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Why are American people leaving our Churches??

6K views 104 replies 17 participants last post by  Dee 
#1 ·
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/thomas-mcdaniels-people-are-leaving-american-church


Thomas McDaniels: Why people are leaving America's churches — and how they will survive




Thomas McDanielsOPINIONBy Thomas McDaniels | Fox News


Behind-the-scenes look at Kanye West's service at Joel Osteen church

Fox News contributor Jonathan Morris gets an in-depth look at the rapper's Sunday service.

A mass exodus of church attendance in America is real.

Are people losing faith or just dumping the church?


We aren’t sure.

DUDLEY DELFFS: THIS WOMAN LEADS ONE OF WORLD'S LARGEST CHURCHES

Reports indicate U.S. church membership was 70 percent or higher from 1937 through 1976, falling modestly to an average of 68 percent in the 1970s through the 1990s. The past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999 and more than half of that change occurring since the start of the current decade.



Can we skip church and still love Jesus? Yes.

However, the scripture commands us to gather in His name.

Church expert Carey Nieuwhof said, “I have to remind myself that mostly, my desire to skip, pull away and do my thing on my schedule isn’t solitude, it’s isolation. And while solitude is a gift from God, isolation is a tool of the enemy. And there’s no faster way to render a community ineffective than to isolate its members.”

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Are we staying away from church because we expect perfection? The church is not perfect. Neither are we.

Yes, the church has its share of problems. The church is one place that people do not enjoy dealing with problems.

We go to church to unload our problems, not upload them. No one enjoys a troubled church.



More from Opinion


•Scott Gunn: The church is dead. Long live the church!

•Jonathan Morris: I went to Kanye West's Sunday Service – Here's what I saw and heard

The best churches welcome people with problems. And we all have problems. Right? People with problems need connection too. Connecting people together is a win. Faith communities excel in connecting people.

But the focus of this generation is on disputable matters. Matters like money. Finances are a major contention in churches. We hear often that the church is all about money.

The best churches are diligent in serving their community. They love people with money and people without money. Few pastors are in ministry for the paycheck. They love and serve people.


A church that is not perfect for one is remarkable for another.

Consider the thousands of pastors with no staff, budget or amenities. They serve God and sacrifice their lives for others. Many pastors receive little or no salary. We never hear stories of the sacrificial pastor. The viral stories are about overpaid pastors. Like the ministers wearing thousand-dollar tennis shoes.

Metro Voice reported: "cross the nation, some pastors are wearing sneakers costing over $4000. Now, a sharp-eyed Instagram user has spotted them and launched a new account questioning the wisdom of flashing wealth. One Instagram account posted 28 photos of various ministers. In less than three weeks, the site gained over 123,000 followers."

Do we care? We do and we should.

Churches need money like all organizations. The church is the one place with no entry fee. The relevant churches use their finances to reach people.

Does everyone enjoy the same restaurant? No. The restaurant that is not perfect for some is amazing for others.

A church that is not perfect for one is remarkable for another.

A message to the cynic: the church is not going away. Jesus built the church on His Word.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Despite the trends, the church of Jesus Christ will not only survive, but it will also thrive.

The church is not obsolete. It is an absolute for America.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY THOMAS MCDANIELS


Thomas McDaniels is the founding pastor of LifeBridge Christian Center in Longview, Texas. He is a stand-out public speaker and is sought after as a Keynote speaker for community and church events. Thomas is also a blogger and published author. Pastor Thomas has been married to his wife, Charlotte McDaniels, for 35 years and together they have three sons and four grandchildren. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
 
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#32 ·
I think the root of it is the shift towards people not looking for fellowship in any form. This to me is the same as the decline in Elks lodges, model railroad clubs and any other group gathering. With each generation, it's less of a thing people want.That mindset has existed for many years, but only in the past few years or so it's been considered okay to not belong to a church (even if you're very religious).
I think once it became a 'thing' for people to not be demanding to discuss their church in varied company, people stopped going as nobody was going to ask.
Think of the stereotype of the family at church, and the kids and father are about five seconds from passing out from boredom (and Mom is the only reason they're there at all). You see that in movies and TV going back many decades. That didn't get invented by a screen writer; it's pretty common through history.
That leaves me to believe that people generally were never that big on going to church, and have been looking for a time when there's no stigma for not going.
It's not that these people don't have faith, they just question the need for the structure (which in the end was designed by people, not God).
The rise of non-denominational churches has added to this, maybe?
As for the earlier comment on atheists, well, religious people can't/won't accept they just don't believe in any higher power, so these ideas of them being 'religious' makes those who don't get feel better. I don't understand why religious types have such a problem with atheists.
 
