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Finding churches of like faith

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rhawes73	Finding churches of like faith	Lead	[-]
Posts: 8 (05/30/08 19:01:45) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None The church I'm currently attending holds to both OSAS and pre-tribulationism, and I couldn't be involved in teaching or anything where I believe my gifts lie without running afoul of these doctrines. It's a good church, all in all, and I believe it is being used of God; however, I would rather be involved in a church of like-minded faith, where I can fully participate in ministry and truly be of one mind with the believers. To date, the closest type of church I've been able to find is a local Church of the Nazarene. They reject OSAS but hold to a Wesleyan holiness tradition, which I believe adds works to faith (rather than works naturally proceeding from faith), and they take no position on eschatology aside from "Christ will return," whereas I think the doctrine of future things will only become more important as time passes. So I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. Does anyone know of a good church directory that might be able to help? I'm in central South Carolina. I'm a Baptist by background, but I might stumble across Shangrila before I find a Baptist church in SC (or in a 500 mile radius) that doesn't hold to OSAS or pre-tribulationism. ;-) Maybe someone should start a website listing churches that reject these doctrines. Thanks! - Robert Last Edited By: rhawes73 05/30/08 22:53:06. Edited 1 time.
Roger		#1	[-]
Posts: 1221 (05/31/08 07:30:32) PFRS Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Robert, Pardon the cliche, but I wish I had a dollar for every time I hear this question. This is the single most frequent question that arises and I wish I had a good answer. I haven't even been able to answer it for myself, at least not to my own satisfaction. Your choices are to either find the best church you can where you can excercise your gifts with the fewest number of compromises or start your own church. If I may ask, what is you position on baptism? If your only disagreement with the Baptists is OSAS and pre-trib, the Nazarenes might be an option. If your position on baptism is more in line with what we teach here, you might consider an Independent Christian Church. Most ICC churches are unfortunately amillennial but they hold it somewhat loosely. Roger
Joel Tamburo		#2	[-]
Posts: 103 (06/01/08 19:59:12) PFRS Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi, I would not think of the Nazarene Chruch necessarily as an option. They may not be pre trib or OSAS but they are very much into Replacement Theology, and are rather hierarchical in nature. ICC might be viable but they have issues with biblical literalism. Your best bet might be to research Bible churches in your area. While most are OSAS and pre-trib, some have become post-trib pre-mill (I know of none that are amill because Reformed Theology is considered anathema in Bible Churches). And even when they are OSAS Pre-Trib, their dedication to understanding the Bible literally often helps when trying to convince them otherwise.
rhawes73	re: Finding churches of like faith	#3	[-]
Posts: 9 (06/13/08 16:01:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	If I may ask, what is you position on baptism? If your only disagreement with the Baptists is OSAS and pre-trib, the Nazarenes might be an option. If your position on baptism is more in line with what we teach here, you might consider an Independent Christian Church. Most ICC churches are unfortunately amillennial but they hold it somewhat loosely. Sorry for the late reply; I've been on vacation. I am currently re-visiting the issue of baptism, so I'm not sure where I'm going to end up. At the moment, I'm of the traditional baptist belief that baptism is an act of obedience, a symbol of taking part in Christ's death and resurrection. That said, I'm willing to be convinced, and will study the issue further. I'm currently re-reading the book of Acts, which has quite a bit to say on the subject. Thanks for the advice. I'm considering a couple of local Nazarene and Independent Christian churches. At some point I may start a searchable website where churches can submit their doctrinal statements, that way people can try and locate the nearest church of like-faith with greater ease. - Robert
rhawes73		#4	[-]
Posts: 10 (06/13/08 16:03:54) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Joel Tamburo wrote: Your best bet might be to research Bible churches in your area. While most are OSAS and pre-trib, some have become post-trib pre-mill (I know of none that are amill because Reformed Theology is considered anathema in Bible Churches). And even when they are OSAS Pre-Trib, their dedication to understanding the Bible literally often helps when trying to convince them otherwise. Thanks, Joe. I'll consider Bible churches as well. - Robert
PeaTearGriffin		#5	[-]
Posts: 36 (08/14/08 15:45:53) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I moved here to Minnesota from New Zealand in March of this year (to marry a Minnesotan woman I met last year at my college). We started to attend the church that my in-laws go to (Wooddale, which is pastored by Leith Anderson, the head of the NAE), and I liked that church but didn't love it. So I began a great search to find a new church for us. We found a quite nice church, but could tell in the first sermon that the pastor was pre-trib. (I just recently found out that he is indeed pre-trib and that the associate pastor is pre-wrath). The sermons though were alot better than what I had experienced at Wooddale (or any other church) but I wasn't satisfied that the pastor incorporated the pre-trib stance into what he said (when he wasn't even talking about eschatology), and so tried to find an even better church. We then attended a church that my wife had attended before (called Open Door) and I love it. I don't know what stance the pastor (Dave Johnson) has on the rapture or other factors I deem important but his sermons are the best I have ever heard (available for free download on itunes BTW). He is doing a series called "Way of the Rabbi" (which is similar to Tims series at Oasis on "Following Jesus") and he has been going through the sermon on the mount. About a month ago he did 2 or 3 sermons on the "turn the other check" verses and gave a brilliant exposition of them. Anyway, I guess the point of this tirade is that it is very hard if not impossible to find a church that is going to agree with you on all the points you may deem most important (For me that would be a church that is Arminian, and Post-trib or Pre-wrath). The only nit-pick I have with my church is that they only have the Lord's Supper once a month. But I have always been too picky. Last Edited By: PeaTearGriffin 08/14/08 15:50:39. Edited 1 times.
DayOfTheLord		#6	[-]
Posts: 1513 (08/14/08 17:39:51) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The only nit-pick I have with my church is that they only have the Lord's Supper once a month. But I have always been too picky. This is not nit-picky, but is more than most churches do! Brian

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