Is that a normal schedule?

Just because we have simlar service times doesn't mean we "do, what they do" (dumb statement that) for example we don't cut people off, we don't see our selves as the only true church, and we are not run by a man who stands himself as the modern day moses equivalent.

If you must know, Sunday morn services are our main service, Wednesdays are usually a bible study night or guest speaker night.

germ wrote: Is that a normal schedule?

"judgementalism" is a hallmark PH...... and one of the things we're all trying to leave behind...just a thought

I think me and Micah are having a laugh at your expense people..
I find it funny that you find 3 services as 'normal', to me normal means that everyone else is doing it but from what I understand, most churches do not do 3 services at all.

@AWee - your way too touchy for my comment to be taken as a judgmental comment. Am I the only one who thought "3 services as normal" funny??

.I really hope i am not Judgemental [maybe mental lol] but looking around i cant see anywhere i want to go TO. Meaning it all looks the same but different.

MY only viable option imho is to start a home church but i dont know if i am ready for that.

it's normal to us...whats normal to us doesn't have to mean that we do the same thing as everyone else....but germ I get your point...

Micah - all I can suggest is to try visiting a few churches....if you look past the few things they do differently than you are used to, you might actually find a great bunch of people that love God...I have learnt not to be so judgmental towards other churches since all this went down - I had to stop looking at churches through the ph filter and see the genuine people with a heart for God.
(hope I am making sense!)

Neets wrote:Micah - all I can suggest is to try visiting a few churches....if you look past the few things they do differently than you are used to, you might actually find a great bunch of people that love God...I have learnt not to be so judgmental towards other churches since all this went down - I had to stop looking at churches through the ph filter and see the genuine people with a heart for God.
(hope I am making sense!)

Gday Neets
..........Thanks Yes you do make sense. But it isnt the people it,s the Organization. I am sure there are JW,s with a heart for GOD but the Watch tower NO Thanks. Just as i am certain there are Catholics but Catholocism NO thanks.

then do not leave, stay where you are....

yes a bit sensitive on our part, I have come to find one of the reasons why we get guest speakers wednesday night is because their own churches have nothing on that night, and they are amazed at the turnout we have for church on a wednesday night, it's definately not 'normal' for them.

Micah - to add to what Neets said, I would start by looking at what church/es your friends have started going to, and make a judgement call on the fruits in their lives. Do they look like they're compromising in their Christian walk - or can you actually see joy in their lives about serving God?

If the latter, then you need to accept that ANY church you check out is going to be different - but different is not necessarily wrong. Is God in the place? What are the values/vision of the church - are they about having a "Bless me" club and singing Kumbaya, or are they about reaching out to the community with the message of the gospel? Methods may change, and may seem different, but the end result is what we need to be about.

But most importantly - be honest about why you're leaving. If it's because others are leaving, then I'd recommend (and this is HARD to say) that you stay. If it's because your eyes have been opened to "things" that you simply can't align yourself with, then when you do leave, resolve to leave them things behind also.

Paul says "This ONE thing I do - forgetting those things that are behind, I press on toward the goal..." Your future is ahead of you, not behind.

Sorry for going on a bit - but it's advice I'd give to your face, but seeing as you don't know who I am (I think - you may by now ;-)), this is the next best thing.

obviously there needs to be some wisdom in where you choose to worship...doctrine is a good place to start!
my point is, there are good churches around if you look past the different schedules or outlook and look at the people and what they believe.

I wasn't aware that the AOG held the same doctrinal views as PH until PV looked into it all and presented those to us...there will always be factions of churches that take extremes, be it good or bad in any organisation...but germ is right...if no local churches are right for you then stay where you are unless you feel God leading you out.

Just a couple of points,

Hillsong have 4 morning services and 2 evening services on Sunday, plus a Saturday night service, and yes some people go to at least 3 of those.Plus midweek Bible study/home groups, Mens meetings, Thursday womens group, youth on Fridays etc

My Parents Anglican Church have 3 morning services and 1 evening on a Sunday.Plus midweek Bible study/home groups, Weekly "seniors" group, youth group, womens meetings etc

Plus EVERY "Pentecostal" Church in my area has at least one morning service and one evening service, then home groups during the week,..that seems to be the norm (and yes we know this because we're looking!)

Now, where PH differs is that you are expected to go to everything, plus morning prayer, outreach, etc etc otherwise you're a "lukey"...AND the entire lean of all that you do is "works based" rather than "Grace based",..the motivation becomes pleasing pastor rather than pleasing God. The imagery in the Bible of the widow putting in one mite to the offering, and Jesus acknowledging that as better than others who put in "more", is also relevant to our attendance, it is an individual conviction, given by God, differing from one persons situation to another (obviously, I'm not in anyway negating the absolute need for a regular church attendance, but levels of weekly+ attendance are up to God & the individual)

By doctrinal views, ACC holds the bible essentials as a standard, PH has a lot of differing doctrines that they portray as essentials (that aren't).

Micah, as one who's also still in the "matrix", can I offer you these 2 sermons, as ABSOLUTE GOLD!!...please listen to them, they will really help you make sense of what you're experiencing.

http://eternitychurch.com.au/audio/?sermon_id=21

http://eternitychurch.com.au/audio/?sermon_id=20

aweebitopinionated wrote:Micah, as one who's also still in the "matrix", can I offer you these 2 sermons, as ABSOLUTE GOLD!!...please listen to them, they will really help you make sense of what you're experiencing.

http://eternitychurch.com.au/audio/?sermon_id=21

http://eternitychurch.com.au/audio/?sermon_id=20

I give thanks to GOD for the input from you all. Xaine i havnt got your ID yet.

