May 2011
Finally
May 29, 2011
There really isn't much to say here. lol. I'm all packed in my new suitcase due to the fact that the other one I own has vanished into the nether of my sister's apartment somewhere and she's sick so there is no rescuing the thing. But the new suitcase is cool. I like it. Plus it is roomy and holds all sorts of things.
Packing has gotten so much easier, it has gotten to the point where all I pretty much do is throw in everything that I use on a weekly basis. The only thing I consistently forget is my contact case and my toothbrush. lol. The thing about them is that they're the last thing you use in the morning so you have to have them out of your suitcase and by the time you're ready to go you've completely forgotten them down in your bathroom. I've bought countless contacts cases and toothbrushes over the years. XD
Anyways, all that is left to do is to check in, print off my schedule, get through church and then attempt to sleep for a few hours tonight if possible. lol
Exasperation
May 28, 2011
Grah! Sometimes, seriously, it really, really hurts to be human.
Please, everyone, realize that I'm not attacking anyone in particular, I'm just really, really frustrated with Calvinism right now. If you read back in my posts you'll see that I go through these stages where I just obsess about something and then leave it alone after awhile. Granted, this Calvinism thing may or may not have gotten out of hand. Mostly because it is cheap to research and resources are plentiful.
At any rate, I realize that I've offended some people and I could go off on a rant about several different things right now but I won't. I'm sorry, really, I am. I'll take a gentler, more diplomatic approach in the future. I realize that the way I've been going about this was probably incorrect. So here, as a compromise, while I am in Thailand I will only post about the trip. I will not, I repeat, not go off on Calvinism. In all probability I will have grown tired of the Calvinism by the end of the month and you'll never hear about it again. Usually that's what happens. I'm not saying I'm giving up, my obsession will just have waned a bit.
Thank you and goodnight.
Excerpts
May, 28, 2011
I came inside briefly to write an excerpt from the introduction of a book that just came in the mail. Check this out:
Nothing will deaden a church or put a young man out of the ministry any more than an adherence to Calvinism. Nothing will foster pride and indifference as will an affection for Calvinism. Nothing will destroy holiness and spirituality as an attachment to Calvinism. There is no greater violator of every hermeneutical, contextual, analytical, and exegetical interpretation of Scripture than Calvinism.
From 'The Other Side of Calvinism' by Laurence M. Vance (I can already tell that Mr. Vance and I are going to have a wonderful time.)
Pictures
May 28, 2011
Got the faith promise card done so went around taking pictures of things that have been going on around here. First off, the flip-flops:
Yeah, I think I'm set for the summer. And next.
The baby birds outside my patio door. The mom-bird flies off every time we open the door and if you stand out there for any length of time she attacks your head. lol
Excellent book. This picture has been Instagram-ized which is why it has that weird border around it.
May 28, 2011
I find myself battling an extreme amount of unmmotivation today. I think it is a side-effect of what I experienced a week ago. I look around me at everything and just think, 'It doesn't really matter' and leave whatever it is to be. It doesn't help that I accidentally slept through visitation this morning. I feel terrible about that, by the way.
Because I slept through visitation at church I swore I would get all of the Missions Conference stuff done. I got the banner mostly completed yesterday so all that remains is the faith promise card itself which shouldn't be too bad because all it pretty much consists of is getting a lot of text to fit into a very small space. No problem.
After I get that done I'm going to haul out the suitcases and start packing stuff. I can't leave all of it for tomorrow because I'll never get it done. I need to weigh them, reorganize stuff and weigh them again. I've got 100 lbs I can take with me, 50 per bag and, to be quite honest, I'm probably going to exceed that limit by just a little bit. lol I'll take a picture of all the flip-flops I bought so that you can see how well-prepared I am for the summer. XD I'm going to have the tannest feet in Maryland.
