Churches of Christ-Christian Church  Reformed: United, Presbyterian...    Adventists
Salvation Army    Evangelism, Fundamentalism     Pentecostals    Charismatic Renewal

   Catholics without Pope: Lefebvre, Palmar de Troya, Bayside, N.Y.

    ECUMENISM

Protestant Denominations
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CHURCHES OF CHRIST

CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Disciples of Christ),

- They originated in 1800 and merged in 1832 from two movements against rigid denominationalism led by Presbyterians Thomas and Alexander Campbell in Pennsylvania and Barton W. Stone in Kentucky. Now it has 4 million members in the US and Canada with 23,000 congregations.

- Christian Unity:

The church's persistent concern for Christian unity is stated in "Declaration and Address", 1832: "The church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one".

... The leaders did not seek to form "a denomination", but to reestablish "a single nondenominational Christian church"; but in time they became a denomination themselves.

... There is only one way to have only one Church of Christ, and it is to do like Jesus did it: With a Peter as Primate, with the powers of Matt.16:19: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".

- In the 1870s they split, over questions of using musical instruments in worship and over the issue of centralizing church functions: The Church of Christ opposed them; the Disciples allowed them; a third Group, the Christian churches and Churches of Christ, more conservatives than the Disciples.

REFORMED CHURCHES:

The Reformed churches trace their descent to the third great reformer J. Calvin (1509-64), with 2.6 million members in the USA.

- They were specially significant in the early settlement of the present-day United States, and they helped found Harvard, Yale, Princeton... and they still support many colleges.

- "United Church of Christ":

It was formed in 1957 by a union of the Congregational Christian of the Pilgrims and Puritans of Massachusetts, and the Evangelical and Reformed churches of Pennsylvania; its membership is 2 million in the USA, Calvinistic with congregational government.

- It considers itself "a united and uniting church" open to all ecumenical options... the Pope, my brother, the Pope!... it is the way to have the only one church of Jesus Christ, as we just mentioned in the "Churches of Christ" (see also "The Only One Church", in "Christianity", pag.263).

- The "Presbyterian Church" (USA):

It is the result of several merges between smaller Presbyterian churches that had been separated by regional and doctrinal differences. They have 4.5 million members, to add to the general number of Reformed churches (pag.411).

- The "Reformed Church in America" and the "Christian Reformed Church", are both of Dutch descent, with 600,000 members.

ADVENTISTS:

Seventh-Day Adventist Church:

All the Baptists and Evangelists of the 1800s preached about the "second Advent of Christ" (the second "Coming" of Christ).

-William Miller, a lay Baptist lay minister form Pittsfield, USA, set an exact date for this second "Advent" of Christ: March 21, 1844, based on Daniel 8 and Revelation... Jesus did not come!...

... Another date was given: March 21, 1845... Jesus did not come!... then, another date, October 24, 1944, and Jesus did not come!... then another two dates were given for the second Advent of Christ: 1854 and 1873... and Jesus never came!... each date had been accompanied by extensive preparations... the prophecies were obviously false, but the Adventists keep going on...

- Mrs. Ellen White, from Maine, USA, was the early leader, and her books are a source of inspiration for the Adventists even today.. In 1860 the "Adventist Christian Church" was organized, and in 1863 the "Seventh-Day Adventist Church", the largest Adventist body today, out of four.

- Creed and Membership:

The basic creed is the promise that for a thousand years Christians will be in Heaven with Christ, after which the earth will be purified by fire, the wicked will be burned in Hell, and the righteous will be raised up to a place on earth, Jerusalem, for ever to live in peace.

- There are 5 million Adventists, 1 in the USA.

- They are exemplary in generous giving, abstain from alcohol and tobacco, and, like the Jews, eat only "Kosher food": They abstain from flesh food, especially pork, with a vegetarian diet. The familiar cereal names Post, Kellogg, and Graham crackers are all Adventist creations.

The "Seventh-Day Baptists", is another messianic church founded about the same time.

The Adventists are waiting for the imminent advent of Christ... but, in practice, they don't believe it too much, because they are very active in social and cultural works... if Christ is just coming, why to work on earth for?: They run 291 hospitals, and 5,000 schools and colleges in 190 countries... one of the most active Christian churches, with the Catholics and Lutherans...

They are called the "Seventh-Day Adventists" because the "Seventh-Day", the "Sabbath", is their "Day of the Lord", as for the Jews, instead of Sunday like the other 2,000 million Christians.

