rules

/Tag: rules
26 September

Rules for employment

By |2019-09-27T06:53:43-06:00September 26th, 2019|Uncategorized|16 Comments

You may not take a job that keeps you from working on Sunday. You may keep a job within the first two years that keeps you from working during midweek class, non-member class, or personal work. Within the first two years, you are expected to give up any job that requires you to work during midweek class, non-member class, or personal work. You may not take a job that may require you to relocate. You may not keep a job that suddenly asks you to relocate (unless there is an established church in that location, or you are trusted enough to start a church in that location). You may not be a paramedic, nurse, doctor, or any other job that may require you to see [...]

23 July

The unwritten rules

By |2019-04-11T06:06:56-06:00July 23rd, 2017|Uncategorized|510 Comments

I'm told that in an August 2002 meeting between Tacoma and Portland, it was admitted by leadership in a talk that the church has a separate set of unwritten rules outside the Bible. (If anyone has audio of this, I'd love to get a digital copy.) I'm happy to hear that Stanton's unwritten rules may have been acknowledged publicly. Why no one has called them out over this horribly unbiblical practice in the 15 long years since it was acknowledge in 2002, I have no idea. I can only presume it has something to do with group-think, or the fear of withdrawal for murmuring, or other intimidation tactics that keep people quiet in the face of ludicrously unbiblical nonsense. Unwritten rules? Really? Non-member classes used [...]

19 July

Rules for relocation

By |2019-04-11T06:09:41-06:00July 19th, 2017|Uncategorized|18 Comments

It has come to our attention that members of Stanton mistakenly believe they are free to relocate their families anywhere they wish. This is simply not the case. God has ordained every member to be a part of the body where he sees fit, and he's clearly put us in charge of telling you where that is. Relocating because of a job, school opportunity, or worldly reason like raising your family in a better community is not allowed under any circumstance, unless it is your unbelieving spouse forcing it on you. This way, they take the blame with God for the unauthorized move, not you. To avoid further confusion, we thought it best to publish an updated list of rules to guide members in relocation [...]

17 July

Rules for prayer

By |2022-11-05T00:25:52-06:00July 17th, 2017|Uncategorized|90 Comments

Prayer is such an important topic, so it's important that we do it right. We would not want anyone talking to their creator as if he's their father, or anything gushy like that. We must always approach the throne of grace cautiously, with a great deal of formality, keeping in mind our own superstitions, cultural norms, and rules of men. Only pray for Stanton members. God has enough on his hands dealing with our little group, we shouldn't burden him with requests regarding non-members we don't even know personally. The only time you can pray for someone NOT in the Stanton Church of Christ is if it's for their salvation. This means you should not pray for your enemies (real Christians have a lot of them), nor [...]

26 November

Can we call it Thanksgiving, please?

By |2019-04-11T02:09:43-06:00November 26th, 2014|Uncategorized|3 Comments

Why won't anyone call the "November Meeting" the "Thanksgiving Meeting?" Oh, that's right, because Christians don't celebrate "religious holidays." Birthdays...fine. Anniversaries...fine. Nothing spiritual there. But a holiday with a spiritual component to it? We can't have that! Logically and Biblically, this is nothing short of absurd, of course. I'll get to the scriptures in a moment, but think about how silly this rule of men is. We can choose to set aside a time to honor the day God brought a person into the world, or the day God joined a couple together in "holy matrimony" (remember, marriage is not just a social institution, but a religious one created by God). But we can't set aside a time as a nation, as a society, as [...]

9 September

Rules for the Lord’s supper

By |2019-04-11T02:09:00-06:00September 9th, 2013|Uncategorized|19 Comments

Many rules have been developed for the Lord's supper over the years, some applying to the participants, and some to the one presiding over it. One of the biggest interpretational mistakes the church makes is believing that one must be "worthy" (i.e. "sinless") to participate in the Lord's supper. This comes from taking 1 Cor 11:27 wildly out of context: 1 Corinthians 11:27 - Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Notice the word "unworthily" has an "ly" at the end. This makes it an adverb, which modifies a verb. In other words, it is referring to the "manner" in which the Lord's supper is observed: 1 [...]

5 September

2 Opinions Chapter 3

By |2022-12-03T08:06:56-07:00September 5th, 2013|Uncategorized|211 Comments

NEWLY REVISED AND TRANSLATED! Now presented in the newest Modern Pharisaical Translation (MPT). [4] It has been brought to our attention that church members and rabbis have had some trouble defending various rules from the Bible, so we've provided the following chapter from the book of 2 Opinions for easy reference. It will no longer be necessary to quote various rabbis, May Meetings, October Meetings, or founding documents. Members can now simply refer to book, chapter and verse below to defend their favorite teachings. 2 Opinions Chapter 3 Christians must not eat food or drink anything but water in their building at any time. Christians must not take food into their building at any time. Christians must not have weddings or funerals in their building. [...]

23 August

Rules for prayer

By |2019-04-11T02:08:40-06:00August 23rd, 2013|Uncategorized|8 Comments

These rules for prayer are the doctrines and commandments of men. They are nowhere found in the Bible, and the attitude they teach is one of constant judging, because you supposedly have to know whether someone else's prayer is being heard by God before you can acknowledge their prayer by bowing your head or closing your eyes. You can't pray for anyone NOT in the church, with some exceptions (if it's a child, or if you're praying for an unbeliever's salvation) No holding hands during prayer (is this a church-wide prohibition, or something individual congregations adhere to?) One must say "in Jesus name," not "in our Savior's name," not "in the name of our Lord," not "in your son's name," etc. If you don't say [...]

