church is scam nothing more nothing less

KINGwax:

thanks for the epistles. The fact that you guys pray to mary's 'STATUE' passes you out for an idol worshiper. I might have asked to check your bible,but i'm sure you don't have one! But borrow one and read exodus 20 4and5

. Correction please! Mary has a place in the catholic church. We honour her not worship her.( Yes my generation is among those that will call her blessed) If we as catholics don't read the bible then who gave you the bible? Which comes first the church or the bible? The truth remains, if you not a catholic then you are a protestant. Even satan quotes the bible lucidly.

Check for yourself  "www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyWul35JnjY&feature=related"

^islam is a bigger scam.

@KIngWax.
You know absolutely nothing about Catholism. From your post I could easily decipher that.You don't know or have studied the bible more than me. Very sure of that. Let us not go into the medieval age arguments between Martin Luther and Catholics. Do you even know the Bible is even disputed by some scholars, some scrolls. Have an open mind watch History or National Geography or even discovery. If you want, I can send you today's Bible readings from today's mass very powerful for your edification.

Catholism is not like pentecostalism where , if even a man is an illiterate but claims Holy Ghost visited him, he mounts the pulpit.

Take for example, an average Priest requires about 12-15 yrs, you must be read, the pope is a Prof and so many priests.

I have never said catholics have no problems, like in Angles and Demons, the man said, this man (pope) is also fallible. However, we deal with it.

Can anybody question the so called General Overseers or Founders? But we do to priests/Bishops? This is my point. last harvest I pointed out a flaw and it was agreed and changed. Could I have done that in Christ Embassy, without the man chasing me.

We petition daily. Anglicans too are good in that.


I make bold to say that we do not knight only rich men, in fact politicians have hard times in caotholic than any other church as their wishes are not granted such as having a special wedding or waiving sertain things. Anglicans have by far more politicans than any catholics.

Gaggi yes i know that churches today are like that,but u have to allow the spirit of God lead you to where his presence is truly is.going to church is a thing of choice but the Bible says that do not forsake the assembly of the children of God.yes you can sit at home and watch TBN but its nt goin to be like u r in d church in d presence of God.you are nt goin to church to see anybody just focus on God that u went to worship there.pray very well and the Lord will lead u.u can try the Apostolic Faith Mission God bless u

Follow the bible not church; churches are human institutions and as such have one comma or the other. Except for this passage in the bible that says neglect not the gathering of the believers; yours truly would have since stopped going to church.

I hardly contribute in foras,but I am proud of the guy that originated this thread.

" If you question or have doubts then you are alive"

Jesus Christ warned us that in these last days, False Christ and false prophets will arise and lead many astray (Matthew 24:24, Matthew 7:21-23). He foresaw what is presently happening and even Hisprophets warned us (Acts 20:29-30), 1Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 4:3-4

So you are only wise to be circumspect . Proverbs 14:15

You are searching for the Truth which will set you free (John 8:32)

I will you start with a formula that has helped millions become to an accurate knowledge of God. That is a free home bible with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

It is totally free.

The book used presently is "What Does The Bible Really Teach"

The book discusses many relevanty topics such as:

"What is The Truth About God"

"Where are The Dead"

"Are We Living In The Last Days"

"How To Make Your Family Life Happy"

"Why Does God Allow Suffering"

And many other topics.

You are free to ask questions which will be answered from the bible (Acts 17:11)

Attending Christian meetings is not a requirement.

To proceed, you can enquire about witnesses in your area and request a free home bible study.

Alternatively, visit www.watchtower.org and make a request for one. Its that simple!

I wish you the best. May your name be in the book of life

@Gaggi, we are living in perilous times, including spiritually perilous times, people don't realize but the enemy is in GOD's house (as the holy Bible says and GOD's word is truth), and GOD has withdrawn HIMSELF, all this before the end. Many of course may call it heresy, but that's what the "church" of the old testament said about the apostles who were preaching The Lord JESUS CHRIST crucified and gloriously risen for the forgiveness of sins as GOD shifted from them to the new testament churches.

