Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think!snorkelwacker!mit-eddie!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: u-gclapp%albion@cs.utah.edu (Glenn Clapp) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Question on Finding A Church Message-ID: Date: 7 Jun 90 02:46:28 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Utah CS Dept Lines: 50 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article cci632!sre@cs.rochester.edu (Sherry Ellington) writes: >For the record, I'm just a person that has a deep desire to know >where God would have me and what he would have me know as truth. >Edgar A Guest put it well in one of his poems on Religion - >he states it doesn't matter the rite, creed, or church but how >we live on earth and display God's love to one another. > > Sherry Ellington I too, went-a-lookin, and I tried many denominations, but all had the same politics (that's right, politics) about one church or denomination being "right" and others being "wrong." I finally settled on a Christian Fellowship church which is non-denominational, and devoid of such politics. The church SIMPLY worships Christ the Lord and Praises his Name and believes in His Word. That's all, you don't need anything more, no tradition, no rituals other than communion. Christ never said that we needed to have ritual or politics. I think the K.I.S.S principal holds true to Christianity. So many people get so caught up in the *extra* stuff, that they forget to praise the Lord and follow His Word. GBY Glenn [I'm pleased to say that I've never run into a Protestant denomination that says it has a monopoly on truth. (I've said specfically Protestant in order to avoid the rather special problems of Roman Catholics and Mormons. While they do not actually believe that they have a monopoly on truth, they do believe that their respective organizations have a special status of some kind.) What I have run into is people who believe that certain specific ideas are critical to Christianity, and that those who deny them are in spiritual danger of one sort or another. In my opinion this should not be confused with denominational politics. Someone who believes that the idea of inerrant Scripture is going to look askance at the "liberal" churches, not because he thinks his denomination is better, but because they have given up ideas that he considers essential to Christianity. Similarly, someone who believes that in Christ there is no male or female is going to find it unacceptable for churches to deny full participation for women. Both of these stances seem perfectly appropriate for those with those basic beliefs. There's a difficult balance to strike here. While I strongly encourage respect for Christians of differing perspectives, I do not suggest that it should be achieved by ceasing to care about fidelity to Scripture (or Tradition, if you're Catholic). I don't know anything about your denomination in particular, so I'm not criticizing it. However there is a tendency in some groups to consider their own essential ideas to be simply the Gospel, and everyone else's to be denominational politics. This is narrowness of the most dangerous sort, because it isn't recognized as narrowness. --clh]