BrotherTony

It's a matter of true conversion, discipleship, and faithfulness to the Word of God and the Lord. You always seem to see the bad side, seem to doubt that the Lord will have faithful Christians. That's what is sad, and it one of the many reasons that some will fall by the wayside. Either God is telling the truth when he says "on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it," or he's not.

While it may be true that there is a battle going on about who can be in friendly cooperation with the SBC, many want to take the keep the Biblical standard for who can be a pastor. I believe many are seeing the folly in having female pastors and have steered away from the cooperating churches becoming Independent as in "big I little you. Eddie, you have a preoccupation with all things LGBTQ+. I don't see any SBC churches that are assisting by placing gay and lesbian pastors in place, or even allowing them membership. Biblical Christians won't stand for this. Be wary, YES, but let's stop with the chicken little "the sky is falling " routine.

Congratulations! I have no children, but I definitely felt somewhat like a dad to her, especially in light of the fact that my brother, 11 years my junior, hasn't had any contact with his daughter for the past eight years. We wanted so badly to be at her wedding but were hindered by Vivian's surgery and the unavailability of a place to place our 3 Labradors for 4 days. I also was given orders by my PC doctor not to travel for six months. Now we only have my 2 nephews to tie the knot!

And? What relevance does this have to what posted? Again, your preoccupation with money, especially other people's money is very troubling.

Who are you calling cheap, Eddie? You have no idea when or where money is spent in my household. Here again is an example of your intrusive and overwhelming interest in others funds and how they're spent.

As I clearly stated later in that post it was my preference, not a requirement. You truly need to work on your comprehension of the English language and etiquette skills as well. That's NOT just an opinion, but an honest observation. Have a nice day.

I have to be honest...my wife and I no longer attend corporate services on Mother's or Father's Days. For nearly 25 years, no matter what church we've been in, pastors have used these days to praise mothers, and to lambast father's, as you've described. Not being able to have children of our own, the over emphasis on mothers with the asking for the oldest, youngest, ones with the most, least, married, widowed, etc, mother's did it for my wife. The same for comments on Father's Day that married men without children weren't living biblically. Even when we were raising other people's children we were scrutinized and unfairly and many times treated unjustly because we took in kids of different skin colors, or medical conditions. At one IFB church in our area we were approached about the possibility of undergoing fertility treatments. This was nobody's business but our own. In lieu of the regular church service, there were several of us families that would meet together for breakfast and Bible study those Sundays...at least we'd all had similar experiences in these areas.

Those are your opinions and choices. Not everyone has a suit, and many women don't have dresses. My personal PREFERENCE for pastors is for them to be wearing a collared shirt and jacket....but again, that's my preference. I also would prefer that the pastors wife wear a knee-length dress or skirt. I've seen far too many of them wearing leggings or shorter dresses. I was raised (and so were you) in a day where pastors "dressed to the nines" and looked professional. But, I have gone to services where the pastor is wearing a collarless shirt or T-shirt and jeans, and we KNEW that the Holy Spirit was moving in the assembly. So, we're pretty much in agreement on what we would like to see pastors in.

Our VBS usually starts the first full week of June, but, to be honest, I haven't paid attention to what is going on with it this year.

And still, if you go back over your postings here they come back to other churches use of tithes given to THEIR church ministries by THEIR congregants...nothing which should be of concern to you. Trying to make it your business is called meddling. And, as I stated before, you're perfectly welcome to your opinions. And just because another church doesn't live up to what YOU think they should, if it's not the church that you personally are attending or are a member of doesn't make it liberal. You throw that word around far too easily.

Again, Eddie, let's let each church do what they feel the Lord wants them to do with their tithes and offerings. ALL functions of the church can be handled with the tithes and offerings of the church. I'm going to be honest with you here,, Brother, but you seem to spend a lot of time worrying about what others, individuals and churches alike, do with their income, tithes and offerings. Jesus had someone who was overly worried about the funds...do you remember his name? You consistently call things "traps," but, I see no traps...There is a trap in worrying about things that don't concern us. If they want to have meals every Sunday, that is THEIR business...you've got your opinion, and you've stated it many times...we all know them quite well by now.

How about we let each church worry about their own business and how they do things.

In the Cowboy Church movement, many of the churches have breakfast available on Sunday mornings. One reason for this is because many of the members are farmers/ranchers, and are out on the farm or in the fields so early in the morning up until time to go to services. And in many of the SBC churches I have been a member of, luncheon is served each week to allow for people to fellowship, and for newcomers to be reached in a non-hostile atmosphere. it work...Jesus fed the 5000, and did so on many other occasions.

Kienyui, you have been asked several times to make sure all Scripture used is KJV, but you have not complied. Would you please correct the verses in this post.

My wife wants to try the five gallon buckets. My aunt in Missouri does them along with her raised beds. She gets quite a bit out of produce that way.

I've seen a lot of pages suggesting that he was, but, they are short on any verifiable truth. So, I would take it that he was NOT a Mason. He was fully orthodox in his Christian faith and practice, so I take it as just another smear job against a sound preacher.

I don't fly anywhere, so maybe you should be booking me a cruise!!! LOL

If they want to visit, let them visit. It's not like Hamas or Hezbollah are currently invading Israel and gaining ground. I'm not against people going there.

God does not abandon...if you are saved he has promised to NEVER leave or forsake you. Hebrews 13 tells us that Christ promised this to his followers.

How you vote is between you and the Lord. But, when you are presented with only two choices you have to do your research, pray, and see who most closely aligns with Scripture. What the person whom you voted for, and I don't believe most go haywire, as you always try to present, you're not accountable for what he is doing....he is. You truly should STOP playing "chicken little."

When there are only two choices given we have to make a choice that aligns closer to our Biblically aligned beliefs. You're always welcome to your opinion, Eddie, however misdirected it is.

The people who think they are owners and "in charge" often have been the elders and deacons in both the IFB and the SBC churches we have been members of. To let them congregate to "gather information" is all well and good, but, when they start having their opinions known before the congregating of the body together for discussion can often be problematic in that it presents as an elite vs. pions atmosphere. I have to disagree with Joe to a certain extent.

So, what do you consider a "work?" Is the decision to believe and accept the Son of God, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior a "work?" Just trying to get some clarification so that we know whether the beliefs of Calvin and Spurgeon are being espoused here.

Praise the Lord for that, @HappyChristian! It's so wonderful to hear about a smaller church that is actively supporting more than 2 missionaries! I know when my wife and I worked with a group of Christians in Augusta Georgia back in the mid 80's to start the Garden City Baptist Church, within the first six months we had taken on support for 11 missionaries. Our church started as a small split off of the West Augusta Baptist Church which supported 41 missionaries. Both churches have now been absorbed by a couple of larger churches. Our missionaries usually came to give their presentations on the first Sunday of the month, and we did much like you do. In the SBC churches we have been members of we have only had one or two missionaries come to give presentations about their work on the missionfield. That's pretty sad...it seems that in the SBC churches there is very little accountability for what is being taught by many who are being sent out. There's a growing trend towards the "Reformed" teachings of Calvinism, a millennialism, etc. The SBC supported seminaries seem to be leaning that way as well. It's so sad to see the growing indifference.

We give as well, but have started giving directly to missionaries instead of letting the church give our tithes and offerings over to the cooperative.