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The Fastest-Growing Churches Have Modern Worship, Teach Literal Interpretation of the Bible: Study
Christian Post ^ | 11/30/2016 | Brandon Showalter

Posted on 11/30/2016 2:41:47 PM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: cloudmountain
Reporting the facts is condescension?

"One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved, in which the priest himself is the sacrifice, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the species of bread and wine; the bread (changed) into His body by the divine power of transubstantiation, and the wine into the blood, so that to accomplish the mystery of unity we ourselves receive from His (nature) what He Himself received from ours."

--Pope Innocent III and Lateran Council IV (A.D. 1215)

141 posted on 12/01/2016 1:57:00 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

One would expect a deeper verb than “recite” in this context? If I recite the Gettysburg Address, did I mean it?


142 posted on 12/01/2016 1:58:30 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: cloudmountain
If the Lord teaches ONE thing how can there be so many different Christian denominations?

HMMMmmm...


As regards the oft-quoted Mt. 16:18, note the following bishops promise in the profession of faith of Vatican 1:

 Basil of Seleucia, Oratio 25:

'You are Christ, Son of the living God.'...Now Christ called this confession a rock, and he named the one who confessed it 'Peter,' perceiving the appellation which was suitable to the author of this confession. For this is the solemn rock of religion, this the basis of salvation, this the wall of faith and the foundation of truth: 'For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.' To whom be glory and power forever. — Oratio XXV.4, M.P.G., Vol. 85, Col. 296-297.

Bede, Matthaei Evangelium Expositio, 3:

You are Peter and on this rock from which you have taken your name, that is, on myself, I will build my Church, upon that perfection of faith which you confessed I will build my Church by whose society of confession should anyone deviate although in himself he seems to do great things he does not belong to the building of my Church...Metaphorically it is said to him on this rock, that is, the Saviour which you confessed, the Church is to be built, who granted participation to the faithful confessor of his name. — 80Homily 23, M.P.L., Vol. 94, Col. 260. Cited by Karlfried Froehlich, Formen, Footnote #204, p. 156 [unable to verify by me].

Cassiodorus, Psalm 45.5:

'It will not be moved' is said about the Church to which alone that promise has been given: 'You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.' For the Church cannot be moved because it is known to have been founded on that most solid rock, namely, Christ the Lord. — Expositions in the Psalms, Volume 1; Volume 51, Psalm 45.5, p. 455

Chrysostom (John) [who affirmed Peter was a rock, but here not the rock in Mt. 16:18]:

Therefore He added this, 'And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; that is, on the faith of his confession. — Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Homily LIIl; Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf110.iii.LII.html)

Cyril of Alexandria:

When [Peter] wisely and blamelessly confessed his faith to Jesus saying, 'You are Christ, Son of the living God,' Jesus said to divine Peter: 'You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.' Now by the word 'rock', Jesus indicated, I think, the immoveable faith of the disciple.”. — Cyril Commentary on Isaiah 4.2.

Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Book XII):

“For a rock is every disciple of Christ of whom those drank who drank of the spiritual rock which followed them, 1 Corinthians 10:4 and upon every such rock is built every word of the church, and the polity in accordance with it; for in each of the perfect, who have the combination of words and deeds and thoughts which fill up the blessedness, is the church built by God.'

“For all bear the surname ‘rock’ who are the imitators of Christ, that is, of the spiritual rock which followed those who are being saved, that they may drink from it the spiritual draught. But these bear the surname of rock just as Christ does. But also as members of Christ deriving their surname from Him they are called Christians, and from the rock, Peters.” — Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Book XII), sect. 10,11 ( http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/101612.htm)

Hilary of Potier, On the Trinity (Book II): Thus our one immovable foundation, our one blissful rock of faith, is the confession from Peter's mouth, Thou art the Son of the living God. On it we can base an answer to every objection with which perverted ingenuity or embittered treachery may assail the truth."-- (Hilary of Potier, On the Trinity (Book II), para 23; Philip Schaff, editor, The Nicene & Post Nicene Fathers Series 2, Vol 9.

143 posted on 12/01/2016 1:58:42 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: cloudmountain
That SHOWS how little you know of the Church.

HMMMmmm...


Ephesians 1:23
And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself

144 posted on 12/01/2016 2:00:36 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: cloudmountain
And the church is his body;

WHAT!?

I thought that little wafer was!!!

145 posted on 12/01/2016 2:01:12 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

Thanks for the explanation, simpler than mine: the confession of faith is the same. The follow ups on it aren’t all the same. How could they be the same? Any more than the way that the learning curves of Jesus’ close disciples were the same?


