Where do I go?

[Bunny]

First I must start off by saying that this is my first post ever and I really don't know what I'm doing so please be patient...and kind, to me.

I was saved December 3, 2000 at an Interdenominational church in the Midwest, a big one. I have been a faithful member of that church for almost 12 years until I moved here to West Virginia to care for my dying Mother, who has recently passed on. I am staying out here permanently as that was always the goal and have had many confirmations from the Lord to stay.

About 6 weeks ago I began attending the local Nazarene Church. Why Nazarene? Because my brother and his wife's family go there and they are the only other ones in my family who are Christian; NO other reason. One day last week Pastor said he baptised someone with a capful of water from his soda bottle spontaneously the day before. Then, during the next service, he stated something about sanctification that made me notice we have some glaringly different beliefs that I simply cannot ignore any longer.
At my previous church we attended Membership classes to discover if we agreed with and believed what that church believed and taught. I also had to take classes to fully understand what baptism is, means and it's purpose in the life of every follower of Jesus. I don't want to come off as sanctimonious but a capful of water for a very newly saved teen made me upset! Still does!

I think I will state some of my beliefs... and my question is, where do I go? There is no other church here, even remotely, like the one I left behind.
I have attempted to figure this all out online and just got very frustrated.
So, here goes...
I believe Once Saved Always Saved.
I believe in full immersion baptism with knowledge.
I believe sanctification is a process throughout life, not instantaneous.
I believe women are not to be in authority (teach or preach) alone but can teach co-leading with a male.
I believe The Holy Bible is infallabble and it is all that is necessary in this journey.
I believe in predestination and regeneration.

There, those are the biggies. I should note too the Lord for the last 2 years has really been walking me through and speaking to me on obedience, submission and modesty. Frankly, I don't know what else to add but feel free to ask me anything. I do want to make it perfectly clear that I am not attempting to trash on the Nazarenes. I think they are wonderful, God fearing people. I am simply not in agreement with them on some of the things that matter very much to me. God bless them and all they do throughout the world in these last days! Hear my heart on this, please.

I believe I may be a good fit as a Baptist but then there's Reformed, Independent, Fundamentalist, Southern, American, and on and on...see my confusion? I would greatly appreciate any info, godly wise council, or perspectives you wish to share. I must also request one other thing. Please do not debate with me my beliefs, they are already settled.
Thanks for helping a sister out over here!!

Bunny


:wavey:

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Bunny: So, here goes...
I believe Once Saved Always Saved.
I believe in full immersion baptism with knowledge.
I believe sanctification is a process throughout life, not instantaneous.
I believe women are not to be in authority (teach or preach) alone but can teach co-leading with a male.
I believe The Holy Bible is infallabble and it is all that is necessary in this journey.
I believe in predestination and regeneration.

HP: First, I personally belong to no specific organization, neither do I feel led to join any. I for one believe if God led you to the East Coast, I can certainly believe that he could have led you to that Nazarene Church, and for good reason. Pray, seek the Lord and remain open to what God may have for you. I for one believe the Nazarene Church has its salvation message straight and that will go well with you in the end. For now, without a clear word from the Lord otherwise, my suggestion would be to stay put and keep your heart open to the Lord.

 

[Zenas]

Hello Bunny. Welcome to the Baptist Board. I hope you stick around after your question has been answered to your satisfaction. I have a hunch you are going to get a variety of answers here. You definitely fit the profile of either a Reformed Baptist or a Southern Baptist. Since you are decidedly doctrinaire in your beliefs and you believe in predestination, you may want to try the Reformed variety first. However, you won't find them everywhere, so if there are none around your area try the SBC. You will find a lot of variety among SBC churches so you may want to visit around until you find one where you feel comfortable.

May God go with you in your search for a church home.

 

[Amy.G]

Hi Bunny. Heavenly Pilgrim has totally different beliefs from you, so be careful of his advice. He does NOT believe in OSAS and many other things you listed.

Your beliefs sound Baptist, possibly reformed. Are you a Calvinist? No way are you a Nazarene.

Welcome to the board.

 

[Bunny]

Thanks so much Zenas and Amy.G! I am sooo glad I am being understood!

I am willing to obey the Lord no matter what Heavenly Pilgrim. That is why I am on this board tonight. I love and serve wherever I am. It is the Lord who has been leading me and I fully trust that He will continue to do so. It would be much easier to keep my mouth shut and just go with the flow where I am, because then nobody else might get upset, but I recieved yet another confirmation earlier today that I am to move on.

