Interesting that this topic came up.
My current outpost has man who comes to help every Wednesday that is a
very active Baptist. In fact, he's done missions work in the Baptist
church. He's a great man, and I have zero doubts about the validity of
his salvation and his heart to see boys won to the kingdom.
Periodically, however; I do hear him teach the boys from doctrine that
is not embraced by the A/G. This is a source of confusion to the boys.
(I know because my two son ask me about it all the time).
I'm not so certain that a "comparative religion" merit would even be
prudent. Confusing kids at these ages is not a good thing to do.
Parents and Leaders are to 'train up a child in the way he should go',
not offer him a multiple choice test on how he wants to deal with life
and the Lord.
It's our job to train them in the doctrines that we believe, not on
doctrines of other denominations. If the parents want such training for
their children, then they can take them to those churches, or train them
themselves... but it steps way beyond the boundary of what we as
Commanders are to do.
Additionally... the word RELIGION has always bothered me. Religion is
a "search" for God. We have FOUND God and know where he is. We have a
doctrine of beliefs and are saved, sanctified and spirit filled as
individuals, not as church members, or members of any certain
denomination (though some denominations, preachers and individuals (even
in the A/G) certainly, but errantly, believe it to be so).
Whether or not some churches choose to accept or reject the infilling of
the spirit doesn't make it stop happening. When we take Jesus as our
personal savior, we are then filled with the spirit. This is not the
same filling as in Acts 2:4... that is one of the "Gifts" of the
spirit.... different from infilling.
I have been to Baptist churches where I heard the word and knew it was
sound doctrine... conversely, I've been to some A/G services that I
heard heresy preached.
All churches have their problems, and not all preachers get it right
every time. This is why we must train our children to compare
everything to the word and not take it at face value.... but...
As Parents and Leaders, we are accountable before God concerning what we
do teach them to make certain it is within Biblical standard, not
necessarily personal doctrinal agendas.
The word speaks for itself, and the Holy Spirit interprets its meaning
into our own lives. Yes.. there is only ONE way to salvation, and
that's Jesus Christ... but comparative Christian doctrine (as opposed to
cultic doctrine) should be left to the parents and the colleges.
Blessings,
Parson.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On
Behalf Of Soaring Golden Eagle
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 6:54 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [RR] Compareitive religons merit- any value?
At 09:06 6/13/2001 -0700, -=A=- wrote:
>It's been a while since I kicked the bee hive..
<big grin>
>Last night I talked with a long time member of
>the Assemblies of God,and they were able to tell
>me off-hand with conviction that the Baptist
>beleve that the gift of toungs is "of the devil"
>
>It struck me odd..
It should have. One thing that I have learned as I grow in Jesus Christ
is
that we need to be careful how we speak about our brothers and sisters
in
Christ, and to avoid categorizing Christians and making unfair
generalizations. It is often difficult to determine what is going on
inside
of a church based on the name on the sign outside of the building it
meets
in. I really did visit one Baptist church where the preacher did
publicly
contradict the teaching of the Holy Bible with respect to speaking in
tongues. That was only once, and I have been in lots of Baptist
churches. I
know of many baptists (even Baptist preachers) who speak in tongues, and
who affirm that this really is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
>Many times folks name a church in our fair city and
>lecture on it's failure to preach the full gospel
>or define it's beliefs as something less than desired.
I have even heard AG churches named as failing to preach the FULL
Gospel,
but that isn't very productive. It is better to check our own eyes for
telephone poles and make sure that we are preaching the whole Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and make sure that we are walking in love with our
brothers
and sisters in other "denominations."
>A great part of Royal Ranger deals with the teaching
>of the "church" but what part of these teachings
>holds that we should in any way *Respect others
>belief's?
Perhaps the Golden Rule is sufficient... but there is more in the Bible
about unity in the Body of Christ, walking in love, and taming your
tongue.
This does bring up an important issue. How much should we tolerate, and
how
much should we reject as false doctrine?
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Even people
with
bad doctrine can be saved by calling on Jesus Christ, putting their
faith
in Him, and confessing that He is Lord. That doesn't mean that we need
to
believe that doctrine doesn't matter, or accept all doctrines (even
conflicting doctrines) as valid, but it does mean that we don't have to
go
around condemning our brothers and sisters. Isn't it much better just to
preach and teach what we believe to be true, and let the Lord guide both
us
and them closer to Himself (and thus all believers closer to each
other)?
>*Perhaps a "Compareitive religions merit" would
>build bridges and shine the light on the true
>path. Must I as a RR Adult leader teach AoG is
>the only way?
I'm not sure if such a merit would really help in the way you suggest. I
good, long look at the Holy Bible would help a lot, though.
___
Michael Paul Johnson AKA Soaring Golden Eagle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Outpost 362, Mountain Creek Community Church, Dallas Texas
http://mtcreek.com
http://eBible.org/mpj/ Jesus Christ is Lord!
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