1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead...

What a welcome trend!

Check out the recent headlines churned out by the SBC's Baptist Press:

Baptist Press • Colorado Baptists elect first African American president
highlight from the meeting was the election of new president John Moreland the convention's first African American president. Moreland is pastor of Denver Christian Bible Church
keynote speakers Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee; Noe Garcia, senior pastor of North Phoenix...

Prot·es·tant
/ˈprädəstənt/
noun
1.a member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.

Notice how it said - "That are separate from RC" NOT Seperated.

The Reformation began in 1517 the 95 thesis.
Baptist groups did not show up until around 1609
Some want to trace our history to Ana-Baptists - but actual decendents incluse...

Often in the old churches, the songs sung were about salvation and the walk of the believer.
Such songs as:
Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Me,
He Leadeth Me,
All the Way My Savior Leads Me,
have been relegated to rarely sung in the modern church.
Other songs such as:
Have Thine Own Way,
Come Every Soul by Sin Oppressed,
Lord, Lead Me to Some Soul, Today,
are just never to be mentioned.

Now this thread is NOT about music, but INDICATORS of a drifting taking place in presenting both the message...

1Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4For by these He has granted to us His precious and...

As I've said, I am a Pentecostal Methodist, not a Catholic. But I feel led of God to defend or at least present biblical perspectives on Catholic distinctives in the hope that they can receive a fair hearing. What interests me far more are the major apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Though the RC Church accepts the authenticity of Marian apparitions at Guadaloupe, Fatima, and Lourdes (among other locales), Rome has yet to pronounce on the validity of the more recent apparitions at...

1) How does the Calvinist mind interpret Revelation 13:8?
2) How does that interpretation affect the interpretation of Ephesians 1:4, if at all?

... for the Church and for our country. I continually hear whining about this every year. Oh how I hate the commercialization of Christmas!

Would you prefer the socialization of Christmas? Government mandated free Christmas trees, and gifts? No commerce allowed? No seasonal jobs?

I would even argue the secularization (observance by unbelievers) of Christmas in America has proven to be a good thing. It's a day our entire country observes with Christ honoring decorations and songs...

The discussion from Part 1

The first thing that independents will often say about the SBC (and other groups) is that they are subject to a denominational HQ.

First - lets look at the defintion of "denomination"

de·nom·i·na·tion
(dĭ-nŏm′ə-nā′shən)
n.
1. A large group of religious congregations united under a common faith and name,usually organized under a single administrative and legal hierarchy.
2. One of a series of kinds, values, or sizes, as in a system of currency or weights:...

I was born, baptized, and raised in the Eastern Orthodox faith. However, within the past year, I have become convinced of believers'-only baptism. I have also come to disbelieve apostolic succession and now hold that the local church is an independent body whose officers should be pastor and deacon, as in the churches of the New Testament.

Also, I have moved from the part of my state where there were several Orthodox churches, to a very rural place where there are none. So, even if I could...