146 posted on 12/01/2016 2:01:49 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Jesus preached the ideal way to run the churches.

So did the Early Church Fathers; but we seem to have gotten away from that a bit...





Acts 15

The Council at Jerusalem
 1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses."

 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

 12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. "Brothers," he said, "listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 16 "'After this I will return
   and rebuild David's fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
   and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
   even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things'
 18 things known from long ago.

 19 "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."

The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers
 22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

   The apostles and elders, your brothers,

   To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

   Greetings.

 24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

   Farewell.

 30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

 

147 posted on 12/01/2016 2:05:24 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
I'm convinced that Christians will never 'get' it completely, this side of Heaven.

It's that glass darkly thing.

Or; this similar situation...



148 posted on 12/01/2016 2:10:23 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Without an overarching sense of the Christian story to guide, many passages seemingly can’t be reconciled.

yup


Dang!

I didn't see THAT the first time I read it!

149 posted on 12/01/2016 2:12:01 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
We must first; I think; be sure that their blessing WERE from God to begin with.

IBTP

blessing(s) WERE
or...
blessing WAS

150 posted on 12/01/2016 2:13:43 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Joel is young yet.

He may STILL see the Light later on in life.


151 posted on 12/01/2016 2:14:54 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
“What must we do to be saved” wasn’t answered with a discourse on methods of worship.

True dat!



 

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”


1 John 3:21-24

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 


152 posted on 12/01/2016 2:17:33 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

What are YOU doing up so early in the morning?


153 posted on 12/01/2016 2:20:09 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
One would expect a deeper verb than “recite” in this context?


Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

154 posted on 12/01/2016 2:21:35 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses."

I just noticed these guys were BELIEVERS, but were still hung up on the LAW!!

155 posted on 12/01/2016 2:24:27 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: heterosupremacist
Bigness does not necessarily equate to correctness...



Get the BIG picture and you can almost find Waldo in it!!

https://ctwillms.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/st-peters-square.jpg



156 posted on 12/01/2016 2:37:23 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Solomon sold out for a yearly tribute of Six hundred and sixty-six talents in gold by pagan kings and became an apostate, the temple considered an abomination of desolation, participated in spiritual adultery and defied God. Led to a division of Israel because God was not pleased how "the wisest man on earth" gained his fortune, bedded pagans (Queen of Sheba/wives/concubines) and rejected God's commands.

Also this was a continuation of a promise God told David would happened due to his sins. God is a God of forgiveness but perfect in justice as well. Sins are forgotten, but reverberate in this temporal world.

As for rich Pastors, that is fine if your aim is not to get rich. Of course Paul's example should be adhered to concerning the optics of a fruitful ministry. Also wealth can create temptations (Baker for example). If one goes "off the reservation" they should quit.
157 posted on 12/01/2016 3:03:21 AM PST by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians.)
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To: cloudmountain

Why did Paul start his ministry?


158 posted on 12/01/2016 4:09:42 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: Salvation; Engedi; Alex Murphy; bkaycee; boatbums; CynicalBear; daniel1212; dragonblustar; ...
You still are a Catholic and come back at any time. Just sit down with a priest and get your questions answered.

That's your standard reply for everyone.

The arrogance behind the assumption that someone is not Catholic because they have unanswered questions is breath-taking.

I have no questions about Catholicism that remain unanswered.

Most of us who left the Catholic church did so for precisely that reason. We DID have questions and did have them answered. By Scripture, NOT a Catholic priest.

Your Catholic Baptism and Confirmation marks are on your soul to stay.

And bunch of unadulterated, unprovable nonsense.

That's simply a power grab by the Catholic church to try to lay claim to someone's soul.

The only one who has claim to my soul and ownership of it is JESUS. Any other marks on it are erased with the blood of Jesus when we were made NEW creations in Christ. The enemy no longer has any hold on us.

159 posted on 12/01/2016 4:11:38 AM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: G Larry

So when Jesus says He’s the door, is He made out of wood?

So when Jesus says He’s the vine, is He a green leafy plant?

So when Jesus says He’s the bread, is He made out of flour and is bread dough?

If you demand literal interpretation that His bread is flesh and blood, then show some integrity and demand a literal interpretation of these other statements.

After all, He didn’t say *I am like (a door, bread, a vine).*

He said *I AM ____*.


160 posted on 12/01/2016 4:17:16 AM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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