>I attended a baptist church for about 3 or 4 years and quit when I began to question christianity and the bibles message. Never one call from anyone. How bout you? Are christendoms sheperds any better than dub sheperds?
Gumby
Were you fairly regular and did you make any friends? There are a lot of factors involved. The Baptists do not have 'elders' in name. Biblically, it is the same church office as a bishop, pastor and overseer. There was no pastoral visit or calls?
Pastors are generally not interested in hunting someone down to find out what their particular sin is! Most that I know can barely handle most of the priority visits. Unless the church had deacons who did visitation you may have 'fallen through the cracks'.
Anyone in a church that is loving will help you out if requested. They do not want to be nosy and scare you off or appear coercive. As Christians, we are somewhat responsible four our maturing in the faith (1 Cor. 3) but then again some churches are not very good at this. Its a real 'mixed bag' out there. I will be happy to help you out anytime, just IM me.
God Bless,
Rex
Shining One
JoinedPosts by Shining One
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31
Are Christendoms Sheperds any Better than Witness Sheperds?
by gumby ini've been out since about 1995.......and never had an elder call on me.
not that i desire this....but.. suppose you were an elder in a church of christendom and you were removed because you smoked and they felt you weren't exemplary.
after that, you never went to that church again.
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Shining One
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Could You Just Imagine the View?
by XJW4EVR in.
what a great idea!
why didn't someone think of this before?.
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Shining One
>While listening to 'learning to fly' by pink Floyd!
Amen to that!
Syd (Shining One) -
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Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 07-04-06 Church Sermon
by scout575 in"enter ye at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
" ( matthew 7:13,14 ).
"then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Shining One
>I don't view my time as a Witness as a waste, as I still believe wholeheartedly that there is much in the Bible that is good and helpful. I benefited in so many ways by my long exposure to the Bible, and I will always be grateful for that. I very reluctantly came to the conclusion that the Bible is of human origin alone.
Now, just go ahead and ask Jesus the big question, just like I did. I was devestated by the same thing and I cried out to God. "I don't know if you are out there or not. Everything I have been taught is a lie. What is TRUTH, God? Help me to understand and if you are there, show yourself in unmistakable ways!"
He did.
I'm saved by grace through faith.
I have a personal relationship with Him.
He holds me in faith, no credit to myself. He is the redeemer and the Holy Spirit gives us evidence in our daily walk.
Rex -
40
How do JW know they have the Truth?
by Noggin inbreif background: i am an ex mormon.
that church preaches that through powerful feelings sent by god, one can know the truth of the book of mormon.
highly reliable, right?
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Shining One
Snarkie,
You have a lot to learn, old chap.
>I have found a similar pattern among Evangelicals: the "catch" message is, "accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and you will be saved / born again"; but if someone says "I accepted Jesus but I felt nothing particular," the prepared answer is: "trust the Scriptures: you are saved / born again because they say so, even though you may have felt nothing particular."
It is not (usually) about feelings at all (being saved). It is a reasoned approach to the message of the New Testament. It is also a simple formula that practically anyone can understand.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
That is the gospel but there is more:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) Believe you are a sinner and in need of salvation.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Why He came to die.
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom. 10:9-12) A promise from God: believe; confess; and profess belief in Christ Jesus.
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (1 Cor. 5:15) The evidence that you are a believer.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:8-10) You are not saved by ANY good works, including baptism. You are saved by grace and for the purpose of doing good works. Don't get the cart ahead of the horse. Sure, we cannot completely separate feelings from reasoning. You first understand the gospel message, then it is up to you to accept or reject it. You don't believe that? I saw my questions answered in an unmistakable way and the realization was at the moment that I finally realized that Jesus claimed to be (and is) God: early Christians worshipped Him: and the Jews expected a God! I set out to disprove the trinity teaching and instead I found the deity of Christ. After that the Holy Spirit made Himself known to me and I embraced the solid doctrines of orthodoxy.