- And they take this very seriously: They claim that all the other 2,000 million Christians are of the "Antichrist", because "Saturday" is the "mark of Christ", and "Sunday" the "mark of Satan"... so, those "of Christ" would be the Adventists, their children the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Jews, who also honor Saturday, instead of Sunday.

- "Sunday", is actually the "Day of the Lord", or the "Day of Rest", for the Christians since the first Sunday after the resurrection of Christ; this is why St. Paul went to the Jews synagogues to preach on Saturdays (1Cor.11:11, Act.18:4), and he went on Sundays to the preach to the Christian churches (1Cor.16:2, Act.20:7).

- "Saturday", is the day of the Lord of creation, "Sunday" is the day of the Lord of the re-creation, the day of rest for 2,100 million Christians.

The Adventists reject the Catholic Pope, and they speak very bad about him, calling him the "leader of those of the Antichrist".

- However the Adventists have their "Popes", they are not the "successors of Peter", they are "little self-named Popes"... all the Adventists read the Bible as told by Miller, White... their "little Popes"... this is why all the 5 million Adventists celebrate Saturday as the Day of the Lord... why at least 10 Adventists don't read in the Bible that Sunday is the Day of the Lord, like other 2,100 million Christian do?... why at least 20 Adventists don't read in the Bible that you can eat pork, like the other 2,100 million Christians do?...

... And their "little Popes" are very demanding: If an Adventist eats pork, he will be thrown out of the church... or if he claims that Sunday is the Day of the Lord, he will not be an Adventist any more...

Get out of there... they are "false prophets"!.

SALVATION ARMY:

It was founded in England in 1865 by William Booth. It is familiar to outsiders through its work among the homeless and the poor and its fund-raising on the streets, especially before Christmas.

- The church is organized in quasi-military style, and many of its members devote their lives to its service. 1 million members, half of them in USA.

EVANGELICALISM- Fundamentalists:

"Evangelicalism",

dating from 1735 in England (the Evangelical revival) and after 1740 in the United States (thee Great Awakening), has had and continues to have widespread influence in Protestant churches. It has been estimated that about 45 million American Protestants, both from large and small bodies, are Evangelicals.

- The Bible is their rule of faith and religious practice. Being "born again" in a life-changing experience through faith in Christ is the promise of salvation. With great missionary work.

"Fundamentalism",

numbering 4.5 million, comprise an extreme right-wing of Evangelicalism.

- They are distinguished mainly by militant Biblicism, believe in the absolute inerrancy of the Bible and emphasis on the Second Coming of Christ. It developed early in the 20th century.

"Holiness Churches",

or Perfectionist wing of Evangelicalism, with 30 bodies in the US, evolved from the Methodists in the late 1800s to preserve personal-piety and inner-religion concepts of John Wesley...

... And from the "Holiness" came the "Pentecostals", probably the most demonstrative of evangelicals...

"Pentecostals", are probably the fastest growing religion in the world, with may be 58 million members.

-The first Pentecostal Church, was founded in 1900 by Charles Fox Parham, at Bethel Bible College, in Topeka, Kansas, USA, after some students of the Methodist "Holiness Churches" received "glossolalia", the "speaking in tongues", in the Baptism of the Spirit.

- The "two main features" are "service", and "praising the Lord"... like Virgin Mary in Luk.1, who is the "first Pentecostal" in the New Testament: The Holy Spirit came upon her, and Jesus incarnated on her... and immediately she went "to serve", to help her cousin Elisabeth, and sung the "Magnificat".

- The Pentecostal congregation, tend to be small, meetings may be in storefronts or in rented upper floors... but their prayer meetings are explosive, praising the Lord with lusty gospel tunes, swaying the arms and body, among exiting revival preaching... and speaking in tongues, with miracles and healing, and prophecies... all the charismas of the Holy Spirit in action!... with the participation of everybody in the prayer meeting (1Cor.12).

- "Virgin Mary", was the first Pentecostal of the New Testament: Of the 9 episodes of Pentecost in the New Testament, the first one was in Luk.1, when the Holy Spirit came to Virgin Mary, and filled her with Jesus, which is the essence of any Pentecost... and filled with Jesus, Virgin Mary did the two things every good Pentecostal should do:
    1- She went to serve her cousin Elizabeth, when she was pregnant at old age (Luk.1:39).
    2- She praised the glories of God (Luk.1:46)

    The "second Pentecost", occurred when Elizabeth and John the Baptist received the Holy Spirit at the Virgin Marys visit (Luk.1:41).

