[wmfights]

Thank you for the ping, I'm assuming it's okay for me to join the discussion.

While there are a couple of points that we will disagree on, I’d like to keep focused on the bigger picture painted in this article!

Without getting into the Baptism debate, I think one issue we don't look at is the early Christian church was united by a common faith. No one dominant church had emerged.

Today this consensus is no longer obvious. Many of us were raised with evangelistic invitations that distinguished sharply between what happens inside us and what happens outside us, between "getting saved" and "joining a church";

Today to much emphasis on which church you are in and how it is different from others has led to the growth of Non-Denoms. The critical factor from my perspective is do you believe The Gospel, do you believe in the Trinitarian understanding of God. If you hold these as firm beliefs we can argue all day, but we are still Brothers and when someone asks we should be ready to preach The Gospel.

[Gamecock]

***The Gospel, do you believe in the Trinitarian understanding of God. If you hold these as firm beliefs we can argue all day, but we are still Brothers and when someone asks we should be ready to preach The Gospel.***

AMEN!

[Quix]

INDEED.

[metmom]

Today to much emphasis on which church you are in and how it is different from others has led to the growth of Non-Denoms. The critical factor from my perspective is do you believe The Gospel, do you believe in the Trinitarian understanding of God. If you hold these as firm beliefs we can argue all day, but we are still Brothers and when someone asks we should be ready to preach The Gospel.

It's the difference between *churchianity* and Christianity.

I like to read books like The People Time Forgot by Alice Gibbons or The Peace Child by Don Richardson. It gives a wonderful picture of just what churches look like when unencumbered with programs and committees.