John Paul III:
I am also a new convert, and I grew up southern baptist, went to an independant baptist church for awhile, as well as a non denominational or bible church.
Non denominational churches are the most popular, and fastest growing churches in the United States today. They bring in ussually a high income audience, and they do a lot of singing in the worship and have really good speakers preaching their gospel.
These churches build big buildings, have an active youth program, many are active in their communites. They remind me more of a country club or social club than a church to me.
I drove by a huge church in Dallas, it at an athletic complex, swimming pool, baseball fields and so forth within its huge campus.
I forgot his name but he has several books out and he preaches in Houston TX in the old compact center, his father was an ordained minister but he is not.
In a nutshell these churches will motivate you in your current life using a Christian moral and ethical base. Many are counselors rather than dedicated ministry serving Christ.
Bottom line they are run like a business. They have to bring in an audience to recieve money, so they are trendy you could say, meeting the needs of its members.
I was wondering if these churches - which I first noticed popping up like kudzu (for you on the west coast who have never travelled to the southeastern U.S. kudzu is a weed that destroys all surrounding vegetation as the vines grow about 24 feet per day <<<exaggeration, but not by much…) in the early 1970’s were as large and, well, kudzu-like in other regions of the U.S. or if, like kudzu, they were largely contained in the south. My wife actually called them ‘kudzu churches’ as we were of the opinion that they
were largely southeastern - going no further west than Texas/Oklahoma, no further north than Virginia, and only cropping up occasionally in the non-coastal beltway of Florida. I don’t recall, for example, seeing any of the mega-nondenominational nor the micro-nondenominational churches driving the back roads of New England, the Pacific Northwest, etc.
Someday someone may write a history of where these nondenominational churches were born, why they became so popular, etc. But until then, we’ll just have to get by with hearsay, I suppose, and after reading some of the messages here, it’s becoming clear that these churches (both mega and micro) are no longer distinctly southern (although they may well have had their roots in the south).
It seems as if many of these churches began as ‘Assembly of God’ denominations yet either withdrew from that denomination (or, in the case of Jimmy Swaggart were tossed out - although for all I know he may have repented and been allowed back as a minister of that denomination?). Oh, and to the original poster, here’s how the “Jimmy Swaggart Ministries” are described on the front page of the website:
Located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries has been raised up by God to reach the world. JSM is called of God to do the following:
Code:
* To see souls saved
* The sick healed
* Bondages broken
* Believers baptized with the Holy Spirit
* The Exposition of Bible Doctrine
* To teach and preach the Revelation of the Cross
I would think that your Mom’s and brother’s church would
at the very least have some sort of 'mission statement like that on printed material and, if so, from there some points of doctrine are easily drawn upon to see just what is meant. Just using these as an example, here are some ‘discussion points’ that can be raised:
What is meant by ‘saved’ exactly? Can one ‘gain’ yet lose salvation?
In what manner does God heal the sick? Can we presume that it is His will that all the sick be healed?
Bondages? Bondage to sin, I’m assuming. How does one break bondage to sin? What does the New Testament have to say about that which is bound and loosed upon earth being bound and loosed in heaven? Who has the power to release sin from bondage? How are we taught to do so?
- Believers baptized with the Holy Spirit
What actually happens when we’re baptized? What are the fruits of baptism? What are other sacraments which infuse us with the Holy Spirit
- The Exposition of Bible Doctrine
Where do we find doctrine? Is it only in the Bible? What assures us that doctrine is sound?
- To teach and preach the Revelation of the Cross
What is the ‘Revelation of the Cross’? Isn’t it Sacrifice - Perfect Sacrifice given once and yet eternal? How can we experience God’s Sacrifice in our lives?
I know I’m overstating my point, but I think you see what I mean.
And to others outside the southern U.S. -
ARE nondenominational churches proliferating ‘out there’ as rapidly as ‘down here’?
) Is there any possibility that all about the money behind this cults ( I cant find proper words for small groups that are now growing rapidly in the entire US and Asia)?
