I have been looking on the internet all day to try to find out what is the difference between the religions. For example what is the difference between Baptist, methodist, Prodistant..... I can't find the answer. If you all know I'd love to hear what you have to say. I ask because I have been looking for a church for the first time in my adult life and I have been hearing things like "AWANAS is baptist and that has different teachings from the Prodistant faith." Or someone saying the KJV is more what they use as opposed to the NIV. HELP!!!
Protestants are all Christians who are not Catholic. There are many different denominations among the Protestant group- Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, etc. All of these groups have the same underlying belief of God as the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and that God the Father sent God the Son to be our Savior. The difference is in the doctrines of the church. Basically, each denomination interprets certain issues different ways (baptism, the Lord's supper). There is a huge movement of "non" or "inter"-denominational churches. These churches welcome all Christians regardless of denominational background. The most important thing is that you find a church that teaches bibilcal truths. I don't think that AWANA is a Baptist-only program. I do know that lots of Baptist churhes use it. AWANA is an organiztion in itself, that strives to bring the gospel to all children. As far as Bible translations... my opinion is get the one you will read and study. Some of the newer translations (NIV, New Living, Christain Standard) are much easier to understand. There are people out there who believe that only the King James is correct. I don't. After all, it, too, is a translation of the Greek and Hebrew. The Message is very popular now, but I'd recommend using it along with another translation. I hope this didn't confuse you more. I'm sure some of the other ladies here can give you more opinions!
Thanks Pam!! That is exactly what I was looking for. I have the same opinion about bible translations especially when I haven't studied the bible since childhood and I need to be able to explain the verses to my kids. Ok so what then are the differences between denominations? I know the catholic religion because that is the religion I was born into. But I really don't know the difference between Methodist and Baptist and Leutheran. Are they subtle or are they big.
Besides Theology there are structural issues that are diffrent.. Some have a structured leadership over the church itself...the local church under the authority of a regional group, which is in turn under the authority of a national group, which would then be under the authority of the main leadership. This has both good and bad to it.. Good for accountablility: If a pastor goes off on some weird tangent he has to answer to his superiors. Bad if the higherups get into problems: It the group you are accountable to goes off on some weird tangent.. you are kind of stuck. There are also diffrent styles of worship.. some are very quiet and reverent, some Celebrate excitedly.. including dancing and shouting to God, and some have a mixture of the two. These things are not usually things that determine you salvation (some theology things might be) but instead are things that help you worship God more comfortably. i.e. if you are super excited about what God has done and you generally have a tough time holding in your excitement - a church where people never dance around and Shout "Hallelujah!" You will feel out of place and uncomfortable. and vice versa. The main purpose of denominations is to help everyone have a place they can worship without constant bickering over things like the fact that Henry wants to sing 5 hymns and sit down and Sarah wants to sing 25 contemporary songs and take as long as she likes or weather it's alright if Sarah drinks one glass of wine on her Birthday every year. Non-denominational Churches generally try to make people with any of these comfort levels comfortable. If you are asking in order to decide what denomination you are, I reccomentd lots of prayer and Bible study before you settle on the theology issues that determine the denominations. Pray about what Churches to visit... God once led me to a denomination I never would have chosen on my own and it was the BEST chuch I ever attended when I moved to a new city I ended up back in the one similar to the one I grew up in. As for the NIV and KJV of the bible.. The Bible wasn't origionally written in English, it has to be translated or else we all have to learn Hebrew and Greek! Each translation (KJV, NIV are only two of those) was translated by a diffrent group of people. Some words may not be translated the same in each version. the diffrences are based on what the group of translator thought best conveyed the meaning of the origional languages. When you chose what version to read yourself.. you could consider the reputation of the translation/translators (i.e. are the translators known to have strong bias when translating?) and secondly consider which one is easier for you to understand.
