What are the differences between these Anabaptist groups when it comes to doctrines, practices and lifestyles?

(Hopefully this is the right forum for this.)

Your Church is Going to Die​

BY CLINT CLIFTON

People rarely consider how churches begin and almost never consider how they end. Churches, just like people, have lifecycles. They are born and they die. Where is your church in its lifecycle?
Have you ever considered how close your church is to death? In his book, “The Unstuck Church: Equipping Churches to Experience Sustained Health” Tony Morgan describes seven stages of a church’s life.

1. Launch
2. Momentum Growth
3. Strategic Growth
4. Sustained health
5. Maintenance
6. Preservation
7. Life Support

Where is your church in this lifecycle?

People rarely consider how churches begin and almost never consider how they end. Churches, just like people, have lifecycles. They are born and they die. They close their doors, they sell their buildings, they liquidate their assets, and they stop gathering.

If you don’t believe me, get on a plane to Jerusalem and look for the church first pastored by James. Then skip over to Turkey and see if you can find the church at Antioch still meeting. Those churches are closed, disbanded and scattered. American churches are closing too, and not just one or two at a time – they are closing by the thousands. This Sunday morning when you go to church, about 135 fewer American churches will be gathering than gathered the same time last week. That’s 600 churches disbanding every month – and 7,000 churches vanishing every year.

Western Europe experienced drastic changes over the course of the 20th century. During the 1960s, it experienced terminal decline of virtually all its large, organized churches and the pervasive Christian culture, which influenced Western Europe for centuries, virtually disappeared. Today the streets of major cities throughout Western Europe are peppered with church buildings that lasted longer than the congregations that erected them. Hundreds of church buildings are now being used as restaurants, nightclubs, concert venues, cafés, modern condominiums, museums and mosques. They stand as stark proof that western culture is spitting Christianity out of its mouth.

The change is not really that shocking if you think about it. Churches are made up of sinners, and sin kills everything it touches. If sinners are going to church, churches will be dying. If churches are dying, new churches are necessary. Every year in America about 4,000 evangelical churches begin. Of those started, 35% close before their 5th anniversary, leaving about 2,600 new churches planted annually. While churches are dying at a significantly higher rate, each year in the U.S. approximately 7,000 churches close their doors forever. All things considered, the number of churches in the U.S. is decreasing by about 4,400 churches per year, while our population is growing by about 3 million people per year.

How is the American church responding to the crisis? We are spending countless millions of dollars erecting buildings that likely will outlast the congregations that erect them. We are building the nightclubs and mosques of tomorrow, while tossing pennies to the establishment of new churches.

As you get busy with your work, you will be tempted to find the measure of your success based on the number of people you successfully gather for worship. Please keep in mind that the mission of the church was to scatter, not to gather. Instead of measuring the success of your church by the harvest you gather, concentrate your energy and measure your success based on the seed that you scatter.

Churches have a life cycle and eventually die, and one day yours will too. My prayer is that you would plant a church vigorously committed to planting other new churches. I pray you will stretch the faith of your people, not so they can have a larger building to worship in, but that Christ may have a larger kingdom of worshipers.

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PUBLISHED DECEMBER 8, 2021

Your Church is Going to Die

People rarely consider how churches begin and almost never consider how they end. Churches, just like people, have lifecycles. They are born and they die. Where is your church in its lifecycle?

www.newchurches.com

I know it's just a building, but it's sad. I've seen my former church torn down, or sold and become something else. It makes you wonder what became of the real church that congregated in that building: the body of Christ, as something that old probably did have memebres of the body of Christ in attendance. Today, there are lot's of churches where it's another body and another Spirit, but I'm not talking about that.

For example, I used to have this thing where I would suddenly, OUT OF NOWHERE get a thought saying something like "You're going to get cancer soon". This was an actual thought I got once. And the only way to stop this event (whatever it was at the time) from happening was I had to keep repeating this prayer until I said it perfectly. Once that had been done (Which could take half an hour, sometimes longer) it meant I had "Convinced" God not to give me cancer...yeah...I was a pretty weird kid. Idk what this was. Ive also had it where I could just be putting something down and ill get a thought "If you don't put that down 4 more times X will happen (Typically of some supernatural variant)". It scares me so much and its all the time. I remember being mocked as a kid for my repetitive actions. Ive had this for so long. Are either of these God?

Although spring is in the air, it's not always easy to get your home all shipshape, and here's why it doesn't have to be.

I recently read some comments on a Facebook thread where a woman asked for tips to make her home look unlived in. I must admit I was a little shocked, I personally want my home to look lived in (and it seriously does!). I hope it reflects my family’s life and personalities.

