- Sep 22, 2014
- 5
- 18
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Reformed
- Marital Status
- Engaged
First of all, thanks for having me. Glad to be here and looking forward to interacting with you all more as the Lord permits. I'll just copy and paste my story so you know where I'm coming from, as far as my faith goes.
I was raised in a Oneness church for the better part of my life and have faithfully attended for the past 15 years. My parents are the pastors there and I have served as the Worship Pastor and Director. I also preach and teach about 3-4x a month there (services are Tuesday [Bible Study], Friday [Worship Service], Sunday [Worship Service).
As I began to get more and more serious about Scripture, I started seeing that the theology that was passed down to me did not exactly fit the Biblical testimony evident on every page of the New Testament. Are there some difficult passages? Absolutely. But we interpret the difficult with the clear, not backwards. Doing so led me to understand and believe that God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternally, something the Oneness Pentecostal faith denies. It really shook me to the core of my being when I started seeing this in Scripture. I was upset, I was in denial... but the more I searched the more I saw it.
Then came the Reformers and ruined me. I started reading Romans and couldn't get away from the depravity of man. I kept reading Romans and fell in love with God's effectual calling and irresistible grace. I went back to John and not only saw all of those things, but read the testimony from Christ Himself that her preserves and upholds His sheep... and well, TULIP, then, became undeniable.
Fast forward three years from that "great awakening" in my soul, and you find my wife and I in my parents living room last night delivering the news that we could no longer continue to be part of the church and fellowship there due to our differences in fundamental beliefs about who God is, the gospel, our mode of worship and motive for worship, and a few other church administration issues that I didn't agree with.
It was an incredibly difficult conversation, but by the grace of God I was able to share my primary reasons for leaving based on the Scriptures alone. We were going back and forth quoting scripture to one another (re: Trinity vs. Modalism), and my mother kept reverting to "so you believe in three gods!?" while my dad was seemingly trying to have the honest conversation. In the end, he ended up saying something out of left field and pretty hurtful to me, so my wife and I decided it was best to leave at that point.
On the way out my wife said, "if you'd like to dismiss us from the church in good standing, please let us know. We'd be glad to be there." But so far, the only text is from my mom telling me to "think long and hard about what [we're] doing" and how the church was going to be mine to pastor soon since my dad has been having health issues. If I wanted that, I'd stay... but that is honestly not what I want. I don't want to lead a church that I don't fundamentally share beliefs with. It's disingenuous. It's fake. It's nigh-reprehensible.
So we'll be starting something new in my city in Spanish in the Reformed faith. Your prayers are much appreciated as we strive to work for the LORD and get this off the ground. I think we have a promising start -- about 5 couples, all within 5-7 years old of each other are getting together to form the launch team and invite unbelievers or "de-churched" folks to an intimate Sunday bible study -- and could definitely use your prayers. If it isn't too much to ask, also please pray for my parents, that they may not hold this decision against my wife and I and remember that we are family forever. I love them unconditionally, and know they love us too, but I know this will be a tough thing to get over for a good long while.
Thanks for reading.
I was raised in a Oneness church for the better part of my life and have faithfully attended for the past 15 years. My parents are the pastors there and I have served as the Worship Pastor and Director. I also preach and teach about 3-4x a month there (services are Tuesday [Bible Study], Friday [Worship Service], Sunday [Worship Service).
As I began to get more and more serious about Scripture, I started seeing that the theology that was passed down to me did not exactly fit the Biblical testimony evident on every page of the New Testament. Are there some difficult passages? Absolutely. But we interpret the difficult with the clear, not backwards. Doing so led me to understand and believe that God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternally, something the Oneness Pentecostal faith denies. It really shook me to the core of my being when I started seeing this in Scripture. I was upset, I was in denial... but the more I searched the more I saw it.
Then came the Reformers and ruined me. I started reading Romans and couldn't get away from the depravity of man. I kept reading Romans and fell in love with God's effectual calling and irresistible grace. I went back to John and not only saw all of those things, but read the testimony from Christ Himself that her preserves and upholds His sheep... and well, TULIP, then, became undeniable.
Fast forward three years from that "great awakening" in my soul, and you find my wife and I in my parents living room last night delivering the news that we could no longer continue to be part of the church and fellowship there due to our differences in fundamental beliefs about who God is, the gospel, our mode of worship and motive for worship, and a few other church administration issues that I didn't agree with.
It was an incredibly difficult conversation, but by the grace of God I was able to share my primary reasons for leaving based on the Scriptures alone. We were going back and forth quoting scripture to one another (re: Trinity vs. Modalism), and my mother kept reverting to "so you believe in three gods!?" while my dad was seemingly trying to have the honest conversation. In the end, he ended up saying something out of left field and pretty hurtful to me, so my wife and I decided it was best to leave at that point.
On the way out my wife said, "if you'd like to dismiss us from the church in good standing, please let us know. We'd be glad to be there." But so far, the only text is from my mom telling me to "think long and hard about what [we're] doing" and how the church was going to be mine to pastor soon since my dad has been having health issues. If I wanted that, I'd stay... but that is honestly not what I want. I don't want to lead a church that I don't fundamentally share beliefs with. It's disingenuous. It's fake. It's nigh-reprehensible.
So we'll be starting something new in my city in Spanish in the Reformed faith. Your prayers are much appreciated as we strive to work for the LORD and get this off the ground. I think we have a promising start -- about 5 couples, all within 5-7 years old of each other are getting together to form the launch team and invite unbelievers or "de-churched" folks to an intimate Sunday bible study -- and could definitely use your prayers. If it isn't too much to ask, also please pray for my parents, that they may not hold this decision against my wife and I and remember that we are family forever. I love them unconditionally, and know they love us too, but I know this will be a tough thing to get over for a good long while.
Thanks for reading.
