Help me out please (its kind of about theology)

[jesusfreak04]

Ive been raised in the church, but ive really been and on again off again christian. It seemed like the tougher times would get, the more i would be like "forget this" and just spiral into evil. Not to sound dramatic but anyhow. I started geting more seroious aboutit, and i just wonder what i can do to keep from just saying "to heck with it" then looking back the next day and being like o my gosh what did i do.

Also, i am a member of a reformed church, and i havent really learned much about like deeper believes. Like where the chruch stands on theological issues. just stuff more then "believe in god + jesus" i mean we have discussed things in our youth group like how to help non believers, and all sorts of great stuff and i ma thankful for that. but is it essential to have a firm knowlede of some of the "deeper theological" things ? I mean is it essential to salvation or is it just a good i dea to know.. etc?

any help on either topic would be great, feel free to email me.

 

[kimber1]

i personally think it's good to know background things. While "beleive in God and Jesus" is obviously the most important I think understanding "why" is important too. I don't know much about what reformed churches teach. I'm a member of a Baptist church and hte pastor teaches directly from the Bible. I would say it's not essential to salvation to know al teh background and stuff, but a good idea? absolutely!!

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

As far as the reformed church goes, there is another poster on here named Reformationist. He is very knowledgeable on the reformed church. If you talk to him, tell him I sent you.

Knowledge of the Bible is important to your growth as a Christian. God says "My people perish for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Knowledge of the Bible will help you understand God better and it will show you what is in His heart.

Knowledge alone though, is not enough. As you learn more about God, you will fall more in love with Him and learn how crazy in love He is with you too. And that relationship, growing will strengthen you and that is what will keep you from saying, "to heck with it".

 

[Grace_Alone4gives]

I am reformed and do believe it is a good idea to study the theology background. It does not necessarily mean you have to agree 100% about it all (I don't) but the foundation of their faith and doctrin rests inGod alone and the word of God, the Bible, which we believe to be the infallable word of God. There are many things in every denomination that their members may not fully agree with. For instance...I know a Reformed individual who attends a Pentacostal church - figure that one out...lol. Anyway - it never hurst to find out where you sit within the denominational doctrin..infact it has helped me grow in the Lord. Just keep in miond that a 'denomination' is just that...and although Presbys may but heads with Baptists, or Methodists bump heads with Mennonite on some issues - we are all the family of the one true God. If a denomination does not follow the one true God...ie: Mormonism...then they are not considered a Christian denomination..HTH

 

[Grace_Alone4gives]

PS - I also thing Reformationalist is an excellnt person to discuss Reformed Theology...And dont forget good 'ol Woody..... (he's my Obi-wan)

 

[seangoh]

jesusfreak04, part of being a christian is to believe and accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord. The other part of it is to show that you do.

To put it in simple terms. I believe Jesus saves me and i love Him. So wouldn't it be logical, since i love Him, to love hearing what He has to say? And where is the best place to find what He has to say? In the Bible of course! Those seminars you're talking about can give you some background knowledge which may aid you in bible study. They might even discuss some doctrinal issues. It's also a good time to test whether what they teach is what the Bible truly teaches. See whether they can give a logical, yet balanced perspective and not contrary to other texts in the Bible.

But whatever the case, we have to ask ourselves this, if we really want to have a loving relationship with our Creator, ask why we're not spending time in what He says in the Bible. If i had a girlfriend, i would not be satisfied just knowing she's my girlfriend because i want to hear what she has to say whether it concerns me or not.