I am here to share the approved church groups in Christianity.
Okay. Not exactly an official list. I could list what seems good and what seems awful without going into ones that may no longer be Christian (if ever).
I have been part of a New-Testament-restoring full gospel church, a Southern Baptist church, and Presbyterian one. Now I may be in a non-denominational one. I'm (mostly) happy with the variety inasmuch as they share and represent the gospel sufficiently. One of the important aspects is to recognize that God can and does move in people's lives. Some church groups perhaps put Christianity into a maintenance mode where only the Sunday ceremonies provide people a token of grace to keep them in Christ (or something like that). Even in that, true Christians can provide in accord with the design of scripture.
The gifts of the Spirit are not something to deny since scripture has shown these evident in Acts and with tongues in 1 or 2 Corinthians. But part of the idea includes the sense that some people need a feel of excitement and release. But, I do feel this is often accompanied by some efforts to make things seem more miraculous than they really are. At least though there is the expectation of God being involved in people's lives today.
Some church groups are good in creating a family atmosphere, of being involved in each other's life. However, too often it still may result where people go off to their own seclusion after the church gatherings. Maybe things could improve in that arena. I know I'm the least one to be ready for hospitality.
Other church organizations can be good in teaching and scripture resources. That can appeal to people too and help provide doctrinal strength. Maybe in a different way, the Luther Church Missouri Synod offers a bit of an anchor by avoiding merges with groups that have different doctrines and practices. But even they seem to start adopting recent cultural paradigms.
Anyhow, the idea is that the many different groups exist in support of different personalities and circumstances. It definitely was God's call that ended up having me in a full gospel church. The sense that God is alive and acting in the world was something necessary for me and sort of a fulfillment of expectation that I had even before being a Christian.
The basic way I tie these all together is that the various groups have different percentages of true Christians in them depending in part on the degree of simply appealing to anyone versus attracting strong believers. But God knows what he is doing in all of this. So we can keep appreciating God in all his wisdom.
Okay. Not exactly an official list. I could list what seems good and what seems awful without going into ones that may no longer be Christian (if ever).
I have been part of a New-Testament-restoring full gospel church, a Southern Baptist church, and Presbyterian one. Now I may be in a non-denominational one. I'm (mostly) happy with the variety inasmuch as they share and represent the gospel sufficiently. One of the important aspects is to recognize that God can and does move in people's lives. Some church groups perhaps put Christianity into a maintenance mode where only the Sunday ceremonies provide people a token of grace to keep them in Christ (or something like that). Even in that, true Christians can provide in accord with the design of scripture.
The gifts of the Spirit are not something to deny since scripture has shown these evident in Acts and with tongues in 1 or 2 Corinthians. But part of the idea includes the sense that some people need a feel of excitement and release. But, I do feel this is often accompanied by some efforts to make things seem more miraculous than they really are. At least though there is the expectation of God being involved in people's lives today.
Some church groups are good in creating a family atmosphere, of being involved in each other's life. However, too often it still may result where people go off to their own seclusion after the church gatherings. Maybe things could improve in that arena. I know I'm the least one to be ready for hospitality.
Other church organizations can be good in teaching and scripture resources. That can appeal to people too and help provide doctrinal strength. Maybe in a different way, the Luther Church Missouri Synod offers a bit of an anchor by avoiding merges with groups that have different doctrines and practices. But even they seem to start adopting recent cultural paradigms.
Anyhow, the idea is that the many different groups exist in support of different personalities and circumstances. It definitely was God's call that ended up having me in a full gospel church. The sense that God is alive and acting in the world was something necessary for me and sort of a fulfillment of expectation that I had even before being a Christian.
The basic way I tie these all together is that the various groups have different percentages of true Christians in them depending in part on the degree of simply appealing to anyone versus attracting strong believers. But God knows what he is doing in all of this. So we can keep appreciating God in all his wisdom.
