Confusion About my Church

[theanointedwinner]

For the church the op describes

I rather be out


The power of OUT!

Not in, but out


And stay out!

 

[theanointedwinner]

Reject, reject, reject!

 

[Miri]

This sentence would have me running out the door

I go to a Pentecostal church and even I agree with this.

 

[Miri]

I am a new Christian, and I attend a very large church. When I go to church, I feel invigorated, cleansed, refreshed, renewed, alive, in awe and filled with gratitude. Some sundays the sermon might fall flat, and I’m trying hard to understand my new faith, my church and how to bring what I’m learning into my life.
It’s all very confusing for me in so many ways... I have a very busy life with children and a full time job. I’m still trying to understand what it means to make god your first priority in your life.

My husband tells me that one of the greeters told us early on that, “it’s a nice place, but just don’t drink the kool-aid”. This was said in jest partially, but obviously this person meant something by it.

I attended a Wednesday service and it was dramatically different from the typical Sunday stuff. I was very early on in my bible readings so a lot of the in-depth references went straight over my head.
Then the head pastor started talking about demons and levitations and how the supernatural world he has been pastoring in has been a “wild trip”.
I was shocked... all the overwhelming positive feelings I had been having went down considerably... I went to different members of the church to seek understanding and I felt a little better but I still feel a little confused about it. Especially after my husband had a lengthy conversation with a former 25 year church member.
He asked her if she had ever seen a levitation and she laughed and said no.


My church teaches about speaking in tongues and I still have not gotten any further clarification about this.
They teach to fake jibberish and they call it speaking in tongues. They talk about it as being a gift that all people who are baptized should receive - but the bible doesn’t teach this at all! In fact there’s a whole chapter dedicated to how it’s a gift that some few people may receive and there should be a person present who can translate what is being said.
My church is teaching that tongues is a language only god can understand and therefore praying in “tongues” (jibberish) will bring you closer to god.


This woman that spoke to my husband said that the church is like a cult...


Should I be careful? Should I keep attending? Should I attend a different church? I don’t quite know what I’m looking for I just know that I want Gods truth, help understanding it, and a level headed approach on how to balance this world that I live in with the spiritual one.

I go to a Pentecostal church and I disagree with the bit in bold.

As for demons and levitation, there is certainly a demonic world around us.
But rather the teaching should be on God not the demonic.
I’ve been going to my church 18 years, there is never any open teaching about
deliverance, though I know that there has been times when a person has needed
deliverance. It’s left to people pastors, elders etc who are mature enough and able
to deal with this with a certain level of maturity. It involves much prayer and wisdom.
It’s not something generally discussed and definately not bragged about.

I’ve never heard of levitation, maybe your pastor has been watching too much of the horror channel.


Speaking in tongues is often regarded as a sign of the baptism of the holy
Spirit, but it’s not the only sign. The Holy Spirit is also not a trained dog
where we say come walkies etc and He obeys. The Holy Spirit is a person,
He is God. It is up to Him not us, how to or in what way He fills a person.

What I would say is that when you do feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. You will
recognise Him and know for certain. There will be no doubt.

The warm uplifted feeling you get in church, possibly could just be due to the
uplifting atmosphere. Or it could be the Holy Spirit speaking you. Or both.

For me when it’s the Holy Spirit, rather than being uplifted I tend to get weepy as He
touches my heart, convicts, assures, then lifts me up. If it’s just a nice atmosphere
etc I just feel happy/glad to beat church - but that’s not a bad thing.

I get those flat moments too. Sometimes because I’m expecting and want to hear God and
His word, and the sermon isn’t really for me, it’s probably for someone else instead.

For example we have guest services maybe once every 2 months, or during Easter they are
every Sunday in April. It’s where they preach the gospel. It’s nice to be reminded but they
leave me a bit flat as I’m past that point in my christian Walk. Other times sermons can be
too simple and not meaty enough for me, but that’s because they are aimed at new
Christians.

The thing to remember is that not every sermon will be at your level or will speak to
you, but it will speak to others. Maybe in those times you could pray for the people sat
around you.

The other thing to remember is going to church isn’t like going to be entertained.
It’s about fellowship, hearing the word, worshipping together, seeking God.
We don’t go to church to feel good. We go to draw near to God.

I find it helps to take notes, I got more out of it that way, plus often if the sermon does
not speak to me, the actual bible verses read out will, but in another way.

I’ve often been in church the sermons has been about one subject, but I’m the middle of
the reading a verse has left out at me on another matter I have been dealing with. So the
word has spoken to me even if the sermon didn’t.

I can’t answer whether the church is right for you or not, you will have to decide that.
But you will find the above about is relevant which ever church you go to.

