Featured Would Issuing a Marriage License to Gays ..... be a Sin?

Never seen it in any church before.

 

There is a lot of them out there and most have at a minimum the covenant in their constitution and by laws.

 

But how many members know what is in the by-laws? I would say less then 1%. They are rarely covered with new members. Many old SBC churches have a Prohibition agaisnt dancing. No one discusses it, most aren't aware it is there. Do the members sin when they dance, when they don't even know it is a "rule"?

 

What about those who voted "no" when policy adopted?

*Or any SBC member that drinks beer or wine, even if Red Wine for health purposes. Do they sin because they violate a SBC resolution that they didn't vote for?

*RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, June 13-14, 2006, express our total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages; and be it further"

 

I disagree.

I have never seen one. Not sure a lot of Baptists are dancing.

 

Do you cover the by-laws with all new members?

 

Many churches give them to their new members. Some have them posted on placards in the pew. I believe the by-laws of my church state all new members will recieve a copy. I would need to go back and check.

 

I would suggest to anyone joining a church to ask for a copy of the bylaws and constitution of the church prior to joining to know what they believe and how they are governed.

 

Yes...........................

 

Well, you are the first I know who does.

I still doubt they can tell you what they are though. Most church members can't name all 12 of the original disciples. Doubt they know the by-laws

 

Very solid advice

 

Those who are involved in the church regularly can. Those who are not are nominal Christians or lost altogether. There needs always to be a distinction made between the two.


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I also know of a church that puts people wanting to join through a 6 week new members class before they will accept them as new members. They cover the bu-laws and constitution in that training.

 

If something is wrong, how is being part of what makes it happen okay?
Half of what the Bible teaches us is that we are DIFFERENT and we will have struggles because of that.
Nowhere does it say that everything surrounding something wrong is okay. It says to stay away from sin. Don't look at it. Don't listen. Don't touch. Don't encourage it. Don't tempt others with it. Don't even LOOK like you are part of it. And it doesn't say "Except if it threatens your job" or "Except officials say you have to."

 

Many many churches do that.

 

It's not OK. I think you can pull plenty from the Bible and not have to use a church covenant to keep someone from sinning.

*...and I don't think anyone in recent conversation on this thread thinks it is OK.

* I should add though. Jesus did not disassociate with wine. Should we, even though he did not? Making beer is not making sin.

 

......................................

 

No its not, but would it fall under Romans 14? Or would you consider the separation autonomous churches in the SBC exempt for Romans 14 as long as the church itself does not have a rule agaisnt it?

*FYI.....I believe Romans 14 applies to immediate Fellowship.

 

,In reading all the posts on this thread so far, I'll offer my $0.02 on some things I've read in a lot of these posts:

1) Do some of you even "preview" your posts before you "submit" them??

Obviously some of you don't. Either that or your "Spell Check" doesn't work. I can't recall any other thread that has so many misspelled words as this one has had.

2) Some of you don't seem to have a clue as to what a complete sentence is.

Some of you need to go back and read some of your "sentences." I had a hard time trying to figure out what some of you were trying to tell me in some of your sentences.

I don't know any of your levels of education, but if you used the same sentence structure and/or syntax and/or misspelling in your seminary papers, I don't thing you would have made the highest possible grade in many of your seminary classes. [NOTE: WPE3BQL never went to a seminary, mainly because he never received the "call to preach." OTOH he did manage to stumble through a Bible "Institute," a Bible college with a BA in Bible & Religious Education, and through a state university with an MA in History.]

Now, more to a topic that has been brought up about how much (or little) the "average" BC member knows about what his/her church is supposed to advocate.

In all my close to 50 years of being a member of God's family, I've never been a member of an SBC church, so I'm not familiar with much of their polity regarding how much an "average" member is supposed to know about things such as a church's constitution and/or bylaws and/or its "Statement of Faith."

OTOH, all the churches of which I was/am a member had something quite similar to the "Statement of Faith" that has been mentioned in previous postings in this thread. How much the "average" church member actually knew or practiced all of its tenets I couldn't tell you.

In my close to 50 years as a member of God's family, I was affiliated with five basically IFB churches. Some were quite strict about what they expected me to know about joining that IFB church, and some weren't so strict.

One church had a requirement that I first meet with the pastor and/or some deacons subsequent to having filled out and signed a general "application form" on which I had to give a summary of my salvation experience and in what areas of service I'd be willing to serve.

After interviewing me on that, they then would decide if I "passed muster" according to what they deemed as a "suitable" for membership in their church body. Evidently I did, because the "church body" voted to accept me into their fold. In my 3-4 years with that church, I served as a helper in their bus ministry, in their AWANAs, a substitute SS teacher, and as a helper in their A/V system.

The church of which I'm now a member ( www.lighthouseministries.org ) required me to attend at least a couple "Prospective Member" classes. (I don't recall it having been an actual six weeks' course, but that was 20 years ago, and my memory isn't as good as it was "back then." :smilewinkgrin

Some classes did cover basic Bible doctrines with which the pastor believed were important enough for prospective members to know. Many times he'd devote 10-15 minutes for a "Q and A" session during which we could ask him to clarify something that he covered in that class, or just things a person wished to have the pastor's input.

After attending at least a couple of the classes, I asked him if he believed that I was sufficiently "grounded in the Bible, etc.," to be presented to the church body as what we call a "covenant member." He said yes, and at the end of that morning's corporate worship services, WPE3BQL was voted in as a "covenant member."

What's a "covenant member"? Basically it's an agreement sanctioned by Scripture between me as an individual and the church body. I agreed, to the best of my abilities, to uphold the basic doctrines of the Bible/church; the church body also "agreed" to encourage me in what areas I may become weak and "come by my side" whenever I, as an integral member of the body, needed help---be it spiritual, emotional, financially, or physically.

Praise be to God that, so far, I haven't had any major financial problems.

They more than encourage me spiritually and emotionally by attending the SS classes, the corporate services, and the "Life Group" of which I'm a member. (My "physical" family is spread out all over the US---from PA, to FL, to AZ, & me in TN. I'm single/never married so I don't have a wife or children. That's why this church is my "family.")

Since 2011, I've been handicapped due to a stroke. This is where they've helped me physically. One man installed another stair railing to help me climb my stairway. He also installed a set of handle bars in both of my condo's bathrooms to help me maneuver around when I need to do so.

Moreover, for the 3-4 months during which the physical therapists "grounded" me, my "family" brought me meals and drove me to/from various doctor appointments as well as to/from church or "Life Group" meetings---not because they "had to," but because they wanted to, even if it meant driving several miles out of their way to do so.

I can't speak for any of you on BB, but I thank God that He has allowed me the great privilege to be affiliated with such a wonderful "family" as the one He's given me right here in 37013!! :godisgood: