Religious affiliation (9 Viewers)

[asscookie]

for all of those non-christians out there, i invite you all to come to hillsong church to experience God's love first hand. you will be a changed person after an experience at my awesome church..
' Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes'. Rev 7:16-17
How powerful is that?!
God Bless all of you.

Hillsong scares the shit out of me. It's more like a cult centre than a traditional church.

 

[waterfowl]

Hillsong scares the shit out of me. It's more like a cult centre than a traditional church.

It isn't meant to be like a traditional Church...thats the whole point!
Most people these days cannot relate to 'traditional' Churches because they don't offer modern day services/production. It is a modern Church for a modern time.

 

[asscookie]

That may be true, but it's definitely reminiscent of the early days of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

[§eraphim]

no, they're quite unrelated
Mormons belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



Most are same as mainstream Christianity - i.e. Bible is the Word of God, the Trinity (God - the Father, Son & Holy Spirit), salvation by grace, etc...

Some different ideologies:
*SDA's keep the Sabbath (saturday - hence the "seventh-day"), as set aside by God in the Creation week for rest, worship and generally doing good things for people.
*Emphasise a healthy lifestyle (since body is the temple of the holy spirit, 1 Cor 6:19,20)
*view death as an unconcious state (until the resurrection) In other words, SDAs don't believe that believers go "straight to heaven" as soon as they die. They are resurrected when Jesus returns.
*look forward to the soon 2nd coming of Christ (hence "adventist") and spreading the "good news" worldwide.

For a more comprehensive overview, try http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/index.html

p.s. never realised how "multi-faith" BOS was until now - this is really interesting!

agnosticism..if im wrong, ill repent on my deathbed and go to heaven

the new spin off churches, eg 7th Day Adventist, Mormons, Moonies, all seem like cults masquerading as new Christianity

 

[asscookie]

agnosticism..if im wrong, ill repent on my deathbed and go to heaven

the new spin off churches, eg 7th Day Adventist, Mormons, Moonies, all seem like cults masquerading as new Christianity

Well, I know with Jehovah's Witnesses that they are an organisation that exists solely for profit. Their motto is "Advertise, advertise the King and his Kingdom!" (the kingdom being heaven as well as the organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses). They tried to reinvent the Bible and pass it off as "the new truth" by selling copies manufactured by the Watchtower Society, and they frown on protestantism and catholicism.. Mormon's aren't Christians, they added Joseph Smith's hallucinations to the Bible (correct me if I'm wrong). Seventh Day Adventists are weird, their beliefs about Christ's return and the purpose of heaven are very different to those of mainstream Christianity (ie Church of England and possibly Roman Catholic Church).

In its early days, Christianity was regarded as a cult. The only reason it's not called a cult anymore is because of the large numbers who profess their supposed Christian faith.

 

[thejosiekiller]

christianity was never a cult- they were jews who started to hold different beliefs about god and heaven

 

[asscookie]

christianity was never a cult- they were jews who started to hold different beliefs about god and heaven

The Jews at the time viewed the Christians as members of a cult. The Jews and gentiles who joined Jesus were denigrated and stoned to death because of their affiliation.

 

[thejosiekiller]

im not entirely sure but i dont think all the jews at the time viewed the christians as members of a cult (a modern day association)

im sure it was just zealots that viewed them as splinters- whatever u want to call them

 

[<:eQuiLiBriUm:>]

I'm an Atheist

 

[Angelus]

Agnostic here.

 

[lukebennett]

It isn't meant to be like a traditional Church...thats the whole point!
Most people these days cannot relate to 'traditional' Churches because they don't offer modern day services/production. It is a modern Church for a modern time.

its an overly corporate church which sells christianity and is almost what you could call a profit organisation. its overly hyped and is too big. it is impersonal so that most members dont truely have to participate they can just take from the church and go when they want. its not community minded at all. it scares the shit out of me cause everyone there is a clone of each other. dresses the same and uses all the same lingo. it isnt a great witness for christianity when you see the pastors staying in penthouses when they go on overseas conferences when their first class fleights could go to people who need money.

they have this family health centre thing in castle hill and blacktown and somewhere else. they only get 400000 bucks per year between the two. thats criminal as workers get virtually nothing for full time work.

i think people cant relate to this kind of church cause it seems like a cult. it is so image conscious half the women who go there develop eating disorders.

as a christian there is no way i would ever advocate such a church which needs to remember what its purpose is. i went there years ago and my sister went there for bible college and had to go as part of her course. there is something seriously wrong with it

 

[waterfowl]

It has to 'sell' Christianity otherwise how is it going to attract people.
I'm not entirely sure on Hills, but I know my Church, which is very similar, is non-profit because any profit they make goes straight back to the services and things that they offer.

