This is THE Church!
 

I drove past a church in Gainesville,TX today, and right on the HWY there was a billboard that said;

"THIS IS THE CHURCH that started on Pentecost in 33 AD"
with an arrow pointing down and the churches name and address.

It was like the burning bush to me, I had to pull off the road and see it.

The church was a very small church, almost shack like no windows on the front. Its services were Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday night, but on the front door was this note "Thursday Night Services have been cancelled until further notice"

Of course, this was a Jesus name church.

Here's the sad thing:

I was told by a person who knows the pastor of that church that they have about 3 people who attend there. (whether thats accurate or not, they don't have many)

There is an open lot right beside the church, and then a very nice oneness church on the same side of the road, about 100 yards away. I am told these churches do not fellowship. I am told in fact that of the 4 oneness churches in Gainesville, none fellowship. (I dont know if that is a fact, I have been told that, and based on my experience in oneness, it wouldn't suprise me).

WHat is so sad is that people get such a spiritually elite mindset that they think they are right, they are the only saved church and people, and they waste away in years of obscurity while missing the joys of being in the body of Christ and fellowshipping other Christians and making a united effort to reach their city for Christ. Instead the "true" church has a service cancelled until further notice, therefore effectively closing the door to heaven to any who would come (at least in their minds).

This mindset is sad to me, that people will dedicate their whole lives to something, only to find out in the end they had it all wrong. I do believe people like that can be/are saved, but they completely miss the abundant life and the thrills of truly belonging to the church all over spiritual eliteness and either ignorance, pride, or both.

Re: This is THE Church!
 

Sounds like a revival church.....Do they believe in uncut hair and angels? If not they're not the church....:ursofunny

Re: This is THE Church!
 

Simply three deluded people. Once they believe their own lies there is no stopping.

They shot someone like that at Discovery the other day... he started as an innocent Al Gore devotee.

Re: This is THE Church!
 

You better believe they believe in uncut hair. They believe in women keeping quiet in the church, and don't even believe in Sunday school. Wasn't no sunday school in the Bible!!!!!!

Re: This is THE Church!
 

Kenneth Hagin's
I listened to him a couple of times. He would never talk about other preachers. That seems very common on this discussion board. I also found what I heard people say he said did not match what he preeched in writing.

Re: This is THE Church!
 

The bolded is an interesting concept coming from you, after you voiced your opinion that "Seeker" churches, which is the kind of church I pastor and the group of churches I associate with, don't preach repentance, don't teach the bible, and don't ask for commitment.

Yes, I'm still irritated about it! :lol

Re: This is THE Church!
 

Did I read you claim to be a Pastor?

Re: This is THE Church!
 

I'm not sure where this name came in. This is not Kenneth Hagin's church. The pastors name was on the sign, I'm not going to disclose his name.

Re: This is THE Church!
 

:lalala

Re: This is THE Church!
 

It only takes two or more gathered in the name of the Lord to be a church.

I have no idea who this is and why they are a separate group.

I preached in an OP church a couple of weeks ago and there were 4 of us there --the pastor, one couple, and me. It is in a rural area near a small town and there is no other OP church for several miles that I know of. It was not UPC. The pastor is the same organization that I am, CoJCI, although he may be switching to CoJC in the near future.

It bothers me that there are so many OP churches that do not fellowship one another. And it also bothers me that OP churches do not ordinarily fellowship trinity churches but that's another story.