How to Find a Good Church, Questions you could ask.

[smithed64]

If you know the essentials then why did you not mention them in your list?

As stated. This is a simple list of questions for someone to ask a pastor.
For new and old Christians.
And again. If you don't like it. That's okay.
Don't use it. It's quite simple.

 

[smithed64]

There is nothing wrong with sharing a meal and fellowship.

Didn't say it was wrong.

But did say that eating in the sanctuary during a service is not right, it's called decorum and reverence.

 

[smithed64]

You can focus on the cross of Christ without having a relic or physical symbol. You are making an unnecessary requirement and law. This is the same thing the Pharisees did. God isn't concerned with outward relics or symbols. He is concerned with out hearts. As long as your focus is on the atonement and Christ's love for you there is no need for a physical symbol. I don't sit around my house and stare at a cross but I do think about Christ and his sacrifice.

It is no law. Nor is it a requirement. It's a question. That's all. Those who understand it will ask, those that don't, won't.

 

[smithed64]

God allows us to do things in life. We aren't required to read the bible all day long. It's not idolatry, it's called living.

No kidding?
Of course you have a daily life to live, work, play, eat, clean and all that jazz. But how much time do you spend reading God's Word each day.
He wrote 66 letters to us. Inspired by Him using Man as the instrument to place His Words down. So that we could get to know Him better. So that we have knowledge of what He has done for us, to us and through us. To show that He is the one that is in charge. That it's all about Him. Not us.
Thank God, for that inspired word.

 

[smithed64]

If your statement is true then everyone will go to hell.

You never stop sinning. You are a sinner. Sin is your condition. You fall short of God's perfection.

We are saved by God's grace and mercy. Not by our works.

You will never stop sinning.

So to say that those who sin will go to hell shows that you do not comprehend the cross, the gospel message, God's grace, or the free gift of eternal life.

You obviously don't understand this very well.

There is imputed righteousness that we receive by faith in God after we are Born Again.

All mankind "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) because all their 'righteousness' is like filthy rags (Is 64:6) before the throne of God, and so all are "dead in their trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1), and as a result "will not come into [God's] light for fear that their evil deeds will be revealed" (John 3:20). All mankind is in this predicament because all are the offspring of Adam and Eve (Rom 5) who originally sinned against God. As a result of Adam's fall, the world was cursed and sin entered the world. But upon confession of one's own sin and faith in Christ's death and resurrection, the sinner is justified and counted as having the righteousness of Christ.

Once you are justified and counted as having the righteousness of Christ, you begin your journey of Sanctification. John Murray says this about sanctification.
"Indeed, the more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Savior, the more he must recoil against every lack of conformity to the holiness of God. The deeper his apprehension of the majesty of God, the greater the intensity of his love to God, the more persistent his yearning for the attainment of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the more conscious will he be of the gravity of the sin that remains and the more poignant will be his detestation of it....Was this not the effect in all the people of God as they came into closer proximity to the revelation of God’s holiness." -John Murray

This is why you should read your bible everyday and pray everday. Because how else would you find out how to conform to the holiness of God, How else would you know more of the intensity of God's love. Most important, to have that yearning of the prize.

Your right we sin, but there's a huge difference between those of us who are Born Again and those who are completely Lost and reject Christ.
Those who reject Christ, go to Hell. End of story.

 

[smithed64]

Now lets address another one of your erroneous statements.

We are saved by grace through faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is what is required for a man to receive eternal life.

You keep getting it half right.
You always do that?

Yes we are saved by grace through Faith.

But what else did Jesus say:

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Luke 24:46-48 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

You have to repent, then you are save by grace, through faith.
All repent means is to turn from evil, and to turn to the good.
There are two forms of repentance.

metanoia and metamelomai

Metamelomai - is when you get caught and are regretful for getting caught more than anything else.

metanoia (verb) - a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done
a. metanoeo (noun)- to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins

So, your correct, but only half way.
You must repent of your sins. To God.

 

[John Davidson]

It is no law. Nor is it a requirement. It's a question. That's all. Those who understand it will ask, those that don't, won't.