I don't find such large Churches impersonal, sure if you sit by yourself and don't talk to anyone they would be. And everyone isn't clones of each other, and if they are it's probably because they all live in the same sort of area. I know my Church for example has heaps of different types of people who all dress and speak differently, it is very diverse.

Having pastors who stay in nice accommodation and fly first class is a great witness: it shows exactly what the Bible teaches, if you sow you will reap, and if you devote your life to God then you will be rewarded.
I'm sure if you had a look at those pastors budgets, a lot of money (and time) would go into helping other people.

my sister went there for bible college and had to go as part of her course. there is something seriously wrong with it

If what you meant by this is that it is wrong your sister had to attend Church whilst going to Bible college...you're crazy...of course you'd have to go to Church whilst attending Bible college, otherwise whats the point?

 

[concession]

I beleive in myself

 

[nicko88]

i'm catholic and i belive in God. i'm catholic because of my parents

 

[lukebennett]

It has to 'sell' Christianity otherwise how is it going to attract people.
I'm not entirely sure on Hills, but I know my Church, which is very similar, is non-profit because any profit they make goes straight back to the services and things that they offer.

I don't find such large Churches impersonal, sure if you sit by yourself and don't talk to anyone they would be. And everyone isn't clones of each other, and if they are it's probably because they all live in the same sort of area. I know my Church for example has heaps of different types of people who all dress and speak differently, it is very diverse.

Having pastors who stay in nice accommodation and fly first class is a great witness: it shows exactly what the Bible teaches, if you sow you will reap, and if you devote your life to God then you will be rewarded.
I'm sure if you had a look at those pastors budgets, a lot of money (and time) would go into helping other people.



If what you meant by this is that it is wrong your sister had to attend Church whilst going to Bible college...you're crazy...of course you'd have to go to Church whilst attending Bible college, otherwise whats the point?

i dont think it is wrtong she had to go to the church. im just saying she knows what goes on.

when i say seel christianity i mean they try to sell commercially to christians way too much and make it too much of an off shoot of the secular world. but yes you do need to sell christianity but not through music etc cause that doesnt attract them for the right reasons

it is good that they are wealthy but look at other pastors who struggle to make a living. they go beyond what they need also considering people who go there are dirt poor. only a small amount goes on "emerge" (400000) and considering how much they make it is puny. Also when the pastor gets plastic surgery and they have a huge house, and body guards when they go shopping. no body would even know who they are in the first place. body guards and a limo are a waste of offering money which people believe is going to help the church.

i also dont believe in having huge churches. smaller churchere are better in that the pastor knows everyone properly and everyone knows everyone in the church. it is much more community like and united.

but you go to CCC right. my sister goes there sometime but it is too much of a drive. it is a lot less cloned in CCC apparently.

 

[waterfowl]

body guards and a limo are a waste of offering money which people believe is going to help the church.

but you go to CCC right. my sister goes there sometime but it is too much of a drive. it is a lot less cloned in CCC apparently.

They have body guards and a limo? Although sometimes bodyguards might be a good idea, pastors get death threats quite alot. And usually offering money isn't used to pay wages, at least the bulk of it isn't. Most pastors would get their travel and extra money from love offerings - which people know will go straight to the pastor.

Yes I do. I have never been to Hills so I can't really comment on the clone thing

 

[lukebennett]

its just overly commercial and fake and image conscious. its scary how shallow the whole place is. despite the fact that they do good and all youd hope theyd make better use of the money and subject themselves to a basic economy flieght like other people etc. its one thing to have a nice home but tithe money shudnt go towards the pastors plastic surgery and luxury. i know what you meean though about churches needing to be modern but its gone so far that way that its nearly a secular off shoot

 

[Korn]

Christian-Catholic, Cause i was brought up this way, but never go to church. I have heavily religious grandparents and a uncle who is a priest.

FACT: Catholics have killed the most amount of ppl of any religion, yet their faith is based on loving one another and peace to all men. In fact Jesus was the original hippy

 

[dougthelegend]

Im a fully confirmed Catholic - but the only time i go to church is for Midnight Mass, and some mass' over the easter/lent period.

 

[phatic]

Agnostic. Or more precisely, nihilist. I won't last long though, I need some form of religious expression... Or else impotence will arrest me. Everything I've considered is so fallible though...

How do you atheists and agnostics interpret transcendental urges? Or are you hedonists, or quasi-hedonists, and know nothing of this sort? Bah, I'm sick of rotting in this materialistic vacuity!

And I have known the eyes already, known them all--
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume?

- T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock