Results 1 - 7 of 7
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Brian.g | 32419 | ||
Do Christians create the environment for other Christians to convert to Islam, other non-Christian religions or cults? When a Christian tries to recruit another Christian into their denomination, they promote "seeking" by focusing on the imperfections of the current denomination. In addition to exploring other Christian denominations, will Seekers potentially explore other religions or cults, including Islam - creating the possibility that the 'seeker' will be lost to Jesus? |
||||||
2 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 32466 | ||
Brian: The only way Christians foster an environment for spiritually "seeking" Islam is by failing to educate their members in the faith. I have met many Mormon missionaries who grew up in Southern Baptist churches. I have met many Jehovah's Witnesses who grew up at least nominally Catholic. One thing that seems to be common in the stories of their "conversions" to cults is the fact that the group in question "had the answers" that they were looking for, while the churches of which they were a part either told them that such questions about the faith were not to be asked, or the answers demonstrated a lack of understanding of the principles of the faith. Since God is sovereign over salvation, I will not contend that we humans can "mess up" his plans to save those whom He will. However, there are lots of people in very bad "Christian" churches today where the Word of God (particularly law and gospel) is not rightly preached (in some mainline denominations it is rarely preached at all!), where baptism and the Lord's Supper are not rightly administered, and where there is no sense of church discipline and training in the faith. I see no problem at all in evangelizing those who have grown up in a nominally Christian environment and who have no concept of the biblical gospel whatsoever. As long is it is a case of supplanting error with biblical truth instead of merely pointing out the error, I do not see how it would lead someone from "bad church X" to Islam. --Joe! |
||||||
3 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Brian.g | 32475 | ||
Joe How do you decide if someone is in a bad church? Brian |
||||||
4 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 32484 | ||
Well, first of all I do not really "target for recruitment" for my church among other church-goers. Unless they are part of a non-Christian cult, that is. While I often do encourage those who find themselves in a bad church situation to find a good one, I am by no means so myopic to think that my church is the only suitable one. There are three criteria for what constitutes a biblically-functioning church. Not all may be to my personal taste (nor mine to the taste of others), but a true church meets these criteria: 1. The whole counsel of God, as found in the Old and New Testaments, is proclaimed and held to. 2. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are rightly administered. 3. There is a system of plural elder/overseer rule by which sound doctrine is guarded, and where those preaching or living lives contrary to sound doctrine are disciplined (Titus 1). If any of these do not meet the guidelines of Scripture, then one should be questioning their church leaders as to why not. --Joe! |
||||||
5 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Kyblue | 32491 | ||
Joe, I think the most important criteria for a Bible believing church is that the church must have Jesus at it's center. They must preach Jesus as the only way to heaven (John 14:6). If a church has Jesus as its guide and preaches from the Bible good sound messages that are consistent with the teachings in the Bible then one can assume the church is a good church. If the church has Jesus at its center, everything else shoud fall in place. v/r bill |
||||||
6 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 32502 | ||
You are correct that the teaching should be Christ-centered and stand firm upon the idea that the only way to Heaven is through faith alone in Christ alone. However, there are still a lot of congregations which hold to this one idea and ignore a great deal of other revelation in Scripture. For example, there are two other Persons in the Trinity, and I have attended a great many churches and heard a great number of sermons where the holiness, majesty, and wrath of God the Father are rarely, if ever, mentioned. There are also churches that teach that God sent Jesus Christ to die for people because He "saw something in us worth saving." Many churches talk about the Holy Spirit in the same way that Obi-Wan Kenobi talked about the Force in the movie Star Wars. I myself have been a member of churches which completely downplay the inmportance of God-honoring works in the believer's life (thereby denying Ephesians 2:10). You are correct that the bare minimum should be the proclamation of Christ as the only Savior for the human race. However, the Bible contains a great deal more information about the "how's" and "why's" of the redemption of God's people. As the Westminster Shorter Cathechism puts it, "the Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man." This is what I mean by the whole counsel of God, and it is sorely lacking in many so-called churches today. You are correct that if a church has the biblical Jesus at its center, that everything else should fall into place. For the biblical Jesus himself said, "If you love Me, you will obey my commandments." (John 14:15) --Joe! |
||||||
7 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Kyblue | 32570 | ||
Joe, I couldn't agree more! v/r bill |
||||||