In fact, when visitors come to my home I want them to feel welcome and the warmth of my family. I don’t want them to feel they can’t relax or put something out of place. I definitely don’t want them to feel like they’re in a hotel environment.

I was therefore a little curious about the woman’s desire for a sterile home. I looked down through the comments and saw a mixture of replies. Some people gave no judgment and just passed on some tips. Others shared they wanted the same help, and others couldn’t believe why anybody would want to live in an “unlived” in home.


The woman explained in reply to the comments that she suffers from anxiety, and for her to feel at her best she needs zero dirt or clutter. That’s totally understandable. However, it made me think about the pressure we might feel to have the insta-perfect home. Where the whole house is carefully curated, pristine, and not one item is out of place.

And this pressure seems to mount around this time of year with the expectation we should be embarking on a spring clean.

The call to clean​

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I don't know because Sola Scriptura is not a term found in the Bible. I neither believe nor disbelieve Sola Scriptura. I prefer to stick to the wording of the Bible in my thinking. I know the following:

Matthew 23:

1 Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

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Listen to the scribes and the Pharisees.

2 Thessalonians 2:

15 brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

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Listen to Paul's teachings.

At the time of the apostles, in addition to the recognized Scripture, followers also paid attention to the spoken words of their contemporary authorities. They should check whatever the authorities said against the Scriptures. Jesus scolded the authorities in Mark 7:

9b “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"

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See also How to hear God

Hello, everyone! Please pray for my brother, who has been going through some terrible health concerns lately. I prefer not to go into detail, but he's been through a very hard time, and he is losing hope. I also ask you to pray for my entire family during this troubling time and for my own financial concerns and depression. I pray that the Lord may give them all a happy outcome. Your prayers would be so appreciated and know that I will be praying for everyone here at Christian Forums as well! God bless!

My church recently has talked about how the secular world does much better than the church regarding 'data analytics': maintaining comprehensive data on individuals and making informed decisions on how to run an organization based on that data. Church leadership also indicated that this is an area that this is an area they want to grow into. Recently, my church has made a more significant effort to capture more data regarding its congregation. At first things were relatively simple, such as needing to enter my birth date in order to join a small group. However, the scope has been broadening recently. For example, I was asked to submit a form noting whether or not I had been baptized in the past (even if it was at another church) and also provide the date that baptism occurred.

I have no problem being public about my faith and the world knowing that I am a Christian. What I do have an issue with is the church collecting large amounts of data about its congregation and asking questions digitally that I typically only share in person with people. I have not had a chance to think yet about whether I want these things in a database. I am also not sure whether or not I want them to be discriminating/filtering options for me based on electronic data I am providing them. For example: church involvement has become more digital recently, especially as my church has moved to electronic small group sign-ups.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing at their church or have any thoughts on this issue?

The Milky Way has a big newfound black hole, and it lurks close to Earth! This sleeping giant was discovered with the European space telescope Gaia, which tracks the motion of billions of stars in our galaxy.

Stellar-mass black holes are created when a large star runs out of fuel and collapses. The new discovery is a landmark, representing the first time that a big black hole with such an origin has been found close to Earth

The stellar-mass black hole, designated Gaia-BH3, is 33 times more massive than our sun. The previous most massive black hole of this class found in the Milky Way was a black hole in an X-ray binary in the Cygnus constellation (Cyg X-1), whose mass is estimated to be around 20 times that of the sun. The average stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way is about 10 times heftier than the sun.

Very cool! The black hole is 2000 ly away from us. Astronomically, that might be considered close. But even with its large mass and huge gravitational field, I wouldn't worry about our planet being swallowed up.

Record breaker! Milky Way's most monstrous stellar-mass black hole is sleeping giant lurking close to Earth

Russia and NATO sing the same song.
”Keep the wheel spinning and they can’t be winning.”

The human spirit gives a human consciousness. Can an AI have a spirit?

Only if God gives it. It cannot be manufactured physically.

Genesis 2:

7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath [H5397] of life, and the man became a living creature.

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The breath of life is a detached spiritual substance from the Spirit of God. It animates the man.

Genesis 7:

22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit [H7307] of life, died.

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When God withdraws this breath/spirit, the animation stops and the animal dies.

Psalm 104:

29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

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Job 33:4

The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Today's AIs have no spirit in them. Jesus will not judge them when he returns.