Gearing Up
May 27, 2011
I'm currently jittery off of caffeine and my head hurts from thinking so much while under its influence. I've got stuff scattered all over the kitchen that really needs to go downstairs into some suitcases which I haven't even pulled out yet. I'm estimating that the weight of my carry-on is going to be more than I myself weigh and that is all just from my Calvinism research, not everything else I require to be comfortable on a twenty hour flight. I'm thinking straight and crooked at the same time. I know what I need to get done but I'm hopped up on caffeine so I'm not at all worried about time limits. I need to get the Missions Conference banner done before I leave but the only thing I've done on that end is find the company I'm going to use to print it. I'm having a slight issue with inspiration for the banner and until something comes to mind I'm just sunk and there is no point in sitting in front of a computer screen hoping for inspiration. It never comes that way. The caffeine, despite what you would think, is not helping either.
I found a new source for books today, the Goodwill in Crofton. They aren't very big but the book selection is nice, cheap and not too far away. Three paperbacks for $1.59. I only had $1.51 on me so the guy behind the counter graciously donated a dime to my cause. So I'm loaded up on reading materials for my flight: Big green Calvinism binder, 'The Dark Side of Calvinism', Concordance, Hiscox's 'Principles and Practices for Baptist Churches' (This one might get excluded, not sure yet) and several other random novels that I can read when my head starts hurting. The funny thing is that I never actually get a lot of reading done on a plane. Mostly I just sit there and pray that I don't have to go to the bathroom. I hate using the bathroom on a plane.
Stocked up on tanks and flip-flops yesterday. Gap was having an AWESOME sale, $3 flip-flops and $6 tanks. The tanks are wonderful, if it weren't for the sleeveless rule I'd be wandering around in them. As it is I'm just throwing a button-up over them when I go out. I'm determined to get tan this summer so mostly I've been spending my day sitting on the back porch. Oh, and I spent $7 at Old Navy on three more pairs of flip-flops. I think I'm good on flip-flops for the summer. How many more times can I type the word flip-flops? Flip-flops. Flip-flops.
Anyways, need to get down to work. If I just start throwing things onto an image maybe something will pull together. Hopefully. Ciao!
Sovereign God
May 25, 2011
I almost don't want to do this but I feel that I need to. In a way it is my reward for getting the logo for the missions conference done because I've been keeping myself from writing anything until I finished it which I have now. Or maybe it was just an excuse because I'm almost a little bit nervous about this.
Did you know that the word 'sovereign' is not in the Bible? Neither is the word 'sovereignty'. So the phrase 'sovereign God' is not in the Bible, nor is the phrase 'sovereignty of God'. So basically, Calvinists, when you go off about the 'sovereignty of God' you are using a man-made reference to God. I've had people make me stop using terms that are not in the Bible before so I call foul and say that you need to stop using that one.
But, since I do believe that God is sovereign, we'll continue on this track. The sovereignty of God is the exercise of His supremacy. God is the one and only Supreme Being. 'But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.' (Psalm 115:3; see also Daniel 4:35). 'Sovereignty of God' sounds Biblical but you cannot misinterpret it to take precedence over His other attributes. When a Calvinist discusses God's sovereignty he means arbitrariness, thus presenting a god who could change, by-pass or ignore his own laws because of his so-called sovereignty. So by this arbitrary capriciousness, God could doom to hell men who are not even created yet for no other reason than His sovereign pleasure. But that is not the God of the Bible! God's first and foremost attribute is absolute holiness (Psalm 145:17; Isaiah 6:3; Exodus 15:11). His name is Holy (Psalm 33:21, 47:8). Because God is holy, He exercises His sovereignty only in ways consistent with his holiness. You cannot exalt God's sovereignty above all of His other attributes.
Granted, God has a right to guide, direct, lead, restrain and harden; but God's influence is different to God foreordaining every thought and action of man. God knows what man will do in the future without God foreordaining it. (Isaiah 42:9, 46:10)
I cannot take credit for everything written up there. A large majority comes from this amazing packet that I printed off from somewhere online but I have no idea who wrote it. It has so much information in it that I can't digest it all at once. I've been working my way through it and that passage on God's sovereignty really jumped out at me. Five days 'til Thailand!