This one is much harder to answer because there are so many. Not only that there are diffrent kinds of Baptist Churches, Different kinds of Medhodist and so on. http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations.htm I don't know how accurate this website is beacuse I have only glanced at it, but I found it to have lots of Comparison charts between the denominations so you can at least get a vague idea from it.. And if it's really good a clearer picture of the diffrences.
Maureen... AWANA is not a ministry that is only for the Baptist faith... it is in many Christian churches (but I do know that it is a common youth ministry in the Baptist churches). I found this link for different religions... if it's what you're looking for http://www.religioustolerance.org/var_rel.htm
That's it! I've been looking for sites like this all day long. Thank you all for your help. I just, so badly want to make the right decision. I know that the right thing will be shown to me if I look hard enough. I feel a bit jaded and skeptical about organized religion based on how I was raised. I was tought that it was full of judgment and rules that made no sense to me. Growing up I attended church only if invited by friends. And I loved it! As an adult I had an experience when I felt like God himself had come to me and "smacked me upside the head" with his undying love for me. From then on I have felt the need to learn more and form my own opinion on organized religion as well as my own personal beliefs. Thank you for answering my questions and bringing me closer to the knowledge I seek.
Maureen, you really need to make a prayerful decision. Different churches have different doctrine. That is very important to know. Some believe you can loose your salvation and some believe in tongues and healings and some do not. You will want to research which churches believe what before visiting or joining. You also might want to find a comparsion chart at your local christian bookstore. The book of Romans is where we get our main priniciples of doctrine. So, read that, the book of John (great book or new christians) and pray over it. If you are honestly seeking the Lord will not fail you. As far as Bible translations, I am KJV only. I could go into why and that would take a very very long time. I didn't always nor was I raised to believe this. In fact, up until about 4 years ago I thought it was the craziest thing I ever heard. I realize some if not most of you reading this will say that it is. However, I have sone much research and through much prayer I have decided that the KJV is the translation that God wants us to have. I am also a conservative fundamental independent baptist. That's a mouthful! I was raised catholic. My journey into that faith is a long story. So, I won't waste precious time getting into it. Because what I think is immaterial. What God says in His Word is what is important. Remember a church who shows evidence of soul winning, supports missioniaries, encourages you to read the bible, and teaches the Word is the direction you are looking in. Bottem line....New Testemant Bible believing church. I am a testimony to the Lord not failing you when seeking a church. Again, I will not go into all the details. I feel my posts run rather long and that may be annoying. lol. but I can tell you that through much prayer and about a year or so, my familly found a church home. It was a church we never thought we would join. I love it there. So, seek the Lord and He will guide you, I promise....better yet...He promises.
Maureen, I cannot imagine trying to sort through all the information on those websites. I understand that you are trying to find out where you would "fit in" according to beliefs, but let me encourage you to ask God! Prayerfully seek His will and He will show it to you. Sometimes God does "smack us upside the head" to get our attention. He loves us so much! Being the hard-headed humans we are, we need it sometimes!
Pam, Thank you so much. You are right that I need to pray and let Him lead the way for me. I have always meant to tell you that I also have a child named Bailey. My other daughter is Emily and we named her that so we would shorten it to Emma, but then never did. She's just an Emily. AND if my third child had been a girl we would have named her Grace!
Just a small note of caution.. I purposely didn't post the religoustolerance site because in their strong goal to remain unbiased and tolerant of everyone, I think they tend to be biased against all religions. The underlying theme in every article seems to me to be that everyone should "tolerate" everything (except maybe the 'intolerant') and everyone... no matter how wrong it is, just because someone somewhere thinks it's ok. I may be reading into things too much, but pray about it.
