PG4Him
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Post by PG4Him on Jun 25, 2018 13:19:28 GMT -5
Sister Lights, I'm sorry your thread turned into this. Your OP was -- if I may -- quite pithy. It deserves attention for its message, not attention due to an argument.
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Post by frienduff on Jun 25, 2018 13:43:50 GMT -5
THROW those hands up and PRAISE the LORD peoples . YES , It is again TIME TO PRAISE THE LORD .
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Post by tlsitd on Jun 25, 2018 15:10:44 GMT -5
Sister Lights, I'm sorry your thread turned into this. Your OP was -- if I may -- quite pithy. It deserves attention for its message, not attention due to an argument. I'm sorry too, Candance. I've sort of tried to re-route it, but I'm not sure if I was successful in doing so. It's rather ironic---in a bad way---that on a thread about what it means to be a Christian, the very behaviors and attitudes that Christians are supposed to avoid and to put to death seem to be exhibiting themselves. (I can imagine the demons laughing in mockery.) I recommend that everyone consider seriously whether he or she is acting and thinking according to the desires and attitudes of the Holy Spirit of Jesus before posting anything else on this thread (or on any other thread), so as not to give the enemies of the Lord any further cause to mock and rejoice---as they are already doing over Christians in majority, because Christians are choosing not to put themselves to death for Jesus' sake in order to do His will, and are choosing instead to gratify themselves (whether in a religious way or in a secular way)---much to His displeasure. If the Spirit of Christ is not the Spirit a person is posting in, he or she would do everyone a favor by keeping whatever he or she has to say to him or herself until it is.
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Post by John on Jun 25, 2018 16:14:10 GMT -5
Going back to the OP, I agree with your point Lights. Christian is enough, but I will tell you why I will often identify myself as Pentecostal/full gospel. It is not because I am trying to separate myself from those who don't hold to those titles. It is a quick way to tell you a lot with few words. A person knows a great deal about my general belief system just because of that. They know I believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and speaking in tongues. They know I believe the gifts of the Spirit are still in operation. They know that I am more conservative than liberal, because I identified as Pentecostal rather than charismatic. They know I likely do not believe in unconditional eternal security. They know all of that without me having to tell them.
The same thing would apply if someone identifies themselves as Independent Baptist or Southern Baptist, I know a lot about them with those few words, and the same thing applies with just about any other title people use. You know a lot about their doctrine. It is more about that for me than being as those people Paul spoke of where he said some would say they were of Paul and another Apollos. They were choosing up sides, like it is this team verses another team. That is a type of pride, and is not right. So as far as your main point in the OP goes, I agree with what you are saying, but I still see some value for the sake of brevity of sometimes using an identification simply to reveal basic doctrinal points of view.
Here is hoping the thread can return to the topic of the OP, and if anyone wants to add additional opinions about it, they can jump in.
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Post by tlsitd on Jun 25, 2018 16:44:14 GMT -5
Going back to the OP, I agree with your point Lights. Christian is enough, but I will tell you why I will often identify myself as Pentecostal/full gospel. It is not because I am trying to separate myself from those who don't hold to those titles. It is a quick way to tell you a lot with few words. A person knows a great deal about my general belief system just because of that. They know I believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and speaking in tongues. They know I believe the gifts of the Spirit are still in operation. They know that I am more conservative than liberal, because I identified as Pentecostal rather than charismatic. They know I likely do not believe in unconditional eternal security. They know all of that without me having to tell them.
The same thing would apply if someone identifies themselves as Independent Baptist or Southern Baptist, I know a lot about them with those few words, and the same thing applies with just about any other title people use. You know a lot about their doctrine. It is more about that for me than being as those people Paul spoke of where he said some would say they were of Paul and another Apollos. They were choosing up sides, like it is this team verses another team. That is a type of pride, and is not right. So as far as your main point in the OP goes, I agree with what you are saying, but I still see some value for the sake of brevity of sometimes using an identification simply to reveal basic doctrinal points of view.
Here is hoping the thread can return to the topic of the OP, and if anyone wants to add additional opinions about it, they can jump in.
I can understand using a title of some kind for that reason. It wouldn't be much use with me, since I don't know much about what any of those denominations believe, and since everyone in every denomination or outside of one is an individual. Just because they belong to a particular denomination doesn't necessarily mean that they personally agree with (or even know) everything that that denomination teaches. If you told me that you were a Pentecostal, for example, I would have an idea in my head about what I know about that denomination (and it might not be correct, or it might be stereotypical). You'd still have to tell me what you believed---unless you wanted to leave it up to my imagination. I'm of the mentality of letting a Christian's fruit and doctrine speak for itself as I get to know them, rather than caring about titles, which don't mean much to me, as I said. And the fact that someone identifies as a Baptist or a Methodist or non-denominational isn't going to make me less inclined to judge them by their personal beliefs and fruit. We may have much in common in the way of beliefs or we may not. I judge every Christian as an individual. Now if someone tells me that they're a Christian Scientist, a Seventh-Day Adventist, a Messianic Jew, a Roman Catholic, etc., I'm going to assume that their beliefs and doctrine are at variance with mine and that they are probably not genuinely born again. I wouldn't be looking for fellowship with any of these, but would have the mentality of leading them to the truth about Jesus Christ and to salvation in Him, and to the doctrine of the New Testament.
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PG4Him
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Post by PG4Him on Jun 25, 2018 17:03:44 GMT -5
There are indeed many people who attend a denominational church because they grew up there, they have friends there, it’s close to their house, whatever, and they don’t fully agree with — or perhaps even understand — the doctrinal stance of their church. I have a friend who grew up Catholic, attends a Presybterian place, but talks like a Pentecostal all day long. It seems, at least to me, that denominational titles don’t mean as much as they used to.
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