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Nufan

Active member
#361
Oct 10, 2019
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#361
ResidentAlien said:
Orthodox Catholicism is not a healthy Christian community either, any more than Roman Catholicism is. Truth be told, 99% of institutional "churches" aren't healthy. They have a form of godliness but deny its power. If you want to understand what has happened to the institutional "churches," I suggest you read Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna. If you're not willing to have your world shook up, don't bother.
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It has not been my experience that the orthodox community is unhealthy. You should consider spending some time with them and getting to know them. We have protestants that are converting to orthodoxy at my parish on a daily basis. I do believe that there are unhealthy orthodox communities and I pray that this was not your experience or has not been your experience.It's important to find a healthy community.And i've only been able to find that in eastern orthodox. Also, in Eastern orthodoxy we do not concern ourselves with other communities. We remain faithful with the community that God has provided us with and through prayer and intercession of the Holy Spirit an unhealthy community can become healthy again. That has been the experience at my parish. It was unhealthy because they were very focused on Greek culture and weren't very loving and accepting of outsiders, and now it turns out that the majority of the members at my parish are converts. We're a very healthy community now thanks be to god.We no longer identify our parish a greek orthodox but as eastern orthodox. We are still greek orthidox if that makes sense.
 
ResidentAlien

ResidentAlien

Well-known member
#363
Apr 21, 2021
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#363
Nufan said:
I believe I understand that everyone but you is false. I will pray for you brother.
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No, not all; but more are than aren't. The scriptures warn that in the last days perilous times would come; and deception would be widespread. Jesus warned that many will think they have done many great things in His names; however, he will answer: "I never knew you." This should be a sobering warning.
 
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Nufan

Active member
#365
Oct 10, 2019
284
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#365
ResidentAlien said:
You can have a group that's in 100% agreement. However, if what they all agree on is false, what good can it do them?
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I suppose, I should have also included that everyone who agrees with you is not an error. I understand that you need prayer. I will pray. Just so you know, I am not relying on what I believe or what I think when it comes to developing my faith and walk with Christ. I leave this up to the Eastern orthodox church and my spiritual father and prayer and relationship with my community and god. I have done enough research that not only historically validates the authenticity of Eastern orthodox but the community also validates the authenticity of Eastern orthodox and the test of time also validates the authenticity of Eastern orthodox and the fact that they haven't altered the creed or fallen into heretical views that contradict the early church fathers is also a testament to their authenticity. And the fact that the 5 original churches in the first and second century.All are in agreement that protestantism has fallen away from the tradition of the early church, shows me that protestantism is not the authentic church of jesus christ and has been misguided thanks to roman Catholicism. Im so sorry this happened. Eastern orthodox stands in agreement with protistants that roman Catholicism has deviated from Jesus christ and the true church.
 
ResidentAlien

ResidentAlien

Well-known member
#366
Apr 21, 2021
8,434
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#366
Nufan said:
I suppose, I should have also included that everyone who agrees with you is not an error. I understand that you need prayer. I will pray. Just so you know, I am not relying on what I believe or what I think when it comes to developing my faith and walk with Christ. I leave this up to the Eastern orthodox church and my spiritual father and prayer and relationship with my community and god. I have done enough research that not only historically validates the authenticity of Eastern orthodox but the community also validates the authenticity of Eastern orthodox and the test of time also validates the authenticity of Eastern orthodox and the fact that they haven't altered the creed or fallen into heretical views that contradict the early church fathers is also a testament to their authenticity. And the fact that the 5 original churches in the first and second century.All are in agreement that protestantism has fallen away from the tradition of the early church, shows me that protestantism is not the authentic church of jesus christ and has been misguided thanks to roman Catholicism. Im so sorry this happened. Eastern orthodox stands in agreement with protistants that roman Catholicism has deviated from Jesus christ and the true church.
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You're presumably an adult; you're free to believe and do what you want. However, you can't say you weren't warned. The Lord knows who are His. He'll guide you to the truth; if you sincerely want it.
 
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Nufan

Active member
#367
Oct 10, 2019
284
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#367
ResidentAlien said:
No, not all; but more are than aren't. The scriptures warn that in the last days perilous times would come; and deception would be widespread. Jesus warned that many will think they have done many great things in His names; however, he will answer: "I never knew you." This should be a sobering warning.
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All 4 original churches that were established going all the way back to the apostles are in agreement with protestants.That Roman Catholicism has deviated from the path.I would strongly recommend that you have a better understanding of eastern orthodoxy.
 
