You scored as
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
89%Emergent/Postmodern
61%Neo orthodox
57%Roman Catholic
57%Fundamentalist
54%Charismatic/Pentecostal
50%Classical Liberal
50%Modern Liberal
39%Reformed Evangelical
36%What's your theological worldview?created with QuizFarm.com
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I'm the father of an nine-year-old son.
I'm 5'6, 170 lbs., brown hair, and hazel eyes.
I have an Associates Degree in Aviation Management.
I have a Bachelor's Degree in Christian Ministries from Dallas Baptist University.
I want to get my Master's Degree in Christian Counseling.
I'm in my twenty-fourth year in the airline industry. I'm the Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, Station Training Coordinator-"Below the Wing,” Tech. Pub. Rev's. Coordinator, Ramp Safety Coordinator, Winterization De-Icing Coordinator, and a Fleet Service Lead Agent for USAirways in DFW.___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________
"Organized religion is for people who don't want to go to Hell. Spirituality,
and a right relationship with God are for people who have been to Hell here on
Earth and don't want to stay there in the afterlife."
I stand behind my view that orgainized religion is for people who don’t want to
go to Hell. Spirituality, and a right relationship with God are for those who
have been to Hell here on earth and don’t want to go back. I would rather have a
spiritual relationship with God than a religious one. Organized religion in the
twentieth century has left a bad taste in many present and former active
Christian’s mouths due to much of the health and wealth theology that is being
preached these days.
There are many examples, and I’ll briefly give you two:
1.) Although I liked them on a personal level; having lived in Charlotte, North
Carolina for eleven years, Jimm and Tammy Faye Bakker were prime examples of the
send me your contributions and your prayer requests philosophy and it worked out
rather well for them until they couldn’t cook the books anymore.
2.) Robert Tilton still isn’t welcome in Dallas, Texas; except when he sneaks in
and stays at the hotel at the Galleria Mall dressed in skivvies attempting to
keep a low profile. I personally, and others have observed on more than one
occassion in recent years him doing so. Several years back he happened to be
standing directly in front of me at the Galleria. He was no more than two feet
in front of myself and my wife at the time. When I told her that was Robert
Tilton in front of us he immediately sped up and made the first detour he could
to avoid a confrontation. Mr. Tilton’s downfall came when he asked his viewers
to send in money along with prayer requests for which he would pray for nightly
while live on the air; then he promised that shortly thereafter, if their faith
remained strong, they would find their lives overflowing with an abundance of
health and prosperity. Shortly after a piece was done on Mr. Tilton’s "ministry"
a local television reporter photographed thousands of these unopened prayer
requests in dumpsters on Mr. Tilton’s ministry property on HWY 35E North in
Dallas. It appears most of that health and wealth theology he was preaching was
lining his pockets and noone elses. Convincing little old ladies to send their
monthly social security checks, even if it’s the last dime they have, is not a
great way to win souls for Christ in my opinion. I noticed shortly after the
last time I spotted him in person in Dallas that he was now on late night
television once again in Florida.
Before you judge what I’m about to say, please make sure you understand what I’m
saying. I’ve come to believe that my religious beliefs are gnostic (not
agnostic!) in their foundation. Modern Day Gnostics believe that all information
should be available for everyone to make up their own mind. Isn’t that what
Christ wants us to do; come to Him of our own accord? I believe that the Bible
is the inspired word of God. However, I know that what was decided to be
included in the Canon was decided by men. You can say they were inspired by God,
but these were the same type of men who wanted to persecute Martin Luther for
saying that the Bible should be translated into all languages for the common man
to read. They wanted the common man to have to go through the priests to get to
God. Christ came as Intercessor for us so that we no longer had to do that.
These "inspired" men met at the Council of Nycea in the year 325 A.D. to decide
what books should be included in the Canon among other things. They also debated
topics such as the divinity of Christ. Of course these men had their own
agendas. The books they decided to leave out were considered heretical. Books
such as the Gospel’s of Thomas and Mary Magdelene among others. The Essenes fled
to the hills with as many of these books, or manuscripts, as they could. They
were later discovered in pottery jars in the caves surrounding the Holy Land.
Hence, the Dead Sea Scrolls; as we know them today. Unfortunately, we might have
an even clearer picture but many of them were used as kindling for fires by
commercial archaeologists who were unaware at the time as to their importance.
In 325 A.D. the Emperor Constantine was in power. The Christians had become the
dominant religious force in the European realm. There were those during that
period who sought to unite all the religions under a belief in one God. Think of
where we might be today had they succeeded. Realizing he couldn’t achieve a
union among all the religions, and recognizing that Christianity was the
dominant power, Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion in the
European world. Constantine was considered one of the greatest heroes of the
Christian faith at the time; however, Constantine wasn’t actually baptized until
he was on his death bed. Constantine was more concerned with his position than
his piety. I believe that there are books that should have been included in the
original Canon. In 1946, in the same caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were
found, there was a manuscript found called the Gospel of St. Thomas. It is
supposed to contain the words of Jesus to His disciples on how to continue His
gospel as given to them at the Last Supper. Have you read it? Maybe you should
check it out sometime. In it Christ tells the disciples that they should preach
that the Kingdom of God lives within us all; and we can find it once we come to
know Him and accept Him into our hearts. Funny; but one of the other books that
were deemed heretical was the Gospel of Mary Magdelene. The book was not written
by her; but about her and her relationship with Christ while He was alive and
after His resurrection. If you read the Gospel of Mary it states that she
preached the same message as the Gospel of St. Thomas. I know that the Word says
that there will be nothing hidden, but isn’t that exactly what happened when
these "inspired" men decided what would and would not be included in the
original Canon? Besides, even an inspired man can be fallible. David was a
murderer, Moses stuttered, and Paul stated, "The things that I desire to do I do
not do, and the things I desire not to do I do." (I find myself closely
identifying with Paul’s struggles on a daily basis; much more than I care to
admit to.) Then there were Peter, Judas Iscariot, and the list goes on and on.
You also have to remember that whether you are studying the Holy Bible, the
Torah, the Talmud, the Book of Mormon, or any other piece of literature that
there are several ways of expositorily interpreting what you are reading. You
can approach each manuscript from the Holy Bible to the Sunday morning cartoons
from an allegorical, a literal, a liberal, a metaphorical, or even an
existential point of view. Therefore, if you only look at the literal meaning
you are certainly missing that which is "hidden." AHA!!! Did that make you stop
and think for a moment? God gave us the gift of choice. He also gave us a brain.
I urge you to use both to make up your own mind as to what you do and do not
believe. Don’t blindly accept what is presented to you because your friends,
your spiritual leadership, or even your parents say it is so. I believe we
should use the gifts God gave us to make up our own minds as to our faith in Him
and His son, Jesus Christ.