Then why are you making it a requirement or even a question. It's your point #24. A church doesn't have to have a cross. Some churches meet in homes. We don't worship graven images.

 

[John Davidson]

You obviously don't understand this very well.

There is imputed righteousness that we receive by faith in God after we are Born Again.

All mankind "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) because all their 'righteousness' is like filthy rags (Is 64:6) before the throne of God, and so all are "dead in their trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1), and as a result "will not come into [God's] light for fear that their evil deeds will be revealed" (John 3:20). All mankind is in this predicament because all are the offspring of Adam and Eve (Rom 5) who originally sinned against God. As a result of Adam's fall, the world was cursed and sin entered the world. But upon confession of one's own sin and faith in Christ's death and resurrection, the sinner is justified and counted as having the righteousness of Christ.

Once you are justified and counted as having the righteousness of Christ, you begin your journey of Sanctification. John Murray says this about sanctification.
"Indeed, the more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Savior, the more he must recoil against every lack of conformity to the holiness of God. The deeper his apprehension of the majesty of God, the greater the intensity of his love to God, the more persistent his yearning for the attainment of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the more conscious will he be of the gravity of the sin that remains and the more poignant will be his detestation of it....Was this not the effect in all the people of God as they came into closer proximity to the revelation of God’s holiness." -John Murray

This is why you should read your bible everyday and pray everday. Because how else would you find out how to conform to the holiness of God, How else would you know more of the intensity of God's love. Most important, to have that yearning of the prize.

Your right we sin, but there's a huge difference between those of us who are Born Again and those who are completely Lost and reject Christ.
Those who reject Christ, go to Hell. End of story.

You clearly lack understanding.

I never stated that people who reject Christ will not go to hell. What I said was addressing your statement that, "those who continue to sin will perish". We are all sinners. We never stop sinning. Sinners will be in heaven. Christ Jesus came to save sinners.

Also, your belief in sanctification is erroneous. The scriptures say very little or nothing about it. Yes, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin but we will never be perfect. We remain sinners saved by grace.

 

[John Davidson]

You keep getting it half right.
You always do that?

Yes we are saved by grace through Faith.

But what else did Jesus say:

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Luke 24:46-48 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

You have to repent, then you are save by grace, through faith.
All repent means is to turn from evil, and to turn to the good.
There are two forms of repentance.

metanoia and metamelomai

Metamelomai - is when you get caught and are regretful for getting caught more than anything else.

metanoia (verb) - a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done
a. metanoeo (noun)- to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins

So, your correct, but only half way.
You must repent of your sins. To God.

Repentance is only a part of what it means to have faith in Christ.

But we are not justified by repentance. We are justified by faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Salvation is by grace through faith. Repentance is only part of what it means to be a Christian. We repent because of our love for God and our desire to please him because he has saved us.

 

[John Davidson]

No kidding?
Of course you have a daily life to live, work, play, eat, clean and all that jazz. But how much time do you spend reading God's Word each day.
He wrote 66 letters to us. Inspired by Him using Man as the instrument to place His Words down. So that we could get to know Him better. So that we have knowledge of what He has done for us, to us and through us. To show that He is the one that is in charge. That it's all about Him. Not us.
Thank God, for that inspired word.

I read the word every day. But that does not mean that it's not ok to watch TV as you previously stated.

 

[smithed64]

Who are you to say that it's not right to eat in the sanctuary? That's up to the Pastor to decide. The disciples ate meals as they worshiped together. They didn't even have a sanctuary. You are making legalistic rules that are not requirements of Christ. You are like the Pharisees who got angry when the disciples ate with dirty hands.

Your right, I can't say that for your church. It's a preference that many churches do uphold though. It's just called a little thing called respect and reverence for God. If you do this, go right ahead. It's not a sin. Just rude.

 

[John Davidson]

4. How hard is it to become a Christian?
The “formula” is simple, doing it is not. It is not easy to believe.

Now lets address another one of your errors.

It's easy to become a Christian. So easy that even a child can do it.

 

[smithed64]

Then why are you making it a requirement or even a question. It's your point #24. A church doesn't have to have a cross. Some churches meet in homes. We don't worship graven images.