ResidentAlien

ResidentAlien

Well-known member
#368
Apr 21, 2021
8,434
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#368
Nufan said:
All 4 original churches that were established going all the way back to the apostles are in agreement with protestants.That Roman Catholicism has deviated from the path.I would strongly recommend that you have a better understanding of eastern orthodoxy.
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I know enough to stay away.
 
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Nufan

Active member
#369
Oct 10, 2019
284
32
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#369
ResidentAlien said:
You're presumably an adult; you're free to believe and do what you want. However, you can't say you weren't warned. The Lord knows who are His. He'll guide you to the truth; if you sincerely want it.
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Yes, I know.You're very me focused.Unfortunately, it turns out that protestantism is very me focused.It's designed that way.Unfortunately, this is not biblical teaching. I don't find any humility in protestantism. A lot of pride and arrogance and the fruit of that is that protestantism is becoming more worldly where they become more focused on our feelings and our worldly comforts and enjoyment, just look at a lot of these protestant churches.I mean they're just shy of having a starbucks in there. This doesn't promote a healthy community that's focused on Christ. Where one is subduing their passions and fasting and separating themselves from the world. Unfortunately, I believe that you are doing the best you can and I believe that God can speak to your heart and the Holy Spirit can lead and guide you in the truth and provide you with the insight that you need to grow in faith by loving and serving and following after Jesus Christ and his holy people. Unfortunately it would seem that you might be very better towards protestantism as well. Accept for your own flavor and version of course. I hope that you're engaged with a healthy community and that it is bringing you closer to god. I only wish the best for you my friend this is my orayer for you. It is not my place to go any further with this conversation. God bless
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#370
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
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#370
Nufan said:
Yes, I know.You're very me focused.Unfortunately, it turns out that protestantism is very me focused.It's designed that way.Unfortunately, this is not biblical teaching. I don't find any humility in protestantism. A lot of pride and arrogance and the fruit of that is that protestantism is becoming more worldly where they become more focused on our feelings and our worldly comforts and enjoyment, just look at a lot of these protestant churches.I mean they're just shy of having a starbucks in there. This doesn't promote a healthy community that's focused on Christ. Where one is subduing their passions and fasting and separating themselves from the world. Unfortunately, I believe that you are doing the best you can and I believe that God can speak to your heart and the Holy Spirit can lead and guide you in the truth and provide you with the insight that you need to grow in faith by loving and serving and following after Jesus Christ and his holy people. Unfortunately it would seem that you might be very better towards protestantism as well. Accept for your own flavor and version of course. I hope that you're engaged with a healthy community and that it is bringing you closer to god. I only wish the best for you my friend this is my orayer for you. It is not my place to go any further with this conversation. God bless
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I don't know what "protestant" churches you have seen, but you have obviously never seen my church.

But people see what they expect to see. If you did come to my church you would probably see a lot of "me" attitudes even if they weren't there, because it would be what you expected to see.
 
PAC-fit

PAC-fit

Active member
#371
Sep 20, 2018
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#371
Wow, obviously, quite the question by the number of replies to this first for me. Would be a heft to sift through. Still, so good.
Nufan said:
I wanna know what unifies all Christians, followers, and believers in Jesus Christ, regardless of belife or religon. I wanna know how we all can come together to make a positive impact.
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How can we "come together"? It seems a reconsideration in the simplest terms imaginable would be helpful. Having received the thrill of Jesus' course at conversion of forgiveness and salvation, which brought us all together in the first place "with joy". It does seem a shame to forget about that and neglect our determination as "one" to remain focused on the prize of His life and fellowship in the Spirit, my goodness, there could be a world of triumph for everything we set out to do! Though we do so limitedly, for the spirit of maintaining the tenets of division have risen up and challenged the precepts of Christ's prayer of remaining "one"!
 
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Nufan

Active member
#372
Oct 10, 2019
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#372
Lynx said:
I don't know what "protestant" churches you have seen, but you have obviously never seen my church.

But people see what they expect to see. If you did come to my church you would probably see a lot of "me" attitudes even if they weren't there, because it would be what you expected to see.
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Is there a strong focus on fasting? Is there a strong focus on being unified as a body? Is there a strong focus on subduing your passions? It is there a strong focus on suffering and struggling with Christ? Do you practice asceticism? Is their submission to authority? Is there a focus on relationship and community? These are all things that I would look at. Are they separate from the world or are they more focused on worldly things? Is there focus on entertainment music? Is it progressive or traditional? What is their cofession of faith? Do they include the creed? What school do their pastors go to. What is the schools beliefs and what are they partnering with? Who started this church what is its origin or eschatology? Who did they branch off from and where is leadership in the church heading now? I haven't been to your church. But like I said I've chosen Eastern orthodoxy as my focus.It's just sad that protestants really have an issue with that.
 