Not quite exhausted yet, it’s a work in process
תפלה למשה איש האלהים אדני מעון אתה היית לנו בדר ודר
The Prayer of Moshé, the Man of Alohym, I am more or less a vapor of your cloud which continues to regenerate;

Peleh, Marvelously your incinerating properties were drawn out of The surging mass of collected waters, whose vapors were swept from a dormant cloud, that you may become a habitation for us to repopulate and perpetuate the regeneration of your existence;

You Peleh (Di)scretely possess the Man of Alohym that is drawn out of the waters, to make petition for (the salvation of) those who were made of a woman, (for salvation) from their own awful judgment, and draw Mortal Men from their anesthesia (sleeping gas) to Alohym, that they may become a sovereign lord of our habitation;

My Lord, all this time you have been (and continue to be) the place of our habitation perpetuating each (and every) generation that is generated;

I don't know if it's actually still in force or if it ever was. But what are your thoughts on it.?
For example do you believe it was a good thing to stop misinformation , or do you believe it was like something out of George Orwell's 1984 novel?

Have you ever heard of the plant Brassica oleracea?



These vegetables — broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower — are all varieties grown from the plant Brassica oleracea.(Image credit: stockcreations via Shutterstock)


Kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens and kohlrabi have unique nutritional values, and we think of them as distinct vegetables. Yet, they all share the same species name. Could they all really come from the same plant?

The short answer is yes, and humans are responsible for the differences among these veggies.


"It is all one plant, Brassica oleracea, that humans have selected over multiple generations to have these varying vegetables that we all enjoy eating," Makenzie Mabry, an evolutionary biologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History, told Live Science.

Chris Pires, an evolutionary biologist who studies crop science at Colorado State University, calls these veggies "the dogs of the plant world." All pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the same species, domesticated from wolves (Canis lupus), and they come in different varieties, or breeds. Similarly, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and the other aforementioned vegetables were also domesticated from the same species, B. oleracea.

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A video of the attack has circulated online showing a man dressed in black approaching Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel as he preaches and stabbing the bishop several times at the altar in Christ The Good Shepherd Orthodox Church.
Bishop Mar Mari of the Assyrian Orthodox Church seconds before being stabbed by an assailant while preaching

Editor’s note: The following contains video footage of the stabbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

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I feel I Need it bc the depression and anxiety I deal with is overwhelming.

For those on meds , how did you get over the fear? I just wanna cry all the time, I feel I'm always anxious, Don't want to eat. I also feel like there's more than anxiety/depsson at play. I'm afraid of passing out or having a heart attack bc of the immense anxiety I feel.

I'm afraid of being a bit more mentally ill. I'm not sure how to cope or come to term with needing meds.

I'm afraid, once I take them it may not work, mess me up mentally to the point I'm not myself or ill have horrid side effcts.

A Catholic priest who serves at St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Amarillo, Texas, was pepper-sprayed while hearing confessions last week, according to a statement from the parish.

The parish said in a statement on Facebookthat “someone dealing with mental health issues” sprayed rector Father Tony Neusch with the irritant while he was hearing confessions.

Police are investigating the incident. It’s unclear whether officers have identified a suspect at this time.

“I am okay and do not require medical attention,” Neusch said in the statement.

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I have a couple of job interviews this week. Please pray I do well on them.

Massive Asian concern. 36 Billion investment and all Texas is getting out of this is a puny little Semiconductor plant.

As if America needed that.
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/15/1244716743/biden-samsung-texas-semiconductor-chips


It's interesting that they chose to put this plant in Texas. I wonder if the Texas GOP will find a way to complain OR find a way to be happy.

Hello folks. America has has issues with toxic water before, such as with lead as in Flint, MI. The EPA has made a law to remove harmful "forever chemicals" from the water. Here is the article: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/bi...s-first-ever-national-drinking-water-standard


EPA article summary:

The article announces the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard issued by the Biden-Harris Administration to protect communities from exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), also known as "forever chemicals." Exposure to PFAS has been linked to deadly cancers, impacts on the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage in infants and children. This final rule will reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths, and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses.

The announcement comes with $1 billion in newly available funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories implement PFAS testing and treatment at public water systems and to help owners of private wells address PFAS contamination. This is part of a $9 billion investment to help communities with drinking water impacted by PFAS and other emerging contaminants, the largest-ever investment in tackling PFAS pollution. An additional $12 billion is available for general drinking water improvements, including addressing emerging contaminants like PFAS.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory made the announcement at an event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where residents were affected by PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River. The rule sets limits for five individual PFAS: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA (also known as "GenX Chemicals") and a limit for mixtures of any two or more of four PFAS: PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and "GenX chemicals."

The Biden Administration's commitment to ending cancer as we know it through the Cancer Moonshot initiative is also highlighted in the article. The new limits will prevent thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of serious illnesses, including certain cancers and liver and heart impacts in adults, and immune and developmental impacts to infants and children.

