Disciple.Luke

Side note here and question...the way you've worded this about salvation makes it seem like you hold a belief in Calvinism. Is this the case? 

TGL,
no, the thief didn't get baptized, but he was not a member of any church either.
Scriptural Baptists have never accepted anyone that was not scripturally baptized as a member. This was why we were called Anabaptists (meaning re-baptizers) by the Catholic Church. We would not accept  as members, anyone that was not scripturally baptized; so we baptized them scripturally before accepting them as members. Baptism is a mandatory prerequisite to membership in a scriptural Baptist Church.
Acts 2:41 (KJV) Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Do you see the proper sequence here? Baptized, then added.

At this time if I were having discussions with JWs I would be trying to corner them about why one of their Governing Body members was removed from his position.
This type of change isn't common with the Watchtower Org . Governing Body Members "the faithful and discreet slave" typically keep the position until their deaths.
The Watchtower Society isn't saying much about why this happened but I think at least one of the reasons had to do with a YouTube video that came out s couple years ago.
Governing Body member Anthony Morris III was recognized when he traveled several miles from the JW Headquarters location to purchase alcohol at a liquor store 
Despite avoiding local liquor stores someone still recognized him and began recording him with his phone and even sparked some conversation with him about different whiskeys.
What made this a big deal when the video was uploaded to YouTube was the large amount of alcohol he was buying a ong with how expensive  the brand was. 
While I'm not an expert on whiskey and how much price difference is between them - others who seen the video calculated he was spending several hundreds of dollars.
Since the JW leaders supposedly take a vow of "poverty" and simplicity and have no other employment I'm sure some JWs were angry to see so much money wasted considering how many local kingdom halls were being shut down and sold and the constant begging for donations even after selling all their Brooklyn properties for billions of dollars.
I'm not sure if the "Bottlegate" video is why he was removed but I'm sure it didn't help. 
Officially it doesn't appear that the leadership wants to provide many details for this change but with all the sexual abuse lawsuits they are drowning in his removal could be the Organization trying to get ahead of some coming legal issue.
If you could get a JW to watch the "Bottlegate" YouTube clip there isn't anyway for them to justify the amount of spending by one of their "anointed" . My guess is Jesus would be flipping money tables over at Watchtower headquarters calling them thieves instead of making them "co rulers" in heaven with him.

Thank you for sharing your information. I don’t understand why do many churches get into other benefits, I can understand an automobile, this is because they are on the road very much, and doing visits.But Benefits, that the average person will never get working in the public, or private. This would be for a new topic. Why not pay him well, He pays for all his own things, example home and health.

Ours is
"Good News Of Great Joy"  - "Our plan to make disciple-makers and disciples" 
Obviously it focused on evangelism.

If your church does yearly themes, then drop them below.
 
This year we went with "BRING THE BOOK"
Nehemiah 8:1 ... and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to BRING THE BOOK of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.

If that's true that he said the LDS faith and Jesus is the same - then he is stepping out of line with what is biblical.
If he is a true bible believing Christian there is no scripture that can validate his belief.  The LDS acceptance of the movie is very believable. Unlike JWs - LDS have no problem with things like listening to modern evangelical music. To their ears the music is about their "Jesus" too so I have no doubt they approve of The Chosen.
Jenkins seems to be using representatives from the Messianic Jews and the Catholic church as advisors to the show. Which is deeply troubling for me and so I definitely agree it's becoming an ecumenical endeavor.
I'm just not certain how much the LDS influence is when it comes to the theological issue. Even the line " I am the Law of Moses"  that everyone believed to be from the Book of Mormon isn't. The full verse of that BoM quote is -
"Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life." - 3 Nephi 15:9
All I know for sure is that because of COVID they couldn't film in Israel so they used the Utah desert areas instead. Along with that the LDS allowed them to use costumes and scene sets that they had recently built for a Book Of Mormon movie.

