Sometimes as Christians we need to say, “Enough is enough!” when it comes to the Word of God and someone attempting to tell us what we should “believe in”. I have always felt that being a Believer, with the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth) dwelling within me that I did not need someone to “interpret” what God was saying to me when I read the Holy Bible.It is true that sometimes as “babies” in Christ, we need the wisdom of a mature Christian to guide us along and help us understand what the Word of God may be saying too us, but this is done through prayer and Christian Love.
Now I fully understand that, as human beings, we will never agree on all of the Christian Doctrines that make up all of the denominations of the world. That is why there so many different denominational churches out there.
I ran a check on the internet which provided a comprehensive overview of the diversity among denominations of Christianity. Would you believe that there are reported to be approximately 38,000 Christian denominations? Now do you see why so many people that are “lost souls” get so confused about what church to join, or what it takes for them to go to heaven. Note: Between denominations, theologians, and comparative religionists there are considerable disagreements about which groups can be properly called Christian, disagreements arising primarily from doctrinal differences between the groups.
I have surfed several hundred Christian Blogs over the past six months now and generally I see that their authors show genuine Christian love and concern for the “lost souls” of this world. Every one of us who operates a Christian Blog has this deep and affectionate love for our Lord Jesus Christ and we want to share that love with other people or otherwise we would not be blogging.
I truly believe that God has inspired each of us to go out (Using the internet) and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to tell everyone how they can have that intimate and personal relationship that we, as believers, have in our Lord.
This is why I think it is important not to “trash” or call other bloggers for Christ “False Teachers” or past judgment on their denominational church just because “they” don’t agree with your way of thinking regarding a church ordinance or what day of the week one should worship our Holy and Awesome God.
Starting today, I will not let the devil tempt me into believing that in order to win souls for Jesus, I need to “trash” or “cut-down” another Believer in Christ.
Father God, it is my prayer that I do not past judgment on any other Christian Blogger who may have a different point of view regarding church ordinances and church traditions. Lord just lead me to be a blessing to anyone who reads my blog. I continue to pray for discernment and the wisdom necessary to tell people about Jesus. Father God, continue to search my heart and soul for anything that would be stumbling blocks for anyone to come to you Lord. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
35 comments:
Good post. The way I see it is that there is only one God and he is eveywhere. However we will not prosper until we have become united becuase unity is strength.
I didn't realize that there were 38,000 different christian denominations!
You are right, if we placed our focus on winning souls instead of debating doctrinal differences, more people would come to Christ. There's power in unity!
Amen. It's so easy for disagreements of doctrine to cause strife and dissension and before long, there is such a great divide that God is forgotten completely. I couldn't have expressed it better.
wow, that's a lot of denominations. If only could remember that there is only ONE church and that's the church with Christ at it's head. All the slight differences of opinion don't matter under Christ's leadership. He is the Truth.
"Christianity is about a daily walk with Jesus. Life and Living comes from God - it comes from Jesus - not from doctrine or good morals." ~ Rich Mullins~
It annoys me beyond sanity that Christianity has become so "watered-down" if you look at the other big religions such as muslim & hinduism (to name only two), the arey not even NEARLY as divided as we are... I personally think that if we stopped fighting over what WE interpret the Bible to say, and stopped worrying about who is wrong and who is right, and actually focussed on walking with Christ, then just maybe this world could become a better place.
Stan:
I enjoyed your blog! Great insights!
100 ways to be more loving
God Bless, Bob
http://westbob.blogspot.com/2010/04/line-upon-line.html
What was the source for the number of denominations? 38K seems high to me. I am well aware that there are a multitude of them, don't get me wrong.
Don't forget, Matthew 7:21 and other places remind us that not everyone who says that they are a Christian is a Christian. Jesus also said narrow is the gate, straight is the way, few find it.
Also, Paul told us to mark and avoid those who preach false doctrine - again, not preferences, but actual biblical doctrine we are to separate from.
