Multi-racial churches in Metro South?

[mdiggs1]

Originally Posted by IMISSNY

Maybe someone can explain, clearly how driving a Bentely is a sin? If we all was to give a honest response, if you wrote books, and was a successful business man would you not drive a Bentely? I for one would, if Creflo makes that kind of money then God bless him even more.

As for his church, as long as they are doing things to feed the community, and they are preaching the word of God, then that is it. People always look down on mega churches saying the pastors have too much wealth, well as long as they are not obtaining this wealthc soley from the church and not giving back then my bible dosnt tell anything wrong with it.

I agree with IMISSNY,

If you are a Christian you need to stop hating on Creflo Dollar and others like him. The Lord said that it is wrong to judge another man. Only He can judge. If you forgot this lesson you need to read Matthew Chapter 7, verse 1-6 below.

Matthew Verse 7, Chapters 1-6

As for me since I am not a Christian, I can hate on Reverend Creflo Dollar all I want. Matter of fact I talked to him once and his breath stank.

Non-Christians feel free to hate on Creflo all you want, but if you are a Christian you got a lotta 'splaining to do on judgement day.

[walkintoyournewhome]

Victory World Church is awesome. A bit of a drive, I know lots of people drive from South Atlanta to attend. Good luck!

[Bobby McQue]

Originally Posted by techugagrad

In other words, you call yourself a Christian, but you don't believe what the Bible has to say about sexual immorality or divorce. That says more about you than Victory World Church. I would hope most churches in the metro are of the "fundamentalist" variety, as you say.

I don't call myself a Christian and I think that the Bible is an evil book if taken literally. If I want to ignore science, spill bile against homosexuals and condemn half the world to hell for not believing the same thing as me, I'd call myself a Christian Fundamentalist. And don't worry, the ''metro'' area is filled with Fundamentalists; rows upon rows of fundamentalist churches.

[Bobby McQue]

Originally Posted by nscruggs

It sounds like you've had an unfortunate encounter with someone who isn't filled with the holy spirit or perhaps a sermon rubbed you the wrong way. Or maybe you're just too sensitive, I don't know. Victory certainly isn't for everyone, but there's no reason to attack any church like that. The OP asked for recommendations of multi-racial churchs. Helpful posters offered their suggestions based on their experiences. Even StPaulEastSiders comments about why he dislikes fundamentalist churches or faith & prosperity churches are insightful, well thought out & reasoned without being provocative.

No, I listened to the pastor and politely filled out the hand-outs. And I can criticise ANY religious building or group that I want. This is a forum for debate and my point is valid. A lot of anti-racists are also anti-homophobia.

And the reason I dislike Fundamentalist Churches is well thought out. I find no church that preaches intolerance to homosexuals and ''pagans'' accetable and find it ridiculous that pastor can get away with hate-speach. Maybe the pastor will say that it is ''love'' but you can dress hate up as love as much as you want but it will not stop being hate.

And unlike StPaulEastSiders, who seems very enlightened, I can not use anything Biblical to support my anti-Fundamentalist stance and therefore you would not find it ''well thought-out and reasoned without being provocative''. Sure I can bring up science pointing to the errors of Creationism, a Fundamentalist pursuit or the illogical nature of an eternal hell or the studies in homosexualities, but you wouldn't care for that and this isn't an issue of science but of conscience; it does not feel right to condemn anyone to eternal damnation nor does it seem right that people in sham marriages should continue in them if they have no kids no matter how sad divorce is.

[Bobby McQue]

[quote=mdiggs1;9888560]
Non-Christians feel free to hate on Creflo all you want, but if you are a Christian you got a lotta 'splaining to do on judgement day.[/quote]

Ridiculous! The idea that only one religion will be save is a proposterous and intolerant theory. Why should a Zoroastrian, a Hindu or a Buddhist who has teh universal tendency of their faith and actively do good (as works are very important to these faiths) be damned just because they don't have faith in Jesus?

The idea of an eternal hell for non-Christians is an evil doctrine and I have no qualms, for once, about using the term ''evil''. Can you imagine someone suffering for an eternity? Can you really say it is moral? If you do, I would refuse to believe that you do deep down.

Either YHWH/Jesus is good, in which case he wouldn't allow anyone to suffer for an eternity, or he isn't, in which case he would. It is illogical to believe that an infinitely good being would allow his creations to suffer for an eternity.

[mdiggs1]

Originally Posted by Bobby McQue

[quote=mdiggs1;9888560]
Non-Christians feel free to hate on Creflo all you want, but if you are a Christian you got a lotta 'splaining to do on judgement day.