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." - Matt 6:6

"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." - 1 John 1:3 (know that Heb 4:12).
______
GOD’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT ON THE CHURCHES FOR APOSTACY

The age of the new testament church, just like old testament church (nation of Israel), has been at an end and GOD gave definite commands for HIS own to come out of them (Mark 13:14, Matt 24:15-16, 2 Thess 2:3-12, Rev 18: 3-7, etc)
=========
I pass no personal judgment, GOD HIMSELF IS JUDGE.  In fact, The Lord Jesus Christ says “Judge not, that ye be not judged”.

but i tell you -

In this day, these very last days, you hear "peace and safety" and "breakthrough", financial, "miracles" or some other sort.  It is not a day of peace for all, but desolation for many. "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" - 1 Peter 4:17

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.” - Jer 23:1-2

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto  you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.  They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.” - Jer 23:16-17 ---> “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For ourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

Be warned,  The gospel of The Lord JESUS CHRIST is about our reconciliation to GOD through HIMSELF (Acts 4:12),  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of GOD;” - Rom 3:23, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of GOD [is] eternal life through JESUS CHRIST our Lord.” - Rom 6:23.  

Not as is commonly taught today in churches re: covetousness / materialism, signs and wonders, etc. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"- Mark 8:36 . Also, GOD ALMIGHTY is The miracle working GOD.  However, where you have The Original, there are almost always counterfeits - "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." - Revelation 13:13-15 - (see also & compare Dan 8:25, Matt 24:15, & 2 Thess 2:3-4)

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." - 1 Timothy 4:1

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4
============
Let me encourage everyone, self included, to be a follower of GOD, The Lord JESUS CHRIST only, by HIS grace (not our works), particularly in this day and age (in these very last days), wherein are many deceivers. Stay in the infallible, life-giving, true word of GOD, which is pure, abides forever and never deceives. Keep reading and keep praying (1 Thess 5:17), "watch and pray".

silibaba:

catholic church remains the very best
99% percent of churches we have around preach against catholic church , Jesus said "peter you are the rock and on this rock i will build my church and no power in heaven nor in hell will prevail our it. that is why the more people talk against catholic, the more it grow
am afraid of this new generation churches around, infact the name of the street i resides has been changed to cburch street. we hardly sleep at night due to the every day vigil
i think this is where sanusi is ought to be working at less liquidate most of this churches i personally call banking hall
ROMAN CATHOLIC ALL THE WAYYY!!

you have my support bros. A man that i know who use to sell okirika opened a church about last 2months, everyday he will go to the place, open all the windows, sit down and be reading bible. In the evening, he will lock up the place and go only to come back again next day. On sundays he will come alongside his wife and children with some few friends and they will be crapping their and singing after he might have preached for some hrs. Who knows, if he do that for about 1yr and he didn't get followers he may be force start thinking of how to do miracles so he can get followers easily because it is very obvious he can't go back to selling okirika and he must feed his family too, so in that case he may be left with no other choice than to do what others are doing. Some pastors don't even waste that much of time, they like to go straight and hit the nail on the head. That's how they start.

2000 years ago, Jesus Christ while he was on earth found out that so many religious leaders then who claimed to be God's mouthpiece were nothing but a bunch of self-serving criminals. However, Jesus did not allow them to derail His purpose on earth.

If you think the situation will change now or tomorrow, please think again. There will always be fraudsters parading themselves as high priests of the living God
The challenge before every true child of God is to make sure their light is not dimmed by the darkness as they stay focused on Jesus the Light of the world.

Quitting the fellowship of brethren because of the failings of others is not an option because everywhere you go, RCCG, Deeper Life, OOO, Celestial, etc, you will always find one crook or another in both high and low places.
Rather draw closer to God and let Him reveal His purpose for your life to you and anywhere you find yourself, ask God, father what will you have me do while I am here?.
If you walk according to your feelings or understanding, you will miss it because serving God most times does not follow logical patterns.

maipeople:

From what I read in all the responses, I noticed that you christians are seriously confused and you are looking for a way out. The solution is, since you can post on nairaland it means you have access to internet, if so please do yourselves a favour by googling about ISLAM not what muslims do, but rather what are the real teachings of islam. As an example, check for the nature of living of ahmadinajad (as Iran president),do you know the guy help in sweeping the street that he lives(I know you as nigerian it may surprise you, but it a fact) in short from my point of view, shi'a muslim are practicing the real version of Islam while the sunni are practicing the "forged (therefore wrong) and deadly version of islam. Note majority of Nigerian muslims are sunnis. Check for yourself  "www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyWul35JnjY&feature=related"