I love what Paul told the Corinthians when he said that divisons were ordained by God. Isnt that strange? That God would ordain disputes? Why would we do that? Paul goes on to say so that the truth would be made known. In other words, when error rears its ugly head, we can praise God, because it is what causes us to be students of the Word and search out the truth.
John tells us to test every spirit and not to receive every one that comes along.
I agree to much "blood" has been shed over preferences and minimal things - but there are hills that need to be died upon for the sake of the gospel.
Just this morning in my devotions I read where the demon possessed girl was following Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy in Philippi. She shouted out the truth, that these men were from God and that they had the means of salvation. But Paul cast out the demon and shut her testimony. Why? There can be no partnership with those who do not know Christ even for the spreading of the truth.
We cannot partner with everyone simply to spread the gospel. The Gospel and God by the way does not need our help. He does not need us to spread the gospel, He said that He could make the rocks cry out. The rocks could just as easily share the gospel as we can. God gives us the unique honor, privilege, pleasure to share the gospel - praise God for that!
How how many times in the gospel did Jesus tell certain people to shut up, don't testify to him, don't tell the truth? Quite a few. Why? Again, He has no need for the unsaved in particular to join in the efforts to speak the truth.
You are correct and I join you in the fact that we are not to trash anyone for the sake of trashing them. I applaud you for seeking discernment in the spreading of the gospel.
False teachers, false doctrine, false gospels, false "beleivers" at times need to be exposed.
Thank you for your post, it gave me somethings to think throug. Praisi God, that irregardless of our getting in the "way" at times, God still saves His elect. Praise God.
I want to thank everyone of you for your visit and comments. God's word will never return void.
Yes Gregg, I too thought the number of Christian Denominations were a little high, but the following link has the breakdowns:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations
No wonder all of the lost souls have a hard time making up their minds what church to join. God bless, Lloyd
I totally agree about your post. This division in christianity is so sad and renders the work ineffective. This is why the church is not doing its real mission.
Since the earthquake in Haiti, Father helped me to think about charities. A typical example is in the area of cancer, you will find million of charities. The same can be said in the domain of aid. Everyone has good intentions but the process to achieve them, is ineffective. They are a lot of charities in the world. However the work is none done effectively because of the desire of everyone to be first. There is strength in unity. Imagine if all these charities come together as a unique force!
This is to tell the need to unite.
The division in christianity breaks my heart a lot. Imagine an army of overcomers praying! It is a call for more work and prayer. Let's all pray for overcomers!
Thanks for your post.
God bless.
It is sad that until now there are still many lost souls. Hope people realize that it is not about the church...it's about GOD the Father. Debating about doctrinal differences won't help.
Discretion is indeed the better part of valor. I am associated with several groups which, though Christian, are made up of several denominational perspectives: Armenian, Calvinists, Charismatic, and Fundamentalist. We focus on the core doctrines for the most part, but sometimes in informal conversations, I have to exercise great restraint to keep from disputing with my brothers and sisters over areas where I believe they are err. I use my blog as a sort of steam vent sometimes. Until you stumbled by one day, hardly anyone ever read it, so I felt safe blabbing about my frustrations.
I also agree with Gregg about some issues being too important to let slide. Sometimes you have to make a stand on a point of doctrine. At those times, I believe it is the only loving thing to do. Leaving someone in error isn't very loving. Of course, that's easy for me to say, since I also think it's predominantly your job, (as men) to take those stands. (snicker)
Nice post. I'am glad with it. God has many more followers than we think. Let us pray for each other. After this life we will meet eachother in heaven. Together in the name of Jesus!
Hello,
Halləluya, Peace be with you in the name of the Lord.
I'm glad you follow my blog about "Repair the World" (Tikkun Olam).
Hugs and peace.
Hi Lloyd, Thanks for visiting me and my blog. So nice to meet you. Your blog is great. Very positive and uplifting which is so needed these days. Keep up your good work.