Justifiable
May 24, 2011
I think I can safely say that I am justifiably frustrated with Calvinism. Considering recent events, yes, I think that is a very logical thing to say. I feel...cheated? Yes, cheated and a second choice in lieu of something that is so obviously illogical that every time I read about it I want to wave my hands in the air and scream out "Why!? Why?!" Usually I just clench my fists and roll my eyes. The effect it has on me is the same, it is cathartic, and it doesn't scare the people around me too much.
I say all that pretty much to say this, my new goal in life is to tear Calvinism to shreds. Obviously I'm on the winning side, I just can't prove that I'm on the winning side. Yet. And when I say I can't prove it its not for lack of evidence. I just can't put together a rational argument without wanting to yell out that Calvinism is absurd and I go off randomly and incohesively (as is evidenced by my previous post).
So for the last three days I've almost literally been living off of coffee and pasta salad (which I realize is unhealthy but nyeh) and printing off resources like a madwoman. I've already outgrown one binder and had to buy a second one to fit all of my stuff. I've researched John Calvin himself as well as Saint Augustine of Hippo (the person Calvin actually got his ideas from). I've researched Geneva (Calvin's church-state which he ruled like a tyrant) and I've read countless biographies and verses and statements from people on both sides of the argument.
I'm still extremely frustrated but I see light at the end of the tunnel. I'm waiting to get all of my thoughts cleanly put together before I come out and rage again because I know how that turns out. lol. Anyways. That was just a status update. My research and I are leaving for Thailand in six days. I've got a 21 hour plane ride (yay..) which seems to me to be the perfect time to study this stuff. I'm not taking my laptop with me as I've experienced in the past that usually it just makes for an extremely heavy, bulky object which has to be pulled out at every security checkpoint, never gets used and causes your back to hurt. Plus they're easy to steal and I don't want to have to replace mine right now. I need tires first. lol.
I'm rambling now so I'll let you go. Stay tuned!!
Re-Run
May 20, 2011
I will admit, I'm a coward, I haven't looked at anything people have sent me in response to my post last night. lol. I'm not actually used to getting feedback so this sort of took me by surprise although I should have known it was going to happen. I did read a little bit of them, enough to see that someone was confused and enough to realize that I mis-labeled John Calvin. He is not Swiss, he is French. I'm sure I read somewhere that he is Swiss but the person who told me he is French would definitely know more about it than I do. So I edited that part. lol.
The basic point I was trying to make last night is this: If you interpret one part of the Bible one way, you have to interpret the rest of the Bible the same way. If "God is not willing that any should perish" refers only to the people which He has called then the verse "This is the will of God....that ye should abstain from fornication:" has to be interpreted the same way. Only called people should abstain from fornication.
I realize that I have effectively opened a can of worms that maybe I wasn't ready for. But as I said, I have ulterior motives here. I'm trying not to appear as if I'm attacking people because I certainly don't want people attacking me, mostly I just want to point some things out, things that have occurred to me. I have another one but I'm not sure whether or not to post it tonight or wait. I have a few, actually.
Anyways, I must be going. Things to do today and all. Have a good Saturday! Hopefully Christ DOES come back and then we'll all know, won't we?
Fornication
May 19, 2011
This post could also be called 'How I know God does not Always Assert His Perfect Will' or 'Perfect and Permissive' or 'Two Wills in One'. Anything, really. I chose Fornication because it has a much more intriguing feel to it. That's all. In this post I hope to prove that, while God has His perfect Will, He does not assert it on humans. Instead, He graciously allows us to choose what we do. He doesn't ever force us to do anything. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I Thessalonians 4:13 - "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:"
This verse is pretty easy to understand. Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica and telling them point blank that God does not want them committing fornication. The people in the church weren't walking with Christ the way they were supposed to be. So don't commit fornication Paul says, in fact, it is the Will of God.
Now, John Calvin has been causing me a lot of grief recently. I could get into it but I won't. Just know that this Swiss French (Thank you, J.A.!) man's doctrines of election are truly, truly getting under my skin. That's basically why I'm writing this article. Calvinism seems to base itself on the sovereignty of God, which, don't get me wrong, He is sovereign and omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent. He is timeless and in control of everything that happens and will happen and has happened. He holds the hearts of men in His hands and has already seen the end because He foreknew it. So I am not at all degrading or making light of God's sovereignty. If He wanted to He could easily prevent me from writing this post. I have no doubt about that whatsoever. So please, don't get me wrong here. Back to the post.
