My buddy Malcolm Woody once forwarded something to me that someone had forwarded to him. It’s a word about religious groups and denominations. I have no idea who wrote it, but it hits a little too close to home. See what you think.
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!”
He said, “Nobody loves me.”
I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”
He said, “Yes.”
I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?”
He said, “A Christian.”
I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?”
He said, “Protestant.”
I said, “Me, too! What franchise?”
He said, “Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”
I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.
Does the Bible teach there are times when I, as a Christian, should separate myself from those who either preach wrong doctrine or practice wrong conduct? Yes, it does. For your homework, read: Romans 16:17-18; Titus 3:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14-15; Jude v.3; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 John 4:1; 2 John v.9-11; and Ephesians 5:11. Obviously, there really is a time for what is known as “biblical separation.”
But as we Christians tend to do with so many things, we can go overboard with this separation. For example, if the very gospel itself is being compromised by some erroneous reinterpretation of it, that’s grounds for separation. If, however, the divisive argument in question is over how the financial contributions should be spent, that’s not such sacred ground. Can you see the difference? I hope so. And if you can’t, well, die heretic!
The Disciple's Road 
Geez, do you save everything I send you? I don’t even remember this! LOL… This made me thing (this time) of James and John, those two son’s of thunder, who rebuked a man for driving out demons in Jesus’ name because he wasn’t “one of them.” They got a rather flinty rebuke themselves strait from the Master.
Yes, they certainly did. And why wouldn’t I save top-quality stuff? lol
According to this forwarded something, this is something the Baptists are doing – lol. Just funnin’
Aside from the point of this forwarded something, which I think also needs to be discussed, is that I would phrase the question, “Do you believe in Yahweh?”, because God(and because in speech you really don’t know if someone is saying God or god.) is too generic these days and is often used generically. And then the next question would be, “Is your name in the Lamb’s Book Of Life?” And then depending on if the answer is yes, no or I don’t know, the conversation would go from there as to whether they understood or would like to understand, what the Bible says about their future.
Also, it is very interesting that the word franchise is used instead of denomination, and shows how much “church” has become big business instead of whatever size ministry.
I did the following research and brought what I found here:
Is a church a franchise?
Many mainline Protestant churches in the United States exhibit the characteristics of business format franchises. A denomination (the franchisor) has many affiliated congregations (franchisees).
Big business definition:
large-scale or important financial or commercial activity.
What is the definition of big business in US history?
BUSINESS, BIG. When used in the context of American economic development, the term “big business” refers to the concentration of industrial and financial power that began in the second half of the nineteenth century and continued through the end of the twentieth.
What is the best definition of business?
The simple definition of business, or business meaning, is explained as an organization that provides goods and services to the community in exchange for money, with the goal of becoming profitable.
Denomination
a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church
What is the biblical meaning of ministry?
In the Greek language used in the New Testament, the term always centers on acts of service to others. It sometimes carries the more powerful connotation of servitude or slavery to God. So ministry implies a sense of being duty-bound to work under God’s authority as His loyal servant.
Key Words:
~~exhibit the characteristics of business format franchise(bad?)
~~large-scale or important financial or commercial activity(bad?)
~~financial power(bad?)
~~provides goods and services to the community in exchange for money, with the goal of becoming profitable. (bad?)
~~acts of service to others (good?)
~~servitude or slavery to God(Yahweh)(good?)
~~duty-bound to work under God’s authority(good?)
~~loyal servant(good?)
~~autonomous branch(good?)
Didn’t set out to rock the boat when I started reading this post, but that is one of my job duties, so just doing my job(if indeed it is boat rocking). You don’t have to agree. not looking for you to, but, nice if you do. Two cheers for a spot clean bride when He returns.