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Choosing a Church

As a new-believer you must be asking or thinking, ‘Why is it so important to belong to a congregation of Christians?’ Well, there’s a tremendous amount of Bible teaching and admonitions for not trying to go the Christian walk alone. But suffice it to say that there is a devil out there, and a lot of his unfriendly cohorts (demons), and they all hate Christians. Their avowed aim is the destruction of all Christians. Then this world is basically anti-Christian to begin with, so with those three major strikes against you, you’d better have some Christian allies to gather with and spiritually grow with. That’s the second most important reason. Also, for some reason, Christians spiritually grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ far better and faster in a group orientation. Why do we need to grow in the “grace and knowledge of the Lord” as Peter commands? The Bible may say “come as you are”, but the Lord doesn’t want you to stay like that, the way you’re old self was in this Satanic world with its evil lifestyles. The whole principle of Christian discipleship is that of having teachers and elder brothers and sisters in Christ, assisting you and teaching you in your Christian walk with Jesus. But this short article is not about that. It is about how to choose a Christian church and denomination that is right for you. From having read the brief history of the early Christian church, you realize that the body of Christ went through a major separation during the period of its infancy. Two major groups were extant in Paul's day, the Judeo-Christians and the Gentile Christians, made up of the Greco-Roman church in later times (300’s AD onward). In Palestine the Judeo-Christian church became persecuted and chased from land to land, and then parts of this group are believed to have become the Sabbatarian churches that we see today, according to Sabbatarian historians. In history this was a tiny group when compared to the other group. According to the Sabbatarian’s own histories, but somewhat contested by other historians for lack of sufficient evidence, these Sabbatarian groups started out mainly Jewish in ethnicity, but became composed ethnically of whatever nationality they migrated into as time went on, as they migrated from Asia Minor to Yugoslavia, to southern France, to England, and finally with Stephen Mumford, to Rhode Island and the United States. Again, this is letting the Sabbatarians have a say somewhat, in their own history. The Gentile Christians had some significant revivals that were really Christian, and from which the evangelical Christian church can trace its heritage, starting with Martin Luther, George Mueller, John Wesley, the Morovians of Germany, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Mass., and the Baptists of Rhode Island-all leading to the evangelical Christian churches we see around us today. Just as the apostle Paul was pointing out to these two same groups in Romans 14, who were part of one congregation at that period of time, both groups were covered by the blood of Christ, i.e. they were both composed of born-again Christians. The Christian church I have been a member of for over thirty years was a Sabbatarian Christian church, somewhat Torah observant in believing that the 10 Commandments, Holy Days, and dietary laws were still to be kept by Christians, and I know for a fact that the Holy Spirit was indwelling in the majority of our members. Paul never stated whether the Jewish Christians in the Roman Church of God he was addressing were Torah observant or not, but from the context of Romans 14, it seems that they must have been. And that is a good thing. Because the Sabbatarian branch of Christianity is somewhat Torah observant, believing at least that the 10 Commandments are still in full force.

