Because it tells us something about you—in this case, your spiritual life—which is what the Introduce Yourself forum is all about. If someone has never attended a local church, if someone is a member in good standing, if someone occasionally attends a number of different churches but isn't a member of any, and so on, that gives us a sense about the person.
Yep. Nearly a thirty year member of Calvary Chapel at different locations because we've moved several times. I'm very disappointed in the last two locations.
Yes, but that doesn't mean nothing else matters.
It's number one on my list.
For what it's worth, to say that answering someone's question is a waste of time is condescending and insulting. It is uncalled for, even if it really is a waste.
It was a snide remark because someone else ripped me for providing background info that I gave to introduce myself and help explain why I am doing this work, and the qualifications that I have for doing what I'm doing.
What were these "findings" you insisted on bringing up? Is that the "widespread corruption and fraud throughout the history of the church" you mentioned earlier?
I'll summarize it with the following:
First, Jesus warned his designated eyewitnesses about future false teachers:
Jesus, answering, began to tell them, "Be careful that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and will lead many astray.” (Mark 13:5-6)
MANY will come claiming to be Jesus and MANY will be led astray. Jesus has told us that the future of his church is in jeopardy because it will be infested with false teachers.
At first, I thought it strange that Jesus would warn his trusted eyewitnesses about being led astray. The inner circle disciples witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration when Jesus appeared with Moses and Ezekiel. In addition, they witnessed Jesus’ healing and performing other miracles such as feeding thousands from a small portion of bread and fish and raising dead people back to life. John even validated that after the disciples witnessed Jesus resurrected, they had unwavering belief in Jesus:
When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed THE SCRIPTURE AND THE WORD WHICH JESUS HAD SAID. (John 2:22)
The disciples witnessed miracles and thought Jesus was likely the Messiah, but after they witnessed him resurrected, any doubts they had went away. How could these men who witnessed Jesus’ resurrected possibly be misled by false teachers? Then I read the following words written by John and I realized what Jesus meant:
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:18-19)
Jesus wasn’t warning his Church leaders about losing their faith and belief in him, Jesus was telling them they would fail as managers. The only way the disciples could be led astray was through failing as leaders of the early CJC. And fail they did, just as Jesus warned, they were led astray.
The four chosen disciples were fishermen who didn’t have the experience nor foresight to start the biggest enterprise ever to exist—the Church. John stated that they selected replacements and successors, but “none of them belonged to us.” The men the disciples chose to replace them as leaders in the beginning Church were ALL false teachers. John doesn’t tell us there was one, or even a few false teachers, he told us they were ALL false teachers. John did not describe the infiltration of false teachers into the CJC, he described a coup—a total takeover. The disciples were led astray by smooth talking false teachers who weren’t interested in spreading the Good News of Jesus, they were interested in spreading their religion for their own benefit.
www.opc.org
