Posted on 11/23/2014 7:39:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In the ultra competitive church rackets, some outfits have chosen to "give them what they want" as their theology. Praying for health and wealth in this world seems better than hoping to get into heaven in the next one.
Indeed. They seem to have been given a choice between avaricious buffoonery or bitter Marxism.
Has anyone asked them why they make the switch instead of just making an observation...We can all make an observation...
There’s no doubt in my mind that they make the switch to a non Catholic religion for the same reasons Americans make the switch from Catholicism to Protestantism...
And in my view, that would be that those folks found out they could have a one on one personal relationship with Jesus
There are plenty of people on these FR pages who have told the world why they switched...
Wife and I spent a week in PR two years ago and were surprised at the number of Protestant churches.
People seek outside the fullness of the faith because they are poorly catechized to know the faith and thus are not in right relationship with God - which we all naturally seek - so they go elsewhere looking for the green grass of Jesus.
Hope they find the green grass of Jesus, but it will always be greenest in experience at the one true church, once they are properly understanding of it, but for now, they are unable to see that and will go off searching.
Find Christ! He’s in the Eucharist, in body, in blood, in soul, and in divinity. If you don’t know that, then find Him where you can for Goodness sake. It’s like sometimes you break with your girlfriend to find love...only to find she was the love of your life right there.
If it makes them want to stay in their home country I’m all for them switching.
Neither Romanists nor Pentecostals root their strength in reliance of the individual in discernment of true faith through personal study of the Bible.
But for the independent, fundamental, immersionist assemblies, expositional preaching and a missionary spirit from the beginning of planting a congregation is the key to life in the Spirit. The autonomous local baptist assembly focuses on ministry to each other through applying Biblical life principles, rather than worshiping the accoutrements of ritualistic religion, or supposed material benefits of a voodoo-like exhibition of charismatism.
Walk into any independent Bible-based assembly in the US, and you will find that congregation supporting at least a dozen church-planting trained and ordained missionaries, who are active across the world. Of a dozen, you will likely find two or three laboring in Central or South America.
The government of these local churches does not filter through some distant, monolithic religious organization with irresponsive headquarters half-a-world away. The only visible polity is right in their own assembly, where the goal of the missionary is to develop spiritually mature men and women to operate their own assembly under the leading of the Holy Ghost, with the Lord Jesus Christ as their only intercessor with The God, The Father.
In such a setting, the individual becomes uplifted by experiencing his/her own value to a very personal Christ Jesus, as well as to the surrounding fellow followers, in life, joy, sickness, or death of the body.
It is the only true faith worth following, and is also prevalent throughout the previous colonies of Romanist Iberia. In such assembled local bodies, through personal instruction the members gain sufficient spiritual knowledge of God's Word to resist the cults of Romanism, Pentecostalism, Mormonism, and Russelism (JWs), which are all also very ubiquitous and pernicious in all the Americas.
Do you really believe that only "non-Catholics" can have a one on one relationship with Jesus?
Another question may be why is it Pentecostal rather than some other protestant denomination that people are leaving the Catholic Church for.
In the U.S there are many different views of scripture which brings attention to what many people believe to be fallacies of the Pentecostal doctrine.
But how many were there in Latin America before the Pentecostals got there and being Catholic how many people actually read the Bible.
I attended many Pentecostal churches growing up. Every one taught from the Bible, verse by verse. Maybe, in this world gone mad, people need God and they did not find Him in their previous churches.
What a brilliant idea. Ask the people.
But I suppose that there’s not much money in the form of grants for that.
Anyway, here’s hoping they’re finding Jesus and not just trading one religious system for another.
“Pentecostalism promotes healthy lifestyles and serves as the largest detox center for Latin American men. Men who join these churches often stop hard drinking or gambling or womanizing.”
This is the reason for its popularity. These people truly had a conversion to Jesus. Their lives changed dramatically and others saw their change and wanted Jesus in their lives as well.
You shall know them by their fruits.
The churches that I have gone to that believe in the gifts of the spirit have also taught the Bible in accuracy.
Some of the people blogging on this site don’t understand the gifts of the spirit so they criticize them. I know a guy who criticized pentecostals, though he claimed to be a Christian and was living with his girlfriend. I do believe he had a love for Christ but lacked the strength to say no to this sin in his life. He would have done well to embrace the holiness of God that I have seen from people praying in the Spirit.
I believe the gifts of the Spirit are for today and I believe every word of the Bible and I believe in living the words of the Bible and in personal Bible Study as well. And the people who I have met who also believe this are strong, Word abiding Christians who love the Lord and who follow the Bible.
When I was a kid, we had a minister and his family stay with us while they were in a revival. Bro. H. Richard Hall, his wife, Amelia and a young man who was a musician for them, Don Warren. They are terrific people. Although I have not seen them since the 1950’s, I found them on the Internet. Bro. Hall died about 2001 but the other 2 remembered me. They did not remember my dad putting chocolate in his buttermilk though. He was busy talking to them plus some other ministers. Back then, we never knew how many to cook for. Wonderful, wonderful memories. How they linger. I treasure them.
Latinos are very passionate people. They are also not the most academic in religious matters. The culture is set on the masses being fed what the Scripture says (from the Catholic tradition), rather than the congregants checking for themselves.
As such, Pentecostalism appeals to their culture of not having to study, and celebrating emotion over objective truth.
“People seek outside the fullness of the faith “
Pentecostals are the ones with the ‘fullness of faith” in the HOLY SPIRIT . That has nothing to do with the “Prosperity Doctrine”, which distorts the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, if not shown in the content of Scripture.
God meets our needs and we experience many miracles....however all do not subscribe to all aspects of what is going on. Anymore than Catholics subscribe to pedophilia or approve of Priests who sin.
I have good memories of the pentecostal churches as well. Times like witnessing on the street and meeting many people who wanted to talk about Jesus, who wanted to know where they would be going when they die, and gave us time to share the Bible scriptures with them. While it is true that we saw many more people invited to come to church that did not come, those that did come had life conversions usually. I was blessed seeing drug addicts change their lives. I remember one couple who was living together, got married and then all their kids started going to church and started learning about Jesus.
In their own words they were blessed to have found Jesus.
I saw lives transformed.
Plus there is the “perception” that not enough scripture is taught in the RCC Church as well. But there have been efforts to get that corrected over the years.
You make a good point. I spend about 6 months a year in Colombia and non Catholic churches are booming.
Of this I do not have an opinion....but I am alarmed at the attemps of the islamanazis to gain a foot hold in S America. They dont do well there for a variety of reasons..one is that Latins tend to be very strong willed with their choice of churches.
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