Most Christians know little about the actual teachings of the church they attend.

J

Jack Koons

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Because the ‘thread’ this was posted in was a different topic, I have decided to open a new thread in order ‘stay on track’. The following was stated by me:

I think it is very apparent that most Christians know little about the actual beliefs of even the church they attend; let alone a broad survey of Christendom.

To which Ted replied:

Good morning jack,

I am somewhat in agreement with that statement. However, I don't think an individual's salvation, and let's just get it out of the way now, that's what the Scriptures are all about, is measured by one's agreement with the 'fellowship' of believers they attend.

While salvation (of the soul) is indeed an important topic from cover to cover in the scriptures, growth as a Christian, is just as important. One of the saddest things I see, is a person who has been saved for half a century, and doesn’t even know the books of the Bible. Imagine having a 50 year old person, who never grows physically beyond that of being an infant. That is where much of Christianity is. Please understand what I am saying Ted, we can save thousands of people today, (and that is all good); however, if we do not teach these new infants the teachings of the Bible, the destruction of Christianity, will come quickly. (That is exactly where America is today.)

Yes, if one does buy into a lot of what some fellowships work to teach, it can certainly make the way of salvation more difficult to find. It can obfuscate (that one cost me a quarter) and lead one down a lot of rabbit holes, that are the work of many 'well intentioned' men who don't themselves have a clue and teach others to follow them. I believe that it is this very practice that Jesus was referring to when he spoke of a blind man leading a blind man. They both fall into the pit.

Unfortunately Ted, I believe this is where the majority of Christendom is currently.

I believe that every born again believer, and those seeking to be so, need to be like the Bereans. Fine to listen to what others have to say, but before deciding if it is the truth, check it out!

Well Ted, you are absolutely correct. But we have a problem. Allow me to give you a simple example:

ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον αυτου τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

In a class that I am currently teaching, this is one of the things I am covering. The first of the above is John 3:16 as seen in the Westcott/Hort Greek Text. The second is the John 3:16 in the Scrivener 1894 Greek Text. The only difference between the two is the word “αυτου” (his or the same), in reference to “εδωκεν” (he gave), which is referenced back to “θεος” (God). While this "αυτου" is not in the W/H GT, it is in every English Bible based on that GT. The difference in many modern English versions is the use of the words, “one and only” vs. “only begotten”. The problem here is that if one were to translate this verse from English to Greek using the words “one and only” it would not give you what is seen in the W/H GT.

ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον τον ενα και μονοχογιος εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον

The reason I say this is because to get ‘one “and” only’ you would have the conjunction και, but since the conjunction και is NOT in the Greek text, the word “and” should not be in the English text.
Since John 1:12 states, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”, and Romans 8:15 states, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”; stating that God gave his “one and only” son, is not only factually incorrect, but grammatically and doctrinally incorrect as well.

Ted, how can people “check it out”, when the Bible they are to “check it out” in, has been changed?

Anyway, while one would be blessed to be a part of a fellowship that teaches only the truth, attendance in such a fellowship is not the measure of faith that God will be using. As far as I can tell, God is interested in the individual's heart. Whether an individual has discerned and put into practice in their life, the truth of God. As far as I can tell there is probably not a single whole fellowship that will be saved because of their inclusion in said fellowship.

Salvation is truly in the finished work of Christ, and not in any church, and/or fellowship.

Having said that, my encouragement for anyone is to first know the Scriptures for themselves. You see, unless an individual knows and has treasured in their heart the words of God, they will never know that they are being led astray. They will believe there is a purgatory because that's what the guy standing in front of them, and their overall fellowship, teach them is the truth. They will in fact be the blind man who is being led by a blind man.

I was sharing with someone on these threads just the other day and they commented that the genealogies of the account of lives in Genesis never mentioned years or length of lives. I replied with a mere copy of the first couple of genealogies and showed how it was written in the Scriptures that Adam was x number of years old when he had Seth and then went on to say just exactly how many years Adam lived until his death. The poster fairly quickly replied by withdrawing his statement and agreeing with me that his comment was incorrect. That poster had over 7,500 posts on these threads and didn't really have even the slightest knowledge of what was written in the first few words of the Scriptures. Sadly, I thought to myself, "I wonder how many blind men they had led?"

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

Ted, I could not agree with you more. As I have already stated however, when the Bible we use as the “final authority” has been changed, and the scholars of our present day are for the most part blind; can we expect the students of these scholars to be any less blind?

