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confused believer

hi guys
i new to religion and have started to read my bible and beleive in it but seem to struggle to pray wholeheartedly, i have nobody to chat to and learn from about religion, i am hungry for knowledge but feel i need guidance. most church organisations preech to false idols i cant seem to find somone that simply follows the bible.

thanks in advance for any advice or help you for me

Ric
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Hello Ric,

What do you mean by preach to false idols?

What kind of movement are you looking for? Have you considered checking out, say, a local Quakers building? Or any local churches?

Do you consider yourself to be a Protestant? I could end up looking for Protestant churches in your local area, for example, only to be told you consider yourself an Eastern Orthodox.

It will take time to get comfortable with prayer, especially if you have not been raised with it. I still struggle with spontaneous prayers, or praying in front of another. Any form of worship, I cannot really do in front of others, except for in a place of worship -- even if my wife comes in to the room when I'm meditating, or using my māla beads (it's like a rosary), I have to stop. So, don't give up hope at not being able to pray. Just keep at it. :)
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
There are Christian sects that follow the Bible strictly, although most such that I've heard of were not mainstream ones such as Methodists or Presbyterians.

Much depends upon what exactly you believe to be right and what Christian beliefs you feel are wrong. Perhaps if you could say more about that someone can suggest a particular church.

I'd bet that Roman Catholic wouldn't be it. :)
 
im not 100% sure but i know many jehovas whitnesses and was looking that way but am very weary of the watch tower organisation. in the bible it clearly states many times not to worship false idols etc so that rules catholics out as they seem to hold mary and the cross and any other saint to be as holy as jesus and god and the church of england seem to worship a statue of jesus and a cross but other than that im not sure.


ric
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
Catholics don't regard Mary or the saints (why you'd include the cross baffles me!) "as holy as" or on the same level as Jesus and God. You are mistaken.

The Church of England does NOT worship the statue or the cross of Jesus. Again, you are mistaken.

Please be careful about making even "it seems" statements of this type. You may think so, but members of these two churches do not agree at all.

I'd say you may need to study some religions to find out what they believe before deciding which is best for you.
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Have you considered looking into local evangelical or Pentecostal groups? You may be most comfortable there.

The groups I think you should look at:

Jehovah's Witnesses (since you like them)
Evangelical and Pentecostal-like groups
General Protestant movements
Quakers
Unitarians


Although I think it may help if you understand what it is the religious groups teach, so you can understand what they are doing. They aren't worshipping statues. :)
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
im not 100% sure but i know many jehovas whitnesses and was looking that way but am very weary of the watch tower organisation. in the bible it clearly states many times not to worship false idols etc so that rules catholics out as they seem to hold mary and the cross and any other saint to be as holy as jesus and god and the church of england seem to worship a statue of jesus and a cross but other than that im not sure.


ric

Okay, but simply saying that Jehovah's Witness, Catholic or Church of England don't suit you doesn't tell us what beliefs you do have so that someone might suggest a church that includes them.

Can you say more about what beliefs you have? Do you believe in the Trinity of God, for instance, that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all God? Do you believe that a person must accept Jesus as savior (be "born again") to go to heaven? And so forth...
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
Have you considered looking into local evangelical or Pentecostal groups? You may be most comfortable there.

The groups I think you should look at:

Jehovah's Witnesses (since you like them)
Evangelical and Pentecostal-like groups
General Protestant movements
Quakers
Unitarians


Although I think it may help if you understand what it is the religious groups teach, so you can understand what they are doing. They aren't worshipping statues. :)

I think we can omit Unitarians from that list unless it would be solitary Unitarian. The Unitarian Universalist churches rarely use the Bible, accept believers and non-believers, atheists included, and often are labeled non-Christian. I can't imagine from what Ric's said that he'd find UU's acceptable.
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
I think we can omit Unitarians from that list unless it would be solitary Unitarian. The Unitarian Universalist churches rarely use the Bible, accept believers and non-believers, atheists included, and often are labeled non-Christian. I can't imagine from what Ric's said that he'd find UU's acceptable.
I was thinking of Christian Unitarian movements, not UUs.
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
Best to specify as you did here, then. I think Ric would be pretty shocked if he walked into most Unitarian Universalist churches.

