H
HolyGround
Guest
LOL!Converting? Wouldn't go that far but honoring a dear brother, yep I would go that far. Didn't help that's all they had.
Hmm I know I'm teasing but to which part I will leave that up to you.
Blessings
What exactly is wrong with being a church hopper?
- Thread starter autumn oddity
- Start date
You mentioned it earlier...there may be a problem with many churches. I'll take it a step past that...there is a problem with all churches. I have heard a saying by pastors that goes "You know, being a pastor would be great if the church wasn't made up of people."
I know a man in our congregation that cannot physically tolerate high volume...especially a loud drum beat or bass. Nothing against the player or the music...he just can't handle it. Ours is a small, rural congregation (on a good Sunday was have 40 in Sunday School) so it's not an issue there...but we've gone to conferences and meetings at other locations and he has to get up and walk out. He's not being rude, he just can't handle it. I tease him and tell him that some Sunday morning I'm going to show up in a long wig and electric guitar and rock-out on him....ending the song by smashing the guitar. He just rolls his eyes.Have you considered the smaller, rural, country...more traditional type churches? Heck, the only who wears a suit is our pastor...and we've told him repeatedly he doesn't have to. We're very rural, but we have folks drive in from town.
My experience has been that there is that one person who says that it is too hot in the auditorium.
Then there is that one person who says that it is too cold.
Then there is the one person who says the music is too loud.
Then there is the one person who can not hear the music.
Then there is the one person who says the preacher is too liberal.
Then there is the one person who says that he is too fundamental.
Then there is....................
Amen!!!
A good church is not one where you enjoy hearing the pastor preach about what you like to hear.
Instead it is one where the Pastor does not care what you want to hear but gives you what God wants you to hear.
A good church IMO is one where the pastor preaches the Word of God until there is blood coming down the isle and the members are at the alter praying and confessing their sins.
I for one truly believe that we as a nation must get back to the kind of church gatherings that our grandparents had.
I do not think that you are going to like what I am about to say to you. Please know my friend that I do not know you and I have nothing against you at all. You are welcome to disagree with me and reject all I say and you will not see me get angry at that and I am not saying this to hurt you in any way.
I have heard it said many times before that the church is a really god place until you got there.(That is a general statement not a personal one). By that I mean that there are problems in every church because every single church is made up of flawed people who are sinners.
Those people bring with them their character issues. Some are selfish, some are depressed, some are eccentric, some are self centered, some are gossipers, some are not happy unless everyone feels as bad as they do and all are sinners. And on top of that you have in every single church the lost people who are religious but still lost.
The leadership of any church has the challenge of trying to blend all those issues together and keep the peace so that no one hits the other person with a song book or worse. It is kind of like the moderators of this forum trying to keep the peace.
In other words, it is an impossible situation which only tells you that if the Holy Spirit of God is not operating in and through the leadership of that church, it will always be a place of chaos.
Now, IMHO, after looking around and visiting churches around your traveling area, find the one where the Pastor reads from the Bible, uses the Bible for his quotes and then tells you what those Bible verses say to you instead of telling you what you want to hear he tells you what God wants you to hear.
Then you will be comfortable in making that your church and you can then begin to make a difference in the world around you for Christ.
Did ya ever notice the ones who complain that they can't see or hear anything always sit in the back?
Hopping from church to church is wrong because it is like a child that does not have a home but eats and sleeps in any house that he finds himself. what type of person would that child grow to be, seeing that he has not received any home training and discipline. What a home is for a child is what a local church is for a christian, a place to be nurtured with the word of God. So the local church is a spiritual family home for the christian. And every christian should belong to one.
Did ya ever notice the ones who complain that they can't see or hear anything always sit in the back?
It is closer to the door and they have already made a decision.
Did ya ever notice the ones who complain that they can't see or hear anything always sit in the back?
And.....have you ever noticed that the ones who complain the most......do the least?
Excellent...I agree totally!
I have to say I complete understand where your coming from. I live in an urban area and many of the church's messages are so watered down. Church's are so concerned with obtaining large audiences that the pastors are to afraid to speak any sort of truth or the truth is wrong. What's wrong has become right and what's right has become wrong. And well all I have to say is that if your willing to make the effort to truly learn more of God. He can certainly speaks in the desert. And I learn more in those quiet moments alone with God.