So in choosing a Christian church to become a part of, say you’re a new believer, and are sort of looking. What should you look for? Well that depends on you, and more importantly, it depends on your Christian conscience. The criterion for this entire article is Romans 14. Some of the most important legislation on the Christian conscience and for freedom of belief was penned by the apostle Paul in Romans 14. Unlike his letter to the Galatians, where he sort of pounded on Messianic Jewish Christians of the Ebionite sect for their efforts to try to get Galatian Gentile Christians to conform to the Law of Moses--in his letter to the Romans he was more balanced and addressing a different problem. There were two distinct groups of Christians meeting in one church in Rome, which can be very divisive of and by itself. These two groups were made up of Gentile Christians of pagan Roman background and Jewish Christians, who by all appearance where Torah observant. And the two groups were going at each other. In Romans 14 Paul was telling the Gentile group to lay-off of beating up their Jewish brothers in Christ, and vice versa. Some 300 years later this same group of Jewish Christians were chased out of Rome into southern France by the Greco-Roman church at Rome. But in telling the Gentile Christians to lay-off beating up their Jewish brethren in the congregation, Paul laid out the foundational legislation that guarantees freedom of Christian conscience in the secondary areas of ones Christian belief system. This legislation lays the Bible foundation for all true Christian churches and denominations, and for their right of existence within the body of Christ-both on the Sabbatarian side of the Christian fence and the Gentile evangelical side of the fence. All Christians should believe in the major doctrines or teachings dealing with Salvation through Jesus Christ. At the end of this article I will list a generic listing of those beliefs from a tiny African fellowship that has gotten it right. I don’t want to highlight some definition given by a major denomination, but instead some obscure one, so no one will feel obligated to steer in any particular direction in choosing a denomination by my using their statement-for it will be hard for most of you to go all the way to Africa just because you like their statement of primary beliefs. Now back to the subject. In the Church of God in Rome, the Gentile Christians were beating up on the Jewish part of their congregation. They as Gentiles probably wanted to worship on Sunday, and knowing the terms of the new covenant, knew that they didn’t have to worship on the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, or observe any Mosaic Holy Days or dietary laws, as the Jerusalem headquarters church probably still did. Christianity can be very adaptive to the culture it finds itself in because of the terms of the new covenant, regardless of what days or customs one wants to observe or not observe in that worship, just so those customs don’t go against the basic law of God, expressed in the law of Christ.

But now let’s get into Romans 14. Romans 14:1-4, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything [and this would be referring to the Gentile diet of anything and everything coming into that cosmopolitan city of Rome], but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. [Why vegetables? Well, under Jewish Mosaic law, most of the meat in Rome was probably not prepared right, even if it was taken from “clean” animals, probably wasn’t bled correctly. For such a distinction to be made, meant these were definitely Torah observant Jewish Christians, the way I see it.] The man who eats everything [i.e. the Gentile Christian] must not look down upon him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. [i.e. the acceptance of God goes onto Christians of both persuasions-that’s the most important point here. Paul goes on to continue the thought. These powerful words should ring out across the centuries and speak to us in these latter times.] Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand…” So I think we have established that the Jewish Christians here are either Torah observant or somewhat Torah observant, for they are observing the Mosaic food laws. How often I have heard a denomination or some ‘Cult-watch group’ condemning some Sabbatarian group because of their dietary practice and belief. Or more significantly, for their belief in the old covenant paradigm of viewing God’s law. As we shall see, this is totally contrary to what the apostle Paul has penned here. Let’s read on.

(verses 5-6), “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God…” The only ones concerned with days of worship here would be the Jewish Christians, the Judeo-Christian part of this congregation. They would believe in keeping the Holy Days and Sabbath as commanded in the Ten Commandments and Leviticus 23, part of the Torah. Paul is saying they have this right of preference on days of worship, just as the Gentiles-should they wish to work seven days a week, or worship God on another day (Sunday). Now lets skip to the end of the chapter where Paul gives the clincher for this legislation. And these next set of verses show the importance of being part of a group of Christians that believe as you do in the secondary areas of belief-which is just what Paul has been addressing here in this chapter. (Food and days of worship are definitely not primary areas of doctrinal belief, which we should all be somewhat agreed upon.) (Verses 22-23, “So whatever you believe about these things keep between you and yourself and God [spoken to Christians who held differing secondary beliefs within the same congregation. That’s why Paul said to keep them to yourself. Obviously, if you’re agreed on all these secondary items, you can openly discuss these beliefs with the others in your congregation.]. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Now here is one of the most important principles found in the Bible, the core of the Christian conscience. If you believe something, some stated rule or principle found in the Bible is God’s will for you-and you’d better be careful here to put certain passages in context here and not go out “practicing an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’-then you’d better follow that rule or teaching or belief. Now as a Christian, you should believe in the major primary beliefs that make you a Christian. But in these secondary areas, chose wisely. If your Christian conscience and careful study of God’s Word lead you to believe that the 10 Commandments, Sabbath and Holy Days, dietary laws, etc are still in force-interpreting Matthew 5:17-19 in that way-then you had better find a Christian fellowship within the major Sabbatarian branch of Christianity that practices the secondary beliefs you agree with from your study of God’s Word. If you have come to understand the freedoms and terms of the new covenant, and the law of Christ, and you can see in Hebrews how the Sabbath has truly been transformed by the Holy Spirit who dwells within Christians, granting us the “Sabbath rest” of peace and rest through the indwelling Holy Spirit, then you belong on the new covenant evangelical side of Christianity. [If you would like to review Paul’s teaching on the New Testament Sabbath, and what it is, CLICK HERE and read this sermon.]

