For The Record
Regarding Denominations, Churches, etc. etc.
My position is that regardless of names.. all divisions of the church are unordained and the “true church” is the “catholic” (not the Catholic church proper) or the global combination of believers in Christ that worship him in spirit and in truth. I hold that among the great many of denominations that claim the name of Jesus Christ that the church survives as a subculture and is an “cross denominational” support system that continues to grow as people become desperate for an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and seek that relationship outside of the customs and traditions of their denomination. This church is the bride of Christ and is ready… and expectant of his return.
I'm much less interested in denominations and their differences than others. I think our present denominations will play a diminished role in the coming generations, but they'll be replaced by others groups.
Matt,
I tend to agree, this article was spawned largely because of a recent article on http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/my-evangelica… some of the comments were particularly harsh regarding the non-denominational "denomination" to the point of calling the whole non-denominational movement "apostate".
however great value was placed upon liturgy and the value of doctrine, statements of faith and even the act of attending "mass" as a way to "feed" ones soul and reconnect with God. I fear that as those in the "Post Evangelical Wilderness" swing the pendulum the other way we will suffer a great loss as emphasis is once again placed on acts of worship rather than living a life relationship with Jesus.
in reference to your comment, just out of curiosity, by other groups do you think we will see an influx of new denominations? or just a melting pot of all denominations? personally i think that we will begin to see a lot more Christian persecution in the coming years and more agnostic or unitarian style religions beginning to be more common.