Hello everyone
There is something I learned recently that I have found troubling to me. First I will give you my history as it pertains to religion.
I started out as a catholic and spent my first two years in a catholic school. After that I spent the next five years in the episcopal denomination. I was seven years of age at that time, my mother started going to the Assembly of God after that which was a non-denominational church but the church looked like a tv evangelist’s building. We went to this church for five years or so which we then moved to other AOG’s (Assembly of God) of different pastors until I was sixteen. I was married to my wife in a AOG church. My mother would donate her time to the AOG church three to four times a week, up until her death. The last church I was a member of recently was the mormon church. It only lasted maybe six months then me and my wife both agreed there was a lot we did not agree with in their doctrine. In all that time and through all of those churches I have not once been told about the four gospels and what they really meant.
The Problem
I have read the bible from cover to cover multipal times. But missed the message over and over again. After I was married I came to the conclusion that institutional churches are not teaching the truth of the bible, but what their ministers opinion and the doctrine he learned from his particular seminary. The main problem I had with institutional churches was the “scripture picking” that was going on in the sermons of these churches. A lot of the time I am following along and the particular scripture used was taken out of context and twisted to the narrative of that sermon. To get a teaching out of the bible in the proper context you must read more then a single scripture from any chapter to get the proper context of understanding. As a minister you would think that you would spend time finding the chapters that have the context that matches the sermon or message you want to get out to the congregation. Anything but the truth is just misleading.
The Solution for me
Recently in the last few weeks I have found a church that uses the bibles stories and scriptures in the context the author originated. They used the bible to support the sermons, and they use either the whole chapter or the multipal scripture portions of the chapter that pertains to the sermon keeping the context of the chapter intact. This is using the bible to verify to weather the sermon is true or not.
The way I see it now is that the bible has always been a guide for humanity. A guide to proper health, and a guide to salvation. I have had a lot of ministers use the phrase “Oh that portion was meant for the isrealites only and was not meant for the gentiles” or “the new testament over rules the old testament”.
The bible needs to be understood literally except when it goes into prophecy! All prophecy up to revelations has been fulfilled and confirmed by historical documentation. Your faith in god must be based on the word of god and not on any particular church or minister. Reading the bible and taking the word as literal where it does not pertain to prophecy will show you if your minister is teaching the truth of the bible or not. This is what I used to determine the above churches that I attended where not teaching the truth. I am not a member of a particular church at the moment but I am researching one I think, is one of the true churches left in the world that has not corrupted itself with paganism, idolatry or doctrine of man. The Seventh Day Adventists church.
I had pretty much given up on finding a church that still taught the bible truth. It was about a year ago that I started digging into the history of the U.S. Constitution and our current government and why we in the united states had so many rules and regulations (not actual law but color of law statutes) what we call law. Well, following the money so to speak, lead me down into a rabbit warren of rabbit holes that no one wants to follow. Long story short, I found that the catholic papacy has a lot to do with were the USA is at today.
I was watching a video series on “you tube” called “Prophecy Encounter”
which shows in the bible that the sabbath day was meant to be followed by all of man kind. The bible shows that it was never abolished by God nor Jesus and none of the apostles. But was in fact a commandment that was supposed to be followed for ever. It was indeed created by, and sanctified by God him self after creation. It was this truth alone that started me back on my quest to find the true church of God.
Genesis 2; 2-3
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
-KJV
The 4th commandment of the ten commandments
Exodus 20; 8-11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
-KJV
Exodus was the time during the exodus from Egypt and also the time Moses was given the ten commandments from Gods own writing!. A lot of ministers consider this Moses’s law and not Gods law so the forth commandment therefore is abolished by grace in the new testament scriptures after the crucifixion of Jesus, this is a false teaching according to the bible. for the new testament says nothing of abolishing the commandment but reinforces them and expands on their meanings. The ten commandments were indeed supposed to be kept by all mankind. The book of mark chapter 2:27 makes it very plain.
“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: “ - KJV
The book of Genesis sets the days of the week very plainly with the first day of creation being the first day of the week and the day of Gods rest being the seventh day of the week. The names of the days of the week and the number of weeks in a month and the number of months in a year have been changed by man over the years but the number of days in a week, have NOT changed since the week of creation.
So why is it that most christian churches today, deny and brake the 4th commandment of God? Did you know that Gods Seal is also in the 4th commandment? It is also the only commandment that God started out with the word “Remember”
1 John 5:3-6
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. -KJV
My apologies it seems I have repeated myself a bit in this post but it is an important point that I have found in my search for the truth.
So in conclusion for this post, I choose to follow the bible and keep all ten commandments as well as the other commandments Jesus has set out for relationships, food, cleanliness, and spirituality. It is the ultimate guide to life.