The rule will apply to about 66,000 public drinking water systems subject to this rule, with three years for initial monitoring and five years to implement solutions to reduce PFAS in their drinking water. The new limits are achievable using a range of available technologies, including granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and ion exchange systems. EPA will work closely with state co-regulators to support water systems and local officials in implementing the rule and provide information through a series of webinars.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and environmental organizations like the Environmental Working Group and Clean Cape Fear have expressed their support for the new standards. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes an unprecedented $21 billion available to strengthen drinking water systems, including addressing PFAS contamination. EPA also has a Water Technical Assistance program to help small, rural, and disadvantaged communities access federal resources and apply for water infrastructure funding.

PFAS are prevalent in the environment and can be found in everyday products since the 1940s due to their ability to repel oil and water and resist heat. Exposure to certain PFAS over a long period of time can cause cancer and other illnesses, with impacts felt during critical life stages like pregnancy or early childhood. Across the country, PFAS contamination is impacting millions of people's health and wellbeing through drinking water or food, products containing PFAS, or workplace exposures.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters block Golden Gate bridge, roads across US

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on Monday, completely halting traffic for hours as part of a coordinated day of action against Israel's war in Gaza.

www.france24.com

I think any non-citizen participating in these protests should be immediately deported.[/url]

I have found an interpretation of the prophecy of Daniel's Seventy Sevens that I want to share with you. Back in 2001, I had been engaged in a study of eschatology and I had realized that some of the things I believed were incorrect. This sent me to scripture to see if I could find something to illuminate my search for sound, Biblical answers to the questions of the timing of the end times. I was not very well versed in the history of the passage in Daniel 9 that tells of a prophecy with a starting and ending point and the coming of the Messiah. I prayed to God to open my eyes and see what he wanted me to see. When I read through it, I became aware of the answer that I am writing this to convey. The vast majority of modern Christians see the prophecy as pertaining to the crucifixion of Jesus after a period of 69 ”sevens” have elapsed from a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. I wish there was another way to say it, but I don’t think that is correct.

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
Verse 25 tells us that this is a prophetic timeline. We have a starting point, the decree, and a period of time that culminates with a coming. Gabriel tells Daniel about two different people in this prophecy. The ruler is the antichrist and the Anointed One is Jesus. He also tells us what the outcome of their comings will be. The coming of Jesus will be after 62 sevens and then, after he comes, he will be cutoff. That’s the outcome of the coming of Jesus. The coming of the ruler will be after seven sevens and will result in the confirmation of the covenant, starting the final seven years. He will then enter the temple in Jerusalem at the midpoint of that final seven and set up the abomination that causes desolation. That is the outcome of the coming of the antichrist. The Anointed One in verse 25 and 26 is the same person, Jesus. The ruler is the same person in verse 25 and 26 and is the AntiChrist. Notice that it does not say that Jesus is crucified at the end of the 62 sevens. It says that it’s after the 62 sevens. Gabriel has already stated this is a prophecy to the comings. He did not turn right around and change it to a prophecy of 62 sevens to the crucifixion. In verse 26, I added the all caps part for clarity. I believe that's the message that God is conveying. He could have just come out and said it more clearly but then everyone throughout history would have known what was happening. This prophecy is presented in an arcane way so that it would not impact the 2000 years of the Church in a way that God had not intended.



The Time Between the Testaments



I believe we are being given warning in advance of exactly when these things will come to pass. We just need to check our interpretation against what history and scripture tell us actually happened.

If we are going to check our timing against history, we need to know what amount of time we are talking about. Is a “seven” just seven years? If it is, why not just say years? The ninth chapter of Daniel refers to years over and over, yet when the predicted time periods were given for the seventy sevens, Gabriel used a different term than year. Most Bible scholars who don’t believe that a “seven” is seven years would argue that it represents seven periods of 360 days. That is largely due to the biblical prophetic equivalence of 3 ½ years, 42 months and 1260 days, all of which are half of the final “seven”. Each “seven” contains 2520 days. When you multiply 7x62x360 you get 156,240 days. 156,240/365 equals roughly 428 years. This corresponds to the time between the Testaments.



Nehemiah was among the final books of the OT. He was the rebuilder of Jerusalem and it’s walls. Now keep in mind, we don’t know the exact dates of the dedication of the wall nor Nehemiah's reforms nor the birth of Jesus, but we know they were 428 years apart because we know what year they likely occurred.

Go to logicalpaladin.net for the rest of this. It’s too long for this format.

Rev. Schooping who is kind of famous for leaving the Eastern Orthodox priesthood is now ministering in a Lutheran congregation.


Yours in the Lord,

jm