If you are Jewish and have come to see Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah, and you do understand the new covenant, and that the Sabbath/Holy Days are voluntary, but you still desire to keep them because of your ethnic background, new covenant Christianity is totally adaptive to ethnic background. There are Messianic Jewish groups out there that are not Torah observant. Find one of those groups and they will more than spiritually meet your needs. One caution about a lot of the Torah observant Messianic Jewish groups, they don’t believe that Jesus, as Messiah, is Divine, part of the Triune God. Even the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong, and many of the other Sabbatarian Churches properly believed in the Divinity of Jesus Christ. For Paul stated, “All have sinned and come short of the law.”-all except the Messiah, Jesus Christ. There is no way Jesus could be a total atonement for all the sins of mankind unless he were sinless himself. And no human who ever lived has been sinless, except God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. If Jesus were merely human, some prophet or something, he wouldn’t have been sinless, and his death could never have been a proper atonement for all the sins of mankind. He could never be that perfect Passover Lamb, whose blood covers our sins and saves us from the second death.

It seems strange, but from what we have seen in the previous article about early church history, the Greco-Roman church really didn’t believe in practicing the principles laid out by the one they revered, the apostle Paul, for had they, they would never have persecuted the Judeo-Christian part of Christianity nearly out of existence. Just an observation.

Getting away from the secondary beliefs between Judeo-Christians, Messianic Jewish Christians and Gentile evangelical Christians, I would like to point out a secondary area of belief that has a number of differing interpretations that could bother your Christian conscience if you are in the “wrong” group. There are many differing interpretations on what the Bible teaches on hell, who goes there, if it’s ever-burning, or just starts up and burns till all is consumed. On this website is a section that addresses some of those differing beliefs, but not who believes what-that’s for you to find out. I know for a fact that being a part of one evangelical denomination, as spiritually nourishing as it was, always grated on my Christian conscience, because I didn’t agree with their interpretation on heaven and hell, i.e. eternal rewards and punishments. Some Sabbatarian, Judeo-Christian groups believe that the unsaved dead have the opportunity to receive Christ and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, just like we do, and they receive this opportunity at the resurrection of the Great White Throne judgment talked of in Revelation 20. This belief comes from a combining of Revelation 20 with Ezekiel 37:1-14. I only mention this in passing, to show the importance of choosing a church to attend that doesn’t offend what you believe the Bible says, upon your careful study of it. Look up the various links offered and email your doctrinal questions to the various denominations out there. Visit local congregations and ask their pastors the tough questions you have about God’s Word, and what they believe it says in the secondary areas. You want to be looking for a good combination of Scriptural accuracy, coupled to guidance from the Holy Spirit within the congregation you’re looking to become a part of. Some churches may have all the proper doctrinal beliefs, but be as spiritually dead as they come. You don’t want that. You want to be with a group of Christians that are vibrantly alive with God’s Holy Spirit, is Scripturally accurate in the primaries of salvation and one that comes close to your secondary beliefs and ethnic background. Jews coming to a belief in Jesus of Nazareth would feel totally out of place in a Gentile evangelical Christian church, just as a normal American, Canadian, or Indian, Pakistani or Frenchman would find he or she was totally out of place in a non-Torah observant Messianic Jewish congregation. So choose wisely. The Messianic Jewish groups and some of the Sabbatarian groups have adapted the Holy Days and Sabbath observance to be very Christ-centered, even as Gentile evangelicals have made Christmas and Easter Christ-centered, adapting days that had previous pagan meanings, and adapted them to Christ. The new covenant has allowed this awesome flexibility so that the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ could go around the world unhindered by the ethnic backgrounds it encountered as it spread worldwide. The Lord’s not dumb. He took that restriction out of the way for that very reason. When Jesus returns, as some are aware, he will institute a new set of days and laws for the whole world, probably based on a combination of the new covenant law of Christ and the Torah (cf. Zechariah 14:16-19). But don’t worry about that for now. Just worry about being a growing Christian within the body of Christ, and finding that part of the body of Christ where you belong-where you fit and can effectively grow spiritually to become all the Lord wants you to become.