And you might need to be more specific still...Don't most Christian Unitarians regard Jesus as a great teacher but not as God or they'd hardly be Unitarian?

I'm not sure...but please specify which.
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Best to specify as you did here, then. I think Ric would be pretty shocked if he walked into most Unitarian Universalist churches.
Good point. :)
Although I'm fairly confident (even without using my mod powers), Ric is in Britain. I don't think we really have many UU congregations here.
 
Can you say more about what beliefs you have? Do you believe in the Trinity of God, for instance, that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all God? Do you believe that a person must accept Jesus as savior (be "born again") to go to heaven? And so forth...[/quote]


thanks for the replys guys i am sorry if i offended anyone with my comments as i dont mean to, i do believe one must accept jesus as saviour and be a good person to be saved i also believe in the one almighty god (the creator) not sure i understand what the holy spirit is yet as i have literally gone from a non believer to a 100% believer in a matter of weeks and have just bought my first bible, so if anyone could suggest a place in the old or new testement where i can find about the holy spirit, im slightly confused about the is jesus god or not debate but i seem to think he is gods son and not god. any help is greatly apprechiated, im just trying to find my way.

thanks

Ric
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
There are still a few Unitarian churches not affiliated in any way with the U.S. UUA as far as I know...or were in Britain. There may not be any of these left today as the info I happened onto regarding British Unitarians was some years ago.

And if Ric believes in Jesus as God, then a Unitarian church wouldn't be suitable since Unitarian means One God and no Son of God being equal to the One God in rank.
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Sounds like a form of Unitarianism. However, it's quite common for Jehovah's Witnesses to hold this view, and many Anglicans (Church of England) hold this view, at an informal level, as well.
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
No worries, Ric, I'm just trying to figure out what you do or do not believe and am not the least bit offended.

You really will need to be more specific was my point if you wish someone to be able to suggest a church that you might find suitable and avoid naming one that you'd not.

The additional information you gave is helpful.
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
There are still a few Unitarian churches not affiliated in any way with the U.S. UUA as far as I know...or were in Britain. There may not be any of these left today as the info I happened onto regarding British Unitarians was some years ago.
I was actually on the Unitarians for my local area about an hour ago. Ironic that. :D I don't really see much on UUs, though, but I think you're right, that some of these may be affiliated, formally or informally.

And if Ric believes in Jesus as God, then a Unitarian church wouldn't be suitable since Unitarian means One God and no Son of God being equal to the One God in rank.
True, true.
That's one of the things I like about the idea of Unitarianism. If I were to go Christian, it'd probably be Unitarian, since I've always had a problem with God incarnate concepts. Ironic, considering I love Hinduism. :D
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
Okay, but Unitarian churches aren't Christian in any sense ordinarily unless they uphold the belief that Jesus was a great teacher but was human as we are and should be respected and revered as a magnificent teacher. Most people would say that unless the church teaches that Jesus was/is God and savior of all humankind as a result, then the church is not Christian but would be Unitarian if God is worshipped.

Maybe that's understood differently in British churches, but in the U.S. a church that doesn't believe Jesus is both God and Savior of humanity isn't Christian as most people understand Christian. So, "Unitarian" would mean believing that it's just God, and Jesus wasn't any more God than any one of us.
 

HerDotness

Lady Babbleon
Then a very traditional Christian church is what you'd best look into. Methodism or Presbyterianism perhaps. Quakers maybe.
 
There are Christian sects that follow the Bible strictly, although most such that I've heard of were not mainstream ones such as Methodists or Presbyterians.

Much depends upon what exactly you believe to be right and what Christian beliefs you feel are wrong. Perhaps if you could say more about that someone can suggest a particular church.

I'd bet that Roman Catholic wouldn't be it. :)

Some baptist in North America follow the bible strictly from what I have seen. Hopes it helps The OP could try there
 
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