My dear Helene, you might be quite right especially if someone else commits you. No one should promise anything for your sake, but maybe they are trying to be a litle helpful. Many people are very reluctant to join a body of worshipers for whatever reason they may have. After all, I do believe that is precisely why there are no names on the pews nor do they have roll call. It totally depends on what you are committed to, and how much you would like to personally grow. There is no pressure with the exception of the times of service and the welcome sign at the front door. You really do not even have to put anything in the collection plate. Some churches just have a box at the front door if you can make a donation. Otherwise, the object to church is to worship and grow with others of your own ilk. If you do decide to go, who knows, you may make a few friends who want nothing from you but friendship.
Does anyone feel that Church attendance in America is declining? Jut asking.....the last time I attended a Church service was with my parents in 1948, 71 years ago. Hal
I think denomination churches declines, but the full gospel / charismatic churches are ever growing. I attend a synagogue, but we are all Messianic Jews, thus believing in Jesus, and are also considered Full Gospel. Side note: They also have these churches in Israel which includes both Jews and Arabs worshipping together and have no conflict at all.....as opposed to both the Jews and Muslims who do not believe in Jesus. We sing the same songs, but at 2:20 on the video, I think they are having more fun with it than we do.
This reminds of a movie that I saw on Tubings recently where a pastor who liked to CELEBRATE was moved to an AME church and made a real hit there.
Church attendance sure isn't declining for the "mega churches" in America. Once we get more settled into our apartment, we will be looking for a nice smaller church to attend on Sunday morning. Until then, my wife will continue to watch Pastor John Hagee (Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX) on Sunday morning on her laptop. For me, he yells to much at his congregation, but that's just his style of delivering his Message.
Thanks for posting that, @Bess Barber! I had no idea.... I had a friend who was a messianic Jew, but I never attended anything with her. Her children were best friends with my kids and her husband was an absolute nut case. I agree with you that the mainstream denominations are declining. It will be interesting to see what happens to United Methodism since they have apparently reverted to some of their old ways and become more conservative. Mormons are still growing, and Catholic numbers in the U.S. are rising, but I think that is mostly due to (mostly) illegal immigration. The evangelicals are growing, largely because (I believe) they have standards and make demands on their members. Churches that become "open-minded" social clubs are going out of business.
@Don Alaska I never understood the open minded concept. Either God said it or He didn't. Either someone believes that or they don't. I do believe, however, that if we took all the man made religious rules, traditions and ceremonies off the table, most Christians pretty much believe the same basic things and those are the only important points to begin with. @Cody Fousnaugh Preachers are like various car models. Each person has their favorite model, but in the end, they all drive on the same road. I think John Hagee is an excellent man of God. @Al Amoling Yeah, boring praise and worship wouldn't be my choice. I like a little spunk.
I am of the same opinion, @Bess Barber. As I have mentioned in other threads, C.S. Lewis, a famous modern apologist, stated that all the various denominations agree on 85% of everything. He referred to those common beliefs as "Mere Christianity". I suspect there is considerable overlap with Judaism as well, but I have no idea what percentage could be quoted. I think the older versions of Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox have more overlap than the "newer versions" of Christianity but I don't know for sure.
Roughly half the Christians I know don't attend church in a white building with a steeple. I don't think that it makes them any less Christian, although those who don't meet regularly with other Christians might be susceptible to beliefs that some might not consider Christian. With all of the denominations and sects we have, there's a bit of that, anyhow but when every Christian is a church unto himself, there is a tendency to make up your own religion as you go along. We are told, more than once in the New Testament, that it is important to meet together as a church, although that doesn't necessarily have to be a big white building with a steeple. Given the state of persecution in the Early Church, I doubt they met in buildings that were set aside for that purpose. Yet they were known as churches separate from the larger church that is made up of all Christians. However, these were geographical designations. Was the Church at Ephesus separate from the Church at Corinth, or was it one Church meeting in multiple places? I doubt that every Christian in Ephesus or Corinth met at the same place at the same time, yet there is no evidence of several churches in Ephesus or in Corinth. In the various churches that existed in NT times, there were differences in what the members believed, but these differences were viewed as a problem rather than an accepted fact because the apostles were constantly trying to bring them together. Getting back to today, fewer people are joining and regularly participating in the established churches. There are probably several reasons for that. A big part of the answer probably stems from the fact that the external benefits of being associated with a church are diminished today. At one time, even in our lifetime, people needed to be a member of a church in order to have any standing in the community. Even people who didn't believe joined a church. Today, especially in some parts of the country, being closely associated with a church can be a social liability. This would diminish church memberships. At the other end of the scale, so many of the Christian churches have been taken over by liberalism to a point where they are hardly identifiable as Christian. Many of our mainstream churches have become little more than socio-political organizations, concerned with issues like social justice and environmentalism rather than anything having to do with God. As conservative Christians leave one church for another, only to find that church transformed into something that has no room for Christ, many of them are meeting in home churches instead, and are not counted among church membership numbers despite the fact that the New Testament suggests that a church exists wherever two or more Christians meet together. These things account for a large part of the diminishing church memberships, but there are fewer Christians today than there was fifty years ago. I don't know about the other religions, but I suspect that this is true of some of the others, too. Except for Islam - that seems to be growing, but it's as much political as it is religious.
The overlap comes when most of the Jewish traditions and holidays are about Jesus anyway. The only difference is, most of them are still waiting for the Messiah to show up, rather than accepting He already has. Nothing sadder than watching the Orthodox Jews lock arms in the streets to sing and pray for Him to show up in their darker hours. However, there are at least 1/4 of the Jews in Israel and around the world who believe Jesus is who He said He was. Messianic Jew titles can get tricky in that some do believe He was a Holy man, but not God in the flesh, which.....just won't work for them in the end.
Ken's post definitely shows his mastery of the language, his all-encompassing knowledge of world religious and socio-political facts, his vast vocabulary, and the art of the debate! I'm a bit crude and limited in my worldly discourse, although I can hold my own in technical discussions with Frank Sanoica! Hal
So many people say that they don't do religion. I think they don't do religion because of all the rules that man has imposed. It's about Jesus and not man made rules.
Jesus didn't even DO religion. It's actually the only thing that really caused him to show Holy anger.
It's never about the words used, it's about the heart that is in it. If we all expressed ourselves the same way, there would be no flavor in the conversation. Sometimes, you are like that one good piece of hot pepper a person tastes in the middle of a bowl of otherwise bland chili.