Kwowing Our Church Denomination

Last Friday, I had a chat with one of my Christian colleague. She went to a church called something of Life Church. I can't remember the exact church name but I pose her a question. Which denomination is that church? A lot of people said, "why must we care which denomination of church we are attending?" They felt that it is not important because we are all worship the same God and that in God's eye, there is no denomination.

Well I beg to differ. I do believe that we are all worshiping the same God (I mean as Christians) and there is no denomination in God's eye. But guess what? It is important to know which denomination of church you are attending now. I mean there are so many cult churches mushrooming all the world nowadays. If we do not know the denomination of our own church, then how are we supposed to know whether we are attending cult or Christian churches? You may say. Read the church's statement of faith. Perhaps their vision and mission as well. But how many of us understand what is stated in their statement of faith if we are new believers or a potential believer? Being a new believer or even a potential believer, we can be easily manipulated if we are not careful. Unlike mainstream churches like Methodist, Baptist, Brethren, Anglicans and I can include Assemblies of God (which I am in), other churches without any denomination can be a cult if we do not understand the church's teaching and its statement of faith.

I believe that everyone of us, every Christians, should know their church background before or as they join the church. It is to help a potential believer or a new believer to know what type of church they are attending. We do not know how many of these churches are cult. The best way is to understand the church's background. There are a lot of churches in the world now with weird names. These are the matters that worries me a lot. We do not know where such churches came from. Perhaps those are international church but are they in line with the Bible's Word? I mean their teaching and their belief. We do not know. To be honest, as a Malaysian, I felt that I am kind of ignorance in a lot of way concerning cult matters. There are a lot of cult churches trying to break through into Malaysia. Some had arrived into the small town I am staying. In fact, they have a lot of followers and they are busy reaching up to the lost souls compared to us. And we are taking our life easy.

Anyway just a reminder, not take a church lightly. When you join a church, be careful of which church you are joining. Ask for their denomination. If they felt not important or they do not know, insist of making them know. If you are in mainstream churches like Methodist, Baptist, Brethren or even Anglican and at the same time, you felt that your church are not happening enough. Well guess what. You are safe spiritually in that church although they are kind of traditional. But then if you are coming out of your traditional churches  and go into a charismatic churches, be alert of that church's background. Do not step into the devil's lair. I do not mean Spirit-filled charismatic churches. But rather cult churches. Therefore have a strong walk with the Lord and be sensitive to Holy Spirit's prompting because not all charismatic churches are of Spirit-filled. God bless.