Committing fornication is absolutely against the will of God for anybody. Saved and unsaved. I really don't think many people are going to argue about that. So...why does God allow it to happen? If He is sovereign he has every right to miraculously prevent people from committing sin and He would be perfectly justified in doing so. He has directly stated, in the Bible, to saved Christians in a church, that it His Will that no one commit fornication. But obviously it happens! I know that no one is going to disagree with me there unless for whatever reason you don't know what that is. And it doesn't just go on with unsaved people but saved people as well. Don't try to tell me it doesn't. So how can we explain this and still remember the fact that God is sovereign?
God ALLOWS people to choose what they are and aren't going to do. That's the basic premise for Salvation. People are given the choice to choose to sin or not to sin and God permits their decision. God will, of course, punish the sinner because the wages of sin is death but God still gives us the facts and lets us decide what we're going to do with them.
Based on this verse, I think it is very easy to disprove the idea of election. The Bible also states that God is not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:9) but we know that people do die and go to Hell, look at the rich man mentioned in Luke 16, He is obviously in Hell as we can see in verse 23. But God is not willing that any should perish! He is not willing! So if God is sovereign and He is not willing that any should perish, how did that man end up in Hell? Well, let's use that verse to prove election and say "God is not willing that anyone He has chosen should perish" and go off the deep end and say that obviously the rich man was not elected for salvation. Alright, so, let us read I Thessalonians 4:3 like that, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye who are chosen should abstain from fornication." Because if you interpret one part of the Bible to be one way then you have to interpret the rest of the Bible the same! So, if according to you God's Will is only for the Elect, then apparently only elected people have to stay away from fornication. Or you could take it the other way and say that God has elected all the people who are ever going to commit fornication. You do that with salvation, right? So you have to do it with fornication. And hey, if you don't like the verse in II Peter, take I Timothy 2:4 instead.
I think I've got my point across. Either God's Will is for everybody or for a select few. And if it is for a select few in one place it has to be for a select few in every place. Allowing for some to commit fornication and others not to would be completely against God's nature as a hater of evil and allowing for Salvation to be for a select few would be against God's loving nature (I John 4:8). The only thing that makes sense is that God Wills something to take place, and could rightfully force us all to do it, but He graciously allows us to make our own choices whether they be good or bad. In the end it all works out to His Glory.
I'm going to end there because I've been getting some flack for being so adamant and passionate. lol. I agree, I need to moderate myself a bit more. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I know I need to study this a bit more and I know I don't know everything nor do I maybe understand everything, but to me, just reading the Bible, the idea of election simply does not make sense. Just saying.
A Name or a Conviction?
May 17, 2011
I would like a few particular people to note that the word 'Baptist' does not actually appear in this article but I would like to point out that the Baptist church I am currently going to fits the bill perfectly. As well as every other Baptist church I've been a member of. I am well aware of the fact that not all Baptists believe the same thing and that not every church with the word Baptist in the title is perfect. I am also well aware that there are churches that do not consider themselves Baptist in name but nonetheless hold to the same standards.
One day I assume I'm going to have to go out into the world and attempt to locate a church on my own. The fact that there are a lot of churches out there might make this process difficult if I don't have a set of standards that I expect any church that I become a member of to hold up to. These are new for me, something I've been considering, so just be patient while I talk about them. I'm sure you'll think of something that I haven't considered and there might be something here that you haven't considered. So, in order to not beat around the bush any longer, here is my list of things I want in a church.
I want a church that...
