Preach/Sing in "Other" Denominations

[Me4Him]

I'll have to agree with Bob about the "Church rules", right or wrong, that said,

I believe there's saved people in "most" denomination, Faith in Jesus is all that's required, but not all possess the same knowledge about the scriptures.

I frequently attend a Missionary Baptist church, Pastored by one of my best friends/fishing buddy, which is Amill, I'm not, this past Easter, he baptized 13 new Christians.

And I've worked for the past 20 years or so with a "Prebyterian" Group each year for VBS, which are also Calvinist/Amill, I'm not, only the Lord knows how many been saved during this time.

The "Gospel of Jesus/Salvation" is very easy for anyone to understand, however prophecy is a different matter all together, that "Gift" is restricted to certains ones, while the "gift" of salvation is not restricted.

Two can't walk together unless they agree, so I have no problem working with those where the gospel of Jesus/salvation is preached/taught, and even though we disagree on prophecy, the effort has still bore fruit.

I'm a little like Paul,

1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

 

[Shiloh]

Brother Bob hit the nail on the head. If you are a member of a local IFB church you should have read their constitution. If you did then you know the rules. If you didn't

 

[Scott J]

Originally posted by Brother Bob:
Forget the Scripture I quoted just go by the "majority rule". The Church can rule as it sees fit for the best of their Church.

Majority rule amongst humans never trumps God's Word.

Someone rightly said when they suggested that the church be forced to remove them with a scriptural foundation for "correction".

HOWEVER, there may be a very good scriptural ground for correcting a member that went to a church that openly taught false doctrines or followed false practices in their normal conduct of worship. One example of false doctrine for me might be a church with a female pastor- I think there would be a good biblical ground for correction if singers/preachers went into such a church and didn't take a stand on the issue openly. An example of false practices would be a church that was characterized by "speaking in tongues" and such.

 

[Scott J]

BTW, it is not biblical to ask someone to leave without trying to work out the problem.

 

[Brother Bob]

Biblical or not they have the power and do use it to removing someone from their books for violating a rule of the constitution.

 

[Scott J]

Originally posted by AVL1984:
What will be an even bigger shock is when they see some Catholics, JW's, Mormons and Pentecostal's there!

Catholics? Probably. There are some who are born again and stay in the RCC for other reasons. If they accept the official RCC sotierology... then no. It is unbiblical.

Pentacostals? All but certainly. Again, it would depend on how much they associate salvation with works and deeds rather than grace. It all comes down to sotieirology.

But JW's and Mormons?

Not unless they completely rejected the bulk of what those two cults teach.

 

[Scott J]

Originally posted by Brother Bob:
Biblical or not they have the power and do use it to removing someone from their books for violating a rule of the constitution.

Biblical or not? That simple phrase speaks volumes.

The ONLY valid foundation for a Christian church is the Bible. It is the final authority on all matters of faith and practice. It is unbiblical to give someone the boot without attempting reconciliation that defers not to the church, its rules, the majority, or the member in question but rather to the Bible.

 

[Brother Bob]

Come up to the real world. The leaders of churches make decisions everyday for the better of the church they serve by their constitution. You are on this board according to their rules, you think your using Scriptures will keep you here if they decide you have broken one of their rules like using too much bold type.

 

[rjprince]

Originally posted by Brother Bob:
Don't want to throw cold water on this but if anyone hasn't learned that the Church has all the authority it wants or needs if it rules by majority and whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. If the majority of a Church says that you have broken their rules, it don't have to be Scripture then you are gone I am sorry to say. The Church has great power.

Majority RULE? What church polity manual did that come from? The Elders are to rule the church on the basis of the Word of God. The closest you can come to "majority rule" is where the mulitude approved the actions of the Apostles and Elders in Acts 15.

Majority Rule? Sounds like a civic club, not a church!

BOLD TYPE! Now that's funny. I know the background on that one...

 

[Brother Bob]

Sounds like a fair minded Church who does not want to lord any thing over on its members. I believe in a impartial God, what about you?
Could I ask you a question, does your membership vote on who is Pastor?
That rule and that Church is older than almost any other church in these United States.

 

[rjprince]

The elders unanimously present a new Pastor to the church for final approval.

 

[bapmom]

Sogo,

but it's not a manmade rule necessarily. In what Ive read I don't think we have enough info from you to really be able to give you good advice. What types of churches were you preaching in? Were you doing an evangelistic style outreach in which anyone was invited? Or were you joining hands with a group that does not teach Biblical doctrine?

I guess I assume that if you call yourself a Baptist you do so because you believe in baptistic doctrines. You believe they are Biblical, and that if you thought another denomination has it down better than you'd be a part of that other denomination. Most other denominations have some very serious problems Biblically speaking, and not just with minor issues like whether they call their pastors "elders" or if they have a deacon board or not.

When a church decides to go by a certain denominational title than it is because they agree with those distinctives. So the only real way we have to determine if we can fellowship with them on an ecclesiastical level is through determining the Biblical correctness of that denomination's distinctives.