Please what exactly are you driving at? That i should convert to Islam and start sweeping streets or that Nigerians should jettision the Sunni practice and embrace Shi'a?  

my brother this is the end time that is why all these are happening
really almost all the churches we have now are money conscious
and let me tell you the truth  it might be very hard 4 u to believe
about 92% of churches we have now are affected. any church u go
and u pay your tithe to and yet u still go to the hospital for any ailment
is a dead church. note the bible says And these signs shall follow them that
believe they shall be going to the hospital for medical check up and healing
frequently no no no my brother pls read  (Mark 16: 17-18) if in your church
all these signs are not there it is a dead church read (Rev.chapter 2 & 3)
i will advise u to remain in your house and pray to God to lead u to His Church
which i believe u might not like when u get there

My final advice:

Avoid Authority worship. See everybody as human and fallible.

I hate it when people say Apostle A said, Evangelist B said. They take it hook,line and sinker.

The easiest way to get a man is through religion.

A man's mind could twisted to allow a pastor sleep daily with his wife.

CPA was a classical example. They had Phd holders that Rev r King flogged in servces.
Who says the bible as used by the pentecostal is correct?

Can the so called men of God of certainty say " Rise up and walk" not those choregraphy we see, and it happens like the 1st century apostles?

The first thing you need to do is to give your life to Jesus,if you are born again no matter what happen you will over come. You should not expect everything to be smooth.I can see you are a great man and The Devil is making you not to like church because he knows the more you go to church the more he looses you. so what he his doing is to make you feel unconfortable whenever you are in the house of God. The Devil will always make you see the fault of the pastor in a particular church. when ever you are in church serve God with all your heart respect of any wrong things going on in the particular church.

God Bless you

o boy you no lie at all.dey are all business venture i swear, if a pastor can collect 1000 naira as gate fee here in naija den wat are we talking about?we have lost it o jare. dey are all managers in their various business enterprise built out of greed!

@poster and others with his view, your problem is pride. You believe you know so much about the bible that every doctrine to you is seen has false teachings. Since you know so much about the bible, i wonder why you don't know that hebrew 10:25 says 'not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching' and that proverbs 27:17 says 'iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend', Even Jesus, the all-knowing never stopped learning from the teachers at the temple,

@poster and others with his view, your problem is pride. You believe you know so much about the bible that every doctrine to you is seen has false teachings. Since you know so much about the bible, i wonder why you don't know that hebrew 10:25 says 'not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching' and that proverbs 27:17 says 'iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend', Even Jesus, the all-knowing never stopped learning from the teachers at the temple,

@poster and others with his view, your problem is pride. You believe you know so much about the bible that every doctrine to you is seen has false teachings. Since you know so much about the bible, i wonder why you don't know that hebrew 10:25 says 'not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching' and that proverbs 27:17 says 'iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend', Even Jesus, the all-knowing never stopped learning from the teachers at the temple,

@poster and others with his view, your problem is pride. You believe you know so much about the bible that every doctrine to you is seen has false teachings. Since you know so much about the bible, i wonder why you don't know that hebrew 10:25 says 'not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching' and that proverbs 27:17 says 'iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend', Even Jesus, the all-knowing never stopped learning from the teachers at the temple,

You can't find a perfect denomination, however, you can still belong to some denomination that will teach you the gospel truth, and prepare you for heaven. Christ is coming for a church without spot or wrinkle. The 'church' is not the building but individuals who have been washed in the blood of the lamb. The bible teaches us not to forsake the assembly of ourselves as the manner of some is. Fellowship and worship of God is very important, for this purpose we were created to show forth the praises of God. God wants us to worship Him in truth and Spirit.

If you say you want to stay away from gathering of people of God, you are not helping yourself. You will soon quit the faith. Iron sharpens iron. Prayerfully seek for a bible believing church, where truth will be preached. But staying away from the church in the name of seeking for a perfect church, it is like going to fetch the whole water of the sea with a basket. Jesus during his earthly ministry still went to synagogue and taught there. You too you can correct any anomaly wherever you are. God bless you.

I'm not a spiritual LovePeddler but i have been in a number of churches.

Anglican----- the pastor brought his mistress to be living in same hse with his wife. He was later suspended but i lost faith.