    The "third Pentecost", the big one, was in Act.2, when the Holy Spirit came over the disciples with Virgin Mary present, and the Church was officially born to the world.

-Membership:

In the USA, the two Churches of God in Christ and the United Pentecostal Church are predominantly black denominations, with 7 million members. The Assemblies of God, is the largest predominantly white denomination, with 3 million. A total of 41,165 local congregations in the USA.

-In Brazil, in 1920 there were 2 Pentecostal congregations; in 1930, 200; now, over 25,000.

- In 1950, 10% of the Hispanic Protestants were Pentecostals; now, over 50%.

- The "Second Coming of Christ", is a preferred theme for the Pentecostals, as well as for the Baptists, Evangelicals... do not wait until the Second Coming to be saved, "now is the acceptable time, now is the time of salvation" (2Cor.6:2), in the Second Coming, Jesus will not come "to save", but "to judge", the good ones to Heaven, the bad ones to Hell (Matt.25:31-46).

The Pentecostals do not accept the authority of the successor of Peter, of the Pope... but since each congregation is independent, in each one the founder or leader usually becomes the "Little Pope", not the descendent of Peter, but more demanding one: He sets the norms and regulations, that usually are rigid, and if a member of the congregation breaks them, he will be severely chastised in front of all congregation, or simply cast out.

- "Money":

The Pentecostal are very generous, and a temptation for any charismatic leader, is to set up his or her own church, to administer the money that comes on every service.

Charismatic Renewal : See Charismatic Renewal, The Holy Spirit

Charismatic Renewal is the application of Pentecostalism in the classic Churches, including the Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist...

- There are millions today; only in New York City, there are about 500 Catholic Charismatic Hispanic prayer groups.

- They are controlled by the mother churches, but there is always the temptation of a leader to set up his own prayer Group, to keep the money that comes in, or simply because of pride. The hierarchy should love the Charismatics, and take good care of them...

- "Obedience" is love, the evidence to be a good charismatic, like Virgin Mary. See Charismatics and Virgin Mary

CATHOLICS "WITHOUT POPE"

    The Roman Rite churches have split from the Roman Catholic Church but have maintained many of its rituals and doctrines.

    The Old Catholic Churches, had their origin in Europe after 1970, after the First Vatican Council. They reject the authority of the Pope, and their priests are married. They are 300,000. Headquarters in Utrech, Germany.

    The Polish Church, was established in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the 1890s, also after Vatican I.

    Fraternity of St. Pius X:

    Founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of France, after the Vatican II. He consecrated 200 priests against the authority of the Pope.

    They celebrate the Mass only in Latin, with the old order of St. Pius X. Their main "objection" is the change in the Consecration of the word "many", by the word "all"... St. Paul uses both words talking about the same issue in successive verses, Romans 5:18,19: Jesus died "for all" human beings, but only "many" will appropriate his redemption. The Fraternity is excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

    Church of "Palmar de Troya",  or "Carmelites of the Holy Face":

    It was founded by Clemente Dominguez, in 1969, after supposed apparitions in "Palmar de Troya", 40 Kilometers from Seville, Spain. Condemned by the Church.

    Clemente proclaimed himself "the Pope", with the name of Gregory XVII, and it is the only church where there are more cardinals than priests, all named by Clemente. He became blind after a car accident, and prophesied that the Virgin was going to heal him... he is still blind!. Clemente, before the apparitions, was well known in Seville as a homosexual, with the name of "El Voltio" (with too much Voltage!).

    There are only a few hundreds, but with lots of money, building a great Basilica, behind tall walls.

    This is not a church, but a few thousand people who go to Bayside, where Veronica Lueken had supposed apparitions since 1968, condemned by the Bishop of Brooklyn, N.Y.

    Here, the attack to the Pope is very insidious and ominous: They claim that the Paul VI had a "double" in the Vatican, so, you are never sure who is talking, either the Pope or his double... and they say there many bishops and priests who are Masons, so, you can't trust anybody in the Church.

    They are very confused, praying lots of Rosaries, but they don't know who is their Pope, or even who is their Bishop or Pastor.

    All of above, call themselves "Catholics", but "without the Pope"... they claim to belong to the only Catholic Church, but they disobey the Pope, the Bishops, the Pastors... they call themselves "Catholics", but they don't even know who are their Catholic Pastors... get out of there, it is a stupidity of the devil!.

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