My Walk with Christ, as an Evangelical Christian.

This Thread I will start Out after this Post with my Testimony, of How I came to have a deeply Personal Relationship with Christ, But then I what it to become a serious question and answer type of Thread.

I think the best way to start out, is by Posting a well known Evangelical Pastor's Statement of Faith, so that everyone Knows what we believe up front. NO I do not expect everyone become evangelical, AND I HOPE AND PRAY, Everyone will know and accept there is NO NAME CALLING OR AGRUMENTS, going on here, and the best way to avoid that is make it a RULE OF THE THREAD, when someone says, "We will just have to Agree to Disagree." That means it is over, and go on to another subject. What I really want to FOCUS ON, is our COMMON Beliefs, and Not our Difference. I know young Christians seem to prefer Arguments, and who can Win the MOST; that is so immature, so I hope everyone can be a mature Christian while on this thread. Therefore I have a new rule, Post up top Your Denomination, or Lack of it like: I believe I am Un-Churched Christian. I will put up top of every Non-Denominational Evangelical Christian. For those who do not want to post your Denomination Affiliation or Lack of it: START YOUR OWN POST.

Non-Denominational Evangelical Christian

No that is not the same as Un-Churched Christion it mean our Church is non-Denominational, Evangelical Type.

I Chose to Get Dr. Charles Stanley as an example of Evangelical Statement of Faith. Some would say, I thought he as a Baptist? He is, but he is an Evangelical Baptist.

Statement of Faith
This doctrinal statement reflects the broad, mainstream, conservative evangelical tradition which is consistent with the teachings of the Bible and which has stood the test of history and experience. We specifically affirm the following doctrinal truths:

