Jason,
A
requisite for membership is that you must have repented, been baptized in Jesus' name and been filled w/the Holy Ghost w/the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
They have a place on their website,
www.theacn.net, that you can find all the minutae you want on what they do or don't believe.
And the point made about one-steppers being allowed "in" because of
toleration is very insulting to those that believe and fervently preach
Acts 2:28 but are
one-steppers.
Why does anyone think that one-steppers don't believe in
Acts 2:38? It just seems to me that it's because one-steppers preach and practice grace more openly than three steppers.
The folks in the ACN are godly people, but to some the ACN doesn't have "standards". Oh well. Some said John the baptist had a demon, some said Jesus was a glutton and a drunk. Some elitists want everyone to look and dress in lockstep. You just will never please everybody. And you can't "judge" another man's servant...Can I get an Amen?
I called a an ALJC preacher in the Dallas area and thought I'd direct him to Peace Church in Mesquite. I asked him if he knew Jim Baker, and his response was, "Well, I've heard Br. Baker has gone
charismatic".
IOW, if your men wear facial heard or shave their heads, if the women cut or trim their hair or wear appropriate dress clothes to include slacks, then they don't have standards?
My response to that is "TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!" lol And then if you still have issues with it, take a deep breath and YAWN. Get over it.
The ACN (at least to this point) believes in grace and that even the fallen or discouraged still have a place in the work of the Kingdom. IOW, the gifts and callings for Israel and the church are without repentance. They just don't mouth it. They practice it. Jim Baker (the present chairman) said last year that the word,
Christian in the name of the network is
intentional, the implication being that instead of a fist, we should be offering an extended hand.
The fact of the matter is, the ACN understands what it means to be able to have a difference of opinion over
Acts 2:38 (much like those at the merger of the UPC) and that there are
MUCH bigger fish to fry than (like the UPC historically has) to argue amongst ourselves over it, split churches over it, overturn entire districts over it. In the meantime, as the chairman of the ACN told me, a generation of preachers were put on the shelf when they could and should have been used by God (AND the ministry) to win the lost to Jesus Christ. He is not far off. I know dozens of former United Pentecostal preachers and some still in, that because they weren't born with the right last name, or because they were "one-step", or because they suffered spiritual wounds and therefore "anathema", that they were cast off, without so much as a phone call from another preacher as to their welfare.
Another area of latitude the ACN has (I must be careful since someone will see the word "COMPROMISE" where I wrote latitude) is in the area of eschatalogy. They do not take a Darbyesque stand or make a difference of opinion re: end-times an issue of fellowship or non-licensure. It's about time that happened in Apostolic ranks, IMO.
One other thing for now; the ACN is not afraid of their ministers pursuing higher education whether secularly, or at religious institutions.
For those that would like to take potshots, all I can say is: if you have never had chocolate pudding, don't tell someone what it tastes like.
....I knew I liked you...
Linear Mode