#4 ·
I think just like in the religious section here they see more lip service then actual Christian examples set. As much hate as love. Nobody likes being judged by someone that thinks there "holier then thou" What we have today is a bunch of small religions that think its a contest and feel they have to drag others down to justify there own beliefs and more of them starting every week. This weakens Christianity because there not new Christians there Christians that left there bigger church. Jesus wanted us to COME TOGETHER as one and set an example that attracts new Christians not alienating the existing ones. If we don't learn to get alone Christianity will be nothing but a thing in the history books a 100 years from now. Im sure ill at worse get slammed somehow for saying this and best case the ones that just like putting others down will ignore it and that alone will prove my point.
 
#5 ·
I think many are turned off by organized religion, and are left feeling like an outcast. But it seems America may be better off than elsewhere for better or for worse.

Atheists Are Sometimes More Religious Than Christians
A new study shows how poorly we understand the beliefs of people who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular. Americans are deeply religious people—and atheists are no exception. Western Europeans are deeply secular people—and Christians are no exception.

These twin statements are generalizations, but they capture the essence of a fascinating finding in a new study about Christian identity in Western Europe. By surveying almost 25,000 people in 15 countries in the region, and comparing the results with data previously gathered in the U.S., the Pew Research Center discovered three things.

First, researchers confirmed the widely known fact that, overall, Americans are much more religious than Western Europeans. They gauged religious commitment using standard questions, including “Do you believe in God with absolute certainty?” and “Do you pray daily?”

Second, the researchers found that American “nones”—those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular—are more religious than European nones. The notion that religiously unaffiliated people can be religious at all may seem contradictory, but if you disaffiliate from organized religion it does not necessarily mean you’ve sworn off belief in God, say, or prayer.

The third finding reported in the study is by far the most striking. As it turns out, “American ‘nones’ are as religious as—or even more religious than—Christians in several European countries, including France, Germany, and the U.K.”

“That was a surprise,” Neha Sahgal, the lead researcher on the study, told me. “That’s the comparison that’s fascinating to me.” She highlighted the fact that whereas only 23 percent of European Christians say they believe in God with absolute certainty, 27 percent of American nones say this.

America is a country so suffused with faith that religious attributes abound even among the secular. Consider the rise of “atheist churches,” which cater to Americans who have lost faith in supernatural deities but still crave community, enjoy singing with others, and want to think deeply about morality. It’s religion, minus all the God stuff. This is a phenomenon spreading across the country, from the Seattle Atheist Church to the North Texas Church of Freethought. The Oasis Network, which brings together non-believers to sing and learn every Sunday morning, has affiliates in nine U.S. cities.

Last month, almost 1,000 people streamed into a church in San Francisco for an unprecedented event billed as “Beyoncé Mass.” Most were people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. Many were secular. They used Queen Bey’s songs, which are replete with religious symbolism, as the basis for a communal celebration—one that had all the trappings of a religious service. That seemed completely fitting to some, including one reverend who said, “Beyoncé is a better theologian than many of the pastors and priests in our church today.”

The Catholic-themed Met Gala earlier this month was another instance of religion commingling with secular American culture. Fashion’s biggest night of the year saw celebrities sweeping down the red carpet dressed in papal tiaras, halos, angel wings, and countless crucifixes. These outfits, along with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s accompanying exhibition, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” drew the ire of some Christians. But it’s notable that so many celebrities, not to mention average Americans, embraced the theme with gusto. It’s easier to imagine this happening in America than in, say, staunchly secular France.

The Pew survey found that although most Western Europeans still identify as Christians, for many of them, Christianity is a cultural or ethnic identity rather than a religious one. Sahgal calls them “post-Christian Christians,” though that label may be a bit misleading: The tendency to conceptualize Christianity as an ethnic marker is at least as old as the Crusades, when non-Christian North Africans and Middle Easterners were imagined as “others” relative to white, Christian Europeans. The survey also found that 11 percent of Western Europeans now call themselves “spiritual but not religious.”