Well said. I really enjoyed this post. Thank you for coming by and following. When you get a chance please read the posts Jesus is Awesome and Set the World on Fire. I have asked many to read and I just don't get any comments on those ones. Maybe you could leave one when you get a chance! I'm following you and can't wait to read more!
http://meandmineinasmalltown.blogspot.com/2010/04/take-off-weight-tuesdays_3814.html
Hello Lloyd,
Thanks for stopping by my blog, I appreciated hearing from you. It's good to meet a brother in Christ.
I thank God and applaud you for encouraging the body of Christ (via this medium) to focus on sharing the love and grace of God for all of us.
Blessings to you.
MTJ
I want to thank you all for visiting my blog and I really appreciate all the comments.
When I mention that we need to work together, I am referring to genuine Believer's in Christ. As mentioned by Gregg, there are a lot of people out there that claim to be Christians, but in reality they are working for the devil. There will be times that we must stand up for Jesus and expose false or misleading teachers who call themselves Christians. We must never water down our faith and give into false doctrines or world views.
There are a lot of “ravishing wolves” out there ready to devour us. We must keep our guard up for false teachers and preachers of the Gospel and expose them for what they are “ungodly”.
The core doctrines of Christianity must be upheld and valued. We as Believes must always check what is taught to us with the Word of God to make sure that it is the TRUTH. God bless, Lloyd
What I believe is that we as Jesus followers need to focus in God's word, and pray that the Holly Spirit will reveal the word to us, this is the only way we will be able to discern who is teaching the truth and who is teaching a false doctrine.
I like to read all the Christian blogs that I can find, most of the time I receive something from it and sometimes I don't receive anything, but I believe that we all are trying to rich the lost souls out there.
I enjoy reading your posts :-)
Well said, Llloyd! Thanks for a great post.
Thank you for visiting, I really enjoyed your site! Be blessed!
As I was reading your post, I thought about a telecast I went to several years ago... I want to say it was Beth Moore speaking? She talked about being in egypt and then in the wilderness before reaching the promised land... and how SO many of us Christians are in the wilderness.
It's often hard to look through someone, especially on a blog, and see where they are. Sometimes, I think we are all trying to figure out how to get out of the wilderness... but we need to be patient - with God, with ourselves, and with one another.
great post! Enjoyed it very much.
~blessings
Dorcas
Lloyd,
I really enjoyed your post. So many denominations! That's a shame. I believe in listening to people about God, however the final word I will hold as the truth, will only come from God. May God continue to bless all those who are truly working for Him.
Awesome prayer as well. That definitely should be a prayer for us all.
God Bless!
"Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do what my Father in Heaven wants them to do." Matthew 7:21
Hence: No parrots in Heaven.
Our relationship with God should be a personal one - a 1 to 1 relationship; regardless of how many denominations exist and all the various beliefs they wish to impose on their followers.
Christ must be crying at how we have miss-quoted His words and altered them to suit our modern sophisticated selfish lifestyles.
God bless you.
AWESome! name ya got for your blog!
and a very cool post too!
Great topic! Many focus too much on the technicalities instead of the goal.
In Sunday school, we were discussing the movement of the Holy Spirit in Acts. 4:32 says, "All the believers were one in heart and mind..." A comment was made that it was probably the last time that His church was of one heart and mind.
Do you supposed that's why we don't see great actions of the Holy Spirit, like those in Acts?
Wouldn't it be wonderful to be of one heart and mind? Think of all we could accomplish for His kingdom!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO well said!! Praise God!!
When we get to Heaven there will be no signposts saying (Denomination) this way, or (Demonination) this other way..
We will be just one in Him!!
When asked what one I am I reply, Christian, thats it! No label, just a follower....
I will follow you also as Faith, Hope, Love saves, God Bless you and your wife from Oz.
Lloyd, this is an excellent post, I gave it five stars.
I agree 100% with you. It is a tough thing to do, though because many won't list. They insist, their way or the highway.
I have naby "Christian" friends who will run after a JW or Mormon, or Catholic or whoever and try to challenge them in a debate.
