Certainly not! But what I find most is folks that do not have one ounce of anointing on their lives are the ones that are the most opinionated about how things should be done............

Most folks that come to our church are seeking a blessing........a few come looking for the fault...therefore, in every church service we always make a mistake so that everyone is blessed!

Perhaps your blessings is not the blessing they need. My issue is not with established "celebaration churches," but with leaders attempting to convert churches to it. IF you do it, it is for you to deal with, but it is not right to attempt to make everyone follow you. I know a bit about this because of what the conference here has tryed in invoke many times.

Why would anyone think there can be any good in thinking it good that one never came back to church? I find it disturbing that any church member, much less a pastor, would rejoice in someone not being at church.

Redfog

It all depends on the spirit they bring to church with them. If they are infected with the spirit of legalism or the spirit of disturbance, then it is the wrong spirit and the church is better without them. I have been in many churches that are deacon possessed.

Our church is a new breed of church in Adventism. They refer to us as a Cowboy Church. 'Course, down here in Texas, that ain't all bad. Probably because we are a little outside the "Box". It is not for everyone. But it is not meant to be either. Our ministry is to reach out to the ones that have left the fellowship of the church for whatever reason.

We strongly suggest that our program not be taken into any existing church but rather start with a clean sheet in a new facility. We have by invitation started 2 Cowboy Churches in existing facilities that are growing in leaps and bounds. But in both cases, the churches were dead or about to die.

The two things that we find are always present is growth and persecusion. But then scripture tell us with properity comes persecusion.

Now, what about lifting hands in church?????

Barry, I would like to help lift up your hands in your ministry. God bless you and your efforts to seek out the lost sheep. What a great modern day American metaphor of the shepherd to call it the cowboy church!

quote:

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Originally posted by John:
...I wonder why you two fellows feel like you can just brush an inspired statement aside like that...

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Uh John, what about the repeated brush aside of the inspired Scripture that Daryl and Thomas have both referenced!?!? (As Thomas noted elsewhere, this sort of begs the question in the topic of what is the focus of the SDA Church... EGW trumps all discussion and posting including that of Scripture....)

Now John, if you are suggesting that the conduct in the sanctuary of old should be the model for the way we do church, how are you determining what must stay and what must go? If you are following the earthly sanctuary/temple rules prescribed for Israel, take off your shoes and do the ritual cleansing before entering, women and children must stay in the back, only men may stand (sitting not allowed as it would be to informal and disrespectful) up front, no women allowed while they are menstruating, no deformed men allowed, no castrated men allowed, the minister should be barefooted and must wear the prescribed linen garments, etc., and don't forget your sin offering if you sinned this week... And I am only scratching the surface!

Dave, the point I think Daniel was making is that the the rules of order and conduct of our worship services have far more to do with traditions of men than they do with the worship God expects and directs in Scripture. And those traditions have changed over the years, some of which would seem ridiculous to us today.

And by the way, Spencerville Church where I attend, has a very traditional and conservative service. We clap our hands and say "Amen!", especially after a baptism.

Tom

Wendy, how is that stretching it? I would say that Dave and John are stretching things in that direction by suggesting that the sanctuary rules for the Israelites should define how we conduct ourselves in church today. I was only pointing out some of those rules that governed how the Israelites were to demonstrate their reverence for the sacredness of the sanctuary/temple. It's all there in Leviticus if you care to look.

Tom

Hmmm, refering to the Bible for guidence is a "stretch." Most interesting.

Dave, enough juvenile sniping. If you are not going to make a rational and mature contribution to the discussion, just keep quiet.

If one merely makes blind and unthinking reference to Scripture for guidance I would hate to see the results of being blindly guided by Psalms 137:9, "Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!"

Tom

Is it really blind to consider six to eight books giving referenc on conduct?