“I hypothesize that being ‘spiritual’ may be a transitional position between being Christian and being non-religious,” said Linda Woodhead, a professor of politics, philosophy, and religion at Lancaster University in the U.K. “Spirituality provides an opportunity for people to maintain what they like about Christianity without the bits they don’t like.”

Americans are deeply religious people—and atheists are no exception. Western Europeans are deeply secular people—and Christians are no exception.

These twin statements are generalizations, but they capture the essence of a fascinating finding in a new study about Christian identity in Western Europe. By surveying almost 25,000 people in 15 countries in the region, and comparing the results with data previously gathered in the U.S., the Pew Research Center discovered three things.

First, researchers confirmed the widely known fact that, overall, Americans are much more religious than Western Europeans. They gauged religious commitment using standard questions, including “Do you believe in God with absolute certainty?” and “Do you pray daily?”

Second, the researchers found that American “nones”—those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular—are more religious than European nones. The notion that religiously unaffiliated people can be religious at all may seem contradictory, but if you disaffiliate from organized religion it does not necessarily mean you’ve sworn off belief in God, say, or prayer.

The third finding reported in the study is by far the most striking. As it turns out, “American ‘nones’ are as religious as—or even more religious than—Christians in several European countries, including France, Germany, and the U.K.”

“That was a surprise,” Neha Sahgal, the lead researcher on the study, told me. “That’s the comparison that’s fascinating to me.” She highlighted the fact that whereas only 23 percent of European Christians say they believe in God with absolute certainty, 27 percent of American nones say this.

America is a country so suffused with faith that religious attributes abound even among the secular. Consider the rise of “atheist churches,” which cater to Americans who have lost faith in supernatural deities but still crave community, enjoy singing with others, and want to think deeply about morality. It’s religion, minus all the God stuff. This is a phenomenon spreading across the country, from the Seattle Atheist Church to the North Texas Church of Freethought. The Oasis Network, which brings together non-believers to sing and learn every Sunday morning, has affiliates in nine U.S. cities.

Last month, almost 1,000 people streamed into a church in San Francisco for an unprecedented event billed as “Beyoncé Mass.” Most were people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. Many were secular. They used Queen Bey’s songs, which are replete with religious symbolism, as the basis for a communal celebration—one that had all the trappings of a religious service. That seemed completely fitting to some, including one reverend who said, “Beyoncé is a better theologian than many of the pastors and priests in our church today.”

The Catholic-themed Met Gala earlier this month was another instance of religion commingling with secular American culture. Fashion’s biggest night of the year saw celebrities sweeping down the red carpet dressed in papal tiaras, halos, angel wings, and countless crucifixes. These outfits, along with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s accompanying exhibition, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” drew the ire of some Christians. But it’s notable that so many celebrities, not to mention average Americans, embraced the theme with gusto. It’s easier to imagine this happening in America than in, say, staunchly secular France.

The Pew survey found that although most Western Europeans still identify as Christians, for many of them, Christianity is a cultural or ethnic identity rather than a religious one. Sahgal calls them “post-Christian Christians,” though that label may be a bit misleading: The tendency to conceptualize Christianity as an ethnic marker is at least as old as the Crusades, when non-Christian North Africans and Middle Easterners were imagined as “others” relative to white, Christian Europeans. The survey also found that 11 percent of Western Europeans now call themselves “spiritual but not religious.”

“I hypothesize that being ‘spiritual’ may be a transitional position between being Christian and being non-religious,” said Linda Woodhead, a professor of politics, philosophy, and religion at Lancaster University in the U.K. “Spirituality provides an opportunity for people to maintain what they like about Christianity without the bits they don’t like.”

Woodhead pointed to another finding in the Pew study: Most Western Europeans still believe in the idea of the soul. “So it’s not that we’re seeing straightforward secularization, where religion gives way to atheism and a rejection of all aspects of religion,” she said. “We’re seeing something more complex that we haven’t fully got our heads around. In Europe, it’s about people disaffiliating from the institution of the Church and the old authority figures … and moving toward a much more independent-minded, varied set of beliefs.”

The U.S. hasn’t secularized as profoundly as Europe has, and its history is crucial to understanding why. Joseph Blankholm, a professor at UC Santa Barbara who focuses on atheism and secularism, told me the Cold War was a particularly important inflection point. “The 1950s were the most religious America has ever been,” he said. “‘In God We Trust’ becomes the official national motto. ‘Under God’ is entered into the pledge of allegiance. That identity is being consciously formed by specific actors like Truman and Eisenhower, who are promoting a Christian identity at home and abroad, over against a godless communism. It’s the Christianization of America—as a Cold War tool.”

