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The Surprising Reason Why More Americans Are Not Going To Church
The Atlantic via msn ^ | 08-2016

Posted on 08/28/2016 2:41:41 PM PDT by Salvation

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To: Salvation
Of course, this tale is not just reductive—it’s arguably inaccurate, in that it seems to capture neither the reasons nor the reality behind contemporary American belief. For one thing, the U.S. is still overwhelmingly religious, despite years of predictions about religion’s demise.

Biggest lie ever. There may be people that claim to know the Lord but they refuse to repent of sin and to obey the Lord.

These are the ones here:

Mat 7:21 Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in.
Mat 7:22 On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, "We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles."
Mat 7:23 But I will tell them, "I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!"

321 posted on 08/29/2016 10:15:11 AM PDT by DouglasKC
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To: Elsie
Wasn't this the ONLY thing Christ left us to do? The Great Commission??

Exactly!!!! but it seems that fundraising for specialty missions for a few have taken priority in most churches.

The "Great Commission" has been replace by "bring a friend to church" and receive a special mug.

322 posted on 08/29/2016 10:34:17 AM PDT by dragonblustar
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To: FourtySeven

See you in the clouds, brother.


323 posted on 08/29/2016 10:43:39 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensational perspective is a powerful tool for spiritual discernment)
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To: DouglasKC

Matthew 7:21 is revealed by JESUS in John 6:28 Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God: to believe in the One He has sent.”…


324 posted on 08/29/2016 10:51:44 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensational perspective is a powerful tool for spiritual discernment)
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To: MHGinTN; DouglasKC

Does Satan believe in Jesus? He is intimately acquainted with Him yet that alone does not save him. He does not do the works of God nor obey Him.


325 posted on 08/29/2016 10:57:58 AM PDT by BipolarBob (Our security has been hacked, media and politicians bought off and we're being brainwashed.)
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To: Elsie

Of course, I do and I have and that is why I am Catholic. I studied the theology for several years, on my own without anyone to influence me but theology, the Bible and most of all the Holy Spirit. I checked and cross checked and then when the internet came online did it again. So know, I don’t take my faith lightly.


326 posted on 08/29/2016 11:09:33 AM PDT by tiki
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To: Elsie
PLAN to greet those who you’ve not seen before. There is time enough to chum with your friends later.

We do that, especially my kids. We don't really chum around with many people because we live so far from the church. Most of the people who hang out together are locals.

What got me is that when the man said that to me, said that I was the only one who welcomed him, he also said that I was the only one to look him in the eyes. Most people avoided eye contact. They were so busy trying to shake as many hands as possible that they never look people in the eyes or even take the time to say hello. I didn't bring that part up to boast on my part but just to relay why he didn't like going to church. It wasn't because he was lazy, he just didn't think people were very friendly.

I don't necessarily think the majority of people avoid church because they are lazy as one person posted but that some people have tried to go to church and when they have, they didn't find their experience welcoming.

I've seen two types of church goers where I'm at. The ones who go to church to find God/Jesus, who are generally doing well in life but want to know more. Then there are the types of people who go to church after hitting rock bottom. These are broken people who are hurting and they come in looking for acceptance. I'm not blaming the regulars for not being more welcoming. I think it's the overall tone of the church which forgets that they don't have to send out missionaries to other countries to find lost souls, who need financial help and the gospel. I think the church likes to boast about sending people overseas and taking the glory for that instead of the less glamorous work of helping their neighbor who is just as in need of gospel and charity as anyone else.

327 posted on 08/29/2016 11:13:58 AM PDT by dragonblustar
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To: BipolarBob

“Which one of the Ten Commandments would you most like to forget?”

Well, let’s see:

I have no problem with making a statue:

““You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

I do work around my horses and have worked many Saturdays while in the military.

“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”

It was listed thus in Deuteronomy 5:

“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

I wasn’t a slave in the land of Egypt, nor were my ancestors. I’m not Jewish. Nor am I under the Old Covenant. I’m under the SON:

“1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” - Hebrews 1

In FAITH, I enjoy the real Sabbath:

“9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Chapter 4) Our rest is described in Hebrews 10:

“8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

If the Lord wants me to rest on Saturday, and do no work, His Spirit can instruct me. But there is nothing in the New Testament that indicates I am bound by the Old Covenant. The Law showed us sin and death. The Son gives us life. And it is worth remembering:

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” —Mark 2:27

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” - Matt 12

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. —Acts 20:7

Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. —1 Corinthians 16:1-2

Col. 2:16-17, “Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.


328 posted on 08/29/2016 11:22:00 AM PDT by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of infants, ruled by their emotion)
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To: BipolarBob
Who communicated them to Moses? I just know you have the answer.

I do, and I'll give you your answer if you can tell me the covenant which they established (and that is not the covenant under which we now live).

329 posted on 08/29/2016 11:29:27 AM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: imardmd1
if you can tell me the covenant which they established

Gladly. It was the Mosaic Covenant which was another conditional one. "If you will indeed obey My Voice and keep my Covenant then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine".
This covenant covered three areas of the people and they are (1) their personal lives with how they personally related to God (2) their social lives with how they interacted with each other and finally (3)the ordinances governing their religious lives so that as a nation they were following God on the terms He has declared. This covenant was to condition the people to be ready and able to respond when the Redeemer came.

330 posted on 08/29/2016 11:51:42 AM PDT by BipolarBob (Our security has been hacked, media and politicians bought off and we're being brainwashed.)
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To: BipolarBob
Try reading Exodus chapter 20.

So; what ARE Jesus' "commandments"?

331 posted on 08/29/2016 12:16:27 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: BipolarBob
I can make another post on the ceremonial laws if you wish.

Just as vague?

332 posted on 08/29/2016 12:16:57 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: ReaganGeneration2
But, other than the other sacraments, it’s the only place we know with certainty that the Lord is present, every day.

No you don't!

ROME taught you this 'fact'!

333 posted on 08/29/2016 12:17:51 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: BipolarBob
So there are no rules and no laws in your religion?

HELLO!

I posted ACTS 15; which SHIOWED the 'rules' for the Gentile church.

Do you NOT believe what is clearly written in Scripture?


334 posted on 08/29/2016 12:20:01 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian

HE tried to bless the rich young ruler; too.

I wonder what ever happened to that guy...


335 posted on 08/29/2016 12:21:19 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: BipolarBob
And what has Jesus commanded?

Didn't I post what John said it was??

1 John 3:22

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.


336 posted on 08/29/2016 12:23:35 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: tiki

Good for you.

Now then; convince fellow Catholics to do the same.


337 posted on 08/29/2016 12:25:20 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: BipolarBob
"If you will indeed obey My Voice and keep my Covenant then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine".

HMMMmmm...

338 posted on 08/29/2016 12:26:55 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
Just as vague?

If you considered my post #183 vague, then YES! I promise just as vague.

339 posted on 08/29/2016 12:39:58 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Our security has been hacked, media and politicians bought off and we're being brainwashed.)
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To: Elsie
HMMMmmm...

Ruh-roh, is Elsie questioning the covenant? Never fear, they didn't live up to it for long.

340 posted on 08/29/2016 12:41:40 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Our security has been hacked, media and politicians bought off and we're being brainwashed.)
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