Jack
 
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suzeequeue

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i agree, Jack, that the majority of Christians have no idea what their church believes, and even more seem to have no idea what the Bible teaches. or some, like my sister, know exactly what the Bible teaches, but she doesn't believe it. she actually told me that... and she has been leading Bible studies for years!! i think that's so very sad. i said, "you don't believe the Bible?" and she said, "well, parts of it, i believe some of what Jesus said." you could have knocked me over with a feather. it's heartbreaking. how can she do that? if you believe that Jesus is the Savior, the Son of the true living God, and is God Himself, how can you doubt His words? i don't understand. and how can you go to church and teach the Bible if you don't even believe what it says? and how can you know what to believe... just whatever sounds good to you?

i grew up in a spiritually dead church (sister still goes there) but i decided to pick up the Bible when i was about 12 or 13 years old and read it for myself. that's when i came to know Jesus :). then the Lord led me/us to a good Bible-believing church after i married. i loved our pastor's sermons and really grew under his teaching. so much wisdom. but now (he's in his 70s now, so maybe that's the difference) he does not inspire me so much. in the last few years he's been quoting from, "The Message," and i can't tell you how disgusted this makes me! he would read a verse, a common verse like Romans 8:28, or something, and if i had not been told what verse it was, i would not have known. that's how much the language and message is changed in,"The Message." here's an example below of Matthew 6:9-13 from the KJV.

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

note how the verses are separate. in "The Message," they just jumble all the verses together, and in some instances completely eliminate verses, which they might as well since they've changed the content so greatly anyway. remember, "The Message" is the only "Bible" that many Christians have ever read. it's just horrendous. they think they are reading God's word, yet it's anything but, IMHO.

below are the same verses from, "The Message." note how verse 6 is gone and it goes from 7-13, with no separation of verses. i guess they had to do that because they've added/changed so much that they would have been hard pressed to know where to put the separations.

7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

there is so much wrong with that, i don't even know where to start. anyway, i called my pastor and voiced my concern. he said that the man who wrote, "The Message," actually did it so his children could understand the Bible. what? could pastor not understand the Bible as a child? could i not? of course we could, just as billions of people have for thousands of years. the Bible's message is simple enough for a child to embrace, yet this man hugely changes the Bible under the guise of helping his children understand. since i spoke to my pastor about it, i've noticed that he is no longer quoting from the Message, or at least, very rarely. and i'm so glad, because i feel it is it's very misleading.

i grew up studying the RSV, and as i mentioned, that's where i came to know Jesus, while studying the gospels. then i received as a gift an NIV study Bible some time in the late 80s, so i switched to that, but i always missed my RSV.

some years later, i read an article that said the NIV had changed the Bible and in fact left the name Jesus out of numerous, numerous verses. they provided examples, so i checked and compared against my RSV, and sure enough, they had indeed changed many verses, and usually the changes involved leaving out the name of Jesus. i was greatly troubled by this.

i asked my friend about it, whose son is a missionary in Bolivia and had gone to Moody Bible College, and he explained to her, who then explained to me, that all versions beyond the KJV had many differences from the KJV because they had access to more manuscripts, earlier manuscripts, and that's why the text was changed, to be more accurate. whew! I was glad to know that i was indeed reading God’s word and not some corrupt version.

then many years later, i got a computer and the internet. i thought about investigating the NIV and it's omissions/changes further, but i never did, because i felt i already knew the truth, that the newer versions were more accurate than the KJV. also, Hank Hannegraaf, the Bible Answer Man (on the radio, who i do not agree with on many of his interpretations, but still enjoyed listening to him) had reiterated this same information many times when callers had inquired, and i noted that all the teachers on the radio also read from various versions (but not usually the KJV). these were not 'kooks,' but well-respected mainstream evangelical pastors, such as Churck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, David Jeremiah, Tony Evans, Ravi Zacharias, Adrian Rogers, etc.

then, over the past few years, i have heard more and more about the KJV only movement. and i thought to myself, those silly people, don't they know that the KJV is not as accurate as the newer versions?

but the more i heard about KJV only people, i started to wonder. after all, there must be some reason why they believe as they do. i didn't really know where to start, but i googled about it and found more of what i had already been told, that the newer versions were more accurate. there were some websites, however, that were KJV only, but i could not find out exactly why. i turned to youtube... i know it's not the best 'source,' but anyway, the first video i watched was a lady, who herself had had the same thoughts as me. she basically said she didn't know much about the subject, but she had found 2 reasons that were enough to make her switch to KJV.

