Why the 'Nones' Are No Longer Growing and What it Means for Christianity

frienden thalord said:

I have a simple question for you my friend .
Tell me , if you were to die tonight where do you beleive you would end up .

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Wish I had a nickel for every person who asked me that, hoping that God might give them all the answers to everything.

You're trying to overthink it. Jesus makes it plain:
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

What is His will?

Go to Matthew 25. Start at verse 31. He tells you explicitly. It's long, but it's worth reading.

Follow the directions and you can't go wrong. This might be helpful for you, too:

Mark 12:34 And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

frienden thalord said:

IF any comes and brings any other gospel unto you
if even we oursevles or an angel were to preach another other gospel unto you
Let them be accursed . seperate them out .
Take note that didnt say have UNITY with them .
As with john too . IF any brings NOT this doctrine , dont even recieve them into your house .
WE are supposed to preach JESUS to the lost , not try and find common ground with them .
Lets remember that well my friends . For to be unequally yoked will cause only one thing to occur .
YE FALL .

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frienden thalord said:

I have a simple question for you my friend .
Tell me , if you were to die tonight where do you beleive you would end up .
There is a reason i do ask this . Can a man KNOW He has eternal life
or does he have to simply hope for the best and see what awaits Him at the end of his life .
Again there is a huge reason i am asking this .
IT boils down to WHO and what are we truly trusting IN for our salvation .
Now , as for me , I shall cling to the ONE I KNOW has given me eternal life .
And knowing full well i never earned nor deserved it . That the only goodness i know have
COMETH of GOD who through CHRIST JESUS works in ME that which is well pleasing in HIS SIGHT .
There is a contrary monster present with us , known as the flesh . BUT SO TOO is the SPIRIT , if so be we have
the SPIRIT . The SPIRIT will unction us at the site of evil , when even that evil pops into our minds by the flesh .
Let us HEED the SPIRIT , NOT the flesh . Now concering those who JUSTIFY their sins and lies
I say , WHERE ON EARTH IS THE HOLY SPIRIT in such a one .
CAUSE the HOLY SPIRIT I have been given , has me to even HATE the very evils of my own flesh .
WHERE Is their CONVINCTION if they can sit day by day in SIN and even justify it , call it love
and etc . Dead faith is a very common thing amongst this generation . I call us back into the scriptures
to be refreshed again , to be stirred up by REMEMBRANCE of that TRUTH and to learn IT WELL for ourselves .
Cause many who even teach and lead this people are teaching lies and leading all astray who sit under them .
HOPE that encouraged you my friend .
So the answer is JESUS THE CHRIST . and if our trust be in HIM , then we would KNOW due to HIM
we DO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE . and , AND we would have the SPIRIT
and would by the SPIRIT do the things that PLEASE GOD . ps , SIN AINT PLEASING TO GOD now is it .
Thus if any who claims to KNOW CHRIST is passing off the certain deeds of the flesh as good and fine
WELL they do not FOLLOW THE SPIRIT of the very CHRIST they are claiming to BELEIVE ON .
You see many claim to BELIEVE IN JESUS THE CHRIST and yet they sure dont seem to BELEIVE SOME OF HIS TEACHINGS .

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frienden thalord said:

for if i were to please men i would NOT be the servant of CHRIST . always remember that .
What is pleasing to man , what is esteemed highly in the sight of man is abomination to GOD .
We cannot preach a message that panders to the flesh and is pleasing to men
that message will not save them , nor is it pleasing TO GOD .

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I am a true believer in God and Jesus is my savior. This being said, I also admit I am one of the nones in America. Which is to say I am unaffiliated with any organized religious denomination. Mr Burge's research indicates we (the nones) are now statistically the same size as the two largest religious groups in America, Roman Catholics and evangelical protestants.

This may be misleading for some people. Because while the nones represent the group most likely to be reached with the gospel, nones are also the demographic group that is most resistant to the gospel. We are not as lukewarm as the religiously affiliated. We either truly believe the word of God or we truly do not believe it. I enjoy fellowship with other believers, but struggle to find a comfortable church in which to worship. So I stay close to God thru prayer and reading my bible.