12 August

Rules for marital sex

By |2019-09-26T10:46:06-06:00August 12th, 2013|Uncategorized|118 Comments

This is a subject I intend to handle with as much tact as possible, but I make no apology for treating the subject boldly as well as 100% scripturally. It is important to speak the truth on this, because the oppressive reach of church teaching extends even into the sacred realm of the marriage bed, which Paul declares to be "undefiled." The church leaves no sacred cows, so unfortunately, neither can we. I believe sex within marriage to be a gift of God, and something to be enjoyed without guilt or shame. The teachings of the church on sex seem to start with the premise that it is dirty and shameful; hence rules such as abstaining on Saturday night. In one instance, a woman was [...]

7 August

When are rules not rules?

By |2019-04-11T02:08:19-06:00August 7th, 2013|Uncategorized|141 Comments

It's hard to avoid talking in circles when discussing doctrines with members of the church, simply because words don't mean what we would expect them to mean. Thus, the conversation goes in circles, because the meaning of words keeps shifting. A case in point was a recent conversation about rules. It was denied emphatically that the church had extra-Biblical rules. I asked if church members were allowed to have Facebook accounts. There was a long pause. "There is no rule against it, but it's taught against." So how exactly does that work? Does the word "rule" mean something different to them than to me? If I, as a person of authority in my household, instruct my kids not to have a Facebook account, that's a [...]

5 August

Unbiblical teaching against wine

By |2019-04-11T02:08:18-06:00August 5th, 2013|Uncategorized|9 Comments

The church routinely substitutes its own human reasoning in place of what the Bible actually says, and this couldn't be more the case than with the teaching against wine. Drinking wine continues to be taught against, apparently, although it is now OK to cook with alcohol if someone else buys it for you. With that, let's put aside the traditions of men and take a look at what the Bible really says about alcohol. If you're a Christian, you may be surprised to know that the Bible doesn't make a blanket condemnation of alcohol. Instead, the Bible's teaching on it is consistently one of moderation, not prohibition. Both the Old and New Testaments actually come right out and authorize drinking alcoholic drinks. This passage from the [...]

1 August

Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men

By |2019-04-11T02:08:07-06:00August 1st, 2013|Uncategorized|6 Comments

One of the biggest problems with the sect is the extremes they've gone to in "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (in good old King James English). There have been no areas of life untouched by the rules and regulations of fallible men in the 40+ years of existence of this sect, from whether you can have a glass of wine with your dinner, to whether you can go on a family vacation, what you can do on that vacation, and who you can enjoy your recreation with. The rules (a.k.a. judgments) of the church have reached all the way into the sacred bedroom of a married couple, regulating such things as sexual positions (face to face), distance apart (6 to 12 inches), how [...]

1 August

Rules on confession

By |2019-04-11T02:08:06-06:00August 1st, 2013|Uncategorized|3 Comments

There are many rules on confession. To set the stage for this post, you have to understand first their concept that no sin can be forgiven unless there is a prescribed set of steps followed so God can remove that sin from our soul. So the Biblical understanding of sin and forgiveness is what is skewed, and therefore their concept of confession suffers. Here are some rules of the church for confession: If you sinned privately, you must confess it privately to the person who is aware of your sin. If you sinned publicly, you must stand up (literally) and make a public confession at church. Sometimes church leaders will be hesitant to come right out and say that breaking one of the church's rules [...]

1 August

Rules on recreation

By |2019-04-11T02:08:04-06:00August 1st, 2013|Uncategorized|9 Comments

Continuing a series of posts on rules of the church, this list deals with recreation. When I was growing up, it was regularly taught that men's ball games (baseball, football, golf) were ridiculous wastes of time for a Christian. Never mind the fellowship and camaraderie that comes from sports. A group of us at one of my old church families played volleyball once a month and we formed some great bonds with each other during those years that continue to this day. However, like good Pharisees, sports, for the most part, are decreed sinful or otherwise inappropriate for a Christian. One fallacious line of reasoning has always been "Can you imagine <insert preacher's name here> playing basketball?" (Or wearing blue jeans...yes, I've even heard that [...]

1 August

Rules for traveling

By |2019-04-11T02:08:01-06:00August 1st, 2013|Uncategorized|26 Comments

There is no area of life that is unregulated by the church. There are rules (a.k.a. "judgments") for everything, and when a rule doesn't immediately come to mind, they are encouraged to call a Teacher for "counsel." Once the question makes it through a discussion at a May Meeting, the individual congregations fall into line with this year's latest rules. Here are some of the rules for traveling: You mustn't worship in another congregation unless you are visiting family. If you are traveling for something work related or some other reason you must go back home for worship. You can also worship in another congregation if you are courting someone. You must keep the schedule of the church in the city you are in if [...]

30 July

Rules of attire

By |2019-04-11T02:08:00-06:00July 30th, 2013|Uncategorized|170 Comments

With this post, I'll begin a series on various rules of men that have been created by this church. Some may have changed here and there over time, and some may not have been enforced equally across all congregations. But every one of these has been verified by former members. Keep in mind that the point here is not to argue the validity of the reasoning behind any of these rules, but to argue that the church composed of fallible humans should not be making rules like these at all. "They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." Mt 15:19 (NIV) "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."  Mt 15:19 (KJV) Dresses for women required on [...]