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Post by wildknight on Jun 2, 2014 22:08:28 GMT -5
*shrugs* I'mma bust up on you guys about attending church, that's just how it is. Iron sharpens iron. As men, we're meant by God to hold one-another accountable.
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Post by charliebucketsgranpa on Jun 2, 2014 22:10:31 GMT -5
I went to church pretty frequently for a while there. Pretty much a weekly basis. Sometimes I left feeling really motivated, sometimes I left very downhearted.
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Post by SoonDragon67 on Jun 2, 2014 22:11:18 GMT -5
I go to church most weeks. I don't however attend the Wednesday services, nor the Sunday afternoon services.
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Post by Straight Edge Steve on Jun 2, 2014 22:11:59 GMT -5
Because I'm a parent of small children, I have no problem with people whispering in church. I have a problem with people having conversations that they think are more important than the service, but sometimes people have to be able to communicate various things. Be very careful about taking a disapproving attitude toward people in church. If it helps, ask yourself would you rather have them there not really paying full attention, or would you rather not have them there at all? There's nothing wrong with hoping people will show proper reverence for God, but it's usually better to model the behavior you'd want to see in them than it is to let them know you disapprove of them. ... plus, if you were really so into the service yourself, you wouldn't have time to notice what they're doing 8) Whispering is OK as long as it is productive to your Christian learning experience. But telling Sally that you think Billy is cute? GTFO I hate it when people text, sleep, or whisper in church. It shows that they give zero shits about their own religion. It's mostly teenagers. That's why I hate teenagers. They fail to understand the importance of it. Grr.... I can't wait to not be one so that I can un-hypocritically hate them. You can hate most teenagers and say so without being a hypocrite, as long as you define why you hate them and don't actually do those same actions yourself. If you do those same actions then all you have to do is admit that you are in the wrong as well. I do not do such actions. Hypocrisy is something I live to avoid. |
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Post by wildknight on Jun 2, 2014 22:21:52 GMT -5
I went to church pretty frequently for a while there. Pretty much a weekly basis. Sometimes I left feeling really motivated, sometimes I left very downhearted. Best to avoid expecting an emotional experience in Church. God does not speak to you through your emotions. Church (in it's proper form) should be about being fed spiritually... hearing the word of God (preferably both the Law AND the Gospel, to remind you that you were saved AND what you were saved from), and sharing in the Communion of Saints, the fellowship with your congregation and with all believers going back to Creation and forward until the Second Coming. Church is a time to both acknowledge your sinfulness and celebrate your freedom from it. Of course sometimes you'll leave feeling melancholy. God had to assume the mantle of mortality and descend to Earth, take all sin including your own unto himself, and die, because you and I are imperfect beings. That is and should be a humbling though, it should shake you to your very core and drive you to your knees. That's the point. ... and of course sometimes you'll leave feeling the pure joy of knowing that you don't have to rely on your own abilities to be pleasing to God, because you live under the endless protection of his grace. God wants us to experience the pure joy of knowing he's taken care of our eternity, but sometimes we have to acknowledge the things about ourselves that aren't what God wants, too. It may be that when you left church feeling bad, it was because the Preacher laid in too heavily with the Law and forgot to provide you with the Gospel... but it also might be that the Holy Spirit was trying to direct you toward something you needed to see within yourself. It might also be that the heavy feeling was the Devil doing his best to drive a wedge between you and God. I obviously can't say which is which, but that's the whole point of this self-reflection thing we're all asked to do on a daily basis 8) For all of you guys, I can't recommend enough the C.S. Lewis book "The Screwtape Letters." It's pretty thin, shouldn't take long to read, and might be really enlightening for some of you as to how the devil works to get us to turn our backs on God. |
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Post by wildknight on Jun 2, 2014 22:24:14 GMT -5
I go to church most weeks. I don't however attend the Wednesday services, nor the Sunday afternoon services. I can't (or rather, won't) say how often is "enough." I will say that some churches go overboard, having so many services that people forget that there is something special about worship. I will say that it sounds like you attend regularly, which is all I would ever ask of anyone. |
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 2, 2014 22:31:12 GMT -5
On Wednesday night services, we all go to the back and sit around a table and discuss a chapter or two of each book until we complete it. It's kinda like Bible study, but more in depth.
