Santiago,
Now I see where you got all that stuff that you called me.
bibletruths.org
Looks like almost party line church of Christ, with a few exceptional differences, mainly you seem to just take the word of Paul in the Bible. NOT CUTTING YOU, JUST OBSERVATION.
I was raised in a very conservative church of Christ, (the name taken from verses such as ""the churches of Christ salute you""(Romans 16:16) so the name is scriptural(and normally a building location
is added to it) ie : main street church of Christ. Churches of Christ are notorius about believing that they practice ""speak where the Bible speaks, and silence where the Bible is silent" Hence come such traditions as no musical instruments in corporate assemblies, because there is no instance of such in the NEW testament. I must admit as others know on this thread, that I love that part of acapella singing from the heart and the singing in a vibrant church of Christ is very uplifting(which is a part of doing it(James 5:13) Also the buildings are just that, buildings. They are not holy or santuaries or anything((BUT a lot of church of Christ members ACT like it is a holy place.) You know, like you can't use it for anything else, etc. etc. ((Here I am not talking about corporate assemblies because Jesus says " where two or more are gathered..." so in the presence of God ANYWHERE is holy in my eyes))
The churches of Christ take very seriously the taking of the Lord's supper(weekly) and immersion baptism upon confession, and in a Sunday corporate assemby you will find those plus singing, praying, and "preachin" of at least 20 minutes!! :o)
The preacher or minister is just that. He is usually not even an elder of the congregation. He is paid to preach the Word, and has no authority to "run" the church or to be the heiarchy(sp?) of that congregation.
Things I find difficult at the churches of Christ??? Yes.
1.Many say "You going to church this Sunday?" My contention is that I AM a member of the body and cannot GO to church as I am the church.
2.The building should be open and used for many other things beside corp. assembly. Such as the congregation that I assemble with has daily functions going on from quilting clubs to Alcohol Anon. to basketball to whatevewr. It is used 7 days a week.
3. Many conservative brothers have no qualms about attacking other congregations about what they are doing, although the churches of Christ have NO organization higher than the elders of each congregation. Each is autonomous. And the elders at the congregation where I attend assembly ,thank God, are servants not masters. As an example of what I mean by attacks, our congregation is attacked often because we use "praise teams" (can't call them choirs!) and that is not "scriptural" to many.
4. In my opinion, the churches of Christ have too many issues that will divide them at a moments notice. (AS do many denominations) By the way the churches of Christ DO NOT consider themselves a denomination, citing the very scriptures you use. (one body etc. etc)
Ther are other issues but I wanted to just give you a glimpse of this.
But you know what? I am in a congregation of Christians, joined by faith in Christ as our Savior, that loves the Lord, and seeks His face more and more. We fall short often, but are still running for the prize. Are there many there trying to punch a time clock?? I suppose, I have even been guilty of that, God forgive, but mostly I am just happy God has seen fit to bless my life with people(brothers and sisters) that want to KNOW HIM, not just know about Him.
Good Evening and God bless
dan |
