New here, with a question.

[Rudy]

Try the independents.

[good samaritan]

Originally Posted by Seeking

Well.... We visited the church I found. It was culture shock (lol). The pastor is oneness. He baptizes quoting both Acts 2:38 and Matt 28:19 and invokes both "In the name of Jesus" and the titles. He preaches repentance is all that is required for salvation and that baptism and the Holy Ghost baptism are part of growing as a Christian.
I think I was OK with the glitzy MTV style church service (video production announcements etc) and casual "carry your coffee and donuts in the sanctuary during service" atmosphere. Where we struggled was dropping our daughter off for Sunday school. She is 4. Her teacher was an older gentleman in a wheelchair. I was a little uncomfortable with this as some children need occasional assistance for toileting. I tried to be open minded even though he looked like a biker (not wanting to be judgemental). What threw us the most was that he was wearing a T-shirt that said "Too Drunk to Walk". Maybe I am more conservative than I thought. I thought that was inappopriate for church, for leadership and particularly for teaching children.
I definitely am oneness. I believe that in salvation per Acts 2:38. I may be back to square one. I just don't want to go to a Baptist Church. (My spouse's preferred solution). :-(

I am sorry for the mix up. I commend you for the efforts to keep your family in the truth. As far as holiness standards go I agree with you that it isn't a salvation issue in itself. I believe everything thing can be a salvation issue though if that makes any sense to you. The culture of our day has really made old time pentecostals look crazy and it probably doesn't reallize the spriitual struggle that has been going on in our country for the last 100 years.

I will help you pray for your church situation. I hope the Lord will speak to your husband and lead him in the right direction. Again, I don't believe holiness standards are salvational of themselves, but it is a small price to pay. As far as sports and t.v. go, OK must be very conservative. I don't think that such high standards are bad, but few these days are up to such a level of committment. Try to keep your relationship with God #1 and all of these details will pan out.

[Seeking]

Originally Posted by good samaritan

I am sorry for the mix up. I commend you for the efforts to keep your family in the truth. As far as holiness standards go I agree with you that it isn't a salvation issue in itself. I believe everything thing can be a salvation issue though if that makes any sense to you. The culture of our day has really made old time pentecostals look crazy and it probably doesn't reallize the spriitual struggle that has been going on in our country for the last 100 years.

I will help you pray for your church situation. I hope the Lord will speak to your husband and lead him in the right direction. Again, I don't believe holiness standards are salvational of themselves, but it is a small price to pay. As far as sports and t.v. go, OK must be very conservative. I don't think that such high standards are bad, but few these days are up to such a level of committment. Try to keep your relationship with God #1 and all of these details will pan out.

Thank you for your prayers. We have been attending for over 2 1/2 years, still can't be members and I see absolutely no progress. I can't fix this. Only God can solve this. I just don't want to fall out of church all together over this. Prayers are appreciated. I feel like I am walking on egg shells.

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by Seeking

Thank you for your prayers. We have been attending for over 2 1/2 years, still can't be members and I see absolutely no progress. I can't fix this. Only God can solve this. I just don't want to fall out of church all together over this. Prayers are appreciated. I feel like I am walking on egg shells.

You're not going to fall out of church. You are the church. Have you ever thought of being just an attendee? You don't have to throw away the TV. Just relax and don't stress yourself out over these standards.

Is tithing an issue?

[obriencp]

Originally Posted by Seeking

Thank you for your prayers. We have been attending for over 2 1/2 years, still can't be members and I see absolutely no progress. I can't fix this. Only God can solve this. I just don't want to fall out of church all together over this. Prayers are appreciated. I feel like I am walking on egg shells.

It's tough, i'm sure. Just remember that people will condemn you, but if the Holy Ghost isn't convicting you, the awkward feeling is from them.

The PAW is more liberal and they're fun to worship with, but there is a cultural difference that might be hard to adjust to. They're super emotional in the praise and worship and, in my opinion, can go overboard. Also, you may realize that there are are cultural things that go against pursuing racial equality... blaming the gov't for everything, assuming all cops are the enemy, using the "N" word, and being late for functions are some examples I've seen personally. I'm not pushing any stereotypes, i'm just saying speaking from experience. Those things can make you feel out of place too if you're not used to it.

[Seeking]

Originally Posted by Rudy

You're not going to fall out of church. You are the church. Have you ever thought of being just an attendee? You don't have to throw away the TV. Just relax and don't stress yourself out over these standards.

Is tithing an issue?

We have been attendees for 2 1/2 years, I guess we could continue. It is getting more difficult to keep my husband engaged. I try to understand. Apostolic church is my default setting. I this where I feel comfortable. Baptist church is his default setting. It is where he feels comfortable. Going to a Baptist church would (in his perspective) solve everything. He really likes everyone at our church, he respects our pastor and likes the services in general. He just says he doesn't believe that standards are necessary and thinks it is more of a cultural issue. I have thought about this a lot. Many people have the Acts 2:38 experience in an hour. It took him the entire Search For Truth series at the rate of one lesson per week before he was open to the Acts. 2:38 experience. At that pace, who knows how long a transformation into holiness standards might take. I don't think he would object to tithing, but we arent members, so we haven't been tithing to the church. We have given quite a bit of money through other channels (paying for other people's kids to go to congress/camps, money to help widows and the poor/people struggling financially etc). Generosity isn't an issue with him, he understands the scriptures about tithing.

[Rudy]

Standards usually effect females more than males. Does having a t.v. bother you?

[Seeking]

Originally Posted by Rudy

Standards usually effect females more than males. Does having a t.v. bother you?

I do believe you should avoid even the appearance of evil. My husband watches a lot of sports. Our daughter watches children's programming. I don't watch much at all. If I do it is usually news. There really isn't anything immoral about anything we watch. I think having internet is a much greater risk to see something immoral than on TV. Both TV and Internet have good and bad things to view. If you can't control yourself with one, you won't control yourself with the other. Perhaps people should give up both. If not I think ending internet use should be the preferred thing to avoid. It is much riskier.

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by Seeking

I do believe you should avoid even the appearance of evil. My husband watches a lot of sports. Our daughter watches children's programming. I don't watch much at all. If I do it is usually news. There really isn't anything immoral about anything we watch. I think having internet is a much greater risk to see something immoral than on TV. Both TV and Internet have good and bad things to view. If you can't control yourself with one, you won't control yourself with the other. Perhaps people should give up both. If not I think ending internet use should be the preferred thing to avoid. It is much riskier.

I thought maybe pressure from the pulpit about tv was a factor. Some Pastors have pressured wives to demand their unsaved husbands get rid of them or else.

Do you two have to go to church together? Go where you want and he goes where he wants.

[Seeking]

Originally Posted by Rudy

I thought maybe pressure from the pulpit about tv was a factor. Some Pastors have pressured wives to demand their unsaved husbands get rid of them or else.

Do you two have to go to church together? Go where you want and he goes where he wants.

Our pastor preaches against TV and sports from the pulpit. He has never pressured me to demand my husband get rid of the TV. I don't believe that attending two different churches is an option either one of us would be comfortable with.