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Post by charliebucketsgranpa on Jun 2, 2014 22:34:47 GMT -5
I went to church pretty frequently for a while there. Pretty much a weekly basis. Sometimes I left feeling really motivated, sometimes I left very downhearted. Best to avoid expecting an emotional experience in Church. God does not speak to you through your emotions. Church (in it's proper form) should be about being fed spiritually... hearing the word of God (preferably both the Law AND the Gospel, to remind you that you were saved AND what you were saved from), and sharing in the Communion of Saints, the fellowship with your congregation and with all believers going back to Creation and forward until the Second Coming. Church is a time to both acknowledge your sinfulness and celebrate your freedom from it. Of course sometimes you'll leave feeling melancholy. God had to assume the mantle of mortality and descend to Earth, take all sin including your own unto himself, and die, because you and I are imperfect beings. That is and should be a humbling though, it should shake you to your very core and drive you to your knees. That's the point. ... and of course sometimes you'll leave feeling the pure joy of knowing that you don't have to rely on your own abilities to be pleasing to God, because you live under the endless protection of his grace. God wants us to experience the pure joy of knowing he's taken care of our eternity, but sometimes we have to acknowledge the things about ourselves that aren't what God wants, too. It may be that when you left church feeling bad, it was because the Preacher laid in too heavily with the Law and forgot to provide you with the Gospel... but it also might be that the Holy Spirit was trying to direct you toward something you needed to see within yourself. It might also be that the heavy feeling was the Devil doing his best to drive a wedge between you and God. I obviously can't say which is which, but that's the whole point of this self-reflection thing we're all asked to do on a daily basis 8) For all of you guys, I can't recommend enough the C.S. Lewis book "The Screwtape Letters." It's pretty thin, shouldn't take long to read, and might be really enlightening for some of you as to how the devil works to get us to turn our backs on God. Thanks for this by the way. I've never really thought about some of these things in this way before. |
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Post by charliebucketsgranpa on Jun 2, 2014 22:36:38 GMT -5
On Wednesday night services, we all go to the back and sit around a table and discuss a chapter or two of each book until we complete it. It's kinda like Bible study, but more in depth. I think our church has Bible study on Wednesday nights too. My church has service every Saturday night and on the 4th weekend of every month they have church on Friday night and Sunday morning. |
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 2, 2014 22:41:26 GMT -5
On Wednesday night services, we all go to the back and sit around a table and discuss a chapter or two of each book until we complete it. It's kinda like Bible study, but more in depth. I think our church has Bible study on Wednesday nights too. My church has service every Saturday night and on the 4th weekend of every month they have church on Friday night and Sunday morning. Now that I think of it, there have been some weeks where we had only got through about 4 verses. It's pretty enlightening. |
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Post by pinksparklepuff on Jun 2, 2014 22:49:18 GMT -5
...From my observations, when people whisper in church, it normally has something to do with the children or some other dilemma.
Trust me, you'd rather hear whispers during the sermon than crying babies.
I don't know where you people are going, but I'm grateful I am not. Billy is not cute by any stretch of the imagination and Sally needs to get that through her thick skull.
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 2, 2014 23:16:20 GMT -5
Billy is not cute by any stretch of the imagination and Sally needs to get that through her thick skull. Chuck thought he was... |
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Post by wildknight on Jun 2, 2014 23:40:02 GMT -5
Billy is not cute by any stretch of the imagination and Sally needs to get that through her thick skull. Chuck thought he was... Took me a minute, but I got a good laugh out of this |
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Post by wildknight on Jun 2, 2014 23:45:15 GMT -5
Thanks for this by the way. I've never really thought about some of these things in this way before. When I was your age, for a long time actually, I didn't go to church at all, and when I look back at it I feel really stupid. I thought that I had good reasons not to go at the time. In reality I missed out on things that I'll never get back because I was too busy for God. |
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 6, 2014 14:01:26 GMT -5
So, I'm going to start posting a Bible verse in this thread daily.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me"
-Galatians 2:20 KJV
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 7, 2014 10:59:26 GMT -5
"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
-John 3:18 KJV
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 8, 2014 15:12:20 GMT -5
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
-Romans 12:3 KJV
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 9, 2014 8:45:26 GMT -5
"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me"
-Philippians 4:13
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Post by wildknight on Jun 9, 2014 16:08:51 GMT -5
Enjoying the daily bible verse postings, thank you!
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Post by WhoCares? on Jun 9, 2014 16:49:16 GMT -5
Enjoying the daily bible verse postings, thank you! You're quite welcome. |
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