So...who all is a Christian here?

Post Reply New Topic

Please don't use this thread for bashing Christians

I'm new to the boards, and I'm a Christian...non denominational though my membership says Assemblies of God. I'm definitely on the more relaxed side of Christianity, in that I am about as non judgmental as you can get and I love everyone. That doesn't mean I agree with everything everyone does...but I certainly am accepting of others unlike the majority of so called Christians today. I lead worship playing piano and singing at my church alongside my hubby who plays guitar and sings and his brother who plays piano. I really love God, and love finding my relationship with God. The sky is the limit with God, and I grew up putting God and his rules in a box. But it's not about rules or judgment, it's about love and relationship. Now if the rest of the Christians could get on board with that.......

So who all here is a Christian?

I am. I help teach sunday school for a special needs class that is mostly composed of autistic kids. My church is also non-denominational, but branched off from the baptists.

That's really cool John. My pastor has 5 kids that are Autistic, under the age of 12 and man...they're a handful but I love them! I would love to be part of a class that had special needs kids! They're the best!

I'm a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. We are very much sticklers for doctrine, particularly concerning salvation by grace, and we tend to be high church in our worship. But we are also a very tolerant congregation, like other Missouri Synod congregations in the Pacific Northwest. I think it's safe to say, the Missouri Synod Lutherans in the middle of the country, where most of our church body resides, would tend to see as as leaning toward the liberal side.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

i'm with Salvation Army but not a soldier(and maybe never will).

Helping with the sunday School
love the kids and trying to do my best to help them

Im new to the forum too. Have been a Christian for about 5 years, and attend a Community church in Victoria, Australia.

I'm a Christian, must be four years now. Non denominational, but I attend my nearest church which is CofE.

Truth-seeking, Bible-believing Christian here!! !

Also a musician: I play piano and occasionally synths at my church and sometimes write arrangements and even original songs when I get the chance to. I tend to be opinionated, too, as you'll find out on the forums! We have a wonderful music minister, but he is sadly lacking in his choral conducting skills, whereas I had 9 semesters in college in music education and 4 in graduate level composition. I've only given him a hard time over the more advanced stuff. I just don't have the kind of charismatic gift or the voice to lead worship, but I've never had trouble with rehearsing the praise band. I spend more time accompanying choir rehearsals, and since we do a lot of contemporary praise music I'm delighted to be one of the few Baptist piano players around here that is able to get "outside the box" in a service. I'd love to hear more about what you do, randomgirl.

And yes, I do tend to lean more towards the Conservative side. I think "tolerance" is just a postmodern buzzword that means we can do whatever we want to do and no one can say things that offend us. Biblical teaching doesn't tolerate ANY sin, and I firmly believe that we are called upon to discern Biblical and spiritual truth--unfortunately for some, this means "judging" and taking a stand. I can't help myself sometimes, when I see things attacking Christianity or even Christians who make mistakes on Biblical matters, I try to be quick in making corrections wherever I can. I don't set out to offend people, but that is bound to happen any time someone takes spiritual issues back to the Bible.

When I say "conservative," I just mean "back-to-the-basics." Jesus urged his followers not to be hypocrites ("Judge not..."), but He also encouraged them to seek truth and hold other accountable for their words and actions--to correct each other in the spirit of love. We have no shortage of Christian bashers on here, and I think that demands a quick, thorough, and well-informed response. If someone says something that is wrong, speak up!

Glad to see other like-minded brothers and sisters here!

I'm a Christian and I don't really label myself in a particular denomination. I believe in Biblical inerrancy but I don't believe in taking everything in the Bible literally (or else we would have people who have their eyes gauged out if those eyes caused them to sin for example).

Church of England, it's the major denomination in the UK. I was born into a Catholic family, and rejected all of it... so much so I was a wiccan for years. My Dad is still horrified that I'm a "protestant"... what he would think if I told him that, shortly after becoming a Christian I got baptised (immersion) I don't know. As far as he is concerned, I was splashed with water by a Catholic priest when I was a day old, and that should be good enough. (I was very prem, my parents thought I might die unbaptised, hence the lack of ceremony.) I was 33 when I chose to be baptised as a Christian. I'm not a sectarian now, and I wasn't then. As far as I'm concerned, God knows who His children are, and they come from all sorts of different backgrounds and places. Some of them (like my husband) were not even baptised.

Anyway... I have some views that don't fit in with general Christian practise. I accept that I might be wrong. The only thing I do know is that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him may have everlasting life."

I am sure that there will be Hindus in heaven who "believed in Him", and plenty of Christians who cried out, "Lord, Lord... did we not..." etc, who are rejected by Him (He says that He will say "I never knew you" to many who cry out "Lord, Lord." So lots of professional Christians are in all sorts of trouble!)

I personally know a Sikh who was baptised as a Christian, and yet still attends Sikh Temple as well as Church on Sunday, and I fully expect to see him in the Kingdom of Heaven. He tells all the other Sikhs of the One who is the "Way, Truth and Life."

The Sikh confession of Faith sounds a bit like this (any Sikhs forgive me, I'm typing phonetically.)
Echo Unkhar, Sath Nam.
Which means, "There is one God, Truth is His Name."
There is a whole uncanny story about the Sikh guy, and how I came to know him, but it's not something I'm comfortable to share on a public forum, for fear of Christian (or Sikh/Hindu) bashing.

So cool! Thanks for the replies! So nice to meet everyone here

Rather conservative Christian here. We are currently members of a Baptist church and looking for a new church home.

I am the exact opposite of what Richard Dawkins implied Einstein was (a deeply religious atheist) in the first chapter of The God Delusion; a nonreligious Christian. I dislike organized religion as much as any militant atheist, and I rarely use that word; I prefer to refer to my theological opinions as just that.

I was raised a Catholic and resigned from that church in my early twenties with the words (which I said to my own soul) “if God is what they say his is, I'll go to hell.” Thus began my agnostic phase which lasted a little over a decade. I used to love televangelists in those days (as a comedy show) and the more obvious they were after your money the better I liked them, yet I chanced upon a couple that weren't. I watched the first for close to an hour, enjoying the show, and didn't notice until the end when he pointed out that the airtime was paid for by donations, that that was the first time he mentioned money. They taught me a lot, the most important thing to read the bible for myself.

Eventually, I learned all they had to teach me. The second one, however, suggested I find a church. I tried for several years but I couldn't find one that I fit in with and I wasn't convinced was at least lead by hypocrites.

Someone who believes that Jesus died to take away their sins, rose again on the third day and lives and reigns today as our Savior and Lord. Someone who takes those truths, and lives by them, with Jesus as their Savior and Lord of their life.

As the verse in Acts states, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved".

Anything beyond that is doctrinal. But I believe all Christians have one foundation. And that is the foundation. Of course, there are rules to live by, such as the ones that imply not to do such things for those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But that is MY description of what a Christian is, be they lukewarm, hot, super hot, or totally sold out for Jesus.