With So Many Denominations...

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BarneyFife

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What exactly did I miss? Let's ride! I'm ready whenever you are, Barney:

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It was actually a legit mistake(n you for someone else). Sorry for the confusion.
 

farouk

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Maybe digressing, though...

Doctrine is first and foremost a matter of personal and fellowship conviction. Trying to create and maintain huge church organizations is not a good or realistic idea, IMHO...
 
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Hidden In Him

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Spooky? :) I guess some ppl would say so. Like I mentioned, my wife's hair used to be maroon, and rather than spooky, kind of nice would at least for her have been the description.

I hope your wife didn't look like that, or I would have asked she change a lot more than her hair. There's a word in scripture about women being modest; sort of an exhortation not to draw attention to oneself.

Well advised in a case like that.
 

Hidden In Him

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@Hidden In Him Well, you don't know what his voice sounded like, but you could I suppose use historical allusions to give people clues as to who you might be talking about...

Where's the fun in that?

Maybe I could mime him or something...

My wife always did want me to grow a beard.
But I've always refused on the grounds I'd end up looking like Hitler ... on a bad day.
 

farouk

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Where's the fun in that?

Maybe I could mime him or something...

My wife always did want me to grow a beard.
But I've always refused on the grounds I'd end up looking like Hitler ... on a bad day.
Oh forget the Adolf bit....

Beards are more widespread than ppl realize....
 

Taken

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With all the many Christian denominations and sects out there, how can one know which one is closest to teaching the truth about Jesus and the Gospel, especially if they all claim to be arriving at truth through basically the same method?

Basic Statement of Faith Any particular Church Stands For-

Belief IN the God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob And Belief in Jesus the Christ.

Thereafter verify what is Preached.

Read, Study, Trust, Believe, Repent, Confess, Submit, Receive, keep reading and Studying, share.

Glory to God,
Taken
 

user

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Okay, I will.

This is Christ...

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)
It doesn't get much stronger than that.
The Gospel is best served by the Gospel, Himself.



That same Jesus which said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." is the same which met Paul on the Road to Damascus...


Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Act 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Act 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Act 9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Act 9:10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
Act 9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Act 9:14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Act 9:18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.


That same Jesus called that same Paul to preach ... sorry if that offends you. Then again ... take it up with God.

God Bless!
 

marks

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Still haven't found what I'm looking for. Someone, please say something that only you would say.

When we don't have right relationships with each other, it's because we don't have right relationships with Christ. And those right relationships with each other that I'm talking about are sitting under teachers, and pastors (shepherds), and in contributing our gifts to others, and receiving from them. Learning, and teaching and being taught.

I believe that God intends for us to both search for ourselves, and also to have teachers to teach us.

Jesus said, You search the Scriptures because in them you think you have life, but you won't come to Me. What are we searching for? Knowledge? Reassurance? Transformation? Our Brother?

If what we want the most is to know Jesus, and to know the Father, and we see all else as contributory to knowing God, then we are malleable towards whatever God wants to do with us. Whether in this church or that church, this teaching or that teaching.

When we see for our brothers and sisters that the highest pursuit of all is to know our Creator, to have a love relationship with Him, then everything else becomes contributory to that.

If the heart of the matter is about the teaching, we'll continue to trip over things. But if the heart is in drawing closer to Jesus, then He's going to lead us in a right path.

Much love!
 
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BarneyFife

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That same Jesus which said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." is the same which met Paul on the Road to Damascus...


Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Act 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Act 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Act 9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Act 9:10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
Act 9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Act 9:14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Act 9:18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.


That same Jesus called that same Paul to preach ... sorry if that offends you. Then again ... take it up with God.

God Bless!
Why would it offend me?

1 Corinthians 3

Sectarianism Is Carnal

1And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

Watering, Working, Warning
5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
 

amadeus

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I only brought it up to explain why I see a lot of video teaching/preaching but I get your point and appreciate it.
I understand. Less than two years ago, but well before the onset of this lockdown situation I had stopped belonging to and attending regularly one particular physical assembly [church] for reasons I won't go into here. Before that happened for many years I thought I needed to have such a place. In the last few years there I was having some doubts, which I believer now were coming from God. I had tried hard in different places and more than once with a new one [assembly or church] I was believing or hoping that is was really finally the one where I should be.

From leaving that last place to the start oft he the lockdown situation, I was visiting different places [offline] but while I was knowing that a coffin was needed, I could not or would not drive those last nails into it [the coffin]. God helped me out by stopping my visits by closing [to physical visits] all of the places I might have visited...