Never said to worship it. Just asked if there is one in the church.

 

[John Davidson]

Your right, I can't say that for your church. It's a preference that many churches do uphold though. It's just called a little thing called respect and reverence for God. If you do this, go right ahead. It's not a sin. Just rude.

There's nothing rude about it.

If a church wants to have a Potluck in the sanctuary it's perfectly fine.

 

[John Davidson]

Never said to worship it. Just asked if there is one in the church.

And it's a question that doesn't need to be asked.

There is no requirement given in scripture to have a cross in the church.

 

[smithed64]

You clearly lack understanding.

I never stated that people who reject Christ will not go to hell. What I said was addressing your statement that, "those who continue to sin will perish". We are all sinners. We never stop sinning. Sinners will be in heaven. Christ Jesus came to save sinners.

Also, your belief in sanctification is erroneous. The scriptures say very little or nothing about it. Yes, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin but we will never be perfect. We remain sinners saved by grace.

I will repeat myself, one last time.

I said those that continue to sin and do not repent of those sins will go to Hell.
I've said it time and time again.

Nope, no sinners will be in heaven.
Show me the scripture that says that, please.

1 Corinthians 6:11
Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Romans 8:9-11
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 15:15-16
But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

Titus 3:4-7
But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

These are just a few of the scriptures talking about sanctification.

 

[smithed64]

I read the word every day. But that does not mean that it's not ok to watch TV as you previously stated.

Did not say, it was not ok to watch TV.

I said that some people put TV first before reading of God's Word. Or they get so in tuned to watching the TV, they forget or just don't read His Word. I believe we are all guilty of that, unless you don't have a TV in the house.

 

[smithed64]

There's nothing rude about it.

If a church wants to have a Potluck in the sanctuary it's perfectly fine.

Sure, it is.
Shows no reverence to God.
You know who has the best reverence for God. The Jews. A lot of them, won't even spell his name out, they spell it like this G_d. Because they reverence Him, they also want to make sure they don't use His name in vain.
I spell it out, because it's spelled out in the Bible. If it's used in the proper manner then it is in reverence and worship.
The sanctuary, Is a place of worship and respect. It's a place where we go to give Glory to God our savior. It's a place we can sit and meditate on His Word. It's a place where you can go and edify one another in prayer and fellowship.
No, it's not wrong to eat in the sanctuary, it's not a sin. It's just a sign of poor upbringing on the respect and reverence to God we all should have. He created us, He loved us enough to die for us while we were in sin. He took the wrath that we should be getting. He took the beating we should have got. There are men and women today who give their lives so that many others can have a sanctuary to sit in and give praise and worship to the God of Heaven and our savior.
If you want to disrespect Him, you go right ahead. Me and my house will serve our Lord with respect and reverence.

It's the place where God dwells amongst us.

Exodus 25:8-9
"Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. "According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.

It is the place the Lord built, not man.

Hebrews 8:2
a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

The bible calls it the most holy place.

1 Kings 8:6
Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.

We build our sanctuary, to worship God. Not potluck dinners.

 

[smithed64]

And it's a question that doesn't need to be asked.

There is no requirement given in scripture to have a cross in the church.

Your right. You don't like the question...ignore it. Don't ask it. walk away from it.
obviously it bothers you, you can't stop talking about it.
Why? Is it because of what it represents? That's why the question is there, is the church looking to the cross and remembering what Christ did on it for them. It's not there to worship. It's a reminder.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

To remind us to pick our cross and follow Him.

Mark 8:34 - And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Your not worthy, if you don't pick up your cross and follow HIm.

Matthew 10:38 - And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

We should be crucified with Christ. Having Christ take over and live in us, with us totally surrendering to Him.

Galatians 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

It is the power of God. To the preaching of the cross.

1 Corinthians 1:18 - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

It's the tree that brought forth good fruit.

Matthew 7:17 - Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Are you bearing good fruit, have you picked up your cross and denied yourself to follow Him?

 

[John Davidson]

I said those that continue to sin and do not repent of those sins will go to Hell.

If that were the case then you would be going to hell. You sin every day all day long. Sin is the condition in which you live. No one is able to repent of all their sins.