How do you view the Orthodox Church?

It was simply a joke.

 

I have been in churches where the SS teaching overall was in the right direction because the people were centered on Christ. But, except for the pastors (who still tend to take license), I’m not sure that most could have fairly exegeted a passage to save their lives. Thank God they were counting on Jesus for that, and so should we all.

 

Yes, I understand, and I "like"d it. Maybe I'll just mark it funny to be clearer.

 

That's a far more difficult feat.

 

The purpose of Revelation was to reveal what was going to come to pass....

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.... - Revelation 1:1

Which all of this was to heavy for just ordinary churches in Asia that did not amount to anything....

The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; - Revelation 1:20 - Revelation 2:1

Ephesus - Messianic - Beginning with the Apostle to the Circumcision, Peter
Smyrna - Martyr - Beginning with the Apostle to the Un-Circumcision, Paul
Pergamos - Orthodoxy formed in this time... Pergos is a tower... Needed in the dark ages
Thyatira - Catholicism formed in this time - The spirit of Jezebel is to control and to dominate.
Sardis - Protestantism formed in this time- A sardius is a gem - elegant yet hard and rigid
Philadelphia - Wesleyism formed in this time - To be sanctioned is to acquire it with love.
Laodicea - Charismatic movement formed in this time - Beginning with DL Moody, the first to make money off of ministry

Candlesticks - Seven church congregations
Stars - Individuals within the congregations, all held in the right hand of Christ
Seals - The seven seals sealed each congregation within the lambs book of life

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. - Revelation 5:4

If this interpretation is not correct why all the ado?



I believe the Orthodox church formed in Smyrnaen times and thrived in the Pergameon age. This continued on about till The Great Schism of 1054. In which the Catholic church would go Thyatirean ways.

 

Eastern Orthodox... who can get drunker, them or the RC’s especially around the Christmas holidays. You will see them at church usually at a Christmas Eve Mass full of Plum Whiskey or Juniper Gin singing and throwing up. Yea, been exposed to that vomit... Mystical, mystical, candles burning, incense, bowing and kneeling... all designed to get your brain spinning

 

I have Orthodox roots on both sides. I teach a course about Cults at a local church's Bible Institute, and here are some of my notes. Listen to their own words, and tell me what we should think:

"The Orthodox Church invokes God's Grace for the sanctification of its members. For this reason, the Church uses sacred ceremonies instituted by Christ or His Apostles. The sacred ceremony of Baptism with that of Chrismation and the ceremony of the Holy Eucharist with that of Confession are the sacred Mysteria [sacraments] which every Christian should receive as an active communicant of divine Grace […] By Baptism, the Church holds that all optional and original sins are cleansed by the Grace of God.

The most awesome ceremony in the Orthodox Church is the Mysterion [sacrament] of the Holy Eucharist. This ceremony was instituted by Jesus Christ the day before His Crucifixion, as He enriched His Church forever with the Divine Gifts, His own Body and Blood. This ceremony of the Holy Eucharist is both His sacrifice for the salvation of man and a sacred mysterion. The Holy Eucharist is the seal of the proclamation of the communion with God. It is the only Sacrament offered by the Church in which the elements of bread and wine not only carry the Grace of God, as a mysterion, but are "changed" into and "are" the very Body and the very Blood of Christ, being a propitiatory sacrifice.

This awesome sacrifice has been entrusted to the Church to be RE-ENACTED and given to the faithful for the nourishment of their faith and the forgiveness of their sins in remembrance of the Lord."

"This Church of Christ has in its nature the tendency to become and to grow; it has the nature to engulf and develop the truths of Revelation; it is to be delved into from time to time to find and pronounce the truths of which the Church is the Pillar.

The Church, as a whole, is infallible, but it is not God-inspired to the extent that it has understood the entire depth of the truths and formulated and proclaimed them to the world. The Church, by nature and duty, from time to time - to settle controversies - formulates, defines, and pronounces some of these Revealed truths. In such instances, the Fathers of the Church have assembled in synods to discuss the disputed points and to decree and interpret the correct meaning of those truths. In doing so, the synods of the Fathers, as a whole and as individuals, have believed that their decisions are infallible. Their decisions, however, are not considered permanent until they are accepted by the "Conscience of the Church," the whole body of the faithful, clergy and laity, who must give their consent.

Christ entrusts His own Being to the Church, handing down divine Revelation, in oral form, and later recorded in written form, to constitute Tradition at large.

The teachings and the practices of the Orthodox Church are to be found in the Scriptures and Sacred Apostolic Tradition, which have been handed down to the Church of Christ in the Revelation of God. These sacred Sources are essential not only for correct teaching and worship, but especially as Sources of the promises and covenants of God fulfilled in the Person of Christ.

This does not mean that individuals, both clergy and laity, lack freedom to express their own spiritual insights, but the validity of these insights depends upon acceptance by other Fathers of the Church, without which it is wisest to keep silent and avoid being in opposition.

The highest authority for the interpretation and protection of the truths of the Revelation of God and for the preserving of those which were disputed is the Ecumenical Synod, the official council of bishops.

The 'Conscience of the Church-Ecclesia' is the highest authority of appeal in the Orthodox Church. It is, in reality, the common consent of opinions of faith, hope, and love by all communicants of the Church. This common consent is especially important for faith and morals, which are divine truths. The Conscience of the Church identifies truths indispensable for the faithful. The Conscience of the Church introduces the ever-existing truths of the Revealed Word for formulation in the Ecumenical Synods and accepts those truths of salvation already formulated by the Ecumenical Synods. The common consent of all members of the Church, accepting or rejecting a truth "formulated" by a synod, constitutes the Conscience of the Church."

The Fundamental Teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church - Introduction to Orthodoxy Articles - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

All emphases are mine.

 

Incense is used in heaven as related to us in Revelation, why do you feel it is wrong for us to use it down here? Bowing and kneeling, shouldn't all Christians be doing that during worship? As for drinking, as a Baptist you have no place to talk as many Baptists also use the stuff.

 

Once again we see the fullness of the Christian worship experience and it is something that I don't expect you could ever understand.

 

Matthew 15:2-9 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the wordof God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

 

Because I have seen people with respiratory problems literally collapse from the stink, that’s why

NO

we generally don’t throw up in services though

 

Worse