Catholic---------rich men are made knights. Men with more than one wives. Known thieving politicians are knighted too.

CE--------too much idolizing of Chris. They even give u target to meet, all in the name of sowing seed.

RCCG---------pastor was paying 120k/mth to rent a hall when we had a building half completed. Abandoned our branch when we ran out of funds.

MFM--------never went there but my folks did. One of their pastors vamoozed with church money.

Cele----went there when i was a kid but even at that age i knew these guys were fraudsters.

I know that there is no perfect church. The more reason why i shouldn't let imperfect people teach me wrong doctrines.
God knows i will always serve him till i die but i will never see any pastor as better and holier than me again.[/font][font=Lucida Sans Unicode]

, Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, and David killed Uriah and took his wife. Yet, God called him a man after my heart! Who is he that condemneth, it was Jesus that died. Always remember that these men of God were men before they became of God. And God sent them , so let them stand or fall to Him alone.

See Mathew chap 6 verses 5-6 for answers-according to these verses all those that attend churches are hypocrites. They are not of God! Go solo young man, it is the proper thing to do according to these verses not hanging out in the churches for you to be seen.

I feel same way as the poster, i don't know what religion is practised now but it is not christianity. So much falsehood are now being preached for selfish gain, all what Christ stood for have been eroded by different interpretation from the pulprit. Being a Pastor or man of God is sacrificial calling as shown by Jesus (parable of the young ruler), which dictates that those that wants to be called Pastors must be ready to sell all they have, live a life of humilty and lead people to God. They should deny themselves of all worldly luxury and live a life of sacrifice. Nigerian Pastor do the opposite, they are the richest most comfortable men in the society, they drain members off their hard earned money all under the excuse of God's blessings and Miracles. I don't blame the pastors but their gullible followers, they are blindmen being lead by another blindman, they ahve turned their Pastors to demi-god, you are blaspheming if you speak against them. The Churches in Nigeria have not added anything to our development rather they are the bane of so many atrocities. State owned LASU increased school fees to 250k, how can a church speak against this evil when they charge more for their missionary schools!!! Most of the corrupt public servants are deacons and knights in these churches. How many horses did Jesus have when He was on earth but Pastors feel so comfortable owning several Jets, luxury Jeeps and mighty mansions. If they claim the world is coming to an end why are they building edifices that cant be raptured? Jesus never mentioned one word of propserity but thats the in-thing now. May God have mercy on our souls, Poster  i share your sentiments.

@ Poster:

Let me ask a question: Just because a guy intending to marry has dated 100 bad (or useless, lol) ladies doesn't mean all ladies are bad & vice versa.

I will deliberately refuse to condemn your action, but don't let a few bad eggs affect your spiritual life, its not worth it. I presume that u've been disappointed by certain people(or pastors) u looked up to, but never forget that they still have the HUMAN Flesh covering them like yours. And let the Holy Spirit (not your flesh controlling your mind) guide you in your decision not to forsake the assembly of the brethren. See Hebrews 10:23-25.

Also, NO Pastor has more access to God than you, we all have equal access; the Pastor is just a messenger of God to help your christian walk. See 1Corinthians 3:1-9. So, never be carried away by the manner or failings of a Pastor.

I encourage you to spend time in the Word, while also praying in the Holy Spirit for direction; you would know what to do, guaranteed!!

CHEERS, hope to hear positive progress from you.

Xavier1976:

I feel same way as the poster, i don't know what religion is practised now but it is not christianity. So much falsehood are now being preached for selfish gain, all what Christ stood for have been eroded by different interpretation from the pulprit. Being a Pastor or man of God is sacrificial calling as shown by Jesus (parable of the young ruler), which dictates that those that wants to be called Pastors must be ready to sell all they have, live a life of humilty and lead people to God. They should deny themselves of all worldly luxury and live a life of sacrifice. Nigerian Pastor do the opposite, they are the richest most comfortable men in the society, they drain members off their hard earned money all under the excuse of God's blessings and Miracles. I don't blame the pastors but their gullible followers, they are blindmen being lead by another blindman, they ahve turned their Pastors to demi-god, you are blaspheming if you speak against them. The Churches in Nigeria have not added anything to our development rather they are the bane of so many atrocities. State owned LASU increased school fees to 250k, how can a church speak against this evil when they charge more for their missionary schools!!! Most of the corrupt public servants are deacons and knights in these churches. How many horses did Jesus have when He was on earth but Pastors feel so comfortable owning several Jets, luxury Jeeps and mighty mansions. If they claim the world is coming to an end why are they building edifices that cant be raptured? Jesus never mentioned one word of propserity but thats the in-thing now. May God have mercy on our souls, Poster  i share your sentiments.