No matter what opinion I recieve here please understand that I will surely bring it before the Lord and wait for Him.

I thank you for each and every perspective.
Keep 'em comin'!

Bunny

:wavey:

 

[Tom Butler]

Bunny, for the time being, find a Baptist church, any Baptist church. Even if it is not Reformed, you will still be better off. This will at least buy you some time to find out which Baptist church God wants you to serve.

You're Baptist.

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Bunny: It is the Lord who has been leading me and I fully trust that He will continue to do so. It would be much easier to keep my mouth shut and just go with the flow where I am, because then nobody else might get upset, but I recieved yet another confirmation earlier today that I am to move on.

HP: Was the ‘confirmation’ from the Lord? If not, why would you move until God moves you in a specific direction? If it was from the Lord, why would you come on this list asking for help? Would not a confirmation from the Lord Himself be sufficient???

 

[Trotter]

If you were in my area I would invite you to our church. Our county has over 50 Southern Baptist churches plus plenty of independent and other varieties.

I agree with Tom, though. You sound most definitely like you have a Baptist bent.

We have several on here from WV. What part are you in? Maybe some of them are near you.

 

[billreber]

Bunny, our brothers and sisters on this Board have given you some great advice. You sound like me a few years ago (except that I was already in a Baptist church). Our church had dwindled down to very few people, and had decided to disband as a church. My wife and I prayed diligently about where God wanted us to go to worship Him. We visitted several local churches, but none seemed to be where God wanted us. Then we went to a particular SBC church, and afterward, we looked at each other and said simultaneously, "This is where God wants us to go."

That was ten years ago. My advice would be to continue praying about hwat God wants you to do, and take steps to obey Him. Maybe you should visit a small Baptist church, and maybe you will find (by trial and error, as we did) the place God has chosen for you. Maybe He wishes for you to stay where you are for a time. Ask. He will direct your path.

I am sorry to say I know nothing about churches in Wesy Virginia. If you were on the other side of the country, where I am, I could suggest several churches. Alas, I have never lived on the East side of the country.

With love and prayerful support for you in Christ Jesus,

Bill :godisgood:

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Billreber: That was ten years ago. My advice would be to continue praying about hwat God wants you to do, and take steps to obey Him. Maybe you should visit a small Baptist church, and maybe you will find (by trial and error, as we did) the place God has chosen for you. Maybe He wishes for you to stay where you are for a time. Ask. He will direct your path.

HP:I agree with most of what you say with one exception. Why even visit elsewhere until the Lord grants one clear direction? God can lead one in and God can lead one out in His timing. Just as you said, He WILL direct our paths.

By the way, keep this just between us. If Bunny reads this she might not listen to your advice if she knows it very closely parallels the advice I gave her. She must not have liked my advice. Shhhh. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Amy.G]

HP:I agree with most of what you say with one exception. Why even visit elsewhere until the Lord grants one clear direction? God can lead one in and God can lead one out in His timing. Just as you said, He WILL direct our paths.

By the way, keep this just between us. If Bunny reads this she might not listen to your advice if she knows it very closely parallels the advice I gave her. She must not have liked my advice. Shhhh. :smilewinkgrin:

As Bunny already said, she is only going to the Nazarene church because of her brother and sister in law and they are the only other Christians in her family. She totally disagrees with the Nazarene doctrines, so why would she stay? It seems God has already spoken to her heart telling her to find a church that teaches the doctrines she deeply believes in.

 

[DHK]

HP:I agree with most of what you say with one exception. Why even visit elsewhere until the Lord grants one clear direction? God can lead one in and God can lead one out in His timing. Just as you said, He WILL direct our paths.

By the way, keep this just between us. If Bunny reads this she might not listen to your advice if she knows it very closely parallels the advice I gave her. She must not have liked my advice. Shhhh. :smilewinkgrin:

The answer to your question HP is found in Amos 3:3

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

It is a rhetorical question that Amos asks; the obvious answer is "NO."

Bunny has stated her beliefs by conviction. They don't agree with the church that she attends. It is evident therefore that the Lord is leading her elsewhere.

The Lord leads through his Word, not through some mystical mysterious feely emotional experience.

 

[billwald]

Welcome aboard!

