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I quit church

Jethro Bodine said:
♫ I lovest thy creeds and thy doctrines and agreest with them aaaaaaaaaaaaaaall ♫
00-daz3d_viking-opera-singer-for-genesis-3-female_s_.jpg

(Yes, this was posted partially for Allen Wynne's entertainment. :lol)
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That's actually a very good picture of wondering.:):):)
 
Free said:
Why do you think it is a very poor analogy?
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You are comparing two people living in sin with the situation my wife and I are in.
It's not appreciated nor do I feel I am doing anything wrong.
The Bible says "do not forsake the assembly".
When we come on this forum and edify each other, we are fulfilling that scriptural verse.
 
Allen Wynne said:
You are comparing two people living in sin with the situation my wife and I are in.
It's not appreciated nor do I feel I am doing anything wrong.
The Bible says "do not forsake the assembly".
When we come on this forum and edify each other, we are fulfilling that scriptural verse.
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Then you incorrectly assumed what my analogy was about. My point is that going to a church and not wanting to become a member is like wanting to live together with a significant other without getting married--all the fun and benefits without the commitment.

Becoming a member of a church shows that one is committed to that church and the leadership. Rather than making a commitment and sticking with it through the tough times, people who don't want to become members of a church likely want to keep their options open, they want to be able to leave whenever they disagree with something or things get messy. Maybe they hear about how great another church down the street is or how something extraordinary is happening somewhere else. Or maybe they just decide they want a younger pastor or congregation. There are any number of reasons.
 
JohnDB said:
Yeah... sometimes he says some calvinist doctrine...hence why I don't go to sanctuary services often. Most in the pew don't know half of what I know so they don't hear it.

But a church doesn't center on a pastor. It's the people centering on Jesus. The pastor is supposed to work for me and Jesus...not the other way around. I'm there for my friends. I'm not there for the pastor or his staff... unless there's a problem.
I know that it often doesn't look that way and obviously sometimes it's exactly the way it looks.

But I am known at my very large church for a lot of things. So the admin has learned to tolerate me. They don't like me...but I'm unconcerned about it.

I'm a zealot with far more faith and knowledge than they have. On the effort scale I'm way beyond their abilities. They have tried often to do stuff to make me "unpopular" with the average membership and failed miserably every time.

I have my own agenda given to me by God. It just happens to coincide with theirs often. Sometimes it doesn't. And the day may come that we part ways.
But I'll go to another.
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Here's what happened when they tried to get JohnDB to sing a statement of agreement with his church's doctrine for membership:
673-02139832em-woman-pretending-to-sing-opera-stock-photo.jpg

(I can't post what he's saying. But you can figure it out. It's starts with 'up'.)
 
Free said:
Then you incorrectly assumed what my analogy was about. My point is that going to a church and not wanting to become a member is like wanting to live together with a significant other without getting married--all the fun and benefits without the commitment.

Becoming a member of a church shows that one is committed to that church and the leadership. Rather than making a commitment and sticking with it through the tough times, people who don't want to become members of a church likely want to keep their options open, they want to be able to leave whenever they disagree with something or things get messy. Maybe they hear about how great another church down the street is or how something extraordinary is happening somewhere else. Or maybe they just decide they want a younger pastor or congregation. There are any number of reasons.
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Well none of those apply to me.
I was a dedicated member of a church for 11 years until I moved away.
So I still see your statement as unwarranted.
 
Free said:
Then you incorrectly assumed what my analogy was about. My point is that going to a church and not wanting to become a member is like wanting to live together with a significant other without getting married--all the fun and benefits without the commitment.

Becoming a member of a church shows that one is committed to that church and the leadership. Rather than making a commitment and sticking with it through the tough times, people who don't want to become members of a church likely want to keep their options open, they want to be able to leave whenever they disagree with something or things get messy. Maybe they hear about how great another church down the street is or how something extraordinary is happening somewhere else. Or maybe they just decide they want a younger pastor or congregation. There are any number of reasons.
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By the way, you are putting a whole lot of people under the gun that use this forum based on your beliefs.
You really do need to back it up with Scripture.
 
JohnDB said:
Yeah... sometimes he says some calvinist doctrine...hence why I don't go to sanctuary services often. Most in the pew don't know half of what I know so they don't hear it.

But a church doesn't center on a pastor. It's the people centering on Jesus. The pastor is supposed to work for me and Jesus...not the other way around. I'm there for my friends. I'm not there for the pastor or his staff... unless there's a problem.
I know that it often doesn't look that way and obviously sometimes it's exactly the way it looks.

But I am known at my very large church for a lot of things. So the admin has learned to tolerate me. They don't like me...but I'm unconcerned about it.

I'm a zealot with far more faith and knowledge than they have. On the effort scale I'm way beyond their abilities. They have tried often to do stuff to make me "unpopular" with the average membership and failed miserably every time.

I have my own agenda given to me by God. It just happens to coincide with theirs often. Sometimes it doesn't. And the day may come that we part ways.
But I'll go to another.
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I probably could quote you word for word as far as what it looks like for me at the local church I go to. Very interesting.
 
Allen Wynne said:
Dear ILove, it's none of your business how much money I give to a non-profit corporation.
As to how much money I give to serve God, most of it is outside the corporate world of Christianity.
And as to what percentage of my income all that money comes to is between me and God.
We've been donating in cash to churches since 1999, no one can see how much we give.
And they obviously don't like it.
And as to all the hardships and diseases and near death experiences I've gone through, I still praise the Lord Jesus everyday for my life no matter what.
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I understand now. You give but don't tithe. You love the Lord, but you don't love Him first. Revelation 2:4-5, Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 11:14, Proverbs 5:11-14
 
Allen Wynne said:
Well none of those apply to me.
I was a dedicated member of a church for 11 years until I moved away.
So I still see your statement as unwarranted.
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You still aren't understanding what I am saying. It is irrelevant if any of those things apply to you; they are just examples. You stated in the OP: "We will not become members and be forced to follow man made rules....They want membership, they want you to follow the rules, they want to control you in some way. And we don't buy it." That is exactly the point of my analogy.

You would rather sit at home watching a television broadcast, forsaking gathering together with other believers, than commit to a church by becoming a member. You will not be benefited by a local church and they will not be benefited by you, all because you don't want to commit.
 
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