Your perspective?

[ichthus]

Well you are ALL wrong!! The Chattanooga congregation left in 1917 long before the COGOP and formed The (Original) Church of God.

http://theocg.org

So, nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa.... ppfffffffffttttt!!!!!!

THEY are the One True Bride!!!

They left first SO THERE!!!!!

[Who new]

Let's see, how could we define the church? With what likeness shall we compare it?

We could see it as a political engine. It's been done in various times and circumstances. Consider, oh, the Church of England when there were hundreds burned alive by "the church" for failure to walk in lock step. Look at how we see them now. How does the church act when it has political power? And, if politics makes for strange bedfellows, who will you get in bed with to assert political power? And what doctrine of devils will you need to sleep with to stay in power?

We could see the church as a business. In a capitalist culture, that means big money and big competition for the religion dollar. It means putting together a flash and flair that sells, probably to a television audience. Do I need to list the dangers of seeing the church that way?

We could see the church as a safety vessel. Something like Noah's arc. That way we run and hide from "the enemy". Of course, Noah was in a circumstance peculiar to his age. He was fleeing the wrath of God, not hiding from the Pharisees.

And, since we mentioned the Pharisees, we could see the church as the carrier of God's message to them. Oh, I don't mean the actual Pharisees, but what about the scientists of our age? We've got people reducing human being to biological mechanics, what's the church got to say to them? Shsh ... don't say that?

We could see the church as bearer of the weapons of warfare. The weapons I'm referring to are referred to in Ephesians when they are identified as "Not carnal but mighty through God". It looks to me like we're in a perilous situation if we take up the sword and call ourselves the army of God when Jesus has already warned that if you take up the sword you'll die by it.

This is why I'm so popular around here. I believe the problem with the church is that it, for the most part, doesn't do what it does through God, but through carnal weapons. You can have all the unity you can muster and wind up a destructive work of the flesh. But you might win an election.