Jesus tells us to spread the Gospels. If one will not listen, He tells us to shake the dirt off our shoes and move on, He does not tell us to argue.
We are not to judge, lest we be judged, yet we judge.
We are too busy attacking other Christians we had no time to fight evil.
And what if the "other" Christian is right and in our blindness we are wrong? Then what?
I'm homeless, yet my strong faith in God gets me through a difficult day. I teach other homeless people how to find Jesus Christ and how to follow His Commandments as in John 15:12 to love one another as He has loved us.
It is like when that so-called church goes to the funeral of fallen gay soldiers to demonstrate. How do they know if they repent and ask to be saved before being killed?
How does one know how the one they are attacking stands with God?
I could tell you many stories I've seen on the streets and hoe Christians often blow it in witnessing to others because other recoiled because of how the other behaved.
We need to teach others, but if they do not listen, we need to walk away and leave it up to Jesus Christ to judge them.
I've seen more non-Christians, JW and Mormons and other targets who were more "Christians" than those who called themselves Christian, but I am not the Judge, Jesus is.
Again, excellent post, I look forward to seeing more of it.
Thanks for being a follower on my site.
The sower of seed sows on a wide variety of ground.
Cliff
As believers we need to understand that it is not about what "church" or "denomination" you belong too. It is all about JESUS!
We are all called to go out and witness for our Lord. If someone tells you a different gospel other then what is in the Holy Bible, you should lovingly explain to them the TRUE gospel. If they refuse to hear the Word of God, just dust of your sandals and walk away to the next soul that needs to be saved. Always remember that God’s Word will never return void. God’s blessings to all. Lloyd
Dear Lloyd,
Wow! I love this post! I am a Catholic and I can't tell you how many times I will go to a Christan Blog and find the author is spreading false teachings about my faith. It makes me so sad to think Hate and Bigotry is being spread around world. It makes me even sadder to read people believe the things that are written and will not have the courage to find out the Truth.
Your blog is an Uplifting Inspiring Blog....I love it!
Thank you so very much for coming to my little blog and liking it enough to stay for awhile.
Good words and great prayer. I too pray that He helps me to not pass judgment on anyone with a different point of view. I want to extend His mercy and His grace and love to all as He calls us to. Not necessarily be in relationship or agreement with all, but love all. It is His heart that I want to please and I know this pleases Him.
One of the first things the Lord warned me of as He led me to minister through blogging, and I saved my notes to often remind myself, was to resist responding to doctrinal differences as well as anything that may have offended me in the slightest bit. Our testimony is being watched even here in Blog Land, and there are plenty of little foxes and snares attempting to spoil the vine in order to confuse others who may be hungry for the fruit His Spirit wants to provide to them through us.
Let us pray for one another.
Amen! It is crazy how many different denominations there are. I loved reading this post today, thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you One Heart and Kelly for your visit and encouraging comments.
I think I know what you are talking about One Heart...It is very tempting, at times, to argue doctrinal differences with someone who disagrees. In fact, today the devil just about made me post something that may have been more “vengeful” then “Spiritual”. But I prayed and was led not to make a big deal about it.
I really appreciate your wisdom in this matter. I continue to pray the prayer at the end of this post daily for God to give me the wisdom and discernment to bring glory to Him through my blog. I really enjoy reading your blog and will keep you in prayer.
God's blessings, Lloyd
Lloyd, I have a christian missionary friend from India, who when we first met was notorious for saying that in India, even though most are Hindus, have 333 million gods but we are One. However in America they say the Christians are One, but they have 333 million doctrines that separate the children of God. That was an indictment, that even though I knew it was true, it still bothers me. Help us Lord to love each other if for no other reason, but we have the same Father!
That's true Chill, we do have a lot of Christian denominations in the world with lots of doctorines, but the BIG difference is that we all worship the same GOD and we have only ONE SAVIOR and ONE BAPTISM. Even though we can not get our act together and get along we are all still CHILDREN of the only ONE TRUE GOD.
Blessings, Lloyd
Post a Comment