Now I will give the list of primary beliefs that Christians should have in order to be Christians. There is one area, hotly contested, which the Lord doesn’t seem to make a distinction in, because he’s bestowed his Holy Spirit on groups that believe either way. So put your stones down if you’ve been throwing them at the other group. This is the area of defining the Holy Spirit. Some if not most Sabbatarian groups believe the Holy Spirit is the power of God, and they don’t believe he is the third person of a Triune God. This belief, or error in belief according to some, has not stopped God from bestowing his Holy Spirit on groups that believe the Holy Spirit is the power of God. So you cult-watching rock-throwers, put those rocks away, before the Lord hurls a big one at you.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

New Life Fellowship Prescribes to all the historic tenets of the Christian faith. Below are some of the Christian teachings or doctrines which we believe in:

1. SCRIPTURE: All Scripture both the Old Testament and New Testament is inspired by God (i.e. God breathed). It is inerrant, infallible, and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice. Ps. 109:11,89,105; Mtt.24:35;2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pt. 2:21; Rev. 22:18-19.

2. GOD: There is only one True and living God, the Holy, the Almighty and the creator of mankind, the universe, and of all things. In the Godhead, He exists in three personalities, namely, the Father, the Son (or the Word), and the Holy Spirit. [Sabbatarian groups, as I explained, believe two personalities, with the Holy Spirit being the power of God. God himself doesn’t seem to care one way or the other about belief one way or the other on this-regardless of what the cult-watchers may say or think.] Gen. 1:1,26; Ex. 3:13,15; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 90:2; Is. 9:6; Jer. 10:10; Mtt. 28:19; Jn. 1:1,2,12; Acts 5:3,4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1.

3. JESUS CHRIST: Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God; was born of the virgin Mary; she His blood in substitutionary sacrifice when He died on the cross for our sins. He rose again physically on the third day; was seen by the twelve disciples, and by over five thousand brethren; He ascended into heaven and He is seated at God the Father’s right hand as a glorified Lord; and He is the only person of the Godhead having two natures (i.e. the Divine nature and the human nature). Gen. 3:15; Is. 14:17; Mtt. 1:18-21; Lk. 1:27,31,35; Jn. 1:1,2,14; Rom. 5:8; I Cor. 15:1-20; Gal. 1:4,5; Phil. 2:5-11; 1 Tim. 1:15; Heb. 2:11,17; 7:27; 9:22,28; 10:12; 1 Pet. 1:18,19; 1 Jn. 2:22.

4. THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is the one who convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of Judgment. He regenerates, indwells, seals, baptizes the believer into the body of Christ at conversion; fills the believer with power for service; manifest His gifts through all Spirit-filled believers for the common good of the body of Christ, the Church; and produces the fruit of the Spirit in the life of the believer. Jn. 14:16,17; 16:5-15; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:4-13,27-31; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:11-16; 5:18; 1 Pet. 4:10.

5. SATAN: Satan, the arch enemy of God was created perfect, blameless, and sinless before sin was found in him. He is the prince of the kingdom of darkness; is a deceiver, a murderer, and a destroyer of all mankind. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, Satan’s power was broken and is now a defeated foe forever. Gen. 3:15; Is. 14:12-14; Ezk. 28:11-19; Jn. 8:44; 10:10; 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 2:15; 1 Jn. 3:8; Rev. 12:11a.

