The Key To Understanding Why All The Different Denominations

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Jesus Himself chose who would be pastors and teachers

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …” (Ephesians 4:11-14)
These gifts, or appointments, are the 5 different kinds of church leaders.

”And God has appointed these in the church:
first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …” (1 Corinthians 12:28)

We are given the reasons (above) why Jesus Himself chose the leaders
He would see to it that all of the churches would have the same doctrines.
False doctrine would be less likely to creep into the churches.
The Holy Spirit would surely lead the Jesus-chosen pastors.
But, would God’s Spirit lead pastors who were NOT chosen by Jesus?

Let’s not forget Satan
He is the greatest liar and deceiver in the history of this world.
When man disobeys (rebels against) God, Satan has more of an open doorway to enter!
He hates God, man, churches … and he comes “to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).

A related observation
Jesus chose His 12 disciples carefully.
They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary.
Not one was from the educated religious class of Jews.

A very important question
Did Jesus ever decide to stop choosing who He wanted to be His church leaders?
If so, WHY would He stop … and allow man to choose for himself?

The grievous error
For various reasons, some men decided to appoint themselves to leadership.
This became more and more of a trend … man-run churches!
And many different doctrines, and many different denominations!

Now for the BIGGEST and most important question
Since the original apostles passed away …
what percentage of RCC, EOC, old Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.
priests, ministers, pastors, etc. do you believe have actually been chosen by Jesus?
 
Jesus Himself chose who would be pastors and teachers

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …” (Ephesians 4:11-14)
These gifts, or appointments, are the 5 different kinds of church leaders.

”And God has appointed these in the church:
first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …” (1 Corinthians 12:28)

We are given the reasons (above) why Jesus Himself chose the leaders
He would see to it that all of the churches would have the same doctrines.
False doctrine would be less likely to creep into the churches.
The Holy Spirit would surely lead the Jesus-chosen pastors.
But, would God’s Spirit lead pastors who were NOT chosen by Jesus?
Are you saying that Jesus is not God??? or, put another way, are you saying that God's Spirit and Jesus' Spirit are noy the same???
Let’s not forget Satan
He is the greatest liar and deceiver in the history of this world.
When man disobeys (rebels against) God, Satan has more of an open doorway to enter!
He hates God, man, churches … and he comes “to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).

A related observation
Jesus chose His 12 disciples carefully.
They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary.
Not one was from the educated religious class of Jews.
Are you saying that Jesus did not call Saul of Tarsus aka Paul to be an apostle????
A very important question
Did Jesus ever decide to stop choosing who He wanted to be His church leaders?
If so, WHY would He stop … and allow man to choose for himself?

The grievous error
For various reasons, some men decided to appoint themselves to leadership.
This became more and more of a trend … man-run churches!
And many different doctrines, and many different denominations!

Now for the BIGGEST and most important question
Since the original apostles passed away …
what percentage of RCC, EOC, old Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.
priests, ministers, pastors, etc. do you believe have actually been chosen by Jesus?
That is a question that can not be answered because the total number is unknowable. But if we believe the Scripture when it says that all authority comes from God and the Scripture can not be broken, the unpopular answer would have to be '100%': the good, the bad and the ugly, they all are authorized by the Lord.
That is not to say that any are authorized to be bad or ugly:)
 
Hmmmm yes indeedee a miscommunication there be.....I was replying to EV77.
Matt 7:16 tells us that we can identify people by the fruit they bring forth.....I'll run with that.
 
Ev77,
About the same number, percentile wise, as the saved members on the role of the church. The Barna Group has demonstrated that the percentage of saved inside the church is likely just under two percent and I find no reason to find the Pastorate any different. Just like Israel in the story of their first king, we have abandoned God.
 
ev'77 stated................
"A related observation
Jesus chose His 12 disciples carefully.
They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary.
Not one was from the educated religious class of Jews."

Did we forget about Paul?

Acts 22:3
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today."

Acts 23:6 has Paul, arrested and on trial before the Sanhedrin, admitting that he is a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. The Bible doesn't explicitly say that he had been a member of the Sanhedrin, although his familiarity with the council shown in the same passage, along with the term "Brothers" used in 23:1-6, may imply that he had been a member.
 
ev"77 asked...................
"Now for the BIGGEST and most important question
Since the original apostles passed away …
what percentage of RCC, EOC, old Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.
priests, ministers, pastors, etc. do you believe have actually been chosen by Jesus?"


The same!

Is not the Holy Spirit and Jesus the same thing?

Why would there be any differance in the percentage????
 
Jesus Himself chose who would be pastors and teachers

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …” (Ephesians 4:11-14)
These gifts, or appointments, are the 5 different kinds of church leaders.

