Re: Have you ever converted to a different religion?
 

I was raised in the Church of God which is very similiar to COGIC. I remember when I was younger I wanted to be Baptist or Methodist b/c we were so strict. I just wanted to feel normal. We couldn't do ANYTHING or go ANYWHERE! I was very sheltered b/c of my religion.

Anyway, I broke away when I went to college. At first I didn't go to church at all cuz I felt like I had put in enough time that should last me for the rest of my life. I eventually started attending a Baptist church. Now I am a member of a Missionary Baptist church and I really love my church.

My family was cool w/the change because I think we all realized that serving God should not be as hard as the way the COG teaches. Now, my whole family is either Baptist or non-denominational.

Interesting topic
 

I was raised Baptist, and didnt really understand it. I just liked getting dressed up and going to Sunday school. :) I am now attending a Church of Christ church with my boyfriend and love it. My daughter loves her teachers. Because I am a single mother, I expected to be frowned upon, but have been welcomed with open arms. I'm very happy there.

Ummm...
 

Ok,I was raised in a Missionary Baptist Church. At the age of 12 I started going to a Seven Day Adventist Church. I stopped eating pork,but I was NOT about to start washing somebody's ashy FEET. Anyways,I stuck with the whole Seven Day Adventist thing for a while. Then, I left and I attended a Gospel Assembly...BORING. There was no TRUE worship in that place. They sang from OLD hymn books, read (NOT PREACHED) a few scriptures, did communion, and left. But,my heart yearned for that good old Missionary Baptist way,so at the age of 13 I was back to my roots. I MUST say,from what I obsereved in my "exploration" of different religions, a lot of churches pick up these doctrines based on two scriptures in the Bible,but they do NOT comply to the WHOLE doctrine. Is it just me that has noticed that or WHAT? What is that ALL about?

Re: Ummm...
 

I am not a theologian, but it is pretty simple. . . just as easy as you and I may read a scripture and disagree about its meaning and relevance, is as easy as another "denomination" may spring up based on interpretation of a scripture or a feeling of how important particular scriptures are to salvation. Doctrinal differences (within Christianity at least) just boil down to emphasis on particular aspects of the bible. Some people take scriptures literally and thus you have the more extreme and strict denominations, while others look at scriptures figuratively or simply as a moral and philosophical guide. The COGIC church I attended didn't allow women to wear pants, spoke harshly of women that cut their hair short or wore make-up (especially finger nail polish), and promoted a number of other legalistic views based on scriptures I still have yet to find to clearly address these things. They also do not "allow" women to be preachers, pastors, or bishops, and strongly discourage that path for women in favor of lesser roles within the church, that are 'in proper order'. I thought I'd seen it all until I came across what apostolics believe about women http://www.apostolic-ministries.net/doctrine.htm#preach . It is not you. . . . some denominations are just really extremist in their views based on a few scriptures that operate as the core of the denominations beliefs.

These are the "official" COGIC beliefs http://www.cogic.org/dctrn.htm which are based on a number of scriptures, thus is valid from a literal doctrinal standpoint. What happens often times is that people have their own issues, or beliefs, then try to back up those beliefs with scripture, instead of reading scriptures and trying to understand them objectively with the intention of arriving at a central truth. That may be why it seems that an entire denomination just harps on a few verses. Those few verses are usually the ones that support the legalistic aspects of a denominations beliefs.

Reiki you've explained it well. My grandfather was a reverend and died when he was 95 - in Brooklyn there are churches on every block (some have 2 or 3)-so I grew up hearing about all these stories. There is an old saying(well the old people around me used to say this)-differences in religion divides churches to multiply congregations....which means if you look at the history of different churches you will find that many congregations originally started at the same church under one leader and over time/and various issues-(over the leader/doctrines/etc.) congregations divided to become two different churches. However if you ask many members today they would have no idea that their church was EVER associated with another because of the vastly different interpretations.

I've never heard that before, and that's a great quote. I personally think another reason for so many churches (and once again, just my lil' ol' opinion) is that many times, people can't (or won't) sit under leadership. Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians. It's always easy to say what you would do if "I was the Pastor." Leading people is hard work - even harder many times in the church.

Unfortunately, there are too many "chiefs" that don't understand that the purpose of being a "cheif" is not to keep "indians" ignorant and in their place, but to assist people in their development into fellow "chiefs". In other words, being a good church leader means being able to allow people to grow and question things without becoming offended and taking it personally and relegating that questioning of doctrine to heresy. Anyone that thinks that the purpose of attending church is to blindly accept what the leadership says is sadly mistaken. It is to learn. . . and you cannot truly learn if you are afraid to question things, even if you eventually prove yourself to be wrong. Many denominations probably wouldn't have split if instead of people becoming offended by their differences in interpretations they had been open enough to seek the truth instead of seeking to control the "indians".

TTT - Has anyone here been witnessed to by Mormons?
 

While it seems like most, if not all of us, has been approached at one time or another by Jehovah's Witnesses, I am curious if anyone has been approached by Mormons. Lemme explain...

A few weeks ago, I received a knock on my door by three Mormon missionaries (note: missionaries are women, elders are men) who were trying to witness the Mormon faith to me. Well, I took the bait; I talked with them, explained that I wanted something new and different in my spirtual walk with God and in reading the Word, etc.