1. The Scriptures
   We believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that men of God “were moved by the Holy Spirit” to write the very words of Scripture. The Bible is therefore without error (inerrant) in its original manuscripts. God has supernaturally preserved the Bible, and it is the sole and final authority for faith and life, providing encouragement, guidance, comfort and instruction for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).
2. The Godhead (Trinity)
   We believe in one true God eternally existing in three distinct persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) each of Whom is fully and equally God; possesses all of the divine nature and attributes, and is totally worthy of our worship and service (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 1:14, John 10:30; 2 Cor. 13:14).
3. God the Father
   We believe that God the Father is the first person of the Trinity and is the eternal, unchanging all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving, completely just and perfectly holy, sovereign Ruler and Sustainer of the universe. He is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Father of all true believers (Gen. 1:1; Eph. 4:6; John 1:12-13, John 5:19-21, John 17:1-5; Isa. 40:21-28, Isa. 43:10-13, Isa. 46:8-11; Rom. 8:14-16).
4. God the Son
   We believe that Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity and is the only begotten eternal Son of God Who became flesh to reveal God to man, to fulfill prophecy, and to become the Savior of the lost world. In becoming man Jesus did not cease in any way to be God so that He is fully God and fully man inseparably united in one person forever. Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary; lived a sinless life; died on the cross as the substitutionary, all-sufficient atoning sacrifice for all of the sins of all men of all time; was buried; bodily rose from the dead; physically ascended into heaven in His glorified, resurrected body; is seated at the right hand of the Father performing His ministry of intercession; will return in the air to claim His bride the church; and will come again to earth in bodily form, personally and visibly, to conclude human history and consummate God’s eternal plan by executing judgment and ushering in His Millennial Kingdom reign to be followed by the eternal state (John 1:1,14, John 1:18; John 3:16; Luke 1:30-35; Phil. 2:5-8; Col. 2:3,9; Mark 10:45; Acts 2:22-24; John 1:29; Rom. 3:25-26; Heb. 10:5-14; 1 Pet. 2:24, 1 Pet. 3:18; John 20:20; Phil. 3:20-21; Heb. 1:3; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1; Acts 1:11; Heb. 9:28; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; 2 Thes. 2:7; Matt. 24:44; Rev. 19:11-21; Rev. 21-22).
5. God the Holy Spirit
   We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity Who specially came into the world on the day of Pentecost to glorify Christ and to enable men to appropriate the salvation wrought by Christ. He is the primary agent for the conviction of sin and for regeneration. Simultaneously with salvation, the Holy Spirit imparts new life, baptizes the believer into the body of Christ (His church), permanently indwells the believer, and securely seals the believer unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit fills (directs and controls) those believers who are yielded to Him, enables believers to bear fruit, and empowers believers to live a life free from sin’s dominion. We also believe that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers for the purpose of edifying the church in accordance with the teachings of scripture (1 Cor. 13:8, 1 Cor. 14:22; John 16:7-8; 1 Cor. 6:19, 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14, Eph. 4:30; Gal. 5:16-17, Gal. 22-23; Rom. 8:5-13; 1 Pet. 4:10-11; Rom. 12:3-8).
6. Man
   We believe that man was created in the image of God by direct act of God and did not come into being as the result of evolution. Man was created to glorify God, worship and serve Him, and have fellowship with Him. Man fell through sin by disobeying God, thus incurring both physical and spiritual death, which alienated him from God. Man’s nature was thus corrupted and he is utterly lost, “dead in trespasses and sins,” and totally incapable of saving himself and coming back into right relationship with God by his own merit or effort (Gen. 1:26, Gen. 2:6,17, Gen. 3:17-24; Isa. 59:1-2; Rom. 3:9-19,23, Rom. 5:8; Luke 18:26-27; Eph. 2:13).
7. Satan
   We believe that Satan is the instigator of evil and a real spirit being, not simply the personification of evil. He is a fallen angel who, under the sovereign permission of God, has been given temporary rulership of the earth. He was utterly defeated at the cross, but the execution of his judgment has been postponed by God until after the Millennial Kingdom when he will be cast into the eternal lake of fire. In the meantime, he deceives the world and seeks to establish his counterfeit kingdom on earth to discredit and blaspheme God and to tempt, accuse, attack and destroy believers. He can be resisted by the believer through faith and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit (Gen. 3:1-5; Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; Job 1-2; 1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 11:14; 1 Tim. 3:6; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; James 4:7; Rev. 12:9, Rev. 20:1-3, Rev. 7-10).
8. Salvation
   We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross provides the sole basis for forgiveness of sins and salvation, which is the free gift of God’s grace. Salvation is effected by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and cannot be secured by man’s works or personal merit. Salvation is only appropriated by a person placing his faith in the finished work of Christ. Repentance is a turning toward God and away from sin and is a part of but not separate from believing faith. “The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” and those who receive Jesus Christ by faith are born again, have their sins forgiven, become children of God, are a new creation in Christ, and “are sealed by the Holy spirit unto the day of redemption” being kept by the power of God (Eph. 1:7:13-14; John 1:12-13, John 3:1-7, John 14-16; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 1:16, Rom. 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 8:14-17, Rom. 31-39; John 10:27-29, Rom. 14:6; Acts 26:20; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
9. The Christian Life
   We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for himself and should, by the power of the indwelling Spirit, allow Christ to manifest His life through him to God’s glory. By ever increasing obedience to the Word of God, each believer should mature and progressively become more like Jesus. In the power of the Spirit, each believer should live a holy life; not fulfill the lusts of the flesh; exercise his spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ; witness for Christ; be personally involved in making disciples to fulfill the great commission; perform good works and bear fruit to the glory of God (Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 1:15-16, 1 Pet. 2:11; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 6:11-13; Eph. 2:10, Eph. 4:11-12, Eph. 4:22-24; 1 Pet. 4:10-11; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:18-20; Col. 1:10; John 15:8,16).

He did not mention it, but we are PRETRIBUTLATION RAPTURE Believers.

weeeeeeell you also have evangelical christians that are are partial or full cessationists. So what your statement of faith is isn't exclusive to all evangelicals.

But aside from that... I would agree with mostly everything else.

I don’t think this is all encompassing of what it means to be an “Evangelical Christian.” It’s a pretty decent start, but point 1 is debatable and so is the pre-trib rapture portion.

LOL! if being an "evangelical" Christian means putting my name behind that long a man-written doctrinal statement then I will just stick to being a Christian or a follower of Jesus and I will read the Word, and let the theologians wrestle with their theological wordings.

To the bold portion, I could not agree more!!! Thank you!!!

This is a perfect example of what happens when we wander from the simplicity of the gospel and into the weeds of man's philosophy.

"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 1 Corinthians 1:20

My letter is in Heaven written in the book.

I would however like to talk not fight, not get nasty or mean spirited, but with the mind of Christ about your statement that you believe in a pretrib rapture. I would truly like to have an honest,open bible based discussion. I believe Satan comes at the 6th trump Jesus returns at the 7th trump and sets up His millennial Kingdom here on earth for a thousand years at the end of that God brings his throne here to earth opens the book and we are all judged. I look forward to judgment day. I look forward to getting my crown and hopefully it will be full of the jewels and my white rob will long flowing. I will enjoy eternity with God.

