Poll: What type of church do you attend?

[digiblur]

I don't attend church either. We're usually catching up on sleep or yard work, house work etc on the weekend. Plus I prefer to keep my money in my pocket and not pay the pastors Escalade truck note.

Don't get me wrong....I'm a believer. I just can't sit that long on a Sunday. The ADD starts kicking in.

I do have one question that no one can answer. If you drive around the South you'll see one major demographic attending church on Sunday. Now why do the statistics show this one demographic committing most of the crime? Makes you wonder if it is flipped around....are they committing the crime then going to church to cleanse themselves?

 

[Scroll]

Two points here. And as a qualifier I'm not saying any other "demographic group" is necessarily so much more perfected saints.

You have an apparent assumption that the church members are committing crimes on Sat night and still fill the pews on Sun morning. That's not necessarily the case.

Second, I assume you are referring to African Americans? Keep in mind that in the black community it can be argued that church represents more than a religious experience. It is often also more of a community networking organization, kinda like a social club.

Lesser points you can make your own supposition on such as low income playing a part or that as a whole while blacks commit more crimes per capita they also attend church more faithfully and that these 2 segments might be generally exclusive of each other.

So while not the definitive answer you were seeking I think that's about as good of an answer as you'll find.

Where I grew up one could use the same logic to say Catholics commit more crimes than Protestants, but that is misleading because there were more people brought up Catholic in general. And as is true of about any denomination some folks are just once a year or so attenders on certain holidays. It doesn't seem quite fair to judge the entire congregation for an occasional attender who comes for the most part due to family peer pressure.

 

[jashobeam]

It's not about "going to church." It's about your fellowship and worship. What group do you fellowship and worship with on a weekly basis? In the Bible "church" never meant building, it always meant a group of believers who gathered together (daily in homes or other places) to worship, fellowship and encourage others as well as learn the Bible. If you are not worshiping and fellowshiping, how are you going to minister to others, which is a command of God? For those looking for the prefect church, forget it. It doesn't exist. If you joined, being a fallable human, you would ruin it by attending as any of us woud. If you are looking for a church w/out hypocrites, forget, it. It doesn't exist. There are always going to be people who pretend in all walks of life. It certainly doesn't keep people home from other avenues such as work and entertainment, as we all know there are hypocrites in those places as well.

I also wonder if you are not attending church, how are you being "part of the Body?" Christ has said we are given gifts to use in the Body and in the world. What are your gifts God gave you and how are you using them? If you aren't, you are a lazy servant, and you know what the Bible says about that. God doesn't "need" your attendance, your money or your worship. He craves a relationship with you and a fellowship with you. In turn He has given us local groups to worship together and learn together as a blessing so we can grow in our knowledge and usefulness to God. Working for God, belonging to a regular fellowship and having a relationship to God are not burdens, they are blessings, given to us by grace from the hand of God. For those not accepting such blessings, you are truly missing out by your excuses. If a church is not serving God, change. You may have to change several times, but keep in prayer and read the Scriptures and trust God to put you where He wants you if you are open to it.

 

[Scroll]

I also wonder if you are not attending church, how are you being "part of the Body?"

Well I used to watch TV. There was once this DBS package called Sky Angel but it went belly up. Perhaps you've heard of it?

 

[kevinbct]

It's not about "going to church." It's about your fellowship and worship. What group do you fellowship and worship with on a weekly basis? In the Bible "church" never meant building, it always meant a group of believers who gathered together (daily in homes or other places) to worship, fellowship and encourage others as well as learn the Bible. If you are not worshiping and fellowshiping, how are you going to minister to others, which is a command of God? For those looking for the prefect church, forget it. It doesn't exist. If you joined, being a fallable human, you would ruin it by attending as any of us woud. If you are looking for a church w/out hypocrites, forget, it. It doesn't exist. There are always going to be people who pretend in all walks of life. It certainly doesn't keep people home from other avenues such as work and entertainment, as we all know there are hypocrites in those places as well.

Excellent point about the church being the body of believers, not a building. This is what Paul taught. Its not about the fancy building or stained glass windows. It's sad to think that if given the choice between investing $$$ in saving souls or making nicer seats and golden fixtures on the altar..... sadly they would choose the latter.

 

[avediswolf]

I worship the Sun.

 

[tornado]

What type church is it where they are born again Christians and they believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I do not know.

 

[tornado]

I think most of the ones committing crimes are not attending church or not believing in the reason they are attending.

 

[kevinbct]

What type church is it where they are born again Christians and they believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I do not know.