Dude653

Dude653

Senior Member
#373
Mar 19, 2011
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#373
SonJudgment said:
The world is of no real importance to Christians at the least of it, and at the most of it the world is outright the enemy of God. Three beliefs are essential to be within the unity of the religion of Christianity and distinguish Christianity from the false religions which wholesale reject all three of the beliefs, and heretical cults that may hold 1 or 2 of these beliefs but neglect the others.

1. Belief in the divine conception of Jesus to Mary when she was a virgin, his life and ministry, his crucifixion for sins, his resurrection and being witnessed by the disciples, his ascension into heaven, and his promise to come again and judge the all people that ever lived. This belief is more thoroughly explained in the Apostle's Creed.

2. Belief in the Trinity doctrine that accurately describes God as being one God in three persons; the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. This belief is more thoroughly explained in the Athanasian Creed.

3. Belief in the Bible as a true and holy text and as the primary document of the religion of Christianity that describes the truth about God, humanity, the creation, doctrines, history, and prophecy.
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How do you know most of the world is the enemy of God? Have you interviewed every person on the planet?
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#374
Aug 13, 2014
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#374
Nufan said:
Is there a strong focus on fasting? Is there a strong focus on being unified as a body? Is there a strong focus on subduing your passions? It is there a strong focus on suffering and struggling with Christ? Do you practice asceticism? Is their submission to authority? Is there a focus on relationship and community? These are all things that I would look at. Are they separate from the world or are they more focused on worldly things? Is there focus on entertainment music? Is it progressive or traditional? What is their cofession of faith? Do they include the creed? What school do their pastors go to. What is the schools beliefs and what are they partnering with? Who started this church what is its origin or eschatology? Who did they branch off from and where is leadership in the church heading now? I haven't been to your church. But like I said I've chosen Eastern orthodoxy as my focus.It's just sad that protestants really have an issue with that.
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Oh I don't have any issue at all with you choosing which church you want to go to.

I just fundamentally object to you dissing all other churches without even seeing them.

But my objection is worth about as much as your dissing. Just two random people on the internet expressing their opinions. You will doubtless keep putting down churches without knowing what you're talking about, and I will of course keep objecting to it. And none of it will matter at all.
 
SonJudgment

SonJudgment

Well-known member
#375
Jun 25, 2024
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#375
Dude653 said:
How do you know most of the world is the enemy of God? Have you interviewed every person on the planet?
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Not most of the world, the entire world. I think you're misinterpretting what I said on purpose especially since that is from a few months ago and you went back to find it and it struck a chord with you and so you have called my attention back to this topic. That's okay though because that is actually somewhat fitting and your attempt to twist things basically just proves the Bible's teachings about the world and its friends even more. So I'll just state it again basically and include a verse for you to think on.

At the least of it, the world is of no real importance to a Christian. At the most of it, the world is outright the enemy of God.

James 4:4
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
 
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Nufan

Active member
#376
Oct 10, 2019
284
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#376
Lynx said:
Oh I don't have any issue at all with you choosing which church you want to go to.

I just fundamentally object to you dissing all other churches without even seeing them.

But my objection is worth about as much as your dissing. Just two random people on the internet expressing their opinions. You will doubtless keep putting down churches without knowing what you're talking about, and I will of course keep objecting to it. And none of it will matter at all.
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I apologize. I'm not trying to be an offense, but I really don't have to go to a church to know what they're about. What I have to do is take a look at the confession of faith. And what's the core belief system? So if your penicastal then this really isn't a pick your own adventure. I mean, you're following someone else. Don't you think that it's important that you do your due diligence to see if you're actually following christ? If your penicastal then your following Wisely. Methodist also fall into that camp. So yeah, you branched off from weasley. You go back a little bit further you get to the presbyterian churches. You go back a little bit further and you get to John Calvin and Luther and then you go back a little bit further and you get to roman catholic. Then are you a charismatic?Are you into the prosperity gospel?Are you into the word of faith movement? Is your church incorporating occult and new age practices. Church should really have more meaning and depth and substance.Then hearing a word from the bible hearing a beautiful sermon and hanging out with people you like that is not living the Christian faith that is participating in a club.Where's the substance?That's what I would be looking for, where's the substance. Whats the fruit look like.
 