They gave me the Book of Mormon, asked me to pray about it and whether or not it was true, based on Moroni 10:3-5, and whether or not founder Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I even went to one of their church services, which I quite frankly got little, if anything out of it. The "sermons" (which consists of testimony by 2-3 members) were IMHO dry (i.e., lacked any real backing of the Bible) and I could only hear 1/3 of the sermons b/c the kids were making a ton of noise (crying, eating, toy throwing, etc.). Then the 2nd hour consisted of Mormon "sunday school" which I received a book to keep called "Gospel Principles" (a Mormon orientation manual, if you will), and the 3rd hour was a gender segregated session where the men went to priesthood, which was part business meeting and part testimony/sermon for men only.

When I told my home church I was considering conversion, the members were UPSET about that. Numerous members called me to tell me the real deal on Mormonism, which prompted me to go online and study this topic and got a rude awakening on what it really involved (which includes, among other things, polygamy and anti-Black racism, which is thinly veiled throughout the Book of Mormon--at least before it was changed and made more "politically correct").

I even studied how the Christian and Mormon doctrines differed from night and day and did a LOT of Bible studying on how the two differed. I then called the missionaries and invited them over for a third meeting (the second time we met was what prompted me to do the Bible study on the differing doctrines). When they came over it was 5 (three missionaries and two elders, all of them in their early 20s) against 1 (me). I had my scriptures ready and was prepared to defend the Christian faith (1 Peter 3:15).

For the next 90 minutes, it was primarily me and one of the elders, with one of the missionaries as backup duking it out in the Word, with them trying to throw in the B.O.M for good measure. Neither of us would give an inch, but I was pretty sure as they departed my home, that they knew I was NOT planning on converting to Mormon.

The major lesson I learned from all this was: Jehovahs Witnesses and Mormons are only able to convert those Christians who are weak/babies in their spiritual walk with God and/or their knowledge and understanding of the Word. I had a head knowledge of the Bible, but not a heart knowledge. This experience strengthened my desire to put the Word in my heart.

But anyway, does anyone here know any Black Mormons, even with their historically racist past?

RainMain, I'm in the process of converting to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon).

If you'd like to PM me I can try to clarify some of what sounds like some major misinformation you were given. I won't try to convert you (I promise!) but I don't want you to come away from our church beleiving some things that are outright wrong.

For the rest of the people reading the thread: rest assured that while the church may have had racist policies in the past (as did most churches), they have been completely and whole-heartedly eliminated as we all (I'm saying we as in human beings) have become re-educated thanks to the Civil rights movement in the last 50 years. there are several black Mormons in my ward, and they have all of the same opportunities as the rest of us do.

Also, and I will repeat this over and over and over again: the LDS church does NOT support polygamy!! There are some splinter sects who call themselves "Mormon" but are NOT affiliated or approved of by the church that do, but the actual Church of Latter Day Saints frowns very heavily upon it. Anyone found to be practicing polygamy will be excommunicated immediately.

(Edited to add: Missionaries can be men or women. Elder is a title for any man who has reached adulthood (there's more to it, but that's the simple way of putting it). Adult women in the church are referred to as sisters)

Back to your regularly scheduled thread (RainMan, PM me!)

I was raised in the Baptist church from elementary school until I moved to my current location. In 1996, I joined a non-denominational church that is based on principles from the Unity/New Thought movement. I have no regrets. The messages are contemporary and relevant to present-day life.

Church has always been a part of me. During college, I visited AME, Catholic and COGIC churches. At one point I toyed with the idea of converting to Catholicism because the services were short and sweet, unlike at the Missionary Baptist, where the routine was 9 a.m. Sunday school; 11 a.m. regular worship; 5 p.m. Baptist Training Union and 7 p.m. Sunday night service. Prayer meeting was always 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and choir rehearsal was 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Even though my body was constantly in church, my mind was elsewhere. I had so many questions about who and what God is, and how Jesus related to me. The answers I got, that I would understand better by and by were not satisfactory. I kept quiet because I knew I'd get a beatdown if I challenged the minister or deacon. So I reluctantly accepted what I was taught until I was led to the church I now attend.

This church is a place where all questions are welcome, and members are strongly encouraged to read and study the Bible and other historical and spiritual texts. We also learn the value of prayer and meditation in establishing a direct link with God. I have attended this church since 1996, and love it. I've grown more spiritually in this place than in all of the previous years combined.

My previous church served its purpose for a while. But as I grew physically and mentally, I needed more spiritually. Everyone should worship as he or she is led. Sometimes that means leaving the "home" church, and setting out on a totally different course. Thank God those options are available.

:)

Re: Re: Thanks Reiki...
 

Your mother must have been hanging around with my JW aunt. :D

I didn't necessarily convert. I was raised Catholic and am now agnostic

You all need some Moses in your life. Hallelujah!

-Rudey

I didn't change religions. I'm still of the Christian faith. But until I was about 12 we were Baptist (my mother's denomination). My father then decided to return to church (he's Anglican). So when I was about 13 we started attending an Anglican church & I was confirmed at 14. All of my family has been confirmed at this point. I am glad we did it b/c I prefer the Anglican denomination b/c it's more orderly than the Baptist church(in that there is a worldwide format for the service) but not as "rigid" as the Catholic Church. For those of you from the Caribbean you know what Anglican is. But for those who don't know, basically it's the church that was formed when King Henry the something lol broke away from the Catholic Church. Our service is VERY similar to the Catholic denomination's. One major difference for eg. is that our priests can marry.

Henry VIII ... he wanted to get divorced and the Pope wouldn't let him.

The Anglican Church is almost-but-not-quite the same as the Episcopal Church, if my understanding is correct.