Brihaha said:

I am a true believer in God and Jesus is my savior. This being said, I also admit I am one of the nones in America. Which is to say I am unaffiliated with any organized religious denomination. Mr Burge's research indicates we (the nones) are now statistically the same size as the two largest religious groups in America, Roman Catholics and evangelical protestants.

This may be misleading for some people. Because while the nones represent the group most likely to be reached with the gospel, nones are also the demographic group that is most resistant to the gospel. We are not as lukewarm as the religiously affiliated. We either truly believe the word of God or we truly do not believe it. I enjoy fellowship with other believers, but struggle to find a comfortable church in which to worship. So I stay close to God thru prayer and reading my bible.

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continue to keep reading the scriptures . stay in prayer and keep learning .
The letters the apostels wrote as well as the gospels and all things written are for our good .

The Barbarian said:

Wish I had a nickel for every person who asked me that, hoping that God might give them all the answers to everything.

You're trying to overthink it. Jesus makes it plain:
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

What is His will?

Go to Matthew 25. Start at verse 31. He tells you explicitly. It's long, but it's worth reading.

Follow the directions and you can't go wrong. This might be helpful for you, too:

Mark 12:34 And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

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I was not over thinking at all my dear friend . I was simply trying to remind us of simple truth .
You are correct my friend . Not everyone who do lip His name even knows HIM and will be told I never knew you .
My point was to get us back into the bible again . You brought a few scrips yourself .
I want us to learn not just certain parts men try and twist to us , BUT to simply learn ALL things they wrote and left us to learn .
You see , many teachers through many generations have actually led people astray through their own concepts .
And they all used parts of the bible , yet NOT ALL , they contradicted other parts .
The best thing we can do , Learn the bible for ourselves and learn it well . them reminders actually
can stir us up and remind us what many no longer rightly divide or teach . Thus my mission
for a long , long time has been to get folks back into the scrips for themselves .
Its not rocket science , its not difficult , its not . Leaders who desire control
made it seem to the peoples that they just cannot learn it for themselves but rather need
to sit under their scholars , their institution , their etc etc etc . THIS was only a means for power and control .
We see it huge with the RCC and later big time in a lot of the protestant realm too .
We really need to learn it for ourselves . Do be encouraged my friend .
The next time a mormon , a jw , a baptist , a catholic or anyone
tries to say YE cannot learn it for you , YOU NEED TO SIT UNDER OUR etc , DONT HEED IT .
men have long done this for control . You , me , any sheep can learn the scrips for GOD is with us
and HE is surely able to give us the understanding of the very words HE HIMSELF inspired through them men who wrote them
letters and etc . Watch out for decievers abound in many places now . WE has got to test all men
but we cannot test them through their own versions of what they call truth .
WE DO it by learning for ourselves . Learn well the scrips for YOU . dont just take my word or the word of any
YOU learn it fOr you . that has been my mission for many years . i dont point to me or any denomination
I point to CHRIST and remind folks often to get in the bible for themselves .

Brihaha said:

I am a true believer in God and Jesus is my savior. This being said, I also admit I am one of the nones in America. Which is to say I am unaffiliated with any organized religious denomination.

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The important thing is to find support and fellowship with other believers, and to follow the path Jesus laid out for us. You are no less Christian than those affiliated with particular denominations. While I look forward to a time when all of us are once again united, this is the current state of His Church.

The Barbarian said:

The important thing is to find support and fellowship with other believers, and to follow the path Jesus laid out for us. You are no less Christian than those affiliated with particular denominations. While I look forward to a time when all of us are once again united, this is the current state of His Church.

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Thank you for those words of encouragement. I don't feel like less of a Christian and it is reassuring to hear that from another Christian. I have a little church in mind that I will try soon. I have to pull myself out of my Sunday habit of being too leisurely in all honesty. It probably takes me three hours to drink my coffee on Sunday morning lol. I like watching Dr Stanley on TV and hear his sermon. He seemed to follow the bible and I enjoy hearing his perspective.