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eafan

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I wrote this a few years ago and thought others here might enjoy it.

How To Be A Non-Denominational Christian
Things I’ve learned since attending non-denominational charismatic Christian churches and being set free from the traditions of the Catholic church.

Switch churches often. They are all pretty much the same anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Some will think you are a church hopper, but you know you are just going where you are led to and where you can progress. 2-3 years per church is max.

You can only listen to CCM (Contemporary Christian) music! It’s OK to say you “used to like” other types of music, but always refer to that as during your “pre saved” life.

CCM concerts contain much more talk than music. Don’t complain about this. It’s “ministry’!

At church meetings, always stay as late as possible. Don’t try to leave anytime before the guest speaker is gone and the pastor is waiting for you to get out so he can turn off the lights and lock up. It will impress your friends if you hang out with them in the parking lot even after the pastor has left for the night.

Give money monthly to rich TV evangelists. They have taxes.

Forget about the fact Jesus used real wine at the last supper. Always use grape juice. Get mad at people who say Jesus used real wine at the last supper. Consider churches pagan that do so for communion.

There is no presence of God in communion. It’s just a symbol. Like the fish on your car.

As a Christian, you MUST have an indication on your car. This may be by fish, bumper sticker, or other “decorative” indication. Bumper stickers of Christian radio stations are acceptable.

Even though your car is “Christianized” by the previous indication guideline, you can drive like an absolute maniac. Jesus understands.

There are only 2 sacraments. Only! Just 2: The Lord’s Supper and Baptism. That’s it! Never mind the rest the early church named as sacraments to begin with.

Although the non-denominational churches are autonomous, we all have the same Statement Of Faith, including, God: eternally existent in 3 persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; The inspiration of the scriptures; Jesus Christ: His virgin birth, His sinless life, etc. Just don’t confess the Apostle’s Creed, although it spells out everything we believe. If you feel compelled to say it, however, you may, just be absolutely sure you replace the word “Catholic” with “Christian”!

Never, ever drink a drop of alcohol! Ignore the fact that Jesus turned water into wine (not grape juice) and Paul advising Timothy to “take a little wine” for your stomach’s sake in the NT.

Smoking is out of the question. However, if you do smoke and still want to be a Christian, be sure to only smoke in private.

If you have any problems in your life, you need to a book about it found in the Christian Living section of your local Christian book store.

The words “family” and “gospel” are synonymous.

Give 10% of all your gross income to your church, and then some. Every pastor of these types of churches calls this “tithing” which is clearly part of the OT law. It is not required, encouraged, nor taught in the NT. Jesus told the Pharisees to tithe in the gospels, during the OT times in which he was living on earth. He also told people he healed to “go show yourselves to the priest” and to “make an offering in the temple for your cleansing”. But, never mind this scriptural guidance, because all the local pastors believe tithing is for today, and what they call tithing is what “they believe” is giving 10% of your total gross income to their local church. You are expected to do this, plus give more at your discretion which they call an “offering”. To neglect this will keep you out of favor with church leadership in these churches. So, pay up, or get out!

The only way to get saved is to answer the altar call by coming up front and repeating “the sinner’s prayer”. Of course, a person will lead you to do this.

There are only 2 types of people: saved and lost. Being a Christian, only you have the right to say who’s in and who’s out, so don’t let anyone call you narrow minded nor judgmental!
 
Yeah, sorry, but this is not only an inaccurate view of how most of the non-denominational Christians I know view their faith, it’s also somewhat offensive to me. I attend a Methodist church because of the active community and emphasis on living your faith and reflecting your faith in your actions, but I don’t think any less of other denominations.

I started to type out a full refutation of this, but decided it would be in bad taste. I can summarize it by saying that only two of these are generally true: Communion is just a symbol (as a Methodist I don’t agree with this) and that there are only two sacraments (which I do agree with). The rest of them are true for only very small groups of Protestant or, more specifically, non-denominational Christians.
 
Yeah, sorry, but this is not only an inaccurate view of how most of the non-denominational Christians I know view their faith
This is true because there is no standard for non-denominational Christians. They are an authority unto themselves.
 
Things I’ve learned since attending non-denominational charismatic Christian churches and being set free from the traditions of the Catholic church.
???
So what does this mean for those of us who are not, so-called, “set free from the traditions of the Catholic Church”?? Are we enslaved? You should read up on Christianity and Catholicism. I am a convert to Catholicism from Protestantism and I haven’t been more free in all my life.

I was depressed after reading that one line. I will pray for you.
 
Yeah, sorry, but this is not only an inaccurate view of how most of the non-denominational Christians I know view their faith, it’s also somewhat offensive to me. I attend a Methodist church because of the active community and emphasis on living your faith and reflecting your faith in your actions, but I don’t think any less of other denominations.

I started to type out a full refutation of this, but decided it would be in bad taste. I can summarize it by saying that only two of these are generally true: Communion is just a symbol (as a Methodist I don’t agree with this) and that there are only two sacraments (which I do agree with). The rest of them are true for only very small groups of Protestant or, more specifically, non-denominational Christians.
Communion is just a symbol? Only two real sacraments? Despite the fact that the Bible CLEARLY states otherwise? What is the point in being methodist (or any form of protestant/non denominational church) when you simply pick and choose what you want to believe from the Bible. Who gave your pastor the right to minister? Certainly not Christ for Christ established His Priesthood (also clearly stated in the Bible) and it has remained unbroken through Apostolic Succession. You don’t think self ordination and individual interpretation are insanely dangerous to ones spiritual health? Clearly not, if you did you would be signing up for RCIA classes as soon as possible lol. Praying for your conversion from half truths, heresies and downright ignorance.
 
If I’m not mistaken, because John Wesley was consecrated by a Greek Orthodox bishop, Methodists can claim a form of Apostolic Succession.

I don’t believe baptism is purely symbolic, and I don’t understand where that belief comes from.

I have actually done plenty of research into the Catholic Church and its beliefs. I go to a pretty traditional Methodist church. My Catholic friend came to church with me last week, in fact, and said the liturgy was even fairly similar. I just have some fundamental objections to certain elements of Catholicism, and I’m not the only one that has those objections. Honestly, I don’t want to go into it now. I’m not interested in converting from one form of Christianity to another. It’s been tried many times before, and I feel that this thread isn’t the place for that discussion.
 
sorry guys. Didn’t mean to offend any one in any way. This is only a joke. It’s all based on my personal experiences switching denominations years ago. I’ll see if I can delete this.

sorry,
 
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