original bible would actually be the word of god if you believe that sort of stuff. A translation is a not the same as the original, especially if you think about the context (time, place...) in which the books of the bible were written.
It's a catch 22, really. If the bible is the divine word of god, which one must assume if he wants to translate the bible, deviation from the original means deviation from god's word. But translating the bible literally, word for word, would only produce incomprehensible gibberish.
This problem cannot be solved or avoided, it's been the same since Jerome's vulgate, editio vulgata and it will always remain.
Jerome opted to not translate word for word but rather "concept for concept" (semantic translation). That method is subjective, however.
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i think this statement holds true for people in general, not just americans. i could argue the whole 'commitment' thing, but i won't...since that's not what this thread is about.
that said, while i am not religious and only enter churches for weddings/funerals/baptisms and to take architecture pics
Let's just breathe...
I am myself like you somehow