For the believers among us

We had revival meeting tonight and Cora came under conviction and was saved! Praise God!!! She has decided to join the church and will be baptized on Sunday. My house is complete!

I neither embrace, nor reject christianity. For clarification, I am NOT a lost soul. Being very near 50% american indian, I have my own beliefs and traditions that are not laced with the problems, greed, hypocrisy, brainwashing, and media preachers rampant in organized religion. My wife and I have personally disagreed with this subject for near 50 years now and we are tolerant of each's beliefs. 

That's the best news a parent could have about their child. What a blessing.

Belief in a Hereafter, a Guiding Light of the Limitations of Mankind as to rules and all Religions save one has a benefit for the follower.  The radicalized garbage is just as bad as demon worship.

I'll second what Hubert just said!!  Great news! 

Great news indeed! God Bless! 

God is good....

Dr p, we're Baptist. Southern Baptist to be more specific. We believe that in order to get to heaven one must either die young enough to still be under the Arc of Protection, meaning they haven't reached the age of accountability, or they have to have come under conviction, and with a broken heart and contrite spirit (true sorrow for their sins) confess their sins with their own mouth, and be saved or forgiven.

The Arc of protection is for people who are to young to have come under conviction. Once a person reaches the age of accountability, they come under conviction. There's no specific number mentioned in the Bible for the age of accountability. It's simply the time when Jesus lets you know you've done wrong. Conviction is when Jesus tells you you've done wrong and are Lost. It comes to us in a dreadful feeling and an urge to pray. To be saved you must be under conviction, confess your sins with your mouth, that was the hardest part for me, and must believe in Almighty God. When you get things right the peaceful, joyful feeling comes. The only thing I can compare it to is seeing your child born. This is my description of being saved.

Baptism is the symbol of your sins being washed away. In order to join our churches you have to be saved and baptized. Generally what happens is during a church service the Pastor will "open the doors of the church" meaning give anyone an opportunity to come in front of the congregation and tell their story of salvation, or testimony of being saved, then the members of the church make a motion and second as to whether or not this person should be allowed to join. Then all members are asked to vote aye for those for the membership or for any opposed. I've never heard of any that opposed. Hopefully this explanation makes sense to anyone who didn't grow up this way. There's several members here that can probably describe it better with references to scriptures but this is my account

No that's not what I mean. Where the Bible says confess your sins with your mouth it means own up to your sins. We don't stand in front of the church and confess. When we bow to pray we believe the prayer has to come from our hearts. What's in our head doesn't matter and if you can get away from what's in your head and speak from the heart then the prayer will be heard by Jesus. A lot of folks bow at the altar with there heads in their hands or folded arms. You can't hear the words they're saying. Some decide to bow where they're standing or sitting. Some get saved in places other than church. We believe it's time to pray when the feeling strikes no matter who is around or what's going on. Salvation is very much an individual thing. Some people come under conviction, pray, and are saved the first time. For some it takes several attempts or even years before they can get their hearts right with Jesus and can let go enough to confess their sins. The only way I know of to explain conviction is a small still voice that you feel rather than hear. When you hear it, it's a powerful and scary thing.

As for joining a church, you stand in front of the church and give your testimony, or the story of your salvation. At that point the moderator, usually the pastor, asks for the other members "approval" for lack of a better term. This approval is asked for because there are certain rules that govern churches. For example, some churches won't allow people who are divorced to be members unless their reason for divorce was infidelity on the part of their spouse. According to the Bible this is the only acceptable reason for divorce. The members are asked whether or not they agree or do not agree with a person becoming a member so that the rules are governed by a group rather than one person, as in democracy. The members asked so that if someone has knowledge of something a candidate has done or is doing is a violation of the church covenant, it can be addressed. This typically isn't called out in front of the church. It's typically a "any opposed?" and if there is opposition then it's discussed behind closed doors with the moderator and deacons of the church. For example, if someone is a sot drunk, or prostitute, or homosexual. These are things that a lot of churches don't accept. In these cases the candidate might be denied membership or they might be denied conditionally meaning they have to complete counseling or other things. This doesn't mean these people can't attend services. We welcome all people. The way we believe is the more people that come to church the more they can hear God's word and the teachings of Jesus. It might be what they need to make changes in their life. Even people of different religions and faiths are welcome as long as they're respectful to our faith and beliefs. What it means is these people can't take part in church business. I know it sounds like approval, and in a way it is, but as long as it's done as intended and not made personal, it's a way to keep a congregations beliefs intact.

Edited by thendrix - 22 Jun 2025 at 9:35pm