”And God has appointed these in the church:
first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …” (1 Corinthians 12:28)

We are given the reasons (above) why Jesus Himself chose the leaders
He would see to it that all of the churches would have the same doctrines.
False doctrine would be less likely to creep into the churches.
The Holy Spirit would surely lead the Jesus-chosen pastors.
But, would God’s Spirit lead pastors who were NOT chosen by Jesus?

Let’s not forget Satan
He is the greatest liar and deceiver in the history of this world.
When man disobeys (rebels against) God, Satan has more of an open doorway to enter!
He hates God, man, churches … and he comes “to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).

A related observation
Jesus chose His 12 disciples carefully.
They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary.
Not one was from the educated religious class of Jews.

A very important question
Did Jesus ever decide to stop choosing who He wanted to be His church leaders?
If so, WHY would He stop … and allow man to choose for himself?

The grievous error
For various reasons, some men decided to appoint themselves to leadership.
This became more and more of a trend … man-run churches!
And many different doctrines, and many different denominations!

Now for the BIGGEST and most important question
Since the original apostles passed away …
what percentage of RCC, EOC, old Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.
priests, ministers, pastors, etc. do you believe have actually been chosen by Jesus?

The question is WHY sio many denominations????

Ev"77 does not answer that but instead posts questions.

Actually the rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican. From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries.

The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on his teachings.

The Methodists got their name because their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with “methods” for spiritual growth.

Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership—the Greek word for elder is presbyteros.

Baptists got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of baptism.

Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the others, such as the method of baptism; the availability of the Lord’s Supper to all or just to those whose testimonies can be verified by church leaders; the sovereignty of God vs. free will in the matter of salvation; the future of Israel and the church; pre-tribulation vs. post-tribulation rapture; the existence of the “sign” gifts in the modern era, and so on. The point of these divisions is never Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather honest differences of opinion by godly, albeit flawed, people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding of His Word.

Most denominations emphasize slight doctrinal differences, but more often they simply offer different styles of worship to fit the differing tastes and preferences of Christians.
 
The question is WHY sio many denominations????
My bottom-line question wuz, "What are the Jesus-chosen %ages?"
Next...

I simply wish to WARN members of all churches and denominations.

1900+ years ago, Spirit-controlled churches gleefully converted into becoming man-controlled churches!

The Spirit-controlled churches believed in the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the 9 spiritual power gifts!

The corrupted man-controlled churches much preferred to be man-controlled churches!
Their handy-dandy excuse was for being so was a little verse in 1 Corinthians (13:10),
and they passed along their false interpretation of this verse to their poor unsuspecting followers.

With "doctrines of men", these corrupted man-controlled churches destroyed
the spiritual power of God's Church.

Yes, man has been given free will, and God rarely messes with it.
Even worse, He flees from blatant and willing UNBELIEF.

If this had not happened, the world would have been evangelized many years ago!

I.E. God's preferred method of evangelizing is preaching the gospel with S-W-M following,
which is how the NT churches did it.

P.S. This baptism with the Holy Spirit is available from Jesus, if you ask Him persistently for it.
 
Why so many denominations? Several reasons.
1. Men put more importance on their personal interpretations of scripture than on church unity.
2. Geographic/cultural - many churches divided due to differences in history/location more than theology.
3. Personal ambition - for the vain, why join a church when you can start one? Especially since some of the protestant churches give out ordinations like lollipops.

Most Christian churches do make a valid attempt at serving God faithfully, regardless of the trivial differences that may seperate them.

P.S. By Christian I do not mean Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Unitarian, Christian Scientist or any other of the flaky splinter groups that have sprouted up like so many weeds.
 
I see....since ya posted right after me and didn't say whom you were answering, hey...I thought it was me!

Well....yeah"fruits"...but fruits are hard to distinguish:
  • online
  • in a mega church
  • if you see them only on Sundays
  • on TV
  • if disguised well (wax fruit is common among Christians)
So have you any suggestions about this, Calvin?
Ohh Yes! I have many suggestions.......that is what gets me into trouble so often:whistle:.:sneaky:
Fruits are not hard to distinguish for the fruit grower. For us pickers though.......
Collecting fruit online is beyond our reach.
Define 'mega Church'
if you see them only on Sundays...............try fellowshipping during the week as well.
On TV is much the same as online.
If disguised well? Hmmm well Waxed fruit is still fruit and the wax will melt when tried and refined with fire.......stewed fruit.:)
 
Valid attempt=sincerity, as opposed to "making a christian sounding noise" as many of the TV evangelists do.
 
  • This I disagree with: wax fruit is wax and can never be fruit. It is there in deception. It is fake, and fire is not needed always; just a little nibble often does it.
There goes that miscommunication gremlin again:)
I took 'wax {ed}' to mean polished up to hide as many defects as possible, not that which I now see you meant.:oops:
 
How to determine fruits?
See what they do, not what they say.