first, she told about how all versions other than KJV HAD to be greatly changed, or they could not copyright them. that, in fact, the first revised Bible version submitted to be published, was unacceptable, because basically they had only changed the thees and thous and other various words to more modern English, and the publisher said it was not different enough from the KJV to be copyrighted, so they changed it more and more and more until it was finally acceptable as different enough to be copyrighted.

her second reason for changing was that the owner of most publishing companies that print the Bible are owned by a inappropriate content king, and buying from Thomas Nelson or any of the other common Bible publishers, was only giving money to this inappropriate content king.

while neither of these reasons really answered my questions, i thought she had a couple of good points. i researched further and found a man who explained that the KJV had been translated from (i can't remember what he called them) manuscripts from such and such, but the later versions were actually translated from the Alexandrian texts, and he explained how the catholic church owned these Alexandrian manuscripts and that they varied a great deal from the manuscripts that translators used for the KJV. he also said that the KJV manuscripts were actually older than the Alexandrian manuscripts. as you can see, i'm not well versed in any of this at all. my history is as i've mentioned: i studied the RSV growing up and then switched to NIV. i've never had any formal training in this regard, so i'm not real clear on any of what i've heard and/or read, as far as accuracy of the information. you seem quite knowledgeable in this area, and i wondered if you could advise me further. by the way, i did switch to the KJV, and i'm loving it.

oh, also, i should mention that in my research i also found a man who said that most of the KJVs being published today have even been changed and are not the same as the original KJV. so.... yeah, i'm greatly confused. wondered if you can help me with any of this, brother? i guess i should also point out that since i came to know Jesus through reading something other than the KJV and i received the Holy Spirit as i read, my eyes were opened and my heart changed, so the Lord can and does reach people through versions other than the KJV, but still, if these versions are inaccurate in many places, i would like to know. and i would like to know if my KJV has been changed as well.

well, this has been ridiculously long. sorry about that... i only meant to agree with you that many people these days do not know what their church believes or what the Bible teaches.

God's blessings on you, brother. :)
 
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phydaux

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As a teaching elder, it is a shame to me how many Christians have no idea what the bible actually says. Not my church, thank goodness, but it seems that a lot of pastors have no interest in teaching, or in taking a hard line on something, for fear of offending someone and losing Sunday head count.

Even in my home bible study I get the impression that many attendees look at me as this dogmatic & pedantic old coot, and they see the bible study as the chore they have to endure so that they can have "the good part," singing songs together beforehand & sipping coffee together afterward.
 
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Jack Koons

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As a teaching elder, it is a shame to me how many Christians have no idea what the bible actually says. Not my church, thank goodness, but it seems that a lot of pastors have no interest in teaching, or in taking a hard line on something, for fear of offending someone and losing Sunday head count.

Even in my home bible study I get the impression that many attendees look at me as this dogmatic & pedantic old coot, and they see the bible study as the chore they have to endure so that they can have "the good part," singing songs together beforehand & sipping coffee together afterward.

Amen! Suffic it to say that as a teacher at several levels in "Biblical Studies", (for the past 25 years), as well as in several settings, I am completely aware of, and agreement with what you have stated.

Jack
 
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1watchman

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This is a little late post, but I wanted to add a summary note at least of what I believe is very important:

As noted above, the failures mentioned is what one can expect when they rely on traditions and those religionists who don't esteem Bible-only as all authority for the Church in this world. As I have often said: if one does not take "all the counsel of God" and be "rightly dividing the Word of Truth", as God has said, reasoning after finite ideas will prevail. It is a growing apostasy in these end times.

Most professing Christians and some possessing Christians do not want to bow to the Word of God, and prefer their religious ideas. The sad thing is eternal loss of rewards in Heaven for that rebellious mind for the real Christians. So, faithful saints need to keep before all professers what God intends for His testimony in the world, and then leave all to choose what they want for self.
 
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Job8

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Most professing Christians and some possessing Christians do not want to bow to the Word of God, and prefer their religious ideas.
Watchman, this is very true, and it always amazes me. One would think than biblically ignorant Christians would have a hunger for the Truth, and when they hear or see it, they would rejoice and say "Amen". Instead we have a tremendous resistance to the Truth.