I think the ways certain denominations came about is quite fascinating. And, unfortunately, those founders would be turning in their grave over what is going on today in those same churches! Basically, wherever you go, you need to look carefully at their beliefs and see if they line up with God's Word, or do they believe that God's word is outdated and subject to cultural change? Do they accept that Jesus is God's son, that he was born of a Virgin, was perfect, died for our sins, was ressurected? I know that's pretty basic, but many churches today feel that Jesus was a "good man", ranking right up there with other "good" men. Does this church consider him the ONLY WAY to the Father, or is he one of many ways? Do they view social issues through the Bible, or do they feel that there are no absolutes, and every man must decide what's "right" for him? Pray about it, and God will lead you to a church. The Bible says that he is easily found by those who seek him! As Brenda said, AWANAS isn't necesarrily Baptist, but it DID start in the Baptist church. But generally you do NOT have to attend that church to be involved in their AWANAS program. They usually consider AWANAS an outreach program, and encourage kids from all denomations to attend.
Jackie, very well put! I am an AWANA leader at my church. It is a Baptist church but like Jackie said, it is an outreach. Most of our kids came from VBS. We pick the kids up in the van and bring them to church every Wednesday night. Actually these kids are now coming to sunday school and kids choir also. The parents don't attend...it would be nice to see them attend. Or at least attend at any good church as a family. Anyway, we take any kid from any family from any religion, race or creed. So, you can send your kids to AWANA and never have to set foot in the door if you like.
I'll admit I didnt read all the posts thoroughly, but just wanted to say I attend a non-denominational church.I believe it's NOT about religion, it's about relationship. Prayers for you in finding a church you can call home!
Relationship is essential! I was just talking to my friend about that. She said that she neglects her bible and doesn't go to church anymore. She was feeling bad about it. I told her that a relationship with Christ is essential. I equated it to her relationship with her husband since she doesn't have kids. I said that when we love someone we are always thinking, talking and doing things for that person. We want to please that person. We don't do things that the person we love so much would not be happy with. (ok I recognize the flaw in that one. lol. but that is true to an extent) And if the person we love with all our heart is away, we look forward to his return. But if we neglect the one we love. Never talk to the one we love or consider his feelings...what type of relationship would we have? The Lord is not flawed so no anger on His part would ensue, however, He won't be able to bless you as He so wants to. I think the child/parent relationship is a more powerful and realistic example. For those of us with kids we know what we expect. We know that we want our children to follow our rules. We know we have to discipline for thier own good not out of our anger. We also know that nothing they do or say can make them NOT our child. And nothing they do or say will mean we no longer love and protect them. Ok, that's my two cents. I just love equating our walk with a relationship.
Maureen, Your kids have great names, LOL! Is your Bailey a girl or boy? Mine is a boy, but it seemed to turn towards a girl name in recent years. We only knew 2 people with kids named Bailey when we decided on it. They were both boys. I believe that the focus is on the relationship, too. Without a personal relationship with Christ, none of the other stuff matters. Praying for you , Maureen!
also, to find a church that suits you you need to check them out, go to a few different churches in your area and make a list of things you likes and didn't like not if its a special occasion or event, (they may do things differently for it like lent). But get a feel for if the people are friendly, I liked the non denomination church I went to, after not going to church growing up, it was nice to go to this one because they explained things nicely, and it was a modern feel to it (they had a band and did skits to get some messages accross). But you may want a very traditional church, like I said, I don't have the church up bringing and I am like you and don't know many of the diferences between the types either, I have gone to babptist churches, they tend to sing a lot, and lutherns seam to be kind of simular to the way catholics do things, I was a preschool teacher/leader in a luthern church for a while. (I learned as they learned).
I have a girl Bailey. I find that most people change the spelling for a girl. Like Baylee or something. But, we stuck to the original. I live in a rural area and we only have a 4 churches. One is Catholic, one baptist, one Episcopalian and one very small church which I don't know the denomination. So I feel like I have a few to choose from here locally. If not I can drive a bit and have endless possibilities. I will keep you all posted and keep praying for a church home for my family.
Thanks Crystal. My preacher's granddaughter is named Bailey but she spells it Baylea. I like the Bailey. I love the name.