I don't know that he believes that Jesus was "just a man." He's been pretty clear on some venues that he believes Jesus was the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father. Yet, his discernment on the whole issue seems to be questionable. It could be that he's just saying that to soothe over the issue and to continue to be successful in this venture. I notice that Kirk Cameron seems to have swallowed the Mormon Kool-Aid as well. UGH!

Sorry, but many of us here HAVE watched it and find many of the "backstories" to add far too much in the way of artistic license. If we don't guard our minds, error can and does often creep in. At any rate, welcome to OnlineBaptist.com...you might want to go into the section where you can introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more of who you are, what church you go to, and what you're doing for the Lord, and what HE'S doing in you. Have a great Monday. ?

Thank you for this clarification Luke. I was under the impression that this was a Church of God denomination.

I agree with everyone that something feels "off" to me about the war. 
I think back to prior to the war about things like then President Trump talking about how much corruption there was in the Ukrainian government. While I don't believe everything out of Trump's mouth I do find credibility with people who don't have a "filter" or don't bite their tongue in fear of what others think.
There was also a documentary I watched on YouTube a year or two before the war about Neo Nazis causing problems in the Donbass region. But when Putin talked about liberating that area from Nazis the American media and politicians claimed it was all a lie.
It also bothers me when I see our allies like Israel refusing to take sides even though Russia is becoming so friendly with Iran. 
Even the Nordstream pipeline explosion seemed very deliberate in an effort to MAKE sure Germany stayed engaged in the NATO coalition against Russia.
I don't know what the truth is but I know we aren't getting it from our government officials and media. Biden doesn't even know what planet he's on half the time so I don't see how he's mentally healthy enough to be making decisions on a war that is effecting half the globe in some way 

Thank you Brother but I certainly realize the validity of your concern.
Being from Anderson the Church of God was where I initially found my attending. As I became more familiar with the Bible I began to see real issues with what nearly every church of God Pastor focused their preaching on.
I eventually got to the point where I no longer felt that what the church of God was teaching was biblical and I haven't attended one for many years although I do occasionally look at their websites and watch some sermons on YouTube to just get a feel of where they are headed Theologically.
Having said I completely agree with your assessment of their overall teachings. I refuse to even listen to music like the Gaithers because of their connection with Church of God.

Believe about the Ten Commandments. 
Believe in Jesus Christ.

I don't know which Baptist preachers you've been listening to, but all those topics are extremely common to hear sermons on. I've taught Bible study lessons on all those topics at one time or another. 

Once again you lump all of a certain identity together (Democrat)  Among this classification named Democrat, are individuals. You cannot know that all individuals within this classification support and vote for the things you listed.

I have family members who are both democrat and Christian, it's not impossible or shocking. Did you know that there are republicans who support abortion? Did you know that there are democrats who do not support abortion? Did you know that there are many, many Christians who are neither democrat nor republican? This is because most individual people don't blindly follow their chosen party, they each have their own convictions, thoughts, and ideas that may or may not line up with everything their party is known for.

It is agreed that it's not a "black and white," clear-cut issue. ALL countries have their good and bad, Ukraine and Russia as well. Still, Russia has not been very supportive of missionaries in their country. I know several missionaries who served in Ukraine up until the war forced them to leave. I know some who are still there. Knowing the reports of converts and growth in the people who have accepted Christ compared to the reports I've heard from those who got to be in Russia as missionaries, I'll still side with Ukraine. America and Canada are no prizes when it comes to right and wrong. 

Having learned during Covid to not believe a word the media says, I am extremely distrustful of this whole 'Russia is evil! Ukraine is innocent!' narrative. I extremely doubt the whole thing is a black and white as the media would like us to believe. (And honestly, we Westerners should mind our own business and stay out of other nation's affairs. Russia & Ukraine have been fighting over land for about as long as they both have existed. Which is significantly longer than either the US or Canada.)
 