Why are Christians ignorant about spiritual things and Bible Truth?
1. Laziness -- desiring to be spoon-fed.
2. Preference for entertainment and amusements.
3. No shepherds in the assemblies who will actually sit down with believers and show them how to study the Word (using all legitimate available tools, not commentaries)
4. No sound systematic teaching from the pulpits.
5. Too many false teachers on radio, television and in bookstores.
6. Unwillingness to leave churches which have false doctrine ad false practice.

The Lord said that to him that hath, more shall be given, but to him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away (paraphrasing Mt 13:12).
 
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Jack Koons

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Watchman, this is very true, and it always amazes me. One would think than biblically ignorant Christians would have a hunger for the Truth, and when they hear or see it, they would rejoice and say "Amen". Instead we have a tremendous resistance to the Truth.

Why are Christians ignorant about spiritual things and Bible Truth?
1. Laziness -- desiring to be spoon-fed.
2. Preference for entertainment and amusements.
3. No shepherds in the assemblies who will actually sit down with believers and show them how to study the Word (using all legitimate available tools, not commentaries)
4. No sound systematic teaching from the pulpits.
5. Too many false teachers on radio, television and in bookstores.
6. Unwillingness to leave churches which have false doctrine ad false practice.

The Lord said that to him that hath, more shall be given, but to him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away (paraphrasing Mt 13:12).

AMEN AND AMEN!!!
 
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Inkfingers

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Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

I have to say that this is shocking to the point of blasphemy! Not simply that it utterly changes some key meanings but actually including the occult phrase "as above, so below" and finishing on something that belongs in a inappropriate content film (or, a little less explicitly, in When Harry met Sally). :eek:
 
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Jack Koons

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I have to say that this is shocking to the point of blasphemy! Not simply that it utterly changes some key meanings but actually including the occult phrase "as above, so below" and finishing on something that belongs in a inappropriate content film (or, a little less explicitly, in When Harry met Sally). :eek:

I think it is safe to say that Suzeequeue was giving an honest 'paraphrase', and not giving an actual 'modern version' of the Lord's Prayer.

I for one stand am a KJVOnly proponent, yet I can understand her wording, especially when considering the context of her entire statement.

My opinion ...

Jack
 
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sdajeff

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I agree fully with your statement, that says most Christians do not know what their denominational doctrines are. I will go one step further and say, in my 50 years of bible study experience that most professors of Christianity have never even read their bibles, and if and when they do they need 10 different commentaries so they can embed all the false teachings of the commentator.
I used to attend bible studies with no less than ten different translations, I dare not call them bibles, and commentaries, which I thought would help me to choose which bible verse fits the best. Well after years of doing this the Lord finally started to convict me that the ONLY way we gain understanding of God's word fully is by following what Jesus told us in John 13-16. He said the Comforter, which He will send will teach us all things. The Holy Spirit reveals the word of God to our hearts. It is certain that we could understand some of the verses in the infinite word of God, but in order to understand the real meat of the word we MUST pray and ask God to reveal it to us and He will in a marked manner. I remember after I quit using all the satanic translations and was impressed by God that the textus receptus was the ONLY translation God is revealing to His children, light switches would turn on in my mind like new revelations daily. What a blessing that was. Studying the word is like mining for gold. I was raised in a gold mine and at first the gold is easy to find, but after a while, when the nuggets of truth are embedded in our minds and we desire so much more knowledge of our loving Lord and Saviour we have to rely on revelation and NOT human intellect to understand what we are reading. Far too many do not even understand this principle.
 
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Inkfingers

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I think it is safe to say that Suzeequeue was giving an honest 'paraphrase', and not giving an actual 'modern version' of the Lord's Prayer.

I for one stand am a KJVOnly proponent, yet I can understand her wording, especially when considering the context of her entire statement.

My opinion ...

Jack

I wasn't attacking Suzeequeue, who was accurately quoting from the "Message Bible": https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+6&version=MSG

I was attacking the blasphemous "Message Bible" itself.
 
