Scott, I simply ask new members what they believe about the Bible and instruct them in it. I do not need a man-made creed, I'll use a God given Bible. Jeff Scott Paul Bushey <waytohim@...> wrote: Nancy, First of all, we are not a church, hence, we do not function as such, i.e. we have no pastors, elders or leadership. Why do you hate the creeds. Does not your church have a statement of faith that they use to introduce newcomers to what they believe the scriptures to say? Why is this a bad thing? The WCF or BCf of 1689 are just that, statements of our faith. Nancy Newcomb wrote: Hi Terry, I have been reading the posts on this subject, and I noticed that you mentioned that you personally despise the church covenant as a document. I tend to agree, but I was wondering if you would mind sharing your reasoning on this? Also, I do know of churches which say they require total (I think of this as 100%) agreement with their confessions (some use the three forms of unity) in order to be a member there. Personally, I believe this causes many people to falsely confess complete support of these documents when, in fact, they don't embrace them totally. If they say they require a "general" agreement, what in the world does that mean? It sounds arbitrary and subjective. I know of churches who have statements of faith or confessions, and rather than requiring total agreement with them, the elders inquire of the prospective member as to what parts they disagree with. I think that is a much more honest and practical way of dealing with it. If someone disagrees with a major tenet of the Christian faith, then that can be looked at and dealt with. In His grace, Nancy >From: Terry Rayburn >Reply-To: soundofgrace@... >To: soundofgrace@... >Subject: [soundofgrace] Membership on PuritanBoard.com - Be honest, now. >Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 11:17:24 -0700 (PDT) > >The subject of *the* Antichrist brings into >focus something I've been mulling over re the >"requirements" for the PuritanBoard. > >4 Points: > >1) Statistically, it is virtually impossible for >even a majority of the subscribers to agree 100% >with the creeds named. Even "not sure", e.g., >about who "the" Antichrist is, would disqualify one >from the board. > >2) If I am correct, then many of the particpants >are living a "little white lie" (or even a big >whopper lie), by pretending they are in 100% >agreement. > This is on the level of a church covenant (a >common document I personally despise) which calls >for *no* consumption of alcoholic beverages. Meanwhile, >many among the congregation have a glass of wine >with a good meal occasionally, or to carry it to >the absurd, a swallow of champagne to toast the >bride at a wedding. Thus, either guilt is engendered, >or the "little white lie" is sluffed off and the >conscience is seared. > >3) Ironically, the "weak" brother would be the one >most harmed by such broken rules, while the "strong" >brother may not agree to the cockamamee thing in >the first place. > >4) One last comparison: If I preach tithing to my >congregation as a command of God, using Malachi and >being consistent enough to tell them they are under >the curse of God (per Malachi) for "robbing God" >(brr-r-r-r-r!!!)---and I know statistically that >only 3% or 7% of my congregation is *ever* going to >comply---then I am deliberately, willfully, >and recklessly heaping condemnation on 93% to 97% >of my congregation. Week after week. Month after >month. Year after year. > What do you think that does to their spiritual >lives, and their relationship to Christ? > >Scott, be honest, now...do you believe 100% of either >of the creeds? 100%??? One *hundred* per cent??? > >Those creeds, which were intended to give glory >to God and His Word, have become substitutes for >it instead. "Sola Scriptura", but only after one >bows to a man-made document? No thanks. > >Terry Rayburn > > >--- Scott Paul Bushey wrote: > > Neil, > > Why is this such a stretch? Is it not possible that the > > RCC and their pope's -a- antichrist? After all, do they > > worship the Jesus of the scriptures? > > > > I add: During the time when the WCF was written, Rome was > > against everything the reformation had embraced. > > You do agree that there ARE antichrists? > > > > Neil Whitcombe wrote: > > Wilfred > > > > Is there anyone who actually believes all of these > > documents anymore? > > E.G. the reference to the Anti Christ being the Pope? > > > > Neil > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Wilfred L. Overton [mailto:woverton@...] > > Sent: 20 September 2003 04:07 > > To: soundofgrace@... > > Subject: Re: [soundofgrace] Membership on > > PuritanBoard.com > > > > Scott, > > > > Somethime ago a dear friend gave me a list simular to > > yours and said I > > would enjoy it. They were very ready to recieve me. But I > > discovered > > they required what you do: "LBC of 1689 or the WCF". > > However, they were > > more specific, one had to subscirbe to LBC 1689, Article > > 19. Since I > > could subscribe to the whole article I was rejected. > > > > What are y'all afraid of? > > > > -- > > By Sovereign Grace, > > Willie Overton > > > > "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him > > that cometh > > to me I will in no wise cast out." > > > > http://www.swva.net/drapervalleybaptist > > > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to > > > > > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to > > > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > > > > > > >===== >======================== >Visit "Grace For Life" >An Oasis of Rest For the People of God >http://www.graceforlife.com >======================== > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software >http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com > > >-- >To unsubscribe, send ANY message to > > >To view our online archive go to our web page at >http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > _________________________________________________________________ Get McAfee virus scanning and cleaning of incoming attachments. Get Hotmail Extra Storage! http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es -- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to To view our online archive go to our web page at http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace Jeff