6. MAN: Man was created in God’s image but fell into sin through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. He is now totally deprived of his divine heritage; he is in hostility with God his creator and is eternally lost without the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus. Gen. 1:26; Is. 53:6; 59:2; 64:6; Rom. 3:10-17; 5:12; 6:23; 7:7a.

7. SALVATION: Salvation is God’s great undeserved favour to all humanity. This free gift for the regeneration of mankind’s spiritually dead spirit was purchased through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross; and is received only by faith through believing in the person of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Mtt. 1:21; Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3-5; Acts 4:12; 16:30-31; Rom. 10:9-13; Eph. 2:8-9.

8. HOLY LIFE: All believers are exhorted to be sanctified or to be holy even as the Lord who called them is holy. They are supposed to live a victorious life over the flesh, the world and the Devil. Thus they are expected to overcome sin constantly while allowing the Holy Spirit to fill or control their lives for a holy and powerful living. Gen. 17:1; Ezk. 36:25-27; Mtt. 5:28; Lk. 1:74-75; Gal. 5:13, 16-18; Eph. 4:27; 5:18; 1 Thess. 4:3,7; 5:23; Titus 2:12; Heb. 2:11; 10:14; 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:16; 1 Jn. 2:16-17.

9. THE CHURCH: The Church is the Body and Bride of Christ of which Christ Himself is the only Founder and Head. Thus, the Church whether local or geographical, visible or invisible consists only of the true born again believers who are committed to the Word of God, the Bible, to the worship of one God, and to the work of Jesus Christ. Mtt. 16:18-19; Acts 2:41-47; 9:31; 12:5; 14:23; 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:13, 27-28; 16:1; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:22-23; Col. 1:18,24.

Researching the Secondary Areas of Belief, Finding a Specific Denomination That Suites You:

Next you want to find out who believes what in the finer or secondary areas of belief and worship. At this point I would highly recommend that you purchase a copy of “Handbook of Denominations in the United States” by Frank S. Mead & Samuel S. Hill, 11th Edition Revised by Craig D. Atwood, currently available from http://www.amazon.com for $14.00, not a bad price at all. There is far too much material in that book to even begin to list here, but it is fairly comprehensive. Online URL resources for searching the denominations and sending them direct questions are listed at the back of this book.

One thing that will help you to understand some of the various terms of beliefs which may be briefly described in this handbook is a short paper written by a friend at Harvard Theological School. In it he defines the major differences in eschatological beliefs that you will encounter in the various denominations. I am inserting his paper right here after this paragraph. [Eschatology is the study of end-time prophecies in the Bible.] But I wish to make one thing very clear about the prophetic interpretation this web site feels is a danger to the Christian’s belief system, and that is the amillennialist interpretation of Bible prophecy. To read a description of why I feel it absolutely necessary to take this stand, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/prophecies/2ndcoming1.htm and read the introduction section.

“Christian Views on the Millennium"

In this paper, I want to give a very basic definition of some important terms as they relate to the nature of the Millenium and what is believed by certain Christians with regard to how the end of the ages will occur.

Premillennialism (Historic or Classical, which also means non-dispensational) The belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth (personally and bodily) to defeat the forces of evil and establish the millenium (a literal thousand years). During this time, Christ and the saints will reign from Jerusalem and the earth will be filled with holiness, justice, peace and prosperity. This was the dominant understanding of prophecy during the first three centuries of the Christian church. Some early church fathers who held this view were Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Lactantius. Many modern day Baptists, some Presbyterians, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses (with their own unique belief system), almost all fundamentalists (across denominational lines) and various Seventh-day Sabbatarian groups hold this view.