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Jane Grey

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Hi you guys, I just joined today. Parents who claimed to be atheist/agnostic raised me. At 18 I decided I would dedicate my life to the pursuit of God. I was a hard core New Ager for 15 years. You name it I tried it; months in the Himalayas at an ashram, Native American ritual, every New Age thing you can imagine. I learned how to channel quite well. One day I heard a very loud voice tell me to sit down and play the guitar. A song came to me in one shot (I channeled my music). The chorus went "see him by the river, see him on the mountain, hear him calling, you in the morning, rise" I was dumbfounded about who "he" could be. After a few days of singing this song during my morning meditation I received a very clear message. I knew that the Holy Spirit was calling me to Christ. I was informed that Christ was the King. That I was being called to follow him, it was up to me to say yes, but the call really was irresistible. I was informed that to follow Christ was to give up my entire life and to only live for him not for myself anymore. I was informed that when I became Christ's I would have His light in me and people would sense it even if they did not understand it and would hate me they way they hate him. Silly me I thought I could say yes with conditions. I said yes, but I am not going to tell anyone and I am not going to church with those ridiculous people who call themselves Christians. To me reading the Bible was not even on the menu since I was sure it was written by a bunch of patriarchal misogynists. After half a year one of my best new age friends started going to church and got me to go with her. At the end of the super seeker friendly serviced which did not offend my new age sensibilities I was pushed up to the altar. There I felt again but stronger than ever the absolute supremacy of Christ. I got convicted of sin the next day and broke up with my boyfriend and started to go to church. I bought a Bible to carry around like everyone else but I did not believe it was the infallible word of God. One day about six months later I had a day that was like getting knocked down by a thunderbolt. I opened the Bible and I knew it was the word of God. I knew that every word was true. I knew that I better get to reading it immediately because it had all the answers to everything in it and I had to live my life in the strictest accordance to what it said if I wanted to do the right thing! I then and only then considered myself to be a Christian. I was informed that there was a spiritual war between Christ and the devil; I was now in the army of Christ, and that meant obeying him to the point of death. I began reading the Bible like my life depended on it (because it does). After three years of Bible College and very serious Church participation I saw that my Charismatic school and church were teaching false teachings. I got married at this time and my husband and I greatly encouraged each other in seeing the difference between what we were being taught and what the Bible said. We moved on to a much more conservative church and school that was one step away from Fundamentalism. At the time there a was a debate between our seminary and a Fundamentalist seminary in Detroit about how our group did not take the doctrine of separation seriously enough because they did seminars with Charismatic’s who believed in the doctrine of election. Everyone in our camp thought these fundamentalists were ridiculous but when I read their writings I found them to be absolutely right. We were so freaked out that the school and church we chose because they were the bastion of truth started telling us things like Billy Graham was a fine Christian even though he started saying you can get to heaven with out Christ. My husband sent an email to the head of the Detroit seminary and he said” Don’t worry about it, go back to school with them.” That was it for us. It was encountering another group who seemed to teach the truth but did not practice it that caused one of the biggest reveals from the Holy Spirit yet. The “church” is apostate. The Holy Spirit showed us what the Bible has to say about apostasy. So we dropped out of the false church. I won’t even go into how clear it is in the Bible that false teaching will become worse and worse and you cannot have fellowship with anyone who teaches or believes in false teachings. I am telling my story because if there were anyone else out there who has seen this, I would love to hear your story.
 
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sdajeff

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WOW! Jane, great testimony.
My experience was somewhat the same, but while I was doing alpha state meditation and reading all the new age BS and trying to make the new age teachings agree with God's word I had a nervous breakdown. God showed me in a most powerful way that the bible is the ONLY source of truth there is, especially in this day and age where you can but anything including PHDs and "scientific" studies and peer reviews. Anybody with enough money (soros) can buy absolutely anything in a demonocracy that says "the majority rules" or the way I put it (MOB rules) because you can even buy the presidency, and this is quite obvious with the present moron in charge placed there by, you guessed it soros.
There is not a human on this planet with the wisdom of Soloman, Moses, Paul, David Daniel. . . .ETC.
And like you I tried every denomination just to run into the brick wall of traditional beliefs that EVERY denomination believes over the word of God. IF anyone tries to follow the bible alone they must leave any denomination because the apostasy is in 100% of denominations today.
One of the major reasons for the apostasy is the 501C3 tax exempt status that the government allows for all churches and denominations. BUT with this handout comes rules, or strings. It is impossible for any denomination which is taking advantage of 501C3 to preach the pure gospel.
The most errant teaching today is also the most attacked doctrine there is and that is conversion. Many take the most important verse in the whole bible, Ephesians 2:8-10 and read it one time and run with the thought that all we have to do is "call upon the Name of the Lord one time and we are 'saved' forever". This will lead many yeah millions of churchians, because they are not Christians unless they follow Jesus words like John 14:15 "If ye love Me, keep My commandments" straight to hell!
I call it anarchy religion that says there is no law, or that the "law" (TEN commandments) has been "nailed to the cross".
I could go on and on here but I just wanted to say Congratulations and Welcome to the body of Christ sister.
 