By and large, all Bible believing Christians believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. However, the exact manifestation of that may be interpreted differently from one affiliation or denomination to the next. The specific group of churches that tend to really EMPHASIZE the manifestation of the Holy Spirit are Pentecostal or Charismatic churches. Most of those churches, by and large, would fall under the "evangelical" umbrella. In a nutshell evangelical = sharing the good news. (There are a lot of churches where people just go, pray, sing a few songs, leave. They don't think anything about faith, don't share the Good News with anyone, and come back the next Sunday for the same routine..... Those churches have seen a dramatic DECLINE in membership in the past 15 years.)

 

[tornado]

kevinbct,
Thank you for your explanation. Very interesting. Now I can vote if it still lets me. I did not know what catagory that fell under. Thank You.

 

[tornado]

I never voted and now it is not giving me that option. I guess I needed to know the answer on the first couple of visits to this thread.

 

[kevinbct]

I never voted and now it is not giving me that option. I guess I needed to know the answer on the first couple of visits to this thread.

I set the poll for 5 days only. I'm sorry. I guess it would have expired some time on Saturday.

 

[Derwin0]

Excellent point about the church being the body of believers, not a building. This is what Paul taught. Its not about the fancy building or stained glass windows. It's sad to think that if given the choice between investing $$$ in saving souls or making nicer seats and golden fixtures on the altar..... sadly they would choose the latter.

Pretty much the opposite in my church. Votes on whether to support missions pass quite easily, but the hotly contested votes always seem to be over whether to upgrade part of the building or not.

 

[Mr Tony]

I watch alot of Dr Gene Scott and the University network...he's a riot

 

[rv1pop]

I am a bit jealous of those from smaller communities that stay intact for decades upon end.

I grew up in an age where many young people still believed Christian life was as portrayed in the Billy Graham films, that the Apostles were almost angelic living saint-like lives and that we could never measure up to but should strive towards. Who knew they were human?

I was crushed by the Jim Bakkers, the Jimmy Swaggarts, the Without Walls, and other major scandals of recent years. I'm still wondering why Paula White is still "ministering" on TV after this last divorce, but I guess that's what happens when the minister becomes more important than the message and there's no accountability or restoration process.

.

I am in a small town and the "100 year complex" is the rule here! In fact when we mentioned my wife was born 70 miles north of here, suddenly we became accepted!

The Apostles did not hide their faults. But they showed us how to overcome ours.

I am a little suprised to see this message in the SA forum because -- well why is SkyAngel not on your list? -- Bundling then selling other peoples programing that (mostly) is free from their websites....

Oh well...

 

[kevinbct]

Pretty much the opposite in my church. Votes on whether to support missions pass quite easily, but the hotly contested votes always seem to be over whether to upgrade part of the building or not.

I don't see how that is any different....

 

[Scroll]

I am a little suprised to see this message in the SA forum because -- well why is SkyAngel not on your list? -- Bundling then selling other peoples programing that (mostly) is free from their websites....

Oh well...

Guess you haven't read many of my posts. I have made mention of this fact numerous times.

The inherent flaw with the SA model is it basically does no more than sell free programming to Christians, as you say. It accomplishes little to nothing to actually evangelize, even though a lot of the programming is aimed at evangelizing and not as much an aid to living the Christian life which at least would make a little more sense. It's one reason why many either have or will be going the FTA route to get GloryStar.

 

[genemcd]

What type of church do I attend?

I was a member of a multi-denominational mission team about 20 years ago and we were asked that question a lot. It didn't take long before we invented a team response:

"Prespicostal!"

No disrespect intended - talkin' denomination is a useful springboard, but when it's all out on the table, it's all about the Lord.

Reading the choices - I think I'm a "Fundamentalist Mainline Protestant Evangelical" anyway...whatever you consider a "Holiness Movement" / "Wesleyan" parishioner who loves and serves his Lord.

 

[Derwin0]

I don't see how that is any different....

It's different, because the coffers are almost always opened for funding missions, but it's a battle to get people to approve spending money on the building. The congregation prefers spending money on missions instead of the building, which is the opposite of what you said.

 

[kevinbct]

What type of church do I attend?

I was a member of a multi-denominational mission team about 20 years ago and we were asked that question a lot. It didn't take long before we invented a team response:

"Prespicostal!"

No disrespect intended - talkin' denomination is a useful springboard, but when it's all out on the table, it's all about the Lord.

Reading the choices - I think I'm a "Fundamentalist Mainline Protestant Evangelical" anyway...whatever you consider a "Holiness Movement" / "Wesleyan" parishioner who loves and serves his Lord.

Are you part of the Vineyard? IMHO..... the Vineyard rocks!!!