Amillennialism: This is the belief that there will be a continuous growth of good and evil in the world before the Second Coming of Christ. The kingdom of God is present now in the world through his Word, his Spirit, and the church. Amillennialist do not believe that Christ will have a literal thousand-year rule on earth. They believe that this refers (symbolically) to the time in history (between Christ’s first and second coming) when Satan is bound by Christ and the saints rule with Christ on the earth (in the sense that Christ is ruling through his church). [Pastor Chuck Smith’s comment about this belief is “If this is the Millennium, then Satan’s chain is too long” (cf. Rev. 20:1-3).] They believe the first resurrection in Rev. 20:6 refers to personal conversion when a new Christian has been “resurrected” from spiritual death to new life. They also state that when Christ returns he will judge the wicked, reward the righteous, and begin eternity. There will be only one resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. This framework for this view was laid out by Origen (AD 185-254), Eusebius (263-340), Tyconius (d. 400) and St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Almost all Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Episcopalians, Lutherans (though some conservative Lutherans might differ on details), some Presbyterians, and Congregationalists hold this view

Postmillennialism: Just like amillennialists, postmillennialist deny that we should take the thousand years in Revelation literally. They believe that Christ will return after the millennium (which for them means a indefinite time period when the church will evangelize most of the world and do great works of missionary work, preaching, and teaching). They are far more optimistic about the future events on earth than either premillennialists or amillennialists. After the earth is evangelized and large numbers of people are converted, then Christ will return. This view was held by Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, Charles Hodge, and B. B. Warfield. It was quite common among American Protestants during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is held by some individuals today, but very rarely espoused by an entire denomination (though a group called the Christian Reconstructionists holds this view in a modified form).

Dispensational Premillennialism: Just like classic premillennialists, they believe in a literal thousand-year reign of Christ. They differ on the details of what will precede Christ’s return and what role the church will play in the end times. Dispensationalists hold that Christ’s coming will take place in two stages. He will come for his church (the rapture) and then with his church (his final revelation and appearance). These events will be separated by a seven-year tribulation. They take three positions on the rapture: 1) pretribulationists: say that Christ will come for his saints; afterward he will come with his saints. Christ will rapture the church (they will disappear from earth and be with Christ in heaven). Thus the saints will be protected during the seven years of the tribulation because they will be in heaven while all hell breaks on earth. 2) posttribulationist: the church remains on the earth for the seven years of the tribulation. Believers won’t be raptured until after the tribulation ends. God will preserve his true believers, even though they must suffer persecution and perhaps death during the tribulation. 3) midtribulationists: it is thought that the church will go through the less severe part (usually the first half, or three-and-a-half-years) of the tribulation, but then will be miraculously removed (translated) from the world. It will suffer persecution during the first part of the tribulation, but it will be removed when God’s wrath is poured out on a wicked and unrepentant world.

It should be noted that some believe that there will be a partial rapture of only those believers who are actively watching and waiting for the Lord’s return. They will be found worthy to escape the terrors of the tribulation by being taken up into heaven. After this first rapture, there will be a series of raptures, some during the tribulation, and some after (for those who were not quite mature as believers and who needed trial by fire). Dispensationalism arose in the 19th century primarily under the influence and teachings of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). It spread to America through Bible prophecy conferences and the Scofield Reference Bible (which has sold millions of copies). A leading seminary that teaches dispensationalism is Dallas Theological Seminary (which was founded in 1934). Those who hold this view make a distinction between Israel and the church, which causes them to maintain steadfastly their position that God will fulfill his promises to Abraham through the Jews. Thus they reject the belief held by amillennialists that the church is the new Israel. They express a great interest in the Jews because they think that Jews will play a prominent role in end-time prophecies. Many Jews, it is held, will be converted and accept Christ as their Messiah. They will be blessed during Christ’s peaceful thousand-year reign on earth. This will also be God’s fulfillment of his promise to Abraham and his descendants. It might be added here that Classical pre-millennialist’s hold the same or similar views about the Jews and that God will fulfill his promises to Abraham through them and he nation of Israel during the Millennium-this is not just a Dispensational position, but generally includes all Pre-Millennialists.

I have found the following resources helpful in preparing this short sketch:

Gerald Bray, Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present (1996)
Joel Carpenter, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundmantalism (1997)
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (1985)
H. Wayne House, Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine (1992)
George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture (1980)
Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (1986)

Written by Curtis J. Evans”
Comments in brackets [ ] are my own. Editor, UNITYINCHRIST.COM

Look at this site: http://www.crosswalk.com/ . Just go to the section called “denominations” and you should be able to find any evangelical or other type of denomination or church you are looking for. It has extensive information on conservative Christianity in general.