If you are insisting on joining ranks on a ministry level with folks who do not hold to the same Biblical doctrines that you claim, than in fact I think you are representing yourself deceptively. You are saying you agree when in fact you do not. If your church does not agree with this, and your ministry is not sanctioned by them, than by all means they have the right to ask you to leave their membership. As a church member, you are representing that church in any ministry you enter into in the community. Thus if you are determined to enter into a ministry they do not agree with, than they absolutely have the right to ask you to resign your membership.

I suspect that this is not a case of them not having talked to you about it in order to try and resolve it, either. You seem to be quite set in what you are doing, and have your opinions already formed.

The best thing for you to do, short of submitting to your church's leadership, is to leave quietly without causing a problem in your church. Don't go and complain to your friends and fellow church members, just quietly agree to disagree and go on your way.

 

[Shiloh]

The question was, "The pastor told you that you can not sing in any church other then a baptist church. You asked if the church has the authority to do that". The answer is, yes.

 

[Brother Bob]

rjprince;
Does the church make the final approval?

 

[SOGOSINGER]

WOW! Did you guys ever take a subject and run in a totally different direction...Bro Bob you keep assuming that this is in the "Church Constitution" IT IS NOT !I never even implied that let alone said it...And to be honest anything in a Church Constitution Better be BIBLE BACKED...period. I believe the Church is owned by JESUS CHRIST and HIS WORD should be the governing word...Not Man's...No matter how many BIble College degrees the pastor or the deacons or custodian has! the original post stated " Please give me in-context scripture for the belief that "IFB members, should not preach, sing or even fellowship with other denominations.... I never asked for advice on wheter we should stay, fight or leave, I already asked for advice from THe Lord , on that subject...and the bottom line is "ANY CHURCH THAT WOULD TELL A FAMILY THAT THEY CANNOT BE MEMBERS OF THEIR BODY WITHOUT SCRIPTUAL REASONS, IS NOT A CHURCH THAT I WOULD WANT TO RAISE MY FAMILY IN. Sounds a little more like a group that I read about in the Bible.... The Pharisees....

 

[Brother Bob]

ANY CHURCH THAT WOULD TELL A FAMILY THAT THEY CANNOT BE MEMBERS OF THEIR BODY WITHOUT SCRIPTUAL REASONS, IS NOT A CHURCH THAT I WOULD WANT TO RAISE MY FAMILY

I think you are looking for someone to side with you when its your church you have to deal with, good luck, and don't appreciate your response to my posts. Sounds to me like you have other problems.

 

[SOGOSINGER]

While I was submitting my last post, other posts were added, so here is another addendum....Shiloh, I never asked if the church has authority to do that, I have already left the Church, quietly,,,read one of my other posts about how I don't believe God would honor me staying and making a fight with the church" Most Every one who gave opinion abouth this subject, never gave what I asked for in the 1st place "In-Context Scripture" WHat sayeth The Lord!
BapMom...you have some very valid opinions and you are right, my mind is pretty well set on the subject, but I have scripture to back me up...The very 1st post to my question by RJPrince was the one to give scriptural references...Thank You! That was what I was looking for.... My answer to most everyone else is simple "If this Church had stated this anywhere that I had access to see or had verballiazed this belief I would have had to either be "Evil" or the biggest Idiot that ever walked to have my family become members with this church...It is known by most everyone in this church that we have been in this type of ministry for 7 years now...I even went so far as to have the ASST Pastor make sure that there wasn't a reason that we could join this church...His answer...no problem.

 

[bapmom]

Sogo,

so....why are you asking us for Scripture on this? You already have your opinion formed. The scriptural reason would be that there are certain things we are supposed to separate from....false doctrine is one of those things. I don't have enough specific verses memorized on this issue to give you actual quotes, but I do know what is said in the Bible about it.

So, where were you going to sing? Were you in places that teach false doctrine? That would be clearly a case where you should have been separating. You mentioned Church of Christ, and they teach salvation by baptism...very clearly contrary to a major Baptist distinctive. This is more serious than just what they call their elders, don't you think?

The Scriptural reason is that you are joining with people who disagree and teach contrary to some very fundamental essentials of our faith.

 

[Me4Him]

I'd "bet", (If God permitted it. ) over 50% of the members of any church disagreed on certain things in scripture, I don't know, or have known, any church where every member was in 100% agreement on every aspect of scriptures.


Really, a person must decide for themselves, how much and on what aspects of doctrine they will accept disagreement before it becomes heresy in their opinion.

Personally, I wouldn't want to belong to a church that was teaching what I considered heresy, asking me to leave would not be their option, unless they mailed it.

 

[SOGOSINGER]

Originally posted by bapmom:

so....why are you asking us for Scripture on this? You already have your opinion formed.

Because I thought this was the discussion area...And believe it or not, I have studied this area for sometime, but some posters have given me scripture that I hadn't thought of before...

We have sung in most every denomination...We do ask the question "Does your church believe in Salvation By Grace?" if they do , then that is good enough for us...

If we were asked to sing in a CHurch Of Christ, or a Catholic or a Lutheran, I believe we would jump at the chance with them knowing what we were going to sing and testify about before we accepted that booking...I simply believe that would be an opportunity to spread the Gospel to those who do not know the truth....and a clear invitation is given every time...we would not sit under preaching in a church such as this.

Bro Bob, please point out where I responded incorrectly to your posts, I just looked back and can spot where I could have possibly offended you

Thank You