Ridiculous! The idea that only one religion will be save is a proposterous and intolerant theory. Why should a Zoroastrian, a Hindu or a Buddhist who has teh universal tendency of their faith and actively do good (as works are very important to these faiths) be damned just because they don't have faith in Jesus?

The idea of an eternal hell for non-Christians is an evil doctrine and I have no qualms, for once, about using the term ''evil''. Can you imagine someone suffering for an eternity? Can you really say it is moral? If you do, I would refuse to believe that you do deep down.

Either YHWH/Jesus is good, in which case he wouldn't allow anyone to suffer for an eternity, or he isn't, in which case he would. It is illogical to believe that an infinitely good being would allow his creations to suffer for an eternity.[/quote]

Hey brother, I'm just playing the tune it like I hear it. The bible says that one should have no other god than Him. Don't shoot the messenger.

I was a bible study student myself, and I kindly rejected Christianity because it didn't make any sense; the bible teachings contradicted itself alot.

I live my life on the buddhist faith really, which is not considered a religion by some but a spiritual way of being.

[themacone]

Originally Posted by nscruggs

Having been an active member of Victory for 4 years, I have yet to meet a homophobic or anti-divorce person. But in a church of 6000 regular attenders I am certain there are some. There are probably some racists despite the number or races & nationalities represented. But Victory has never discouraged them from attending, just like they don't discourage homosexuals or divorced people, or anyone else suffering from some sin. They do offer a lot of ministries and support in various areas for those who want to take advantage of the support. They won't sugar coat the sins that are called out in the Bible though, in my opinion, it's done from the position of love not condemnation. If you go there long enough and you're a sinner (and you are unless you're Jesus) you will have the opportunity to be offended when the topic of your sin of choice comes up. But it's been this way at every church I've ever attended regardless of size or demonitation. The question one must ask him/herself is do they want to be offended & stay a sinner or do they want to become a better person and overcome their sin.

It sounds like you've had an unfortunate encounter with someone who isn't filled with the holy spirit or perhaps a sermon rubbed you the wrong way. Or maybe you're just too sensitive, I don't know. Victory certainly isn't for everyone, but there's no reason to attack any church like that. The OP asked for recommendations of multi-racial churchs. Helpful posters offered their suggestions based on their experiences. Even StPaulEastSiders comments about why he dislikes fundamentalist churches or faith & prosperity churches are insightful, well thought out & reasoned without being provocative.

Just my 2 cents. I had given a donation to a mission trip a friend was going on associated with Victory World Church. After the fact, I thought I'd look into the church & see what it stood for & what it's principles & morals were. I prefer to donate my money to causes that I feel embrace my moral values & those who I love & care about. That being said, I'm very liberal - open-minded with friends of all ages, races, sexual orientations, etc. My belief is that God loves all of these people as they are.

I found 2 sermons in the past 2 years about homosexuality, which was a bit of a red flag. I actually listened to both of them. One of which had a worksheet associated with Exodus Ministries (which I understand as a "pray them straight" sort of organization). Also, the pastor gave MANY statistics on how gays live 30-40 years less than their straight counterparts...more likely to die of STDs...more likely to commit crimes such as murder...even more likely to die in accidents. He said these stats came from liberal media. So, I looked further into where these stats actually came from & I was appalled. I found this website first...it listed many of the EXACT stats that were listed & also included a handy bibliography for me so that I could actually look even further into them: [URL="http://www.bibleartbooks.com/america_homosexual_cartoon.html"]www.bibleartbooks.com/america_homosexual_cartoon.html[/URL]

Once I looked a bit farther at the references, I found that the majority of them came from a publication by Dr. E. Fields. Just look at this link below from the Anti-Defamation League to see what Dr. E. Fields stands for. He's a well known racist who has affiliated himself w/ groups who were convicted of burning black churches & synagogues.
[URL="http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Fields.asp?xpicked=2&item=Fields"]www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Fields.asp?xpicked=2&item=Fields[/URL]


I don't think that the statistics presented were coming from a very "liberal", nor christian source.

Many similar stats also come from a man named Paul Cameron. Even exodus' website says they have removed their FAQ section on mortality & homosexuality due to inconsistencies in Mr. Cameron's research. His statisical methods were horrible, data was from the early 80's, and he used obituaries from mainstream & gay (did gay obituaries REALLY even exist in the early 80's?) media to produce his results.

I have never attended a sermon at World Victory. I'm sure they do have many great things to say there. And I'm sure there are many loving, open-minded parishoners attending. However, once I dug a little deeper - it really make me shudder to think that these types of statistics which encompass an even BIGGER hate are being used to push some anti-homophobic propaganda in a church.

I would caution people to dig a little deeper to find the root of where things they are being told are actually coming from, no matter where you choose to worship.