I went to Protestant churches for years, because I have Protestant relatives and friends. After comparing Protestantism to what I learned in the Bible, I learned that that is the wrong path.
I attend a Catholic Church, and realize that this is the way.
Perspective, perspective, perspective.
Kirk
Interesting OP as it is a subject I have struggled with and continue to refine my feelings on the subject.
For me, and this is being overly simplistic, I have come to a position that works for me 99.99% of the time. That position being that:
a.) Do I believe in God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ without including all the denominational, other religions, nit-picking doctrine related stuff. (Yes, proceed to ‘b’.)
b.) Do the denomination(s) I may evaluate believe in the same God & J.C. without including UFO’s, Time Travel, Thetans, etc., etc. (Yes, proceed to ‘c’)
c.) Am I comfortable with their teachings, interpretations, style of worship, etc. Do they provide an environment that facilitates focusing on God. For example, being raised Fundie, loud rejoiceful ‘worship services’ usually including guitars, drums, really bad singers, etc. seems to fit my definition of worship (King David danced and sang loudly beating the tamborine and all that nutty stuff!) I have a hard time with Catholic or Orthodox services as they seem SOOOO solemn. Not that they are WRONG, just not a format of worship that speaks to ME. (If Yes, continue to ‘d’)
d.) Pull up a chair and enjoy myself.
The nice part really is that after ‘a’ and without the inclusions of UFO’s, etc., in ‘b’, the rest really does NOT matter (to me). I used to be really concerned about which one prayed the ‘right way’, or which one worshiped the ‘right way’. I’ve come to believe that honestly, God does not care about the window dressing of the denominations, only what is inside each individual’s heart. Everything else is a human adaption of what is comfortable, or portrays our own idealized ‘vision’ of what God wants. Not a single one is better than others, only different externally with the same internal believe in God.
Does that make sense? As I said, it only works for me about 99.99% of the time, that .01% is the real bitch that makes life interesting!
Finally, of course this does not mean to be construed as an opinion that the “Christian God” or faith is the only way - I have a slightly more generic view of God, Jehovah, Allah, etc. in that they are all ‘God’, just different window dressing.
MeanJoe
My aunt is a Southern Baptist convinced that if you are with the wrong church you will not get into heaven.
One such Aunt comes to mind and a correction is needed here. Not Southern Baptist - Church of Christ - Christian. The two have different beliefs.
Church of Christ baptises you into Christ, for the remission of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as in Acts Chapter 2.
As to the why of choosing this Church, is it’s the only one I could find that is doing what the New Testament Church is suppose to do.
I do agree with some of the other replies in this topic, that you need to actually read your Bible and come to your own assumptions. Just remember the New Testament Church does not start until the Book of Acts.
love ya