Which church is the best fit for someone?

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 1 Timothy 4:3-4

They will "heap up." They will accumulate a multitude of; they will keep adding one on top of another.

I attended church while on vacation. I liked the congregation so much I still consider moving there. They were welcoming, loving, pure and refreshingly raw.

yes brother that is the church in my opinion less than perfect people who believe the gospel so they want to know this Jesus who suffered and died to save those soul . And so they hear and believe the one in whom they trust accepting what he said about salvstion and receiving the promises

even the apostle Paul tells us he isn’t perfect but he tells us the right attitude to have in Christ acknolwedging our imperfections but pressing toward the mark of perfection in Christ

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:12-

a church should be a group of Jesus desiciples eho aren’t pretending they never do or say anything wrong but instead they learn from God and as they do those wrongs come to light in tbier perception and then they can repent as they learn that they too are sinning in some ways , it’s just that they hadn’t heard enough of the gospel to realize how less than perfect they are

but see it’s only the ones who realize “ I’m not perfect “ who are ever going to strive to be more like the lord Jesus which is our true goal of perfection that’s frankly we’ve all failed to keep perfectly

we want to be this group who acknowledges the truth and stand in tbe ligbt of the gospel

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ( this wouldn’t benefit someone who believes they never sin but if we acknolwedge when we have sinned it does )

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:6-10‬ ‭


Those last three clear statements lead us to a goal of never sinning but also an indersrsnding tbat when we do fail in that we have a sufficient atonement and forgiving lord to forgive us

so this should be our perception and goal

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.

( but we can never forget this part for mothers and ourselves )

And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭

we can acknolwedge when we have sinned and be forgiven but if we pretend we haven’t sinned when we have we’re holding our sins until judgement

my opinion only but what I think is when we’re seeking a church we want to find any genuine group of disciples of Jesus among then will be strong mature believers , there will be also a lot of people who should be more mature but aren’t , and babes who are just now getting born and haven’t learned then there’s also going to be some broken folks that believe just as much as we do

We just want to be a benefit to the group and not judge anyone at all but ourselves

interesting concept of the intentional accumulation of teachers teaching falsehoods and fables. The truth of a matter, especially Biblical ones, provided one is understanding it correctly, can be a difficult pill to swallow so to speak.

I’m still sorting it all out. Seems like one of the things I have noticed is that the Bible has just enough ambiguity to be highly interpretive, but I highly doubt that this is what 1 Tim 4:3-4 is talking about.

A church congregation worth uprooting and moving to. That sounds like a seriously special place. When you say they are refreshingly raw, do you mean they have a kind of vitality about where they are zealous to do good works? Some might call this “being on fire” for God.

What do you think it's talking about?

Seems like they first had some awareness about all or some of the truth, but didn’t like it so they found people who would tell them what they want to hear and they find strength in numbers. After enough time I guess a lie told often enough supplants the truth and no one can see the difference anymore.

When the truth makes it’s way back to them they say it’s heresy, blasphemy, and that person saying it is going to hell. Possibly a good sign that you’re saying something right, possibly.

1 Tim 4:3-4 undoubtedly refers to a great number of churches and that’s partly why I don’t go to church to begin with. My neighbor is in the same boat as me and he said he already checked out all of the churches in this area. On my street alone there are 4 churches. Within a 5 mile radius i guess there is 2-3 dozen churches. (Bible Belt btw)

He said all of the churches he checked out would probably end up getting someone sent to hell. I think that’s a bit extreme. 🤷‍♂️

Print out Acts chapter 2 and then visit a church that preaches the true Gospel. See if they are following the New Testament pattern. You might have to travel some distance to find a suitable church with sound doctrine and a serious Gospel emphasis. And do not make the mistake of assuming that Acts 2:38 means that baptism is necessary for salvation. Make sure you read Acts 3:19 to clear the air. We have a few people here who do not understand the Gospel.

They were definitely on fire for God. It was a multicultural congregation where everyone was welcome and yet they were the antithesis of political correctness. They were about God and His Word, and that’s what made them so raw and refreshing to me.

My guess is that is why you score so low in eschatology........and so poorly in doctrine.

You just came to this thread to fling dirt at me, rather than help me, like I asked, apparently. Okay cv5. I can see who scores higher in fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Just tossing in my $0.02 bro. No offence intended.

I would zone in on a pretrib, premellenial Church that believes in the future restoration of Israel.
Furthermore a Church that recognizes the times we are in (close to the end of the age) and does not partake in its delusions and culture. Is not fixated on material goods, politics or worldly success.

And takes God at His word and the word of God as truth. And can rightly divide the truth. A Church that is sober, serious, non-trivial, and not some kind of a glee-club. A Church that is not constantly looking for signs and wonders. A Church that is not blab-it-and grab-it.

Basically the Philadelphia Church of Revelation. The one that is guaranteed the rapture.

Hope that helps....

Awesome!

That's called "constructive criticism".

Thank you. I hadn’t considered an outreach ministry to a church like that until now.

One that has a true Born Again Minister ---that preaches real truth and doesn't water down the Gospel --and preach to please the People instead of God ------and believe me it is not an easy find -----

So know your Bible well so you know if the truth is being preached or not ------the people in the Church are only as knowledgeable as what they are being told by their Minister ----

Paul put it this way

We are not seeking to start an "old wineskins" collection bro. Your time and effort would be best spent elsewhere.

any churches have a strong emphasis on the Bible? Last one I went to didn’t.

I’ll need book, chapter, and verse referenced for literally everything they’re saying. I’ll look them all up, too. It’s actually a red flag to me if a church doesn’t do that. And it matters a great deal if they are quoting within context. They better do their homework, I’m not a pew warmer.

I went to a Church of Christ numerous times and the preacher there cited Bible verses heavily and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

Just pray and keep praying. I've seen the Lord do impossible miracles if you're persistent and patient. He specializes in the impossible. When He answers, you'll know it.