Over time, that dichotomous thinking has relaxed a bit. Now, a quarter of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, and secularism can mean a wide range of things. “There are ways of being secular that are more okay with hybridity, and there are ways of being secular that require more purity,” explained Blankholm. He cited the Humanistic Judaism movement, which sprang up in the U.S. in the 1960s and which rejects theism while still embracing Jewish history and culture, as an example of the former. “A term like spirituality can capture that hybridity.”

The Pew survey shows that 27 percent of Americans call themselves “spiritual but not religious.” Even though they’ve left organized religion behind, many still pray regularly and believe in God. This raises an issue for researchers, because it suggests their traditional measures of religiosity can no longer be trusted to accurately identify religious people. “I think people are doing things that don’t mirror Christianity sufficiently enough for our categories to continue to be as explanatory as they once were,” said Blankholm. “These categories are at their limit—they’re in some ways outmoded.”

Sahgal said she was aware of this problem, and sought to make the survey questions more granular so they would capture reality more accurately than the traditional questions alone would have done. So, for instance, the survey didn’t stop at asking respondents whether they believe in God. It drilled down further, asking whether they believe in God as described in the Bible or whether they believe in some other higher power.

As religiosity takes on forms that scramble our old understanding of that term, it’s forcing researchers to ask themselves anew what we talk about when we talk about religion.

“Those challenges are going to get worse—and they know it,” said Blankholm. “But I love that they’re developing a new vocabulary, because that’s exactly what we need.”
 
#9 ·
People are leaving "religion" and growing Spiritually, house churches especially are growing, that is the roots of the Christian faith as it tells us in Acts, the people sold their excess properties and met in each others homes.
 
#11 ·
Its usually because of the clannish people members. And not the faith itself. A bunch of old biddies bad mouthing a member because of the dress she wore is not faith. The men can be just as bad, getting a
member aside and telling them in a rude tone of voice, we don't think your saved.
 
#10 ·
Christianity was discouraged for 8 years under the dems muslim president, in our schools, media, military, libby colleges, etc. Instead of helping America he fought against us, and God. Think about being a school age kid for 8 years under osama. Understand now?? CHARLIE. :tango_face_sad::tango_face_sad:
 
#12 · (Edited)
Yes, all the errors common in churches seem to be exhibited each and every time we meet in common churches, had a fantastic weekend, a Holy Spirit filled husband and bride evangelism team came and held a few meetings, they just got back from a crusade where 10,000+ accepted Christ, and crusade has left teams to support, minister to build educational support to continue this work.
The only thing that will count in eternity is what we do for the Kingdom of G-d.
Several mentioned they felt revitalized in spirit and body after only the Friday night meeting, and it is carrying on in us.
blessings
 
#13 ·
Yes, all the errors common in churches seem to be exhibited each and every time we meet in common churches, had a fantastic weekend, a Holy Spirit filled husband and bride evangelism team came and held a few meetings, they just got back from a crusade where 10,000+ accepted Christ, and crusade has left teams to support, minister to build educational support to continue this work.
The only thing that will count in eternity is what we do for the Kingdom of G-d.
Several mentioned the felt revitalized in spirit and body after only the Friday night meeting, and it is carrying on in us.
blessings
We meet in a small community church in Dexter. There is no conflict there. Just good folks. A local Dairyman
supports that church a lot.
 
#15 ·
Christian faith groups seem as fractured as gun owners, instead of sticking together against those that attack them, they attack each other. Seems there is enough in common to at least coexist,
 
#18 · (Edited)
.
" Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Tim 4:1,2)

"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." (Matt 24:11)

The church I attend is growing, not as fast as I would like.. I would like the membership to double each year.

...But I'll gladly take what we can get, be assured of their salvation and start training them
 
#39 ·
The church is not a building or a denomination. According to the Bible, the church is the body of Christ—all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Local churches are just gatherings of people who claim the name of Christ. Members of a local church may or may not be members of the universal church, depending on the genuineness of their faith. The local church is where believers can fully apply the building one another up in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the church........ The numbers of parishioners in a building is irrelevant.
 
