Seeking information about Baptists

[setmefree]

Hi all. :wave:
I am a honest an sincere sinner seeking information about what it means to be a Baptist.
As you can see by my age I am no spring chicken either! I want to find a place where I can learn about Christ and his meaning in my life.
I have had such a confusing time in the last 9 months since feeling the need to reconnect with Christ after many years away.
The disagreement and even hateful language between different groups of Christian denomination is very disheartening to me.
I am starting to think that individual congregations rather than denominations are what makes a good place to learn and worship.
I am intrigued by the individual nature of most Baptist churches. Also I discovered two principles that are associated with the Baptist. They are. 1. Individual Soul Liberty and 2. Separation of Church and State.
The way I understand these is that believers can have honest difference of opinion on hot button issues like female pastors or tolerance of gay people or TULIP or, or or, The list goes on and on and on…….
In addition the Church is not going to tell me that if I don’t vote for George Bush or ( fill in the blank) I am going straight to hell.
It seems to me if these 2 principles are really upheld then it would eliminate 95% of the differences between Christians and we could concentrate on loving each other and serving ( and in my case learning about.) Christ.
So that being said. Very close to my house is an American Baptist Church (ABC) and I am thinking about paying it a visit.
What do you think?
Thanks for reading.
Keith
p.s. I am in NO way wanting to start a debate, so I hope that my post has not offended anyone.

[catch21wide]

I would advise you to find a church that doesn't compromise the word of God. By saying that, I mean the church interpreting the Bible in the opposite direction of what it is saying. Find a church that is bible based. By that I mean finding a church that preaches straight from the bible in every sermon. I hope I have helped you, if not let me know.

PS I liked the saying you use at the bottom of the thread about sinners and hypocrits. There will always be hypocrits in every church, but I will say that I would rather sit between the 2 biggest hypocrits at church than not go to church at all.

[ZiSunka]

I am starting to think that individual congregations rather than denominations are what makes a good place to learn and worship.

This is very true. No matter what the denom, it is the individual church that is the place where you learn and grow. Denomination means nothing--choose a Bible-believing church of any denomination. :)

[DeaconDean]

The above posts are correct, a Bible believing chuch where God is moving is always the best choice. FYI, in the Wiki threads is a link to the Southern Baptist web page where you can read the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000. Check it out and God Bless you in your search.

[arunma]

I'm always hesitant to give advice to someone twice my age, because I know that I'm in no position to do such a thing. But I would just like to repeat a teaching that I've learned in church.

What the above posters have said is true, a godly church must be a Bible-believing church. But as my pastor has said, creeds are also important to the church. Historically, the Christian church has written such creeds as the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and many others. These are not divinely inspired, but they are the work of godly men. Today, most local churches have a statement of faith, which is essentially their creed. I think it is important to examine this carefully.

Why are creeds important? Anyone can say "I believe the Bible," just as anyone can say "I love God." But that does not make it so. As you will see in 1 John 4:20, anyone can say "I love God," but such a person is still capable of hating his brother. Churches have embraced all types of sin, such as homosexuality, racism, separatism, politics in the church, church divisions, false prophets, heresies, and sexual immorality, all while claiming to believe in the Bible.

The problem is that sinful men often twist the Bible's words and make it suit their own doctrines. There are churches which claim to believe in the Bible, but deny the ancient doctrine of the Trinity. Therefore, I do not think it is enough for a church to say "we believe the Bible." One should always read the church's statement of faith or creed, and make certain that their beliefs agree with the Bible.

[mlqurgw]

Find a pastor who actually preaches Christ every time he preaches. I commend you for wanting to know more of Him. He is everything. Admittedly they are few are far between because so few pastors have ever experienced a local church being built on the simple preaching of the Gospel. When I say the simple preaching of the Gospel I mean preaching all the council of God, which is Christ. He is made of God to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Cor. 1:30 Preaching Christ is preaching all the doctrines of Christ. It is to preach how we are justified in Him. It is to preach His substitutionary sacrifice for sinners. It is to preach life by His death. It is to show how all the Scripture speak of Him. As you read your Bible find Christ in it and you will not stray far from truth.

[JPPT1974]

Yeah find a pastor
As well as also other search engines
Like yahoo or google
Hope this will help you out

[RED that's ME]

Here's some weblinks to what certain Baptist groups believe:
What is an American Baptist?
http://www.abc-usa.org/identity/index.html (http://www.abc-usa.org/identity/index.html)

What is a Baptist? (SBC)
http://www.baptist2baptist.net/b2barticle.asp?ID=226 (http://www.baptist2baptist.net/b2barticle.asp?ID=226)
http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp#i (http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp#i)

What is a Reformed Baptist?
http://www.baptist2baptist.net/b2barticle.asp?ID=226 (http://www.baptist2baptist.net/b2barticle.asp?ID=226)
http://www.prbc.org/ReformedBaptist.htm (http://www.prbc.org/ReformedBaptist.htm)
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gary.thompson/faithpages/rbc.htm (http://www3.sympatico.ca/gary.thompson/faithpages/rbc.htm)