What we receive is peace with God and the peace of God. As a Christian develops into maturity he/she grows in knowledge, faith and attitude. The prayer life becomes more focused and fruitful. The testimony is easier to relay to people who see the evidence of that peace of God. We are the body of Christ: He still works and ministers on Earth, through those who have genuine faith. The inner light is what I refer to: "I am the light of the world" as our Lord said in John 9:5.
Rex -
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Why does "god" permit evil, wickedness and tragic misfortune??
by Shining One ini don't know of anyone who can answer this question totally but i do like this man's response!
i've posted the link to this before.
rex .
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Shining One
>yet many (the majority) find it impossible to exercise such faith because they cannot understand this issue, isn't that inherently unfair?
You sound like a writer for the Watchtower, LOL! Limited reasoning ability is not a hindurance. Children and those who suffer from retardation are not considered 'accountable'. The gospel is as simple as 1 Cor.15: 3-7. Read it; believe it; receive Him; you're saved! Again, you assume too much with a sweeping gneralization and have set up another straw man.
Rex -
43
Why does "god" permit evil, wickedness and tragic misfortune??
by Shining One ini don't know of anyone who can answer this question totally but i do like this man's response!
i've posted the link to this before.
rex .
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Shining One
Limited reasoning ability is not a hindurance. Children and those who suffer from retardation are not considered 'accountable'. The gospel is as simple as 1 Cor.15: 3-7. Read it; believe it; receive Him; you're saved!
Rex -
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Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 07-04-06 Church Sermon
by scout575 in"enter ye at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
" ( matthew 7:13,14 ).
"then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Shining One
>I had a ton of faith.
Really, in what? Think about it. Also, making some connection between someone who claims to be an ex-believer and the situation of each individual is not logical. You also do not have any solid facts that are indisputable.....
Rex -
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Why tortured to death?
by Gill in.
if jesus only 'had to die' to redeem the whole human race, why then did he have to be tortured to death?.
was that really necessary, and what sick mind decreed that it was necessary?
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Shining One
Jesus IS GOD, He claimed to be, He proved it and the facts are that at least several hundred witnessed Him being alive after His execution. 1) God made us. He let sin be a possibility for the greater good of having human beings who would have free will and NOT be puppets. 2) He already determined our life course and limited time. 3) He took all of the blame (sin) on himself. 4) He offers the free and unmerited gift of grace and favor to all who would accept it. 5) If you people keep 'biting the hand that feeds you' time will eventually run out.
In eternity you will then have all of your questions and doubts answered. Your choice is smoking or non-smoking.Jesus taught us that the peace between God and man was readily available. His life and teachings are much superior to any that have proclaimed themselves as prophets.
Are you whiners ever going to move on with your lives?
Rex -
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Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 07-04-06 Church Sermon
by scout575 in"enter ye at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
" ( matthew 7:13,14 ).
"then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Shining One
Hey Scout,
Isn't it kind of arrogant and bigoted to try to sway others from finding their faith in a Bible believing church? I mean, who are YOU to determine what is good for others? If the Bible is not your guide in life any more then just leave it at that. That's your choice. You aren't duty bound either!
>fundamentalists don't have that luxury. They feel duty-bound to try to 'harmonize' the above texts to their belief that 'God is love', just like we did when we were JWs. Its a tricky job, to say the least.
It is impossible to harmonize all scripture. You are showing your own bias and misunderstanding in this statement alone. An apologist does try to reconcile scripture but that is to keep all of the Bible haters honest so they don't get away with the cheap shots. One thing that you are doing is you are trying to use skeptical arguments that have been hashed and rehashed time and again.
Rex -
11
Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 07-04-06 Church Sermon
by scout575 in"enter ye at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
" ( matthew 7:13,14 ).
"then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Shining One
Hey Scout,
>New Testament bigotry at its worst.
Bigotry is not the issue, dillweed. The NT is absolutely clear that it is the WORD of GOD and that all other faiths will lead you to hell. A fact stated is still a fact, not some politically correct, wishy washy opinion.
Rex