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Jane Grey

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@sda Jeff Thank you for sharing and it is good to hear someone can relate. Yes, every denomination puts it’s own traditions ahead of the Bible. I have to disagree on some level with what you said about one of the main reasons being the strings attached to getting tax exemption. I would just say that the main reason is because God decreed the apostasy. The people who claim to be Christians today are just like the majority of the priests and people in the old testament who claimed Jehovah as their God, apostate. It has been decreed and prophesied all through the Bible that this is how it would be. I would not call Obama a moron either. I would call him a Devil worshipper just like every president has to be, Democrat or republican. There are videos on you tube that show tons of world leaders in politics, religion, and entertainment throwing the sign of the devil with their hands. The Bible says the devil has the power to give the power of this world to anyone he chooses, and you have to worship him first. So, did you leave your church when you saw no church puts the Bible first? Do you have any fellowship? Do you have any brothers or sisters who hear and obey God’s word?
 
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Job8

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I would just say that the main reason is because God decreed the apostasy. The people who claim to be Christians today are just like the majority of the priests and people in the old testament who claimed Jehovah as their God, apostate.
God does not "decree" apostasy. God does not decree any kind of sin and evil. He tells us prophetically in advance that we will see great apostasy in the last days (which is happening right now). The denominations have indeed become apostate, but that is a work of Satan.
 
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sdajeff

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Thank you Jane for your prompt response.
501C3 is just one of the many reasons for the apostasy. Another reason is that the jesuits have re-written all, that is 100% of shool books, and history to fit their agenda. And to have a jesuit pope is quite astounding knowing that this once great Protestant republic did not even allow jesuits in until after they changed their names to whatever they could to deceive everyone into believing they are actually Christian, even Protestants. And of course absolutely NOTHING happens without God allowing it in the first place.
I live in Paradise CA. Paradise is a bedroom community for mostly Seventh Day Adventists, and although I consider myself one does not mean that everyone who claims to be one actually is. I have nowhere to fellowship, nobody around who actually wants to study the word of God. They ALL want to ad their preconceived opinion to what I read directly from the bible as they try to nullify its importance, or their version of the doctrine being studied is so far from reality they just do not want to hear God's version read straight from His word.
I left every denomination I found that could not answer the pressing questions I was asking from the word of God. ALL denominations would give the same pat traditional answers until the Lord led me to the SDA denomination. Although I believe the doctrine they teach is correct there are very few of them who actually want to live it. Even the hierarchy of the SDA denomination is preaching the peace and safety message that will cause millions of souls to be lost, and I attribute that to the 501C3 tax exempt status. ALL the leaders are afraid to speak the truth in public. Behind closed doors is quite a different story. I even wrote to the president of the SDA General Conference rebuking him for what he said in public that will lead many to hell if they take his advice.
I desire bible study above anything. I crave it and have been praying that the Lord bring people to me or sends me somewhere people want to study the bible instead of all the myriads of commentaries and errant translations. I have tried almost all online "bible" study forums just to find that most of those I have studied with ONLY want to teach man made philosophy, and quote philosophers over the word of God. Sad day for Christianity, but we can always look up because we will always have HOPE!
Please keep me in your prayers because I am in the midst of losing my business, my house and everything because my car broke down and it will take a couple weeks to fix. I have been looking for a ministry where they have lots of property where I could put a nice trailer and grow a huge garden for market. If you know of anyone looking for that please let me know.
God bless you Jane
 
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Jane Grey

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Job 8 ,
I find it intersting that you see that the denominations are apostate but don't see what you are sharing about God not decreeing evil is a teaching of the apostate church, not the Bible.
Rev 17:17
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

Is 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these tings.
Amos 3:6
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Eze 6:10
And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.
Eze 14:19
And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Mic 1:12
For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
 
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Jane Grey

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sdajeff,
I will pray for you. Mark 10:29-30 essentially says that if you give up everything for Christ you will be persecuted. Pray for my husband and I also, we are being severely persecuted by a very evil and powerful witch. It's hard to be without brothers and sisters who love God's word above the teachings of man, but it's easier than compromising God's truth!
 
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