Here is the reason I so hate this false gospel. I've seen the whole island nation of the Bahamas become more corrupt because of the corruption of the church. You see, they tell everyone in the church who are stealing from their jobs, living blatantly in sexual immorality, partaking in the drug trade - that they are forever saved. . . . This is why many today have abandoned the church.
Tell me, how do you judge between Hitler who was a believer, or the man who is on death row who gave his life to Christ though never really changed or the men who are selling drugs and singing in the choir. If you can not live differently from the world, then you have no solution for those in the world. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. . . .
Tell me, how do you judge between Hitler who was a believer, or the man who is on death row who gave his life to Christ though never really changed or the men who are selling drugs and singing in the choir. If you can not live differently from the world, then you have no solution for those in the world. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. . . .
Matthew 7:20-23 (HCSB)
[SUP]20 [/SUP] So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.
[SUP]21 [/SUP] “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but ⌊only⌋ the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.
[SUP]22 [/SUP] On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’
[SUP]23 [/SUP] Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’
The Bible also said that the enemy (Satan) will sow Tares (phonies) among the Wheat (true Christians). Christ also taught that we are NOT TO THROW THE TARES OUT. WHY? Primarily because HE said faith comes by hearing the Word of GOD taught. THEREFORE Jesus Christ is in the business of turning Tares into Wheat. In case you do not know, Tares are a weed that looks exactly like wheat, but when the harvest comes, you will definitely be able to tell the true from the false by what they produce.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (HCSB)
[SUP]9 [/SUP] Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality,
[SUP]10 [/SUP] no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.
[SUP]11 [/SUP] And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
You also do not seem to be speaking from a personal experience of what was said in the sermons, but rather from what others outside the CHURCH say the Church teaches. THERE are a GREAT MANY who only have bits and pieces information instead of the whole Truth, who love to put down the whole Church, even though they have to spread lies to do it. Why do they love to spread those lies? To give themselves an excuse not to be obedient to Christ and especially this verse:
Hebrews 10:24-25 (HCSB)
[SUP]24 [/SUP] And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works,
[SUP]25 [/SUP] not staying away from our ⌊worship⌋ meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
SEE IT, as we get close to the DAY Christ comes back, we are supposed to be even MORE faithful to our Church Meetings.
Now you are expecting the Church to MAKE THE WORLD BETTER, but that is not Biblical at all. In Fact, in the end times, which we are at least at the beginning of, if not a long ways into it, it is prophesied that the world would get, worse and worse. It even Prophesied that there would be MANY FALSE TEACHERS, AND MANY FALSE CHRISTS and still we were to go to Church ALL THE MORE. No we are not going to turn the whole World around, because Satan is the one ruling this World. We are here to snatch a few as from the fire itself, it has always been just the few.
1 John 5:19 (NIV)
[SUP]19 [/SUP] We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Luke 13:23-24 (HCSB)
[SUP]23 [/SUP] “Lord,” someone asked Him, “are there few being saved?” He said to them,
[SUP]24 [/SUP] “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able
Who is responsible to find a Church that does Teach the Bible, as GOD would have it taught. THAT WOULD BE YOU. First of all, get to know your Bible and what it actually teaches, then when searching for a new Church, ASK for a Doctrinal Statement of Faith, read through it, to be sure it squares with Scripture. Then make an appointment with the Pastor, and ask him to explain anything you still have questions about. Are there counterfeits of REAL Christian Churches? OF COURSE THERE IS, it was Prophesied there would be. The Devil loves to produce counterfeits of real Christianity to discredit real Christianity. It appears you fell for the Devil's Tricks.
You complained at length how in your opinion there are many problems in the Church, using it as an excuse to stay away from the teaching of the Word. So tell me, what Church were you involved in before you noticed the problems? What did you do to try to help solve the problems? Tell me which Church, and I will look up their Doctrinal Statement of Faith, to see if there are biblical errors. Or are you just a none Church goer still making up excuses not to go?
If you are still listening to me, that is a good sign. I just did a search for a very good BIBLICALLY SOUND, Bible Teaching Church, and here is one that I came up with that I would have no problem attending and worshipping with:
Bahamas Baptist Church
Beliefs - Bahama Baptist Church - Exalt. Equip. Evangelize
That site is their Doctrinal Statement of Faith, and that is what you want to see anytime you are searching for a new Church. Funny, how their Doctrinal Statement does not support what you thought was going in ALL the Churches on the Bahamas.
What I liked about their Doctrinal Statement is the abundance of supporting verses for EACH Doctrinal Statement. PLEASE read through their Statements and see what you think.