The Assemblies of God statement of beliefs: http://www.ag.org/

One new denomination (although they don’t like calling themselves a denomination) is that of Calvary Chapel, headquartered in Costa Mesa, CA. They are very a unique and balanced blend between Pentecostal and Fundamentalist beliefs, very good in teaching the Word of God from the connective expository manner of verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book thorugh the whole Bible. Their members become very Biblically knowledgeable after a few years of this style of preaching. Their worship music style is contemporary modern Christian music in their worship service. Dress is casual, and the congregations I’ve observed are all very warm and friendly. Doctrinal beliefs are fundamental Christian, with a literal interpretation of prophecy, and the belief in the direct return of Jesus Christ, at which time he will set up his kingdom on earth and rule the nations, and restore the kingdom to Israel as a nation. Their website is http://www.calvarychapel.org . Local congregations can be located on their clickable US map under the heading of “Churches”, and local pastors can be emailed in most cases right from this map listing. They are a new denomination that sprang up in the early 1970’s but for some reason was not listed in the “Handbook of Denominations in the United States”. A short excerpt from their founder’s history can be read on this site in this church history section, and is titled “The Calvary Chapel Revival”. Their resource web site is: http://www.thewordfortoday.org , and is full of valuable Christian resources that will also help you get to know this denomination better, and draw you closer to Christ as well. To read Calvary Chapel's own description of themselves, CLICK HERE."

Messianic Jewish

For Jews who have come to see that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, I strongly recommend you contact the Jews for Jesus organization for a list of non-Torah observant congregations. They can be contacted at jfj@jewsforjesus.org .

Their site is http://www.JewsforJesus.org , which also has a listing of links to most or all of the online Messianic Jewish groups and their congregations.

Here are few pertinent facts to keep in mind about the Messianic movement, as told to me by Stephen Katz, Minister-at-Large, with Jews for Jesus. He says, “The early messianic movement was just what we see in the New Testament: struggling to understand and define practice and belief; as well as prone to factions. The letter to the Hebrews was written to messianic Jews and we get a sense of their struggles to maintain the faith and not return to traditional Judaism.

Scholars have found two early groups of Messianic Jewish believers: the Nazarenes and the Ebionites. The former were doctrinally sound, while maintaining their Jewish identification; while the latter were not doctrinally sound in the ways you’ve mentioned (denying the deity of Christ; making Law observance mandatory). Ray Pritz wrote a doctoral thesis on this subject that was later published. It’s called “Nazarene Jewish Christianity.” To view or order this book online, log onto:
http://www.amazon.com

The Messianic movement today is similar to what existed then, though it hasn’t been a straight developmental line between the two periods. Today, there are those in the movement that are not doctrinally sound (Jesus isn’t God, Law is mandatory, etc) as well as those who are sound. Each group and leader needs to be judged on its/his own merits.

To be a real Christian we at Jews for Jesus believe that one must affirm the deity of Christ and that he is the pre-incarnate Son of God, a person of the Triune Godhead.

Though there are many collections of links, here is a collection that probably has good and bad groups in it. I have not checked them out, but it may help you in your research. At the UMJC and MJAA sites they have links to all their member congregations.

Locally, in my neck of the woods, the local Messianic Jewish congregation is K’vod Yisrael, P.O. Box 187, Westminster 01473. Phone: 978-928-1345. Congregational Leader is Ken Levitt.

The local Calvary Chapel in Fitchburg can be accessed on the Calvary Chapel website’s clickable map under the heading “Churches”, for those interested in looking up the local Fitchburg congregation of that fellowship (http://www.calvarychapel.org ).

Pastor: George Small, http://horizonfitchburg.org/contact_us
Horizon Christian Fellowship
356 Broad Street,
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Phone: 978-665-9111