The part I found most interesting was the story of a couple of alien abduction researchers who noted that so-called abductions occurred to all sorts of people - across cultural, racial and religious lines - except for the group that called themselves born-again Christians. So being slightly more scientific than idealistic, they decided to investigate why this group was exempt. During that research, they found that some people in this group had experiences that mirrored the beginning of described abductions (floating out of body, experiments). However, any of these believers that called on the Name of Jesus - even silently - during the experience found the event to instantly cease, sometimes with the feeling that their attacker was in pain. The researchers ended up getting saved.
The Bible says that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, and I believe that's just so evident in the experiences so-called abductees have had.  

It's also interesting that the history of observed UFO/alien technology (if you will) mimics the known developed technology d(or science fiction inventions) of the observers. Satan is not creative - he copies. 

Do we want God to work in the midst of other believers, or not? Yes, there are serious doctrinal problems - but what better way for God to change their hearts and minds than through revival? Do we expect them to repent and come to true doctrine without the working of God in their spirit?

There's a story I remember reading of the Welsh revival. That revival changed the face of a nation. Bars closed down due to lack of customers, churches (often Baptist) were planted across the country (most are empty now, but when I visited my great-grandfather's Welsh valley a few years back, I saw 3 or 4 old Baptist churches within a very few miles of each other), and the nation of singers became the nation of hymn writers.   The revival did not respect denominational lines, and many believers went to wherever the Spirit was moving, regardless of creed. But there was one church on one island that refused to allow its people to join the revival. They refused because the meeting houses where it was occurring in their area were not of their creed. That church did not end up experiencing this amazing (and irrefutable) revival. 
As an IFB, that story bothers me. I'm fairly certain I'd be one of those that wouldn't go to a place because of their doctrinal problems (I probably wouldn't go to Asbury).  But I'd also have missed out. I don't know how to reconcile this. How can we as IFB respect the work of the Spirit where He moves without discounting genuine doctrinal concerns?  
I don't know if this is or isn't genuine revival. Honestly, if the kids present are getting right with God & each other, then they likely are being revived, regardless of how far this may go. I am alarmed by this mindset that presumes that God won't revive other Christians - other true believers - because they aren't us.  How many of the great revivals & awakenings of yesteryear were purely Baptist revivals?

No offence taken at all Bro. Luke. I just find it hard in my own mind to accept that God would work through an apostate church that is a direct result of the Reformation. In that respect I would hesitate to even call it a church, since Jesus only established one kind of church and called it His 1500 years before there was a Church of God.
Matthew 16:18 (KJV) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Bro. John, I would beg to differ with this that you said: "Everything else doesn't matter" How can doctrinal error result in revival?
Things that are different are not the same.
Ephesians 4:5 (KJV) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 

All I know is that it Isn't my Revival. All that really matters is if those experiencing revival draw closer to God and not further away because of it. Everything else doesn't matter, ie opinions of critics and those looking in on revivals that aren't reviving them personally (because when you aren't being dealt with directly by God it will never seem real) or are only trying to find doctrinal faults in order to dampen its potential effects of their revival. Only they whom God is dealing with directly can truly respond to their revival. The rest is just sensationalism masquerading as revival and people with mere curiosity.

I sincerely doubt he ever did. I think we're given sufficient evidence of the "no" answer with the non-mention of such an event, just as the alleged copulation of Adam and the fictional "Lilith" from the corruptor Lucifer. I don't see why anyone would give any credence to these ideas. 

I haven't heard the idea of Eve having sex with the serpent or the Devil - though Jewish mysticism teaches that Adam had sex with a demonic wife, who appeared as the serpent. This idea comes from the Kaballah, Jewish mysticism. This is where the picture/icon/symbol of the bitten apple comes from - showing that to the lost mind, the taking and eating of the forbidden fruit through Lilith, the demonic wife of Adam, was a good thing for mankind. Of course, those who actually believe the Bible know that this philosophy is straight out of the pits of Hell, which is where the Kaballah and Jewish mysticism came from anyway.