For example, there is a certain popular politician who made many promises during his run for office, how many of these promises has he kept?
 
My bottom-line question wuz, "What are the Jesus-chosen %ages?"
Next...

I simply wish to WARN members of all churches and denominations.

1900+ years ago, Spirit-controlled churches gleefully converted into becoming man-controlled churches!

The Spirit-controlled churches believed in the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the 9 spiritual power gifts!

The corrupted man-controlled churches much preferred to be man-controlled churches!
Their handy-dandy excuse was for being so was a little verse in 1 Corinthians (13:10),
and they passed along their false interpretation of this verse to their poor unsuspecting followers.

With "doctrines of men", these corrupted man-controlled churches destroyed
the spiritual power of God's Church.

Yes, man has been given free will, and God rarely messes with it.
Even worse, He flees from blatant and willing UNBELIEF.

If this had not happened, the world would have been evangelized many years ago!

I.E. God's preferred method of evangelizing is preaching the gospel with S-W-M following,
which is how the NT churches did it.

P.S. This baptism with the Holy Spirit is available from Jesus, if you ask Him persistently for it.


I am sorry ev'77 but it is clear that you are doing nothing but trying to convince us that YOUR denomination is more "spiritual" than is the rest of us.

Everyone has an agenda and yours quite frankly is to promote what YOU think is Biblically correct which is that YOUR denomination believes in SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES.

I know you mean well, and I am sure you have a good heart and a clear tesimony. The fact is a lost of people simply do not agree with your exergesis of the Bible concening S_W_M.

You completly reject the teaching from the Scriptures and fall upon your denominational theology which means that YOU are a victim of your own threads teaching my friend.

The Bible clearly says that we are to live by FAITH and not miracles and you have rejected that.

The Bible clearly teaches that the "sign" gifts were given to the apostles and you rejected that.

The Bible clearly says that the ONLY SIGN given today is the sign of Jonah with Christ being in the ground 3 days and you have rejected that.

I wish you well and beg you to study the Scriptures carefully.
 
Ohh Yes! I have many suggestions.......that is what gets me into trouble so often:whistle:.:sneaky:
Fruits are not hard to distinguish for the fruit grower. For us pickers though.......
Collecting fruit online is beyond our reach.
Define 'mega Church'
if you see them only on Sundays...............try fellowshipping during the week as well.
On TV is much the same as online.
If disguised well? Hmmm well Waxed fruit is still fruit and the wax will melt when tried and refined with fire.......stewed fruit.:)


or maybe "stewed WAX".

Can stewed wax become candels?
 
Major, while I agree that faith is the key element in a solid Christian's life, and I reject orchestrated "miracle services" as show or worse, I do know by experience that amazing things can happen via the Lord these days too.

However: What has happened to me has always come by surprise, not begged for, not "prayed down" and not in a crowded church, but in the field when God saw a need that I alone could not fulfill. It's God's emergency method to reach the unsaved. I don't agree that it is a weekly routine performed every Sunday for those that already have the Gospel in hand.
Why just not explain to him that the gospel is preached all over the world with S-W-M following.
God has basically given up on Western Christianity because most churches threw His method
of evangelizing in the trash MANY years ago.

I've explained the how's, why's, and wherefore's ... but to the blind, it's waste of time.
And some are too busy popping babies to get out of their little town to see the world.
Others wouldn't believe a miracle from God even if He hit them over the head with it.
I hope someone may benefit from my spiritual experiences and revelations,
which all line up perfectly with the NT Scriptures.
 
I think we have all overlooked another alternative - we asume that there are many denominations because of human error, human difference and doctrinal disputes but in the BIGGER picture Jesus is building His church. A quick overview of church history will give us all a piece of humble pie - no matter what denomination you belong to it will have man made doctrines but it will also have true biblical doctrine - no church is perfect.

If we consider most of the New Testament is written to churches with PROBLEMS. Did the apostles cast out those churches and say "mine is better than yours nah nah nah nah"? No they did not, they addressed the problems in those churches in the cultural context in which they found them.

I personally have been to three different denominations on the same day and guess what - they all preached similar messages. The reason why - because the Holy Spirit is active in the churches.

A few hundred years ago the Baptist churches believed in hyper-Calvinism which meant they had no concern for missions as they believed the Great Commission had been fulfilled and that evangelising the lost was Gods problem and man had no part in it. God raised up William Carey who against huge opposition in the Baptist church managed to establish the first Baptist misionary society and went to work in India. This opened up the entire church to missions and subsequently the hyper-Calvanism was watered down.

The moral of the story is that God raises up people within His church to bring them back from error and to fulfill His plans. This has happened over and over again in the history of the church and will not stop now.

Lets stop, as Christians, denomination bashing because we do not know it all, we are not God. We cannot say how many people are Christian or not because only God knows.

BTW - if you want to see miracles come to Africa!
 
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