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You have just identified the problem.
I am old enough to remember the days when a man was called by God to preach. That man was a working man and had a job or a farm and what he did was to preach the Word of God as he found it in his bible. All he knew was what the Bible said and he believed it. If someone did not like what he said he didn't care. You see he did not preach for a living so he was able to say what needed to be said to the people.
Then as time went on, men went to school and listened to other men explain to them where the Bible was wrong and what they could do to fix it. All of a sudden men began to be completely supported by the church. Pay day from the church all of a sudden was not a fried chicken for lunch but a check. He then began to tailor his sermons to make the people in the church feel good instead of feeling convicted of their sins.
You see, the money became more important than the message and he became a servant of the people of the church instead of a servant of God. The sermons then became "watered" down and liberal.
Instead of sermons being focused on sin and horrors of hell, they were focused on positive motivation and a feel good religion. The results we see today are hospitals full of people beaten or shot, a generation of 15 year old girls pregnant, policemen killed every day and churches closing everywhere. The moral breakdown of society today is because the Word of God has not been preached to a land of self-centered, sin infected people who actually think that they are more important than God is.
God help us !!!!
I agree. Yet I have to say that's my main reason for church hoping. I'm still searching. I know that no church will be perfect, but I also can't sit there. And continue to listen to so many lies coming from a pulpit. I think many are just blind to the reality that they are leading thousands to the slaughter.
Now it's true I have not heard what you have been hearing but never the less that is a bold and dangerous statement to make.
Non of us have reached perfection so to claim all these pastors are wrong and leading people to the slaughter, I hope you are perfect lacking in nothing, other wise you may find your self in great error.
Blessings
FCJ
No, I am not perfect.I am simply a sheep. I know that it might sound harsh and perhaps like I believe I am better than others. Not at all.Which I kind of now see why it would be so difficult for a pastor to get in front of a congregation and not be afraid to offend others. I meant none. It is just something that I felt I needed to say. I know that as a pastor it must be extremely difficult. But I also believe that as a pastor you have been placed in a position to be a sheep herder to God's people. And with that comes GREAT responsibility and also great privilege.
John 10:1-6
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flockand one shepherd.
God Bless,
Serene58
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Greetings ,
Thank you for the Scriptures for they are Always the bottom line. Thank God!!
Yes this is true His sheep shall hear His voice and follow no other and this takes training on our part that is for sure.
A pastor who is called to lead a flock shall seek God and follow His lead. This includes what he teaches the flock. Far too many times it is not the teaching that is in error but rather those who are hearing.
Far too many times people will down the pastor for what he speaks for dumb reasons such as his clothes or style and look out if God is trying to stretch some faith because many will reject the truth (things they have no understanding of) simply because it does not fit or some one else said different.
Those who bounce from church to church knocking them and never seem to settle down....well, their finger pointing will come back to them in this life for sure.
Just sayen......
Blessings
FCJ
May I say to you.......there is nothing wrong with continuing to look!
Keep looking for that place where the Word of God is preached without excuse! Look for a church where the preacher says......"Open your Bible to............."!
Look for a place where the preacher is excited about the fact that God saved him and he has never gotten over it.
Then you will be satisfied and you will be able to stay, grow roots and become an effective witness for Christ.
I promise !!!!
Sorry, haven't read the replies and looks like a few replies are outside of this thread lol but to help with your question, from experience where I'm from it's actually become a "norm" for some to do this, especially the younger generation to "church hop" - due a whole bunch of reasons like; them not "feeling" the sermon, struggling to afford (could range from tithing, offering, etc), personal conflicts with other people in the church, clashing amongst leaders/elders, worshipping style, the list goes on.
What really matters is your relationship with God and finding a place where it can help edify your relationship in truth with His Word through the Holy Spirit.
Truth is, "the Church" (Jesus) is inside each and every one of us, so it doesn't really matter where we go aslong as we take Christ with us - all in all, God will lead you/us to the best place (Church) that you will be able to fellowship with others and worship the Almighty.
Blessings.