Does Church Attendance Equal To A High Spiritual Level?

[TezriLi]

I am sorry for such a thing to happen to you. Nothing I say will be able to heal your wound, but may I ask you if the church that asked you to leave was an Independent Baptist church or one belonging to the SBC. It would be very, very strange for an SBC church to ask you not to wear your wedding ring etc.

You see, Independent churches operate on their own authority and that always comes down to what the Pastor says. They have to higher authority for direction and or correction when things of this nature come up.

Knowing the SBC stance on family, marriage and sexual activity, I would be absolutely shocked if you were in a SBC church which asked you to do those heinous things.

So then.........IMHO you should be glad that the Holy Spirit moved you out of a non-Biblical church!!!!

No, they were not by any stretch of the imagination Baptist of any kind. We often heard sermons against anything Baptist, and they were very upset with me when I put my children in a Baptist school.

It was a church of a world-wide organization then, started in the early 1900s, which grew like wild fire then (pun intended). It began to dwindle steadily in the mid '90s. The church I attended in my present town is empty and for sale, by the grace of G-d. The one I attended in MPLS is also gone. I don't have enough contact to know how the rest I attended are doing, but it is dwindling nearly world-wide. Last I knew, however, it continuing to grow on the African continent.

 

[CCW95A]

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

 

[TezriLi]

I believe that a good church is one which has BOTH. Good teaching and good preaching.
Most every church I know of has Bible study or some call it Sunday School. Some still have Sunday evening gatherings.

The Bible study is an opportunity to learn and grow and be equipped to do battle in this world.

The preaching is an opportunity to be lifted up and encouraged to put what you have learned into action in reaching out to the lost people all around us.
Real preaching is not done to make the church "comfortable" but in fact it is done to make it UNCOMFORTABLE. (IMHO)!

I understand what you are writing -- . I admit that I am writing based upon my experience and where I attend presently, starting @ 1993-95 (not real sure). When I started attending, I already knew basic Bible and had been a believer since 1963. What I found there was that almost all the adults attending had either left the synagogues that did not know Messiah or had left the churches that had various major flaws. Back then, there were no new believers and no unbelievers. There are specific, special needs for such a gathering. Because that flow of congregation has almost continued that same way since, the needs continue to be close to the same, with some tweeks. The weekend morning service, then, does not often have preaching; it goes into teaching.

 

[Euphemia]

Do you read what you post?
What is this meant to mean that I don't listen then I don't know what it means.

For crying out loud! Do you actually realize what you post? You were saying that you have been asked to leave churches...

They'd probably ask me to leave like other churches have done.

...and that you have been also asked to stop asking questions in bible studies.

We can only go by what you tell us.

 

[Huntingteckel]

Hunting, a teacher who will not accept questions is a teacher who doesn't know and is afraid to say "I don't know." Never fear a teacher who doesn't know, but fear the teacher who will:
will not say, "I don't know"
will not submit to studying to learn the answer to your question
makes up answers (oh, there are a lot of these, even in texts!"
will not accept questions -- unless the asker tends to continually try to occupy class time

I am not going to tell where I attend Sabbath services -- far from you I am sure -- but during the Sabbath noon teaching, anyone can ask questions, and the teacher is expected to answer or say, "I don't know; I will find out and get back to you," or "Let's study that after lunch."

A wise teacher is not afraid to say, "I don't know"; a foolish teacher or author makes up a "logical" answer.

I'd say that's probably true. I try really hard to say that I don't know if I don't. I'm no good at BSing my way through life anyway. I find its just easier to admit that I don't know and try to look it up later.

I wish I could remember what question I asked that morning in Sunday school. I know the youth pastor shut me up quickly and didn't let me ask anything else. It's really a shame. I was the assistant teacher for the children's class and a helper in the youth group. I was at church at least twice a week but three or four times wasn't uncommon depending on what was going on. I haven't had a home church since that church.

 

[Huntingteckel]

For crying out loud! Do you actually realize what you post? You were saying that you have been asked to leave churches...



...and that you have been also asked to stop asking questions in bible studies.

We can only go by what you tell us.

And that means I don't listen? I don't see how you can make that assumption.

 

[Euphemia]

And that means I don't listen? I don't see how you can make that assumption.

My point was that those who are full of questions (and I am thinking of a young man I knew who was like this---always coming up with questions that prolong and was actually disruptive to the group---and he was asked to be quiet by an elder.) may be inquisitive and that's a good thing, but that they are really not always in a receptive mode. There is a place for interaction and then there is a place for quiet learning. Somtimes a personal aside with the teacher or pastor is the answer.

As for listening, I was saying that is something we all must do, and then seek the word for the answers of the thoughts that the teaching brings out in us.

 

[Huntingteckel]

My point was that those who are full of questions (and I am thinking of a young man I knew who was like this---always coming up with questions that prolong and was actually disruptive to the group---and he was asked to be quiet by an elder.) may be inquisitive and that's a good thing, but that they are really not always in a receptive mode. There is a place for interaction and then there is a place for quiet learning. Somtimes a personal aside with the teacher or pastor is the answer.

As for listening, I was saying that is something we all must do, and then seek the word for the answers of the thoughts that the teaching brings out in us.

I was respectful and never disrupted or prolonged the class. I think if someone is truly like that then the pastor should take them aside and try to answer all the questions he can. One of the main reasons my agnostic friend walked away from Christianity is because he had so many questions people were unwilling to answer.

 

[Major]

No, they were not by any stretch of the imagination Baptist of any kind. We often heard sermons against anything Baptist, and they were very upset with me when I put my children in a Baptist school.

It was a church of a world-wide organization then, started in the early 1900s, which grew like wild fire then (pun intended). It began to dwindle steadily in the mid '90s. The church I attended in my present town is empty and for sale, by the grace of G-d. The one I attended in MPLS is also gone. I don't have enough contact to know how the rest I attended are doing, but it is dwindling nearly world-wide. Last I knew, however, it continuing to grow on the African continent.

That is pretty much what I thought.