Independent Christian churches

[Fellow Traveler]

I have limited experience with Christian churches but what I got was just the same type of house as the coc but different window dressing. I know of a place where a Christian church and a coc are just a block away from each other. The Christian church doesn't even have a band either. Only a piano and organ. Everything else is the same. I know of another where a Christian church split twice. They play it off as church planting, tho. Anyone else have any experience with the step siblings of the coc?

[Opie]

My experiences with the Independent Christian Church have been mostly very positive. At times they have their own issues that they struggle with (as do Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, etc etc), but in my personal experience they aren't even close to being as legalistic and close-minded as the typical CoC. For example, unlike the CoC, the Christian Church doesn't believe that the main reason that Jesus died on the cross was to keep pianos out of church buildings!

IMO, for anyone who is considering leaving the CoC, the Independent Christian Church can a comfortable stepping-stone to help you make the transition. This is just based on my personal experiences, and I understand that my experiences will likely be different from yours.

[B.H.]

.....Jesus died on the cross was to keep pianos out of church buildings!......

Long lost Bible verses from the Gospel of Flying Lightning:

And Jesus went out with his discples and saith "Simon Peter, why must I die upon the cross and be raised in three days"
"My Lord" replied Peter "It is to save the world from its sins and provide a mansion in heaven for those who believe in you"
"Hell no" Jesus said "Pilate and the Pharisees and Hypocrites want to put an organ in the church and I must die and rise again to stop it"

and later in this lost book of scripture:

And Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb as was written in the Book of Ohalblahblahblah the Assite. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were distraught because now that the Lord was dead he could not stop Pilate, the Pharisees, and the Hypocrites from their evil plan of putting an organ in the church. Thomas too was so upset about the organ in the church he couldn't doubt, Andrew the fisherman couldn't fish, Matthew couldn't collect taxes, and Mary Magdalene couldn't whore.

A few days later in Jerusalem on the first day of the week Pilate was in the church with Caiphas "Ha, said Pilate, now that Jesus is dead and Foy Wallace hasn't been born yet we can enjoy our organ in church." Caiaphas snickered with glee as the Pharisee and Hypocrites picked up their hymbooks to sing with the evil instrument.......

That very moment there was a great earthquake and a mighty shout. Everyone looked around in fear. Then Jesus knocked down the church door right off the hinges onto the floor. "You brood of vipers, you whose conciences have been burned with a hot iron, you children of the devil. How dare you profane the church by adding an instrument!"

Caiphas said "Oh shit, its all over now".

Pilate screamed "Everyone run. He's going to make sure Foy Wallace hears about this" and all hell broke loose and people ran in all directions.

Jesus screamed "Destroy this temple and in three days lighting will fly out of my ass" . And Jesus did bent over and raised up his garment exposing his buttocks, so as to have lighting fly out of it and consume the organ

But the devil was there too and he was tempted to stare at Jesus's exposed butt. "Jesus has toilet paper stuck in his butthole" he cried out. Instantly Satan was turned into a pillar of salt by the archangel Michael..


Jesus fired his lighting bolt and consumed the organ burning it to nothing but ashes.

And then a prophet who saw the whole thing prophesized that no one would dare try a stupid stunt like that again for 1800 years.

Amen.
/quote]

[GuitarHero]

I tried the Independent Christian church. All it took was one homophobic sermon to get me to cross it off the list.

Spent some time in the DoC. Found it to be bullshit too.

[DAC]

What is an "homophobic sermon?"

[B.H.]

What is an "homophobic sermon?"

I don't think he is preaching about the sin of fearing man over fearing God.

[agricola]

'homophobic' is 'anti-gay'. More or less. 'Homophobic is more like FEAR of 'the gay' - it is irrational and resistant to facts.

[KLP]

I find the use of the term homophobic to mostly be without basis if not irrational. It certainly is not used like other terms with "phobia" attached. IMO it is mostly used as a technique to squelch unwelcome points of view much as are the terms racist, sexist, fascist, chauvinist, Nazi, liberal, socialist, commie-pinko, and others.

[NeverAgain]

And bigotry against gay people, KLP, rightly deserves to be included in that list. Anti-gay attitudes are more than "unwelcome," they are repugnant. Trying to rationalize discriminating against, demeaning, diminishing and denigrating gay people as just another "viewpoint" or "opinion" meriting equal footing with other viewpoints and opinions just doesn't cut the mustard. It is just as unacceptable as racism. And it needs to be squelched.

[KLP]

And bigotry against gay people, KLP, rightly deserves to be included in that list. Anti-gay attitudes are more than "unwelcome," they are repugnant. Trying to rationalize discriminating against, demeaning, diminishing and denigrating gay people as just another "viewpoint" or "opinion" meriting equal footing with other viewpoints and opinions just doesn't cut the mustard. It is just as unacceptable as racism. And it needs to be squelched.

Yup, that's the old saw I was talking about on display. And yes, I forgot the "bigot" buzzword, thanks for reminding me. Simply saying it louder and stronger does not make it any more rational. It is the Pro-Life/Pro-Choice or Anti-Abortion/Pro-Abortion labels all over again. Because so-called "Anti-gay attitudes" as you claim (and whatever that means) are repugnant to you and others, it does not mean they are objectively repugnant.

My argument is not that bigotry and racism are not unacceptable. The argument (if you will take time to listen) is that just because one accepts the Bible or millennia old definitions of marriage and family does not make that person a hater. There has to be room for actual and true diversity of opinion and acceptance of all. Categorizing alternative viewpoints as you have as being defined as driven by an invalid motive is just the over-the-top irrational rhetoric I am talking about. So again, in most cases the use of these terms such as homophobic is without basis and often irrational. Judging the motives of others to be evil/bad when you disagree is just another form of hate speech...IMO.