That would be Great, as I too, "look forward to Judgment Day (after Great GRACE
Departure, and receiving my heavenly rewards," because of the following
Scriptures, Rightly Divided. Please Be Very RICHLY Encouraged and Edified!:

Part I

God’s PRE - TOJT Great GRACE Departure!:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LORD JESUS, we beseech Thee Now For Thy Divine Understanding
In This Thy Most Important Doctrine For our Comfort And Consolation.
Amen. (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time Of JACOB’s {Israel's} Trouble (TOJT), Ending With
The Second Coming, is found in God's Context:

God's Prophetic Program, Under LAW, gospel of the kingdom
(“ages” past/future) (Genesis-John; Hebrews-Revelation)

God’s “Earthly Kingdom” Purpose From “the foundation of the world”
(Matthew 25:34)

God's Purpose Prophesied “since the world began” (Luke 1:68-70; Acts 3:21!)

Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2:15) From “Things That DIFFER!” {online}:

Great GRACE Departure!

Pre-TOJT Resurrection/Departure of The Body Of CHRIST,
Ending God’s Age Of GRACE, Is Found In:

God's Revelation Of The Mystery, Under The Gospel Of The GRACE Of God!
{ Current = “But NOW!” } (Romans through Philemon!)

God’s “Heavenly Hidden” Purpose Before “the foundation of the world”
(Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9!)

God's Heavenly Purpose Kept Secret “since the world began”
(Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:4-11, 3:5-9!)
-------------------
The Second Coming, According to Prophecy:

(1) Immediately After tribulation/4 signs, CHRIST, In His
Prophesied Second Advent, As KING Of kings, And LORD Of lords,
Is Coming From Heaven! (Matthew 24:29; Revelation 19:16, 11!)

(2) CHRIST Is Coming On a white horse, With Crowns On
His Head, And A Sword In His Mouth! (Revelation 19:12-15)

(3) CHRIST Is Coming With, (which Were In Heaven!),
His armies * on white horses! (Revelation 19:12-15)

(4) CHRIST Is Coming To earth With ONE army, * “All Of His holy angels,”
In Order To Judge/Make war/Smite And Rule the nations…
(Matthew 25:31; Revelation 19:11, 15)

(5) With Another trumpet (AFTER "the 7th angel trumpet in heaven), on
the earth, Angels Are SENT, By The KING, TO: “gather the elect”...
(Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27!)

(6)...for the “judgment of the Earthly Nations” By The Son of man, The King!
(Matthew 25:31-46!)

(7) Those Judged as righteous then enter the kingdom! And the UNrighteous
then Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!
(Matthew 25:34-46!)

to be continued...

God’s PRE - TOJT Great GRACE Departure!:

Part II

[Previous post] God's Prophetic Program, and second earthly coming

Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2:15) From “Things That DIFFER!” {online}:

The Great GRACE Departure, According to The Heavenly Mystery!:

(1) Immediately After GRACE Has ENDED/ZERO signs!:
CHRIST, As Head Of His Body, The Church, Will Descend From
Heaven! (Ephesians 1:19-23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17!)

(2) CHRIST Is Coming With A Shout, With the voice of an archangel,
And With The Trump of God! (1 Thessalonians 4:16!)

3) God (JESUS CHRIST) Will Bring With Him {those who Were With
Him In Heaven}, part Of His Own, those who are “asleep In JESUS!”
(2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13!)

(4) CHRIST Descends With One archangel, Will resurrect those
asleep {in 3)} First, and Then, we “which are alive and remain,” {which
Is A Mystery!}, will be changed/all “incorruptible, And Caught Up”
together to meet The LORD in the air, in the “twinkling of an eye!”
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:52-53!)

(5) CHRIST “Gathers His Body” To Himself, to Take them To Heaven...
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 2 Corinthians 12:2, 5:1-2;
Ephesians 1:3, 20, 2:6; Philippians 3:20; 2 Timothy 4:18!)

6)...For The Judgment Seat Of CHRIST, For HIS Heavenly Body,
By The Head Himself!... (Romans 2:6, 16, 14:10-12;
1 Corinthians 3:8-15, 4:5, 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:10;
Ephesians 6:8; Colossians 3:24-25!)