 

[Adstar]

Some Christians believe women can teach in church, others believe they can't. Some believe the Jews are still God's Chosen people, others believe God is finished with the Jews and is now dealing with the entirety of the Earth through Jesus. Some people believe in evolution, some believe God created. Some people believe the Earth is a ball, others believe scripture quite plainly teaches it is flat. There are scriptural and unscriptural answers for all the above. But just because some Christians may get the doctrines wrong, I don't believe that means we should give up meeting together. The meeting together of Christians is a commandment, and it is only when false doctrine affects salvation - e.g. through denying the deity of Christ, of salvation through His work, etc. that I would agree that withdrawing from that community is the biblical approach.

There are non-core salvational doctrines that are disputable.. Like rapture timing we often see debated in this forum..

As for the list of examples you gave.. The Bible states that God created the universe and animals and us humans.. So if a person believes that the universe came into existence from nothing and that life spontanously came into existence from non- living matter then they clearly do not believe the Word of God..

 

[he-rat_of_the_circus-mice]

There are non-core salvational doctrines that are disputable.. Like rapture timing we often see debated in this forum..

As for the list of examples you gave.. The Bible states that God created the universe and animals and us humans.. So if a person believes that the universe came into existence from nothing and that life spontanously came into existence from non- living matter then they clearly do not believe the Word of God..

But if they're the only Christians in the area, do we give up meeting with them for this deviation? And if yes, what determines which deviations we give up meeting with them for?

 

[Adstar]

But if they're the only Christians in the area, do we give up meeting with them for this deviation? And if yes, what determines which deviations we give up meeting with them for?

I would pray and ask God to give me guidance on the matter.. And go by conscience.. If i feel guilty of betraying Jesus by going to a church i will not go to it..

In the end individuel has to face God on the last day..

 

[Adstar]

But if they're the only Christians in the area, do we give up meeting with them for this deviation? And if yes, what determines which deviations we give up meeting with them for?

Oh and i just want to clarify something.. I am sure that in any denomination or local church gathering there will be people who hold heretical beliefs.. No matter what church you go to.. I am not talking about not going to a church because someone attending it has heretical beliefs.. I am talking only about the church preacher / organization / denomination..

I come into CC almost every day and i know there are heretics in here regularly..

 

[he-rat_of_the_circus-mice]

Oh and i just want to clarify something.. I am sure that in any denomination or local church gathering there will be people who hold heretical beliefs.. No matter what church you go to.. I am not talking about not going to a church because someone attending it has heretical beliefs.. I am talking only about the church preacher / organization / denomination..

I come into CC almost every day and i know there are heretics in here regularly..

That's probably a good example. What if those holding the heretical beliefs were in charge? Would you still come to converse with those who weren't?

 

[Adstar]

That's probably a good example. What if those holding the heretical beliefs were in charge? Would you still come to converse with those who weren't?

I would come as a witness.. evangelist.. I would not come as a Member..

Of course once i put forward my objection and what i believe in Biblical then soon enough i would find out who in the congregation agreed with me and who would not..

Actually to be truthful as i am more of an introvert, i most probably would not go about it this way.. I would more likely seek to have one on one encounters with the members on the issue..

 

[Poinsetta]

Do you think salvation is dependent on being biblically sound? I don't. So even though some Christians may be wrong about some things, we're commanded in scripture not to give up meeting together. So in many cases, I see attending a church that may have some doctrinal flaws better than no church at all. Although, some doctrinal flaws can be severe enough to be damnable heresies. I'm not saying one should attend those churches.

Hmmm....,

 

[Poinsetta]

I go to a Pentecostal church and I disagree with the bit in bold.

As for demons and levitation, there is certainly a demonic world around us.
But rather the teaching should be on God not the demonic.
I’ve been going to my church 18 years, there is never any open teaching about
deliverance, though I know that there has been times when a person has needed
deliverance. It’s left to people pastors, elders etc who are mature enough and able
to deal with this with a certain level of maturity. It involves much prayer and wisdom.
It’s not something generally discussed and definately not bragged about.

I’ve never heard of levitation, maybe your pastor has been watching too much of the horror channel.


Speaking in tongues is often regarded as a sign of the baptism of the holy
Spirit, but it’s not the only sign. The Holy Spirit is also not a trained dog
where we say come walkies etc and He obeys. The Holy Spirit is a person,
He is God. It is up to Him not us, how to or in what way He fills a person.

What I would say is that when you do feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. You will
recognise Him and know for certain. There will be no doubt.

The warm uplifted feeling you get in church, possibly could just be due to the
uplifting atmosphere. Or it could be the Holy Spirit speaking you. Or both.

For me when it’s the Holy Spirit, rather than being uplifted I tend to get weepy as He
touches my heart, convicts, assures, then lifts me up. If it’s just a nice atmosphere
etc I just feel happy/glad to beat church - but that’s not a bad thing.