Weebit i am 2 mins into the first sermon and i know absolutly what he,s on about, thanks back to sermon

Can I just thank you for those sermon links?? I downloaded them, listened to two, then got busy and forgot them Listening to Casualties of Freedom now.

Thank pastor Johnson, his experience, wisdom and commitment to Jesus, have been a life raft for so many of us,

I wept as I listened to "casualties of freedom" it was such a release, one of those, "I'm not going crazy, this is really happening" moments

And the second one,"beyond the cover", was an absolutely timely confirmation of what God had been speaking to us as well.

oh_when_ wrote:Is there a reason why we have had services canceled here recently? Is this the new friendly family church, night off format? I wonder how many services Satan takes off for family night.........the writing is on the wall and we don't even see it. If alarm bells are not ringing, then they will never ring...

Oh_When_The_Saints

So we had better have church Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun.......The funny thing is that i used to go to a church almost like that, and you know what.......bad things still happened, people got sick, accidents happened.....you get the drift. And hey it still happens it's called LIFE.........

Hey "Oh_When".......Me and my family are covered and protected by the blood of Jesus not some church srevice..... Better check your alarm system!

Great call mearnsie. It's the same, age old works mentality that some people tend to have...'God will love me more if attend 18 services a week'. A very immature christian thing to say.

Thanks for the clarification regarding services (below), so there is one main service on Sunday, which by grace you make it if you can or desire too, sometimes a Sunday evening service (which by grace you attend if you desire) and a bible study on Wednesday or a guest speaker from days-gone-by. I get the picture, no worries.

What I do find amazing is the amount of defensive Christianity being practiced here by the ECC members. One would imagine it would be far more prudent for a born-again Christian to allow Christ to defend you and remain silent to the perceived violations. Just my opinion. Is my opinion valid here, or will that come under defensive assault as well? All one has to do is view a cross-section of the comments posted in what was once the deleted Potters House section, to come to a conclusion there truly are a very vocal core here, who spend more time defending themselves and publicly denouncing the PH current/former friends.

If one takes a look at the ECC section, I don't see too many posts from PH members challenging ECC. Just one persons opinion.

"If you must know, Sunday morn services are our main service, Wednesdays are usually a bible study night or guest speaker night."[i]

welcome to the forum grace-gr

there is usually 2 services a sunday unless we can't get the building plus a wed night service every week which has been a great night to have a guest speaker. Most of the guest speakers we have had have been pastors from other churches - new friends to ECC and the service has been run not so much like the bible study mythy refers to but a normal service with song service etc. It has been a fantastic time of ministry with an injection of new preaching as well as the occasional service or meetings with an old friend.

I must ask this tho - why do Christians feel the need to attack and violate other Christians just because they choose to serve God in another church? Why must ECC christians be the ones who are judged for speaking? Both sides will be held accountable for their words and actions be it good or bad.
The discussion on this forum has been back and forwards between several members of ECC, PH and also others not in either church and for the most part pretty casual discussions with the occasional heated section.

The forums have been a great place for many people to help process what happened and how they felt and allowed a few particular men of God (starting on the original forum) to speak healing into our lives and although sometimes things have got a little heated, it has challenged many people as to what they believe and why - with much study and searching of scriptures the result. There is alot of pages to read if browsing for the first time so keep in mind that some things you read, should be read in the context of the discussion.

Your opinion is definitely valid - thats what a forum is for!
God bless and visit us again!

beautifully said, Neets.
We are all in different stages of healing and some people may still have feelings of hurt, rejection and even bitterness. Far better that they be able to express those feelings in a place like this, where they can be ministered to in an understanding, no-pressure environment. Some of the comments you're reading, Grace_Gr, may be from those who have not yet been able to process what has happened and forgive. Bitterness is lovingly dealt with here, I've noticed.
Might I also suggest that people only feel the need to be defensive if they perceive they are under attack?

Grace_Gr wrote:Thanks for the clarification regarding services (below), so there is one main service on Sunday, which by grace you make it if you can or desire too, sometimes a Sunday evening service (which by grace you attend if you desire) and a bible study on Wednesday or a guest speaker from days-gone-by. I get the picture, no worries.

What I do find amazing is the amount of defensive Christianity being practiced here by the ECC members. One would imagine it would be far more prudent for a born-again Christian to allow Christ to defend you and remain silent to the perceived violations. Just my opinion. Is my opinion valid here, or will that come under defensive assault as well? All one has to do is view a cross-section of the comments posted in what was once the deleted Potters House section, to come to a conclusion there truly are a very vocal core here, who spend more time defending themselves and publicly denouncing the PH current/former friends.

If one takes a look at the ECC section, I don't see too many posts from PH members challenging ECC. Just one persons opinion.

"If you must know, Sunday morn services are our main service, Wednesdays are usually a bible study night or guest speaker night."[i]

Don't know what your issue is, Obviously a PH sympathiser. Here are a couple of things to note.
1)what's this 'by grace' we attend church service?? we do not have spiritual role call if we attend church, like another place I used to attend, if that is what you mean.
2)Most of the people who post aren't from PH, which is there is such a disparity in comments between those in PH and those outside of PH.
3) If you have anything to challenge ECC about then don't hesitate to create a topic in which we can all discuss these things.

What I do find amazing is the amount of defensive Christianity being practiced here by the ECC members. One would imagine it would be far more prudent for a born-again Christian to allow Christ to defend you and remain silent to the perceived violations. Just my opinion. Is my opinion valid here, or will that come under defensive assault as well? All one has to do is view a cross-section of the comments posted in what was once the deleted Potters House section, to come to a conclusion there truly are a very vocal core here, who spend more time defending themselves and publicly denouncing the PH current/former friends.

If one takes a look at the ECC section, I don't see too many posts from PH members challenging ECC. Just one persons opinion.

Reading up and considering what people have said for a while, Im inclined to agree...