I beg to differ about the "Humility" of Jesus as you described it. Jesus, though humble was very rich; he had abundant supplies while He was on the earth geared towards helping Him to spread the Gospel (or Good News). You can attack the flamboyance of SOME pastors, but really its not your place to do so, they will answer to God - Rom.14:4

I'm sure what you need is a change of Church. You need a place where your hunger and thirst for God and fellowship with saints will be rekindled. DO NOT FORSAKE THE ASSEMBLY OF BELIEVERS!

I am really impressed by the maturity and sincerity we attached to this topic, 9jafreak and I.chuka am thump up.
The Bible says my people perish because of lack of knowledge.
The economist said in a poverty stricken society Alcohol and Religion strives.

Go for a gathering where the truth is preached don't look at name or nomenclature.
It is actually good to encourage one another that actually what a Church was supposed to do.

Christ was actually a grass root preacher, teacher  and very humble.
It surprise me these days to see the so called self acclaimed G.O's living in mansions, driving the latest SUV's in  convoy with military escort and even SSS.

Materialism have eaten deep into the fabric of our country

Are we talking of the schools they built with tithe payers money and make it exclusive for the super rich.

May God deliver us all

ikhideman:



I beg to differ about the "Humility" of Jesus as you described it. Jesus, though humble was very rich; he had abundant supplies while He was on the earth geared towards helping Him to spread the Gospel (or Good News). You can attack the flamboyance of SOME pastors, but really its not your place to do so, they will answer to God - Rom.14:4

Please where in the bible was he rich?
He was the son of a carpenter. What did his mom do?
Jesus was a carpenter too. I doubt they made designer furniture.


It is our place to attack these so called men of God. They are taking advantage of people, brainwashing them. Look at Prophet Warren Jeffs.

People need to stand up against evil. Speak up.  
Imagine if everyone did. What a big difference that would make.

[size=15pt]It's OK to get tired of going to church,just don't ever get tired of PRAYING. That's when there'll be problem.

I'm Catholic too;any one who objectively reads the bible will see that Jesus had the intention of establishing just ONE church,to be led by Peter. Many have argued that when Jesus called Peter the rock,he wasn't necessarily referring to Peter alone but to all the disciples. Fine,but what do they say about   the second time when Christ called Peter and asked 3 times,Peter,do you love me? 'Feed my lambs' etc.

The issue of the virgin Mary was a challenge for me all through my catholic life. And i prayed for God to reveal to me whether or not our emphasis on Mary made sense. I got the answer;  

Many Pentecostals believe that right from birth to teenage years,Jesus was a super baby that was locked in a room where he'ld be flying up and down all day. They fail to realize that Christ was 100% human and vulnerable,we read of how he was tempted by the devil as an adult. Many dont realize that the child Jesus must have also been tempted in his formative years just like any regular kid and needed his parents guidance. But since 'its not written in the bible',Protestants will not listen.
Baby/Child Jesus was bathed by someone,someone changed his diapers,someone taught him his first words, someone cooked for Jesus. If the virgin Mary had derailed in anyway on her responsibilities as a mother towards Jesus Christ's formative years,that would have really altered or even destroyed God's plans for mankind.
That's why the bible says that 'all nations shall call her blessed'.,Protestants dont know this!

Perhaps that's why the Catholic church keeps on growing in spite of the flaws present amongst some of its clergy,then again,they are only Human.[/size]

Even if I wasn't brought up to honour Mary I still would honour her.
Of all the women that could have been chosen for tha
t task. . . .that says a lot.

No one worships her, she is not God. However we regard her, we sometimes pray through her, same way we may ask saints/angels to intercede, or ask a friend to pray for us.

Even the Angel Gabriel honoured and praised her during the annunciation. Her cousin said she was blessed among women and Mary said at one point "from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed".
Do the maths.