I wouldn't be embarrassed to invite Jesus to. I'm sure we ALL want this. I mean, what's the point of going to church to worship God in a place where we wouldn't want Him to be? If we couldn't, in good conscious, invite Jesus to come along and attend church with us, what are we doing there? Now, I realize that churches back in Bible times worshiped much differently than churches do these days. Instead of hymns they used the book of Psalms and there were no pianos or organs, probably no ushers and more than likely services lasted a whole lot longer than they do these days. But the Bible never lays down instructions about those things. We're pretty much left to our own discretion on those points, provided the service is reverent and worshipful. One goes to church to worship God, not to have some sort of emotional experience or just to 'be happy'. I do believe we should dress up to go to church, it shows that we realize the place we are going is important and it helps us get into the correct mindset, that we aren't going to a place to mess around and have a good time, rather to worship God, our creator, Savior and Lord. I don't believe God is glorified in, nor would He like to attend, a service where people are bouncing around all over the place, dancing, screaming and generally making a ruckus all in the name of 'praising God'. I'm sure some people are there for the praising but a whole lot more people are there for the feeling. Church isn't about a feeling. Sorry, it isn't. And I would be embarrassed to invite Jesus to a church where we weren't really worshiping Him but instead using Him as an excuse to feel happy for a little bit.
Teaches exactly what is found in the King James Version of the Bible I don't see a need to get into the 'why' right now, but I am of the conviction that the King James Bible is the ONLY correct translation that is out there today. I know multitudes of people disagree with me and, okay, you're allowed to do that, but that's what I believe. That being the case, any church I attend is going to need to use the King James Version. And not just claim to use it, I want them to teach exactly what it says. I don't want them to skip over parts that they don't like or preach it half-heartedly, I want to know exactly what the Word of God says and I want them to be able to back it up with Scripture. And I want them to make me back up my own convictions with Scripture. And when I can't, I want them to teach me how. I want the Pastor to be able to teach and edify and use the Bible in a way that shows he has studied it and believes it.
Has a strong evangelistic program including door-to-door visitation and world-wide missions As Christians our calling is to tell everyone we possibly can about how Christ died on the cross for us and how they too can accept Him as their Savior. We do this in our day-to-day lives, our church does that in the community via soul-winning and missionaries do this in foreign countries with the aid of local churches. Any church I become a member of needs to make evangelism one of their main priorities.
Has ample ministry opportunities for the various members Being a Christian isn't just about knowing that you're saved and happy in the fact that you know you're going to Heaven when your time on earth is ended. A huge part of being a Christian is serving others. I see no point in going to a church where there are no opportunities to serve. I don't just mean in the nursery either. I'm terrible in the nursery. But I really like the music ministry! Teaching Sunday School is fun as well. And I wouldn't be opposed to designing fliers, working in an office, helping in a nursing home, assisting in a prison ministry, taking food to people, whatever! I want to be able to help!
I wouldn't be ashamed to have my family visit This one might seem a bit strange to you until you realize that my dad is a pastor, I've been in a particular type of church my entire life and I do honestly believe that I am attending the right sort of church. I love, respect and honor my dad so I want him to be proud of everything I do. If I were to go off and randomly attend some sort of crazy church (I mean like, really crazy), he is going to wonder where he went wrong, and with good reason! The Bible says, 'Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he shall not depart from it.' My parents have trained me from a very young age that some things are absolutely right and some things are absolutely wrong. Now, if I decided to go attend a different church they would allow me to do so. They would be disappointed, but they would not prevent me from doing it (as long as I'm not living in their house anymore). You say, "Liz, you need to get out from under the thumb of your parent's oppression sometime!" No...it's not oppression at all. Its what is right and its not just right because they said so, its right because its what the Bible says. I've come to the point where I realize that I agree with my parent's standards and now I can use their approval or disapproval as a measure for how I'm doing. Now, if I saw something that I believed from the Bible that they didn't necessary believe, as long as I can Scripturally prove it, I'll use the Bible as my authority as opposed to my dad's approval. Because ultimately God is more important than my dad. But I have found nothing in the Bible that opposes what my dad taught me so as long as it remains true, I'll stick with that.
That felt good. See? It's a rather simplistic list. Nothing crazy. Of course, there are a few doctrinal things I'd look for in a church but I can worry about that after I've identified a church I'm willing to go to. You're never going to find a church that you agree with 100% doctrinally but you have every right to demand that a church act like a proper church.
I leave for Thailand in twelve days! I can already taste the pineapple! YAY!
