/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>679848

Why do you feel you owe us something? It's ok, you can request any aid of us freely. A Christian's life is grace.

>>679851

> I feel as though it would be rude to seek guidance from any of you. By me doing nothing to prove my convictions I'm just another faceless person on the internet saying things that are meaningless and have no value. To show that you had not wasted your time with your words if I turn out to be something that this board does not need. At the very least I had wanted to do a kind act before we started.

I have a difficult time praying to god and reading the bible. Yet everywhere I go I'm thankful to be alive and apreciate all that I've been given by the lord. Even though many things I see in todays socity feel wrong I still can't help but look past it all and love the good!. Is there a right answer to what group I should be apart of ? Baptist Catholic Presbyterian how would I know whats the "right" one? What if I apreciated things of both parties and wanted many acspects shared togther? If I ever felt more comfortable in my role as a christian would it be so wrong to try and create a uniformed sect of my own that barrowed all these great aspects. Without the hang ups of the modern Presbyterian loving homosexuality above promoting family values just becasue its "good not to be a biggot" or the cathloic faiths belief that any man can absolve another of sin? I was under the impression only one man could do that concidering how man himself is turated in sin. Or the Easy going Baptists that would gladly give their money away to "under developed countries" but never stop to look at the crumbling towns around them the streets filled with trash, and drug use rampent. Is it wrong for me to try and create a new christian thelogy ? Just maybe if I understood things more and gained a closer connection with god maybe in a few years I could be the one to make my country christian again. No more godless people with no care or morals with nothing to stop them from pushing pro pedophillia in my home state. I want to make a change but don't know how or where to start.

>>679859

Brother, what you need most right now is guidance. But the guidance you need is not any I can provide, or any other man. It is clear you have an ultimate destination in mind, but do not know which path leads there. What you need is a guide to that first stop. I ask, what better guide is there than the one Jesus Himself promised to us, even gave to us, indeed who alone can set you on your journey, the Holy Spirit? So to find which of those churches you should join, you must be like the faithful Bereans, and search His word daily to see what things are true. It would be very wrong to create a new theology, since we should be servants of the truth, not its master. Instead, you should look at the scriptures incessantly for the truth, and then dedicate yourself to what you are convicted is the truth. I think an error which is harming you is a tendency to over-categorize. You have trouble picking any of those groups because you see them as rigid, solid, complete categories, which is why you want to create a mixture of them. So long as you do not reject a definitional attribute of a group, you can consider yourself a member, and once convinced of its truth, should join the nearest church that fits best with your conscience. When searching the scriptures, you should go from start to finish until you find the answers you seek, and be careful to distinguish between anything you've heard from men and what you read from God, since you must not search for doctrines in scripture, but scripture for doctrine. Because the problem you need solved is a peculiar issue of the new covenant, you might feel tempted to restrict yourself to the New Testament, do not, that Old Testament is there for a reason. I understand you have difficulty reading the bible, but it's the only place to look. Let no man shake your faith in God or His word. Brother, I hope you find this advice helpful, and I will pray for you. God bless you.

>>679859

Christ charged st. Peter and other Apostles to build His Church. He did not say 'read the Bible and join any of the thousands of denominations'. All Apostolic Churches founded by the Apostles, (Rome- Peter, Alexandria-Mark, Jerusalem-Andrew, etc.) from shores of Portugal to India where st. Thomas went, have the same teachings, that is not a coincidence.

No, the Apostlic Churches do not say 'men can forgive sins'. Christ gave his Apostles, and consequently to the priests they ordained and that line is still alive to day, to bind and loose. A priest acts in a person of Christ, just like Christ forgave Mary Magdalene, that way a priest looses your sins, because he has the authority to do so given by Christ.

Matthew 16

>And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

As you can see, if a priest looses your sins here, they are loosed in Heaven. If he does not, then you go to your death with all those sins still bound to you.

John 22

>When he had said this, he breathed on them (the Apostles); and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. [23] Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

This in John's gospel happened after the Resurrection, as you can see, Christ gave the Apostles the Holy Ghost and the authority to forgive and retain sins. Then the Apostles ordained priests who received the same authority from them. This is how you should look at priests, they are not ordinary men, they are the descendants of the Apostles.

Cross reference this to Isaiah 22:22

>I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut; what he shuts, no one can open.

Peter and David have the keys, not your local pastor or your Bible study group.

The Apostles charged us with following the traditions they have left us:

1 Corinthians 11:1-2

>Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

>Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us

2 Thessalonians 2:15

>So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

As you can see, the Apostles did not say 'read the Bible for yourself and join whatever sect you think is true'.