is a church blessed...

[Mark]

Is a church blessed if it doesn't follow scripture? These are my interpretations of Scripture of what the a church should be doing and I dont think there are. Anyone can be a elder, non christian members, The church is divided in services and infant baptism. There is no church discipline.

Originally Posted by Mark

Is a church blessed if it doesn't follow scripture? These are my interpretations of Scripture of what the a church should be doing and I dont think there are. Anyone can be a elder, non christian members, The church is divided in services and infant baptism. There is no church discipline.

I'm not quite following your question here brother.... little help?

I dont have an answer but just a thought that hopefully doesnt confuse your question. Being blessed and being used by God are different things that often get confused. I have been blessed by God through a person / church to find out later that the Pastor was living in direct rebellion to God. He was not being blessed by God but I was in that God decided to use him anyways. the problem with this is that the person in sin can confuse Gods using them as His condoning or tolerating their sin.

The true church yes. Mark the bible makes it clear as day there is always and only a small remnant that remains true. Many are called but few are chosen. Fact is most who call themself a Christian are only playing make believe

[Tyburn]

Originally Posted by Mark

Is a church blessed if it doesn't follow scripture? These are my interpretations of Scripture of what the a church should be doing and I dont think there are. Anyone can be a elder, non christian members, The church is divided in services and infant baptism. There is no church discipline.

Blessed only in so much as GOD can use it for his purpose, or provide opportunity for that Church to come to a deeper revelation, and thus change its ways.

We have to remember, that primarily Church is no there for its members, but for those who still walk in Darkness. We also have to remember that there are fundemental dissagreements between denominations, which make Established Christendom extremely political, and full of dissagreements on the basics of theology. We also have to remember that there are many different meanings to the word "church" even if your local building is letting you down, there is still a community of believers in the wider world which you can help, aid, support, get encouragement from, etc. In its loooest form, the church is no more then a group of believers working together for the Kingdom of GOD...this forum is thus a church in that taxanomic system...so are you and a few believing friends from your town. So when you looose heart because the established (and I dont mean that in a governmental sence, but in an organised religion kinda sence) give it a short break, and work on other areas and ways of glorifying GOD

The Church is a fallen institution...and because it stands for GOD will be a place which is constantly under attack. When the main base of your army is attacked and momentarily in danger of perversion...what you must do is turn to the underground resistance movement...and they are all around you Mark, completely outside of the church building, its dogma, its politics, and its fallen nature.

Originally Posted by Mark

Is a church blessed if it doesn't follow scripture? These are my interpretations of Scripture of what the a church should be doing and I dont think there are. Anyone can be a elder, non christian members, The church is divided in services and infant baptism. There is no church discipline.

What do you mean by non-christian members?

Not trying to be rude but it actually sounds like your describing a Catholic church to the T.

[NateR]

Originally Posted by Chris F

The true church yes. Mark the bible makes it clear as day there is always and only a small remnant that remains true. Many are called but few are chosen. Fact is most who call themself a Christian are only playing make believe

I agree, the vast majority of Christians in the world today are false believers. According to the parable of the sower, 2 out of every 3 "Christians" were never true believers to begin with. Some modern pastors estimate that up to 80% of people attending church every Sunday, joining churches and calling themselves Christians are actually false converts.

So the true Christians are always going to be outnumbered by the false believers until Christ returns. All the problems that the modern church is experiencing right now suddenly make sense when you keep that in mind.

[NateR]

Originally Posted by Mark

Is a church blessed if it doesn't follow scripture?

No. If a church ignores Scripture then all it is doing is storing up wrath for itself when Jesus returns to judge the Church.

Unfortunately, no church is ever going to be perfect and every church will stray from Scripture to follow traditions or ceremonies. This is why every church on earth will ultimately be judged by Christ.

Originally Posted by Mark

Is a church blessed if it doesn't follow scripture? These are my interpretations of Scripture of what the a church should be doing and I dont think there are. Anyone can be a elder, non christian members, The church is divided in services and infant baptism. There is no church discipline.

Can you quote the scriptures you derive these comments from?

Originally Posted by Chris F

The true church yes. Mark the bible makes it clear as day there is always and only a small remnant that remains true. Many are called but few are chosen. Fact is most who call themself a Christian are only playing make believe

This is leading me to start a new topic because it has been on my mind.