The Hardest Way
May 15, 2011
I've always had a problem with learning how to do things the hard way. I don't know why that is, I do not take pride in the fact that I do, nor do I intentionally do this to myself as I am not, and never will be, a masochist. Nevertheless, I tend to learn things by doing them and they usually turn out badly. Maybe if I just stopped doing things this phenomenon would cease but I cannot bring myself to just sit around and not experiment from time to time. Henceforth, painful lessons. Very, very painful lessons. We won't get into the situation of this lesson today. I just want to let you all know what the lesson was.
I recently learned a whole lot about what I believe and why I consider myself a Baptist. Just a Baptist. Please don't get started on Independent Baptist, Independent Fundamental Baptist, Southern Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Missionary Baptist, etc, -gag- etc, etc. I'm just a Baptist, alright? And more importantly than that I'm a Christian. But at the end of the day I'm a Baptist, plain and simple. I know why I am a Baptist and what I believe because of that title. But that's not what I'm trying to talk about today. Mostly it just sets the stage for what I really want to talk about and that is Separation.
Now, just to start out with, I believe that the spreading of the Gospel is the Christian's foremost calling. That's what we are here to do. Preach the Gospel to every single person we can. We do this in a multitude of ways. We can live in a godly manner and present the Gospel that way. We can say godly things and present the Gospel that way. We can physically go and tell people the Gospel. As Christians, we need to be doing all of these things and I do believe that, if you are really, truly saved, no matter what denomination you consider yourself to be a part of, you will be doing these things. I couldn't care less if you believed that you were supposed to paint yourself green (that would be weird though, you have to admit) in order to appear more Christlike. Are you spreading the true Gospel of Christ? That all men MUST be saved in order to get to Heaven and that the only way to be saved is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross? Are you doing that? If your answer is yes then, good. You are fulfilling the Great Commission and I consider you my brother or sister in Christ. You're non-denominational (which is a denomination in and of itself) and I'm Baptist? Well, hello there brother. You're Methodist and I'm Baptist? Well, hello there sister. You're preaching the Gospel of Christ which is also my main mission in life so we can get along on that.
Now, here's where things get messy. First off, just to clear the air, all of you out there who believe that baptism saves you I can't fellowship with. Baptism does not and never will save you. I'm sorry, it can't. I really don't want to get into the details about that right now. If I WERE to fellowship with you it would be as if I were saying, 'Alright, maybe I don't agree with you but....I can condone it. No big deal.' I'm not going to do that because it CAN'T save you and by giving the impression that I'm okay with you believing that it does would confuse people and might prevent someone from getting saved. Not only that but it goes against the teaching of Christ and since I'm a Christian I obviously don't want to have anything to do with someone who isn't following Christ. Admittedly, the world must look in on us and think 'My goodness, they can't even figure out what they believe amongst themselves!' and this is true! Look at us! We're all over the place!! But I digress. Sorry. My point here is this: I will not fellowship with people who preach false doctrine. End of story.
Alright, while I'm digging myself this lovely hole, let us keep going. I'm supposed to be writing a Spanish test right now for an exam tomorrow but I have all night. Onward!
There are two questions you really have to ask yourself right here and this is what I learned the hard way. The first one is, "What do I REALLY believe?" I'm a pastor's daughter, been raised one way for twenty-three years. I've been in Sunday School since before I could walk properly, memorized countless passages of Scripture and have had the same Bible since seventh grade, a black, leather, KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible. That Bible is all marked up with notes and underlines and highlighter and multi-colored pens and pencils. The spine is beyond broken and I recently noticed that Romans is starting to fall out. I'm not getting a new one, I'm getting this one re-bound. DESPITE ALL OF THIS it wasn't until recently that I began to understand WHAT I really believe and WHY I believe it. And that is thanks to a wonderful person who came into my life and made me begin to really study. How tragic is that?! I'm twenty-three! I should have what I believe mapped out and ready to go! I guess my reason for telling you this is to encourage you to sort of look at what you say you believe. Sure, I believe in Salvation through Christ's death on the cross and the shedding of His blood but I didn't know WHY. I believe anyone can receive Christ as Savior but I didn't know WHY. I believe that Satan blinds people who are not saved but I didn't know WHY. What's the point of saying you believe something if you don't know why you really believe it? If that's where you find yourself, maybe you don't really believe what you say you believe. Don't rely on things you've heard your whole life and can quote back like some sort of parrot. Figure it out! Ask your Pastor! Prove it with (correctly interpreted) Scripture! The second question you need to ask yourself once you've figured out what you really believe is, "Does it matter?"