#19 ·
I get the feeling He will bring His people to Him where there is a preparation as your church is doing, several times in the last few days I am hearing words of knowledge and prophecy of this coming year being a year of fulfillment of prophecy, and a separating of religion from faith in Jesus.
best wishes
 
#23 · (Edited)
I have tried numerous churches over the last say 15 years.
Mostly Baptist but, some independents as well.

What I found was the SBCs seemed fixated on the "Rick Warren" mega purpose driven churches.

Independent Baptist churches seem to be isolationistic, and want nothing to do with anyone other than their own.

I even tried a "charismatic lite" church but, found it loud, and "proof driven" of the holy spirit.

I looked at a very popular Cowboy Church but, it is very theatrical with its music and such, using such things as bangin tow chains on the stage in time with the music, and wearing hand me down clothes to church to demonstrate you don't have to dress up for worshiping God.

I've gone to "Bible studies" recently where the teacher sat with a laptop as a study guide, and fill in the blanks handouts.

I long for the old sit down with nuthin but a Bible days, but everyone seems to be looking for "that mythical edge", and the latest millionaire theologian/biblical scholars most recent revelation, or opinion.

The Bible says this BUT! According to ole so-n-so it could mean?

Have you read his "latest book"?

No I haven't.
 
#24 ·
The Bible says this BUT! According to ole so-n-so it could mean?

Have you read his "latest book"?



DEE, you have never heard, nor will you ever see or hear me say that. I hate crap like that. TOO many people WASTE too much time reading books written by MAN ABOUT the Bible, their opinions of course, and not enough time reading the BIBLE. Want to know what GOD SAYS?? Read his book. I have 8 times, and I'm still learning. I do not read that other stuff. Those books are written to make money, God's true words are FREE. CHARLIE.
 
#28 ·
This is in response to the above question, I do believe most of it. And it is disturbing to me as I grew up a Lutheran



- The ELCA is promoting a universalism.*In 2017 the top bishop of the ELCA said that there may be a **** "but I think it is empty." The first printing of the ELCA's Augsburg Fortress Lutheran Study Bible says, "Jesus includes in salvation people who do not believe in him or even know about him." That is not Biblical. Is this the denomination we want to have ties to?

- The ELCA supports abortions in their medical coverage. They also actively lobby against laws restricting abortions. When was the last time you heard an ELCA leader attend the March for Life or support Crisis Pregnancy Centers? Is this the denomination we want to have ties to?

- The ELCA and others supporting homosexuality try every kind of theological gymnastic move to make the the Bible mean something other than what it says. God clearly says homosexuality is a sin. But the ELCA encourages and celebrates homosexuality. They ordain practicing homosexuals. Allow ELCA churches and pastors to conduct gay weddings. Many churches and ELCA bishops participate in Gay Pride parades. This is harming people. It is not loving to encourage bondage to sin.* A real follower of Christ would speak the truth in love and help those dealing with same-sex attraction.*

- The same can be said about transgender persons.* The ELCA encourages people to be something they are not.* The ELCA ordains persons who claim to be transgender.* The ELCA even pays for employee sex change costs.*

-*The ELCA continually*stands against Israel. Every year the ELCA issues press releases demonizing*Israel.* They do the same at their ELCA Churchwide Assemblies. The ELCA has called on the United States to end its financial aid to Israel. The ELCA has an "investment screen" aimed at harming Israel.*The ELCA wants Jerusalem and parts of Israel given to the Arabs.*

God gave Israel that land.*It states it clearly in the Bible. God confirmed it with Isaac and Jacob that the land was for them. This is against God's will, and it is an action that the Bible warns about. "In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land." Joel 3:1-2. Is this the denomination we want to have ties to?

-*The ELCA condemns Christians that support Israel.*

- The ELCA allows other religions to worship in some of their buildings and chapels.

- The ELCA believes in evolution and most do not view God’s creation account as true or historic.

- Many in the ELCA believe a great number of Scriptural accounts are myth.

- The ELCA leadership often avoids using male pronouns for God but are fine using female pronouns for God or calling Him "Mother." In 2019 the ELCA voted to use more "gender inclusive and expansive" language for God.

- The ELCA is very political, taking up even the farthest left causes.

-*Goddess worship is allowed and practiced within the ELCA.

-*Many ELCA leaders deny the substitutionary atonement of Christ.

- Using foul language in public settings is commonplace among ELCA clergy.*

(See this website for documentation of all that I wrote or see*this article*for many of the points made and its documentation)

Would you please put on the council's agenda for the next meeting, "other reasons for leaving the ELCA" and discuss those I've brought up.