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Nufan

Active member
#377
Oct 10, 2019
284
32
28
#377
Lynx said:
Oh I don't have any issue at all with you choosing which church you want to go to.

I just fundamentally object to you dissing all other churches without even seeing them.

But my objection is worth about as much as your dissing. Just two random people on the internet expressing their opinions. You will doubtless keep putting down churches without knowing what you're talking about, and I will of course keep objecting to it. And none of it will matter at all.
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So if your following John Wesley then which version are you following the Holiness Pentecostals who affirm three definite works of grace, or Finished Work Pentecostals who are partitioned into trinitarian and non-trinitarian branches, the latter giving rise to Oneness Pentecostalism.
 
Subhumanoidal

Subhumanoidal

Well-known member
#378
Sep 17, 2018
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#378
Nufan said:
I apologize. I'm not trying to be an offense, but I really don't have to go to a church to know what they're about. What I have to do is take a look at the confession of faith. And what's the core belief system? So if your penicastal then this really isn't a pick your own adventure. I mean, you're following someone else. Don't you think that it's important that you do your due diligence to see if you're actually following christ? If your penicastal then your following Wisely. Methodist also fall into that camp. So yeah, you branched off from weasley. You go back a little bit further you get to the presbyterian churches. You go back a little bit further and you get to John Calvin and Luther and then you go back a little bit further and you get to roman catholic. Then are you a charismatic?Are you into the prosperity gospel?Are you into the word of faith movement? Is your church incorporating occult and new age practices. Church should really have more meaning and depth and substance.Then hearing a word from the bible hearing a beautiful sermon and hanging out with people you like that is not living the Christian faith that is participating in a club.Where's the substance?That's what I would be looking for, where's the substance. Whats the fruit look like.
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For someone that's claiming they're "not trying to be offensive" I'd try a Lot harder.
 
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Nufan

Active member
#379
Oct 10, 2019
284
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#379
Subhumanoidal said:
For someone that's claiming they're "not trying to be offensive" I'd try a Lot harder.
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Do you really think it's offensive for me to encourage people to look into the foundation of their faith?It's origin and what they believe.Can you explain to me why that's offensive to you. Can you please pinpoint where I have been offensive so I can correct that problem.I'm hoping that you're not just going to focus on where we don't agree.Cause that shouldn't be an offense neither. If this isn't gonna be a healthy conversation, then yeah, it's gonna be offensive.There's no reason why our discussion should be an unhealthy conversation.
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#380
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
#380
Nufan said:
I apologize. I'm not trying to be an offense, but I really don't have to go to a church to know what they're about. What I have to do is take a look at the confession of faith. And what's the core belief system? So if your penicastal then this really isn't a pick your own adventure. I mean, you're following someone else. Don't you think that it's important that you do your due diligence to see if you're actually following christ? If your penicastal then your following Wisely. Methodist also fall into that camp. So yeah, you branched off from weasley. You go back a little bit further you get to the presbyterian churches. You go back a little bit further and you get to John Calvin and Luther and then you go back a little bit further and you get to roman catholic. Then are you a charismatic?Are you into the prosperity gospel?Are you into the word of faith movement? Is your church incorporating occult and new age practices. Church should really have more meaning and depth and substance.Then hearing a word from the bible hearing a beautiful sermon and hanging out with people you like that is not living the Christian faith that is participating in a club.Where's the substance?That's what I would be looking for, where's the substance. Whats the fruit look like.
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Odd spelling you have there for Pentecostal. Almost as though you are not trying nearly hard enough to not be offensive. In fact one might say you are deliberately trying to do the converse.

And it seems to be deliberate, because you did it more than once. Also it's very hard to get a computer to autocorrect to that specific spelling. In fact it autocorrects to Pentecostal.

And no, my church doesn't follow Wesley or any of those others. My church follows the Bible. Our pastor is always saying, don't take my word for it. Read it for yourself. This is important. You need to be sure of it. I might accidentally get something wrong someday, or I might completely flip out and go off on a tangent. You need to know the Bible yourself so you will know what is right, regardless of what I say.

So yeah, that's exactly what I object to. You can choose whatever church says what you want to believe. But you have never been to my church, yet you keep dissing all churches except the one you have allegedly chosen.
 
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