Things are really getting sparse around here.
Is America on holiday or something?
Jeremiah: Stop in sometime...and give them a howdy from Jordan Valley Baptist Church.
Ha! so that's the source of your overreaction.
My Humble Opinion: I do not blame them.
Answer: Our Jordan Valley is in Salt Lake City...http://www.jordanvalleybaptist.org/location.html
You have a lot of landarea between these two points.
Tuesday we go out door to door every week.
Thursday is our Prayer and Bible Study.
We cooperate and fellowship with Grace Baptist and Trinty Baptist. The other IFB Churches in the Valley are KJVO and do not want us as a part of their fellowship. Most of our members have come from and out of these churches.
"Of course msc, one has to be careful of ecumenicalism."
I agree. However, I don't see anything wrong with a "joint service" if all the believers from various congregations are of one spirit and doctrine and in perfect unity on such matters. Ecumenism, to me, is joining with others who are not of one spirit and doctrine and attempting a visibe unity at a joint service..something I don't agree with. As for communion/Lord's Supper, I leave that also to the conscience of the individual believer...if they confess Jesus as Lord, I wouldn't hold them back from the table of the Lord's Supper.
As far as the Lord's table, we practice what is called "Close communion" as compared to "closed" or "open".
By close, we mean close in doctrine as well as in a close relationship to Christ. We leave participation up to the conscience of the visitor. We don't withhold it from anybody, but we stress our doctrinal position before the communion service.
Have a blessed time of worship this Lord's day as well.
I need to get my wife up for this evenings worship myself.
"Where in scritpure do you find communion or interrelation between local churches?"
We are getting far too complicated from the subject at hand. Unity and communion among the churches is an elementary and fundamental practice of Christianity. It is how the true visible church of Jesus Christ should be operating without division and disunity, and promoting a lack of communion among the true believers is contrary to all that is taught in Scripture.
I can see now how this is foreign to the independents who communion only with their local congregation, and disown the concept of a true visible church that is one body of Christ, in union and communion.
It makes sense now to me why the independents promote indivdualism in communion and unity. Why it is ok for one baptist church to teach one thing and another baptist church to teach someone totally opposite. As long as they are both claiming "bible based" views, and both have "sola scriptura" as their testimony, even though their doctrines different substantially in practice, it is ok as they are both independent.
I must leave now to study more on this subject and prepare for worship.
Are you talking about matters of doctrine, or in matters of practices and church life in general?
That would help me answer some of your questions.
Oh my, where do you find ultra independence or lack of communication between local churches in the scriptures? The churches in the New Testament supported one another.
