• westminsterabs said on Mar 22, 2007....

  The reason for a believer in Christ to go to church (and belong to a church) is that the church is the body of Christ. (BTW, this is a Protestant posting this.) ...//<paragraph break>///... Just read the Book of Ephesians, for starters. If you're up for it, here are some relevant passages (in the NKJV): .../////... Eph.1 (22) And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. .../////... Eph. 2 (19) Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, (21) in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, (22) in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. .../////... Eph. 3 (8) To me...this grace was given... (9) ...to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; (10) to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places... /////... Eph. 3 (20) Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, (21) to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. .../////... Eph. 4 (1) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, (2) with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (3) endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (4) There is one body and one Spirit... /////... Eph. 4 (11) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (14) that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, (15) but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (16) from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Eph. 4 (25) Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. .../////... Eph. 5 ...(23) For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. (24) Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (25) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (26) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, (27) that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (28) So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. (29) For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. (30) For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. (31) “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (32) This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church... /////... All of which makes it clear that church life is a vital element of belonging to Christ.
  

• TERRYLOU said on Mar 22, 2007....

  I thought that Jesus Christ said that it's better to pray in private like in a closet rather than praying in public because praying in public is what the Pharisees did because they were trying to brag about how pious they were when they weren't following the 10 Commandments. In fact, every time that Jesus wanted to pray in a person to person manner with God he went into mountainous areas so he could hide in a cave or little gap in a mountain wall where he could pray in private. Also, Jesus stated very strictly these words "If you love me you'll follow the 10 Commandments." Why is it that the very same Catholic Church that demands that women be fired from a job for being pregnant out of wedlock allows the Catholic priests to be pedophiles and ex-communicates any childs mother for complaining about a pedophile priest? Why doesn't the Catholic Church ever fire a priest from his job for being a pedophile? Did not Jesus say something to the effect that if you harm even a hair on a childs head you'll be answering to him (Jesus) personally when it comes time for judgement? Also, Jesus said that all the teachings of the Talmud are full of lies, deceit, and all manner of wickedness such as hatred for children, women and especially the fact that the Talmud speaks lies about him. Jesus also did mention something positive about womens rights and no one probably even noticed. He was asked by a Pharisee (I think) that if five (or was it four) men had one wife over time and all died which of the five men would get the one woman in heaven? Jesus said that in heaven there's no marriage and there's no giving a woman in marriage because we're all like angels in heaven, meaning no sex, meaning all men and women are created equal in heaven and the only thing that would matter in heaven is if a man and woman love each other they'd stay together in heaven with just a vow (and possibly simple hugs and kisses which is what women want anyway). Jesus said that marriage was created by man because man is hard hearted and didn't want to stay with one woman forever. Another thing I noticed about some of Jesus Christ's Apostles, Jesus mentioned to the Apostles that they were hard hearted about the 12 baskets of food and the 7 baskets of food that he created by a miracle and they acted like it was no big a deal and they acted like as the expression goes "We made our money, you go make yours!" and Jesus said that they were being hard hearted because the Apostles didn't want to provide the poor people who followed Jesus out into the desert with food and water. They demanded that the poor go buy their own food and water. Jesus said that he'd provide them food and water and then mentioned that his Apostles were being hard hearted about not wanting to do as he did. Aren't the rich neo-conservatives acting the same way by saying that the poor don't deserve a higher minimum wage and the poor need to go out and make their own wealth without help from anyone, while all the wealthy people got help from their rich parents, friends, and acquaintanes in secret societies like the Masons and other male-dominated clubs for the rich to get richer. Think about all this for a while. T. Dennis Leesburg, GA.

• straightupstraighton said on Mar 22, 2007....

  I spoke to a priest at length when considering getting my son Christened.  I've never been a church goer and am Catholic.

  I do pray in private, and he said to me that just because you go to church it does not mean you are any closer to God than those who do not.

  Presonnaly I struggle with the fact that religion is made by man, I discussed this at length, he was great.  To pray alone or internally is very spiritual, and this is the way I choose.

• Corinthian said on Mar 22, 2007....

  I've stopped going to church for around 3 years now.
  
  I've never felt better spiritually and I feel like I'm now closer to God more than ever.
  
  There's a quote that sums this up: "Every day, people are straying away from the church and going back to God."
  

• anonymous said on Mar 23, 2007....

  Is it kind to believe in outdated folklore? Is it kind to teach your kids that talking snakes communicate to fully grown adults who were instantly created w/ the ability to talk and have limited ability to make decisions? Is it kind to teach your children that you have to be a Christian to be a great person? And, if you are not a Christian you will be brought back to life just to be burned? Is it kind to teach your children that a guy named Noah lived for three days in the friggin' belly of a whale and came out alive? I could go on; easily ... The bible has outlived its usefulness and we can be great people who do unto others w/out believing in this nonsense of coming back to life in some form (what if we don't like what age and form we come back as? Would you have a say?) ... please stop; no, really, please stop this nonsense!

• LanaV said on Mar 29, 2007....

  Jesus went to the Temple (church). He taught the group how to pray, teaching The Lord's Prayer publicly. Church is not a building. The Church is a family, lead by Christ and loved by him. United under one roof (a church building) we do the things Christ did. At least, we should. We should sing to Him in thanks, ask Him for his assistance in life, love and adore him together and encourage one another, support one another, learn His message and how it to apply it in a way that brings about all His promises- once we really know what they are. We also, difficult for many, recieve his laws. But, in a family thriving by his love we see through realtionship that His plans are to give us life and Joy. Read the bible. Many people's idea of the hypocrsy of the Bible really stems from hearing it from someone else without reading it. But when you DO, read it for yourself, with a real desire to find the truth and not just to find error in the words- if your heart is really open to the possibility that those red and black letters might just have something or you.... wow. Then, you will know. . .

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