(7a) ...After Judgment, the GRACE assembly Is Then Presented as
A Glorious Church, To CHRIST Himself!... (Ephesians 5:27!)

(7b) ...And, Then CHRIST Will Present His Body, holy and
unblameable and unreproveable, In His Sight, To His Father,
In Heaven, Where we Live * Forever And Ever! Amen!
(1 Thessalonians 3:13; Colossians 1:5, 22;
1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 KJB!)

* Note, The ONE army Of The Body Of CHRIST, Must "have been
assigned our Heavenly positions" for ruling and reigning! Amen?
---------------------------------------------------------------
LORD JESUS, thank You so much for Your Precious BLOOD,
Gift Of Eternal Salvation, And for Your Blessed Hope of
Glorification When You Come To Finally Gather us Home! Amen.
---------------------------------------------------------
Please Be Very Richly Encouraged, Edified, And Comforted! And:
Precious friend(s), see you In God's Great GloryLand!! ♫ 😇 ↑

I am trying to CONDENSE my 45 YEARS of being an Evangelical, to fit on 2 posts, BE PATIENT. I am 73 with 9 strokes, I am Slow Typing; I will get it done.

I am he announcing my NEW Thread. It is My Walk with Christ, as an Evangelical Christian.

There are a couple things I want everyone to agree on first. The first one is NO ARGUING, which I consider spiritually immature, and to just AGREE TO DISAGEE, and go on to a different Subject. This thread is not one you can win if I have more scripture to back you up, BUT RATHER an exercise in Building One Another Up.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (HCSB)
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

And the second Rule of the Thread, is up top, put something than Describes your denomination affiliation, on ever Post. My will be Non-denominational Evangelical Christian. For those how do not have a Church to go to, "Un-Churched Christian", and for those who do not want Post what their affiliation is: START YOUR OWN THREAD.

I only really had the chance to skim what you wrote there, but it seems pretty good. I going to really read what written there and then I may have a few questions. I think its important to have a boiled down, simplified faith statement to keep you lined out. Kind of a paradigm to filter the world through.

First thing out of the gate I am not here to judge you, your church your doctrine.

I will be going over certain doctrines and beliefs and giving my reasons from the bible why I do or do not believe them. I can be hard headed at times I am working on this if I come across pushy or over barring I am sorry let me know. What I am looking for in this thread is interaction and an open exchange of ideas. I will always try and come from the bible only; Not with this man or that man or I said or thank. The only thing I ask is that if you disagree please show me where I have misread or misunderstood, or may be just ingredient (not stupid, but unlearned, without understand of a thing or subject) on a subject.

Mark 7:13 in several different translations of the bible makes this point clear. New International Version
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

New Living Translation
And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

English Standard Version
thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Berean Study Bible
Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

Berean Literal Bible
making void the word of God for your tradition, which you have handed down. And you do many things like such."

King James Bible
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Lets start with some things I thank we can all agree upon and is a fundamental belief for all Christians

The Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit the 3 in one.

Jesus is the only begotten son of God, the only virgin birth.

Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins; and it is only throw Him that we have forgiveness.

Here is where we come into one of the sticky points. I do not believe in eternal security.

Romans 2:25

Berean Study Bible
God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

Berean Literal Bible
whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, for a showing forth of His righteousness, because of the forbearance of the sins having taken place beforehand,

King James Bible
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Sins past. If I go out and today and sin knowingly or unknowingly in order to have it blotted out of the book of life I have to ask for forgiveness. Am I saying 1 unforgiven sin and you are condemned no, but if you let then add up.

I was just a church-goer, until AFTER the EVENTS in the last week of 1977. On 24 Dec. 1977 my then wife of only 6 months announced to "I want a divorce, because you cannot earn enough Money to buy me what I want in life." Some reason, Merry Christmas.

The next week, I hit Bottom BIG TIME. I went through DEEP Depression, and I did not want to live another day. I tried to commit suicide Three times that week alone. Twice with a Pistol against my temple, Both Times Shear TERROR overcame me and dropped the pistol, when I got the trigger Half Pulled. I DID NOT WANT TO WAKE UP THE NEXT DAY. A couple days later, December 30, if I remember right. I went to the bar, and proceeded to get as drunk as I could get, because after the bar closed I was going to attempt Suicide on a motorcycle. That morning I saw a they had JUST POURED 6 inches of very loose gravel on a dirt road one mile west of my house. I knew the most dangerous surface to ride a motorcycle on was LOOSE GRAVEL. I was still an un-saved Church goer, I knew if I had no helmet on when I was going FULL SPEED, I would loose Control and leaning of the handle bars, I would hit head first and kill myself.