I get those flat moments too. Sometimes because I’m expecting and want to hear God and
His word, and the sermon isn’t really for me, it’s probably for someone else instead.

For example we have guest services maybe once every 2 months, or during Easter they are
every Sunday in April. It’s where they preach the gospel. It’s nice to be reminded but they
leave me a bit flat as I’m past that point in my christian Walk. Other times sermons can be
too simple and not meaty enough for me, but that’s because they are aimed at new
Christians.

The thing to remember is that not every sermon will be at your level or will speak to
you, but it will speak to others. Maybe in those times you could pray for the people sat
around you.

The other thing to remember is going to church isn’t like going to be entertained.
It’s about fellowship, hearing the word, worshipping together, seeking God.
We don’t go to church to feel good. We go to draw near to God.

I find it helps to take notes, I got more out of it that way, plus often if the sermon does
not speak to me, the actual bible verses read out will, but in another way.

I’ve often been in church the sermons has been about one subject, but I’m the middle of
the reading a verse has left out at me on another matter I have been dealing with. So the
word has spoken to me even if the sermon didn’t.

I can’t answer whether the church is right for you or not, you will have to decide that.
But you will find the above about is relevant which ever church you go to.

I have a book: “Cerdos En La Sala” (pigs in the living room) its about deliverance.

 

[Poinsetta]

Oh and i just want to clarify something.. I am sure that in any denomination or local church gathering there will be people who hold heretical beliefs.. No matter what church you go to.. I am not talking about not going to a church because someone attending it has heretical beliefs.. I am talking only about the church preacher / organization / denomination..

I come into CC almost every day and i know there are heretics in here regularly..

Nuh uh not me lol

 

[Socreta93]

My church will sometimes preach about speaking in tongues but they never tell you to fake it. They say you need to want to be baptized with the holy spirit and let God speak through you. I believe you should fins another church, it seems very un doctrinal

 

[Waggles]

This woman that spoke to my husband said that the church is like a cult...

I do not know how much, if any, of this story to believe.
Comes across fake to me.

 

[Brandon123]

I am a new Christian, and I attend a very large church. When I go to church, I feel invigorated, cleansed, refreshed, renewed, alive, in awe and filled with gratitude. Some sundays the sermon might fall flat, and I’m trying hard to understand my new faith, my church and how to bring what I’m learning into my life.
It’s all very confusing for me in so many ways... I have a very busy life with children and a full time job. I’m still trying to understand what it means to make god your first priority in your life.

My husband tells me that one of the greeters told us early on that, “it’s a nice place, but just don’t drink the kool-aid”. This was said in jest partially, but obviously this person meant something by it.

I attended a Wednesday service and it was dramatically different from the typical Sunday stuff. I was very early on in my bible readings so a lot of the in-depth references went straight over my head.
Then the head pastor started talking about demons and levitations and how the supernatural world he has been pastoring in has been a “wild trip”.
I was shocked... all the overwhelming positive feelings I had been having went down considerably... I went to different members of the church to seek understanding and I felt a little better but I still feel a little confused about it. Especially after my husband had a lengthy conversation with a former 25 year church member.
He asked her if she had ever seen a levitation and she laughed and said no.


My church teaches about speaking in tongues and I still have not gotten any further clarification about this.
They teach to fake jibberish and they call it speaking in tongues. They talk about it as being a gift that all people who are baptized should receive - but the bible doesn’t teach this at all! In fact there’s a whole chapter dedicated to how it’s a gift that some few people may receive and there should be a person present who can translate what is being said.
My church is teaching that tongues is a language only god can understand and therefore praying in “tongues” (jibberish) will bring you closer to god.


This woman that spoke to my husband said that the church is like a cult...


Should I be careful? Should I keep attending? Should I attend a different church? I don’t quite know what I’m looking for I just know that I want Gods truth, help understanding it, and a level headed approach on how to balance this world that I live in with the spiritual one.

There isn’t a ‘spiritual’ distinction really...I fell into a similar trap early in my Christian walk...when you see this stuff Run from it Find a church where Jesus is glorified....loved first place...all these things your talking about are like God saying RED FLAG....find a church where people are honest Upfront and loving...where what’s taught is the truth...remember: God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power love and sound judgement You can be sure that you know in your heart what’s right and what’s absolutely wrong...I would really encourage you to run from this group and find a smaller fellowship where you can learn and grow and become what God wants you to be A good wife and mom and whatever else Jesus has for you to be🙂

 

[KALYNA18]

Confusion is not of God, but peace and order and a sound mind. This is a bible scripture. I found that if there is no peace in a situation, or person, place, it might very be well a strong warning sign, that something is out of order. I don't believe that the All mightly would want someone in a place where disarray is. HOld on to HOpe, FAith and LOve, but the greatest of these is love.