I believe God's hand was in the writing of the Bible, that God used the writer's style to say what was said, but they were all according to God's will, and truth. The ELCA must not believe this. Now I am sure they have some high-talking explanation and warped definition of "God's Word" that makes them feel better and still hold to their view of picking the parts of the Bible they like and throwing away the rest. If an ELCA seminary student can say, as I heard him say, "The more I learn about the Bible the less I like it," there is something wrong with the denomination's teaching. And it is hard to believe that someone on our council can say "Paul wasn't the son of God . . ." as a way to discredit what Paul wrote. That person, as so many ELCA leaders, must not believe that God inspired all the writings. They are God's words just as much as Paul's.*

I have read the quotes of Luther (I list a few below). He believes the Bible is God's word and never erred. How did the ELCA evolve to the view of the Bible they now have? The ELCA isn't even in agreement with its great Christian leader and founder, MARTIN LUTHER!*

The ELCA has decided they know better than God on issues and that they know better than the God-inspired writers. We all need to take that very seriously. The Bible speaks about people who were teaching falsely being kicked out of the church. (i.e. the ELCA leaders) Shouldn't our church get as far away as possible from the ELCA's false teachers?*

We all need to think and pray long and hard before we choose to follow human ways that contradict God's written word.

On the issue of homosexuality the Bible is clear. Homosexuality is a sin. Someone who is caught in habitual sin, with no attempt to stop, should not be in leadership of God's people. We should not bless people for their sin. We should love them enough to help them out of it. I recommend you all read the Bible verses that speak of homosexuality again. God is clear.*

So is the ELCA a denomination you want to be part of? Is this a denomination we want to have a connection to?*
 
#31 ·
Thank you Zogman, there is a lot of good information, I have a friend who is Lutheran, the Bible believing kind, and he was telling me a little, this is informative, all the bible believing churches are being attacked as the enemy knows his time is short.
Thank you for your contribution here and you firm foundation of faith.
 
#33 ·
This is all new to me. Never heard of elca before. My EX wife was raised in the Lutheran Church, I went with her for several years, this was in the early 70s. It was a Christian Church believing NONE of that crap I'm reading here, but that was over 40 years ago. Are you guys saying that the Lutheran Church has changed that much?? CHARLIE?? :tango_face_sad:
 
#34 ·
Good points to consider over a pint.

I think that a little digging and scratching into the subject would find that the movement toward non-denominational churches is anti-authoritarian. Most, if not all, of the denominations (outside Catholicism) that came to America were birthed by breaking off of other churches. It’s interesting to see the merging of some Congregational churches with the Presbyterian Church in the 1700’s in the colonies. There was a lot of breaking and reforming that started. It seems to be a part of our DNA politically and religiously as Americans.

Based on studies that have been done over the last twentyish years I’d say that a lot of the drift isn’t from a loss of sense of community but a lack of doctrine. Since the fifties evangelicalism has drifted into moralism and the Christian faith another form of therapy. This stands in contrast with the very real and organic connection that we have with Christ through the church. Rather than going to church to be ministered to BY Christ most people grow up learning that we go to church to do something FOR Christ.

The self service if doing will eventually fall short and not fulfill us. If we go to church to receive from Christ we will always see the need for that, to be constantly nourished and strengthened.
 
#40 ·
There is a remnant here who know this to be true.
We are not to forsake meeting together in His name, the remnant here knows this as well.
I give thanks that you have this clear grasp of true faith and are not a pew warmer.
I heard a teaching recently that resonated of how G-d has never worked with the majority,
it has always been the remnant.
best wishes
 
#41 ·
I get the feeling He will bring His people to Him where there is a preparation as your church is doing, several times in the last few days I am hearing words of knowledge and prophecy of this coming year being a year of fulfillment of prophecy, and a separating of religion from faith in Jesus.
best wishes


All quiet. The Prophet is speaking. He has yet again read the hearts of men and determined that only a few here are of the true faith. Oh that we could also have this power. We should be thankful and content that we can warm the bench so that the star player can win the game and the day! We of false faith can be happy in He77 that we were able to assist the star as he took over towns and cities and regions and territories for the Kingdom.
 
#42 ·
I usually take "the reminent" out to the curb on Tuesday mornings, so the truck can haul'em off.

If I could get his highness on that truck, I would.
He makes my ears tired. 😁
 
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