Find a church that is close to your residence. (Walking distance is best) that is friendly, you like the worship service, has a good potluck, and needs whatever gifts and helps you have to offer them.

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

DHK: Bunny has stated her beliefs by conviction. They don't agree with the church that she attends. It is evident therefore that the Lord is leading her elsewhere.

HP: Maybe, just maybe, some of her beliefs held by conviction are in clear Scriptural error. Possibly God has somewhat to show to her right where she is at, in spite of some of her convictions now believed. What then??

 

[steaver]

HP: Maybe, just maybe, some of her beliefs held by conviction are in clear Scriptural error. Possibly God has somewhat to show to her right where she is at, in spite of some of her convictions now believed. What then??

Then this will be revealed to her at the judgment seat of Christ. We all are given the same scriptures (most Christians) and the same Spirit. If we error it will be of our own will getting in God's way.

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Bunny, I feel led to say just this one last thing tonight. Please, do not feel that I am asking for you to divulge anything in your private life to me or this list. This list would not be the best place to do that. I simply want you to ask yourself a question. Is there anything in your life now that you feel is or might be displeasing to the Lord just might have been stirring up your conscience while in attendance where you are currently at? If that is even a remote possibility, my advice once again would be to stay put and allow God to continue to deal with your heart concerning whatever it might be. If that is not the case, praise the Lord and continue to seek Him. He will direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3: 5-6

 

[steaver]

Bunny, I feel led to say just this one last thing tonight. Please, do not feel that I am asking for you to divulge anything in your private life to me or this list. This list would not be the best place to do that. I simply want you to ask yourself a question. Is there anything in your life now that you feel is or might be displeasing to the Lord just might have been stirring up your conscience while in attendance where you are currently at? If that is even a remote possibility, my advice once again would be to stay put and allow God to continue to deal with your heart concerning whatever it might be. If that is not the case, praise the Lord and continue to seek Him. He will direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3: 5-6

She already said, the Spirit is telling her to cut and run! This doesn't necessarily mean the Nazarenes are doing something wrong. The Lord just wants her some place else.

 

[Salty]

Bunny,

Check this link for Baptist churches near your area.

 

[BobRyan]

First I must start off by saying that this is my first post ever and I really don't know what I'm doing so please be patient...and kind, to me.

I was saved December 3, 2000 at an Interdenominational church in the Midwest, a big one. I have been a faithful member of that church for almost 12 years until I moved here to West Virginia to care for my dying Mother, who has recently passed on. I am staying out here permanently as that was always the goal and have had many confirmations from the Lord to stay.

About 6 weeks ago I began attending the local Nazarene Church. Why Nazarene? Because my brother and his wife's family go there and they are the only other ones in my family who are Christian; NO other reason. One day last week Pastor said he baptised someone with a capful of water from his soda bottle spontaneously the day before. Then, during the next service, he stated something about sanctification that made me notice we have some glaringly different beliefs that I simply cannot ignore any longer.

1. Always go with whatever church you believe to be following "Most closely" what you find the bible to teach. That might mean you have to look around a bit. There are saved saints in each of the churches so when you find the one that comes the closest to what you find in scripture - you are in a good place - until one comes along that is even closer.

2. Always be willing to review the Bible based positions that you hold - in case you also may be in some doctrinal error.


Consider this - you are one of Ten Christians in a room - each from a different Christian denomination. They will have variations on some doctrines - and at BEST there is only ONE of them that is in fact right and has not let man-made-tradition blind them to the truths of at least ONE point of difference in the Bible. At WORST - they area ALL wrong to some degree on what they think the Bible is teaching.

in Christ,

Bob

 

[FriendofSpurgeon]

1. Always go with whatever church you believe to be following "Most closely" what you find the bible to teach. That might mean you have to look around a bit. There are saved saints in each of the churches so when you find the one that comes the closest to what you find in scripture - you are in a good place - until one comes along that is even closer.

2. Always be willing to review the Bible based positions that you hold - in case you also may be in some doctrinal error.


Consider this - you are one of Ten Christians in a room - each from a different Christian denomination. They will have variations on some doctrines - and at BEST there is only ONE of them that is in fact right and has not let man-made-tradition blind them to the truths of at least ONE point of difference in the Bible. At WORST - they area ALL wrong to some degree on what they think the Bible is teaching.

in Christ,

Bob

Good points Bob!