Re: How to Find a Good Church
| Posted On: 02/01/07 01:38:58 PM |
Age 51, GA |
That seems like a good start, but a few more questions will most likely be needed for discernment. Unfortunately, many become "pastors", because they wanted to be in the church business. Many use the term pastor, because the Biblical title of Bishop is too restricting, which was usurped by established church hierarchies long ago (Catholic, Episcopal, etc.).
The purpose of the church to encourage and equip believers, often takes a backseat to catering to the comfort zones of the parishioners and the pastor. The whole idea of a pastor leading a flock often sets one up as a false christ, leading away from Biblical authority, and the opinions of the pastor become nearly sacrosanct. The Bible says many will flock to those pastors, because of their itching ears. It gives them a way to skate through on Sunday, without upsetting the rest of their week. The whole idea to give sole authority for one person to sermonize on Sunday from a pulpit, is a distortion, causing the focus to be put on the preacher (pastor, reverend), and not the Word. The only time the Bible refers to anyone speaking from a pulpit is in Nehemiah where Ezra read from the Book of the Law, and did not sermonize, but the emphasis was put on the Word of the Lord. Sadly, there are many preachers, pastors that love to hear themselves sermonize, taking the focus off the Word, and putting it on themselves. Jesus gave a sermon on a mount, therefore they can give one from a pulpit. Here's a couple of subjects you won't hear most preach on, women in leadership positions, and divorce, not in a Biblical fashion anyway. So you might ask if there are women in leadership positions... it is not uncommon to run across a pastor that has his wife as a co-pastor, or the leader of the congregation may even be a woman. How does that fit into the qualifications for bishop? The second subject, is the "pastor" willing to tell the truth about divorce? Certainly a sore subject - a Christian man does not put away his wife except for one cause, fornication, and a Christian woman should not initiate divorce proceedings at all, otherwise she should remain unmarried or reconcile (1 Cor. 7:10-11). If true followers of the Word, would follow the Lord's command not to get divorced, and not to marry a divorced woman, the rate of divorce would rapidly decline. So will the pastor or the so-called reverend tell the truth in these areas? Not if they're enjoying their church businesses, which is why sadly many have started down that broad road called compromise (see Luke 16:14-18 re: justification - compromise). That is why there are many large churches seen as revolving doors, and numerous groups of small home churches popping up, seeking to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. May the Lord bless them and keep them.
Porter
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Re: How to Find a Good Church
| Posted On: 02/01/07 01:31:51 PM |
Age 44, NY |
Yes, good questions of which all should be asked but I might have an issue with you using Matthew 19:4 as a reference for the Lord verifying a 6 day creation. What version of scriptures are you using? If you would entertain this further, the verses in Genesis 1:27; 5:2 also do not include a specific time frame. I DO believe that God created everything exnihilo and that he crafted everything into existance in 6 days. I just ask that you be a bit more careful when using specific verses to back up what could be a confrontational question to any man who has studied the scriptures and might not agree with using that verse as a validation.
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- Re: Re: How to Find a Good Church
| Posted On: 02/01/07 03:33:37 PM | | Age 60, OH |
The questions are convicting, probing and searching, and therefore EXCELLENT for choosing a Bible believing and preaching church. Probably, no one church would answer all of the questions satisfactorily, but the more the better!
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