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And I believe that it's alright to believe that but don't force your beliefs on everybody else. You will also find if you checkout my church poll thread that I'm not the only one who doesn't attend church regularly which I figured all along that I wasn't.
Force my beliefs? How can I do that? The real question is, "What does God want?"
 
Force my beliefs? How can I do that? The real question is, "What does God want?"



In my beliefs God wants you to love Him and follow His Word regardless of what building you're in and that's what I do even when I'm not in church.
 
In my beliefs God wants you to love Him and follow His Word regardless of what building you're in and that's what I do even when I'm not in church.
Then one must ask himself/herself, "What did God say?"

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20 ESV
 
Then one must ask himself/herself, "What did God say?"

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20 ESV




That's a very good verse and nowhere in there does it say that one must attend a four wall church building every Sunday. So I basically rest my case and I am bowing out of this conversation now. :)
 
Not neglecting to meet together and where two or three are gathered in His name. These aren't examples of laying on the sofa doing nothing.
 
Not neglecting to meet together and where two or three are gathered in His name. These aren't examples of laying on the sofa doing nothing.




As I said before I don't do nothing and if you take a look at my post above you'll see that I am through with this discussion now, so have a great day and be blessed. :)
 
The Letter to Ephesus
2 “Write to the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus:

“The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of My name and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you[b] and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in[c] God’s paradise.

we see here in Ephesus this a congregation that met in a building ..they was commended for 7 things verse 4 BUTTTTTTTTTTT they had abandoned there first love

Luke 22:7-12 is the first assembling of the Body of Christ in an upper room of a house in Jerusalem where 120 received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, also confirmed in Acts 1:12-14. The church had to meet in secret places as they feared the Roman soldiers would find them and persecute them, even to death because their assembling came against Roman law.

Acts 12:12 Mark's mother Mary had a large house that was used as a meeting place for believers in Jerusalem as they assembled there in secrecy also in fear of the Roman soldiers.

During the time of the first assembling like in Asia with the seven churches, (modern day Turkey), Christians had to meet in secret places using secret codes edged into the pavements of public places that showed where the assembling would take place so they would not be found. They mostly assembled in homes or even apartments like that of Acts 20:7-12 and changed places all the time as not to be found by the Romans. The safer places were outskirts of the city like that of John whose resident was outside the city of Ephesus up on a hill above the Temple of Artemis were it was less suspicious. Justin Martyr lived above a bathhouse in Rome and had many Christians assembled there to hear the teachings of Christ.

Other places that were used were cemeteries on the outskirts of the city as they assembled in underground catacombs being out of site of Roman authority.

It doesn't matter where the assembling takes place or how many are assembled together as Matthew 18:20 says where two or more are gathered in my name I am there in the midst of them. It is true that we are not face to face here at CF, but being that the church is the body of Christ assembled together and as I see many members are active being online then I see the true church of Christ assembled together sharing the teachings of Christ with each other. This is why I call CF my church as we are assembled sharing the teachings of Christ. If a good word church would open up in my area then I will assemble there also.
 
As I said before I don't do nothing and if you take a look at my post above you'll see that I am through with this discussion now, so have a great day and be blessed. :)
I can't help but wonder why you are getting upset and defensive. I have not accused you of anything. Just sharing what Scripture says.
 
I understand as I am there for now while some cant attend church, however some can and ought to attend and like it or not not being in a church, wherever it is will affect your walk. online can be a church but it is all to easy to fake a persona online and few will know the difference. I live in a small town. yall may have heard of the large sex trafficking ring busted with 165 arrests. that included my town and guess what pastors went down. in person its a bit harder to live a lie then online as you have to been seen and noticed. I can post I have done this or that, and it can be done and said where it cant be easily verifable.
 
What do you think I think of you then? Just curious.



Don't really know, don't really care tbh,.. but Ik that you're shaming me for not wanting to be in church every Sunday, or at least trying to shame me but it isn't going to work because I'm not going to let that bother me or get to me anymore.
 
Don't really know, don't really care tbh,.. but Ik that you're shaming me for not wanting to be in church every Sunday, or at least trying to shame me but it isn't going to work because I'm not going to let that bother me or get to me anymore.
Now you're making assumptions that are quite false. I am not trying to shame you. If you are feeling shamed by what I posted, maybe you are being convicted by the Holy Spirit to rethink some things.
 
If I have inferred in any way that any online forum takes the place of a church building, my apologies. That was not my intent.

I don't think you ever have inferred this as taking the place of any church. I do miss the physical interaction of being involved with a good ministry like I use to have, but for now I personally consider this place my assembling as I have learned so much from what others teach in here.
 
I liked and agreed with your last sentence, I just choose not to go to church every week because of the point for_his_glory and WIP were making. It's up to the individual if they want to or not and if you're happy with being in church all the time then that's fine but I'm not. I just go whenever I want to. I still read and study the scriptures every day though.

You misunderstood the point I was trying to make. I don't choose to not go to church because I don't want to go, but that I will not go to one that teaches false doctrines. There is a difference as we need to be a part of the physical interaction that helps us grow and strengthens the faith we have in Christ. Everyone needs to go to a church that feeds them as the church equips us to go out into the world to bring the Gospel to others that need to hear it taught. If there was another church like the one I use to attend I would be there for every service it had unless I was sick.
 
I understand as I am there for now while some cant attend church, however some can and ought to attend and like it or not not being in a church, wherever it is will affect your walk. online can be a church but it is all to easy to fake a persona online and few will know the difference. I live in a small town. yall may have heard of the large sex trafficking ring busted with 165 arrests. that included my town and guess what pastors went down. in person its a bit harder to live a lie then online as you have to been seen and noticed. I can post I have done this or that, and it can be done and said where it cant be easily verifable.
wow - great points

there are huge benefits to going to a good church - and there are huge detriments to going to the wrong church

i got messed up really bad at a church because i was young and believed everything i was told by the leadership - i attended for 8 yrs and at the end thought i was going to hell because i was imperfect - it took almost another 8 yrs to get back on track with God's grace ability ( God's ability in me to do the right thing using His power)

i now have an awesome synagogue and a wof church - but it took a lot pain and suffering to learn that some churches inspire you toward God and some beat you down and away from God

regarding online personas: people can pretend to be someone they are not irl and online - no way to know for sure who is who or what is what - imo i take a person at face value here and irl - why not? - if they are pretending what does it matter to me? - if what they say inspires me to draw closer to God i appreciate them - if they are negative and critical online i can block them out with the ignore function - irl it's not so easy to block people out - irl negative people can cause more harm because they can mess with relationships in congregations/communities/cities - in many ways an online community is the safest place to grow because no one can mess with your real life

i find i make just as many mistakes online as i do irl - i appreciate making most of my mistakes online so someone can chew me out here and then i can learn to do better - for some reason it hurts less to be caught out on being stupid/etc online than irl - online i can apologize and improve - irl i have had people bring up what i used to be like - just to be cruel i suppose - i guess they weren't happy that i was a mess and changed to become a solid christian - so for that reason i really appreciate online fellowship - seems like i can learn faster and improve greater online - so online fellowships are a tremendous blessing

i also find people online are more expressive about their care and concern than people irl - not sure why - but that is a huge benefit that helps each of us grow - you can never get too much love and appreciation

i'm glad to have 2 real life congregations to belong to and i am very blessed to have this online family to be a part of - they are different and both necessary to being a well rounded person - for me real life congregations are my chance to practice all the good stuff i learn - online communities are my chance to hear what everyone has to say so that i can be exposed to many pov's and grow as much as possible
 
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