Does what you believe really matter to you? If it does, then you aren't going to go to a church that teaches differently than what you believe. I'm not sure if it has occurred to you or not but by attending a church you're basically saying, 'These people are alright'. And if they're teaching false doctrine then THEY ARE NOT ALRIGHT. What do you do with people who aren't alright? You separate yourself from them!!
It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking, 'We all love Jesus so let's just be one big happy family, YAY!' Wikipedia has a great article on Ecumenism and you can find that here. I'm not writing it all out. Read it, it is interesting.
On the surface, Ecumenism sounds GREAT! "Hey-ho there, neighbor, we're all just out spreading the Gospel of Christ so it doesn't really matter what doctrines we uphold, just so long as people get saved!" Yeah! Fantastic! Let's get people saved! Woo-hoo! (Not intended to be as sarcastic as it sounds, sorry.)
A very, very good friend of mine was saved in a non-denominational church. My old pastor from Utah was saved in a Methodist church. I'm not saying it's not possible! The problem with Ecumenism is that being saved is JUST THE FIRST PART! Once someone is saved you don't just leave them to stagnate, you teach them!! Look at how the Great Commission reads, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:19-20" So, once a person is saved, the next step is for them to be baptized (obviously) then taught what Christ would have them to do! If they are being taught something other than good, solid, Biblical doctrine, then something is wrong! And if you think it's okay for people to be taught something other than what the Bible says then you need to re-evaluate what it is exactly that you believe!
I don't know, maybe I'm just frustrated. Satan is so good at blinding people that sometimes I just feel that it is completely useless. In short, I believe certain things and I can prove them FROM THE BIBLE and if a church is teaching something that is not (in my opinion, yes, -sigh- in my opinion) from the Bible then they aren't a church that I am able to support. No matter how many people are being saved from that particular ministry. Paul does acknowledge in Philippians 1:15-18 that not everyone preaches the same way. But look at how he defines the people that aren't preaching correctly, "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? nothwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." What I take him to be saying here is, "You know, some people are teaching the wrong way but, alright, as long as Christ is being preached I'm okay with that." This is not promoting Ecumenism! Look at how Paul describes the other methods of preaching!
Obviously people can be saved in other denominations but look at this. My friend who was saved in a non-denominational church is now a BAPTIST. My old pastor who was saved in a Methodist church is now a BAPTIST pastor! They read their Bibles, as they were supposed to, and realized that what they were being taught was wrong and they sought out a church that taught WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES! As closely as possible anyways. Baptists are not infallible, we're not perfect, believe you me I know that for a fact. But we aren't preaching that baptism saves you! We aren't preaching that you need to baptize babies! We aren't teaching that communion saves you! We aren't teaching that you can go out into the world and live however you want because you're saved now and all your sins are forgiven. NO! We're teaching what Christ taught in HIS WORD as correctly as we possibly can! We don't give in when people tell us that it's okay, that things have changed, we don't quit when people get mad at us and say that we're too conservative, and we don't change our views when they get too hard to live by!! I am a CHRISTIAN, I am going to live like CHRIST and I want to get taught EXACTLY what the BIBLE TEACHES!!
And THAT my friend is why I WILL NOT go to a church that does not teach everything the Bible teaches! THAT is why I will have NO PART in Ecumenism. THAT is why I AM A BAPTIST!
Obviously I'm getting too worked up about this. This post is already far too long and I need to go get ready for the evening service. I feel like a pastor (which I am not: I Corinthians 14:34) who has gotten to the climax of his point and is pounding the pulpit and yelling. I see how they feel now.
I know that not everyone will agree with me. That's your prerogative I suppose. Just know that I think you're wrong, obviously. And this is why.