NOW PLEASE, NEVER TRY TO TEMP GOD THAT WAY. HE SHOULD HAVE LET ME DIE THAT NIGHT, FOR BEING SO STUPID. I actually Taunted God, as the motorcycle approached that LOOS GRAVEL MILE. "If you want me, You can take me anywhere You want to on this MILE."

The Bike did not even wobble a bit, it was like I was riding on Pavement for the whole mile. I came out on Pavement, looked back at the mile, STILL DRUNK AS I COULD GET, and was totally bewildered.

I when home, I sat at the dining room Table, sobering up. About 5 in the morning, did not look at the clock, I started to bed, almost sober. As I walked into the bedroom, I had a THOUGHT, "I cannot ride like that, even sober, GOD must have grabbed my bike, and said - no you don't, I have a purpose for your life."

I dropped to my KNEES INSTANTLY, WEEPING AND CRYING, as wave, as wave, and as wave of tremendous guilt washed over me, because of my WHOLE Lifestyle. In between SOBS, I keep Pleading with HIM, "Please Forgive Me, Please Forgive Me." I dropped to a Prone Position still sobbing and weeping, over an hour, AND then the Holy Spirit gave me a PRAYER. I had NEVER heard this Prayer in my life, and I knew I was Willingly saying it, and it was a TOTAL, Complete Surrender to JESUS CHRIST AS LORD OF MY LIFE. I PRAYED:
"Lord forgive, Please forgive me. If you have a purpose for my life, I need you to come into my heart and to control of it, as I cannot do it, and I am making a mess of it." There is more to the story, but that will wait till later.

What I remember, is the Desperation and the wanting to die, were all gone. Replaced with Total Trust in Lord, and what HE wanted to do with my life. BUT I DID NOT KNOW THAT I HAD TO GET INTO STUDYING THE BIBLE. About 2 months Later, I was still happier than I had been in my whole life, and I said in Prayer. I said: "Lord when are you going to do something in my life?" Some how I knew the answer was when I started to study the BIBLE.

About 2 nights later, the LORD made my COUNTRY RADIO Station on my headset Radio, boring to me, and so I Changed the Channel, and Found GRACE TO YOU, by Dr. John MacArthur was just starting a verse, by verse Study of Revelation. YES, that Study of Revelation was my Spiritual Milk, I never new Studying the Bible would be so exciting.

Non-denominational Evangelical Christian.

Yes I am having Trouble remembering to put my affiliation above the Post. I still think is would be helpful.

Non-denominational Evangelical Christian.

Works for me, good idea. No, I do not go to Charles Stanley Church, but, I can agree with is Statement of Faith. I will not mention any names, Doctrinal Statement of Faith, in my opinion, should have at the bottom is each category a few verses so I can see that is what it is saying in the Bible. My wife and I moved a LOT during our live together, we were Married for 36.5 years, before the Lord Called her home in Nov. 2015. Yes, you might call it Church hopping, but the Ministery the Lord put me in, Volunteer Prison Ministry, requires us to be middle of the Road, to prevent Arguments in the Chapel, so it helped me to stay Middle of the Road.

One Church that I was checking out, I rejected because it was because they got Lazy on their Statement of Faith, and did not bother to put verses in the Bible to support what they said they believe with Scripture.

Non-denominational Evangelical Christian.

I Agree to Disagree.

End of Subject.

I can understand I am a navy vet and I have gone through a breakdown and now I am having problems with memory. I can be studying look up a verse and 5 minutes later have look it up again. VCO I am willing to do what I can to help and answer any questions I can. With that said; This off the cuff note has taken me way to long to write.

ResidentAlien How can you treat VCO like this? Is that the way Jesus spoke to His disciples? Harsh and with a mean tone. Stop and thank of what you just said to someone that is asking for help. VOC he does have a point about getting caught up in the traditions of men but what we need to do is train you up right. You may be old in years but you are still young in Christ and just as a child you need to be trained up the same goes for us. We should be here to help. ResidentAlien please take this as a gentle correction too. I do not know either of you so please till we get to know one another please what I say with a grain of salt and if you disagree, or you don't understand something please ask me to explain it.

There is no statement of faith in scripture other than Jesus Christ is Lord.