Posted on 02/08/2015 5:22:25 AM PST by fwdude
With the appalling apostasy, both overt and subtle, engulfing many evangelical churches in these last days, I have found myself in search of a truly Bible-believing church body that is serious about the Truth taught by God through Jesus Christ.
To be specific, these are the things I am trying to avoid:
- The cultish "mega-church" mentality (though size doesn't not necessarily disqualify an otherwise orthodox church culture)
- Any sympathy, working agreement, or tacit acknowledgement of any Christian legitimacy with Rome.
- The hyper "grace only" heresy of the need just to "believe on Jesus Christ," nothing else matters (i.e. repentance, therefore renouncing sin, optional.)
- An above-all social component to church life, using Christ as the pretext to party and have a good time.
- The "contemporary worship" scene, where the great traditional hymns of devout saints are jettisoned in favor of the shallow, repetitive pap of me-centered guitar and percussion powered emotionalism.
- Teaching that completely avoids, or gives apologetic ground to, the deadly evil in today's society, especially the stridently militant homosexuality that is engulfing even many churches behind the scenes (even the SBC).
- The unlimited "welcoming" banner that is put out by many heretical bodies, i.e., no questions asked and no requirements for participate in the life of the church.
With these in mind, here is what I am seeking:
- A praying church where prayer is not just and afterthought or a mandatory formality.
- A church that holds its fellowshipping members accountable and expects real spiritual growth in them.
- A church that believes in the spiritual gifts as the Scriptures lay them out, without the emotionally caricatured ones. (I wouldn't even object to the gift of tongues if it were genuine and conducted biblically (a real existing language not learned by the practicer), and not like most maniacally charismatic church's wantonly display in disarray.)
- A church that meets regularly, and doesn't dismiss services for Superbowl Sunday.
These are obviously not exhaustive lists, but my point is that I am through wasting time in congregations that ignore the spiritual reality of the world, and focus on the empty wood, hay and stubble of the world, neglecting the members of the Body, and subjecting them to eternal danger.
At the risk of attracting caustic criticism, I'll also throw in that I've valued the teachings of Gordon C. Olson as biblically sound, so any recommendations for church bodies that adhere closely to the theology that he taught would be much appreciated.
Yup...I have been attending Calvary Chapels for more than thirty years...
Once you go, any other church simply does not match the teaching, fellowship and love you find there...
You should at least check it out...
Here you go: http://stmarythevirgin.org/
Thanks for the helpful advice. I’ll look into it.
Ref: “Looking through this yahoo list, I noticed that most of the churches were named for a “saint” or after Mary. No thanks, I am looking for a CHRISTIAN church.”
In your original post you wrote that you are specifically trying to avoid “The “contemporary worship” scene, where the great traditional hymns of devout saints are jettisoned in favor of the shallow, repetitive pap of me-centered guitar and percussion powered emotionalism.”
Why would want to sing hymns written by saints as truly Christian, but reject a church named after a devout saint as unchristian? If God so loved and honored Mary that He chose her to be His mother on earth, why is it wrong to name a parish after her, but okay to name one after the rock on which he was crucified (Calvary)? — Just trying to follow your logic....
Thanks, but I don’t go to gay “churches.”
It doesn’t take long to slip into apostasy. I’m from a long line of Southern Baptists. We have Southern Baptist preachers, deacons, missionaries and Sunday School teachers in the family. I graduated from an SBC university and most of our friends and family remain Southern Baptist. So it wasn’t easy to move, but I didn’t like what I was seeing in our church and believed it was the right thing to do. A number of our close church friends left for a more traditional Southern Baptist congregation, but we left the SBC altogether.
Keep praying about a church home and He will be faithful to guide you. I know it’s getting harder to find faithful churches. It appears we may be heading into a period like the one described by Amos where there is a famine of the Word in our land. There are churches on every corner here, but it took us more than a year to find a new church home. In His time He honored our prayers. It’s been ten years and I am more certain than ever that we did the right thing. We have been richly blessed.
Your thinking is devoid of logic. If some of these musical saints named hymns after themselves, such as “Charles Wesley’s Rock Upon Which I Stand,” that would be a similar problem to naming a church after a saint.
I’m afraid you’re talking to a brick wall (except this one talks back). He just called me `heretic’(?). Well, I’m Catholic, so `drunkard’ and `Mariolater’ will soon follow.
I had two Calvinist coworkers who said if I would fly them to Rome they’d beat the socks off of Pope Benedict in open debate.
But it’s good to hear from a fellow Catholic on this forum.
+1
You speak with Godly wisdom, Long Colt, and I appreciate your prayers and concern. I don’t think most Christians are aware of where we’ll be in even 3 years the way things are heading. Unrecognizable will be the Christian landscape.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Fellowship is what is required of believers, not a membership in a mega or mini church. Why not form a fellowship of believers and go from there? Where two or more are gathered in His name, right? Might be something to pray on.
I’ve been a member of one of those mega churches for too long and am in the process of making the change for my family. We, too, are praying for a church that provides meat, as opposed to milk.
God will pull His people together. I truly believe that.
Best regards.
I believe this is the reason I do not belong to any particular congregation or worship at any particular church... I can go “see God” every day by opening my eyes and living life no matter where circumstance has placed me.
Watermark has a satellite that meets in Fort Worth. Check out the teaching online to see if you like what they say. We have visited several times when in the area and the sermons are apologetically Biblical even if not verse by verse. Before you go you can check them out to see if they fit your grocery list or enough of your requirements. They sing old hymns of the faith as well as newer music. We have been to huge churches that play original songs....not a fan. God will direct you. Changing churches is very hard. Be careful in your frustration and disappointment that you do not get into a dogmatic legalistic religious system that seems solid in the beginning.
I hear ya, but we are called to fellowship regularly with other Christian believers. I’m definitely not saying we can do this on our own, or even with just another family member. For me, I need a larger group, just not a mega church of 40k of my closest Chrsitian brothers and sisters. ;)
You can always tell who the Southern Baptists are at a meeting because they always sit in the back, closest to the doorway of the hall.
Ref “Your thinking is devoid of logic. If some of these musical saints named hymns after themselves, such as “Charles Wesley’s Rock Upon Which I Stand,” that would be a similar problem to naming a church after a saint.”
No, it the congregation naming the church parish in honor of a spiritual mentor. Not individuals glorifying themselves. I am pretty sure my logic remains sound.
BTW: most former Catholics whom I know, drifted away from the Church without recognizing,learning, or understanding the true Grace offered through the teachings of the Church (Glenn Beck is perhaps the greatest example.) So, relying on former Catholics as offering true understandings of the Catholic faith is a mistake.
Rudely and Illogically Yours,
Bill
Thanks! Backatcha!
I think the next work “deployment” I have to Texas, I will have to find a Calvary Chapel. Sounds like my kind of church... if I am going to attend any Sunday service.
This might sound suspiciously situational to say, but I believe those frills in the evangelical church that are not strictly biblical were at one time relatively harmless in an era when the culture was largely supportive of a Christian world view. Now, the same mindset has become sinful. The rank “socializing” done in most Christian circles is one example. God’s sheep play while the culture burns.
Biblical movies enjoyed a kind of heyday in the 50’s. While they were not true to Scriptural truth or history for the most part, people got the gist of these and relied on the Word of God for real substance. Now, similar biblical portrayals in movies and television, taking similar liberties, are actually wicked, because people are taking these fictional accounts as biblical truth (The Passion of the Christ is a prime example, the concocted details were egregious.)
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