Sudsy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2024 11:05 am
Perhaps this has been shared somewhere before and I can't recall but what is a 'seeker' ? The Bible says that “no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:11) so it must be seeking something else. Is a 'seeker' a believer or an unbeliever ?
Roman’s 3:11 is Paul quoting a portion of Psalms and if you view the Psalm quoted in context he is referencing the “no one” as Gentiles and there is a distinction between Jew and Gentile in the Psalm.
And furthermore:
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
So a seeker according to my understanding of Scripture is a believer that is seeking God. I would say every true believer could be called a seeker but since we have Christian, saint, follower of Christ, and etc. it makes sense why it could be used a bit differently.
1 x
Psalms 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
Sudsy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2024 11:05 am
Perhaps this has been shared somewhere before and I can't recall but what is a 'seeker' ? The Bible says that “no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:11) so it must be seeking something else. Is a 'seeker' a believer or an unbeliever ?
Roman’s 3:11 is Paul quoting a portion of Psalms and if you view the Psalm quoted in context he is referencing the “no one” as Gentiles and there is a distinction between Jew and Gentile in the Psalm.
Psalm 14:2-3 NKJV -
The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one
And furthermore:
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
I believe the one that seeks God is if the Holy Spirit has first stirred our hearts with a desire for God. It is God who draws us to Himself. https://www.gotquestions.org/seeks-God.html
So a seeker according to my understanding of Scripture is a believer that is seeking God. I would say every true believer could be called a seeker but since we have Christian, saint, follower of Christ, and etc. it makes sense why it could be used a bit differently.
Josh says this thread is not about seeking after God per se but rather about 'someone who is already a believer, but is seeking to find a conservative/plain Anabaptist congregation to be a part of.' I mis-understood what was being the sought after in this thread. By bad.
JayP wrote: ↑Tue Jan 23, 2024 9:53 pm
LOL. You think getting news out of Eastern is a bit like watching which Politboro guy has a cold?
My understanding is that maybe Eastern folks are allowed to be in a place like this technically but I agree none could admit it without trouble.
Funny, JayP! First they would need to get Mennonet through Compass which is going to be hit or miss and secondly they will need to decide what the regular reminders over the pulpit and at council concerning "not participating in groups that discuss church or church matters" actually means. But maybe there is enough humor here that it doesn't qualify as anything serious???
Ken wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2024 4:35 pmMy only point is that it isn't necessarily reasonable to expect some sort of uniform theological consistency from young people (or older) who are seeking a less restrictive environment from the one they were born into.
Women and girls, for example, might object to certain dress codes and expectations for women's roles in the church, family, workplace.
Boys and young men might pay little attention to dress or women's roles but object to technological restrictions.
Typically. Men are more likely to leave than women. If a young woman does leave it’s most often in the context of marrying a guy in a more worldly church.
And young men are just as likely to gripe about dress issues as women are as a reason for leaving.
Everyone seeking a different and more "liberal" church environment is going to have a different of issues with their existing church with which they are in conflict or disagree with. And they might all have different things that they are seeking in a different church. That is perfectly normal. The world (and Anabaptism) isn't some 2-dimensional linear spectrum where you step up and down a single conservative/liberal scale where all the churches are lined up along one single axis. Despite attempts here by some to sort things that way. It is far more complex and 3-dimensional than that.
Actually, the progression is surprisingly two dimensional; academics call it the “Anabaptist escalator”.
Really? That many young women leave to get a husband? I can think of dozens of women who left to 1. Get a decent paying job or 2. Get counseling that their church forbade or 3. Escape a toxic controlling environment. But of them, only a few got married down the road after leaving for other reasons. Quite a few are still single. I'm not saying no young woman leaves for this reason, but I question whether it is THE reason.
Verity wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 8:20 am
Really? That many young women leave to get a husband? I can think of dozens of women who left to 1. Get a decent paying job or 2. Get counseling that their church forbade or 3. Escape a toxic controlling environment. But of them, only a few got married down the road after leaving for other reasons. Quite a few are still single. I'm not saying no young woman leaves for this reason, but I question whether it is THE reason.
I just said more men leave than women. (That’s my observation and also the observations of sociologists.)
The most common pattern for women leaving a more conservative church is marrying a guy from a less conservative church. (Guys do that too.) A couple they marries will usually pick the less conservative church to be a part of. It is amusing to watch, as an “outsider”, particularly when the engaged couple acts like they haven’t picked a church yet.
Could be. I wasn't looking at statistics, just personal observation through the years. Men certainly do feel more free to leave than women, I can agree with that.
A Horning and Wenger couple get married. They go to the Horning church.
A Horning guy marries a Charity girl (in fairness to her, she joined from the world)). They go to the Charity church.
A guy from a quite conservative Beachy church marries a girl at a much less conservative non Beachy church. He moves across the country to go to her church. He gets ordained a year or two later as minister, partly because the congregation appreciates how “conservative” his lifestyle is.
A girl from a Beachy church (preacher’s daughter no less) marries a guy from the then-CMC. She assures her family she won’t start to dress immodestly or drop the covering. She switches to the CMC church. (Covering and modest attire is dropped a year or so later.)
Josh wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 9:21 am
Some examples…
A Horning and Wenger couple get married. They go to the Horning church.
A Horning guy marries a Charity girl (in fairness to her, she joined from the world)). They go to the Charity church.
A guy from a quite conservative Beachy church marries a girl at a much less conservative non Beachy church. He moves across the country to go to her church. He gets ordained a year or two later as minister, partly because the congregation appreciates how “conservative” his lifestyle is.
A girl from a Beachy church (preacher’s daughter no less) marries a guy from the then-CMC. She assures her family she won’t start to dress immodestly or drop the covering. She switches to the CMC church. (Covering and modest attire is dropped a year or so later.)
I have seen it go I both directions. Most common I have seen is various combinations of the following: KMF, Southeastern, Mid Atlantic. Conservative Beachy-Mennonite from the above groups seem common as well Most I have seen seem to stay the same. Seems to me to be more influenced by where the couple lives than anything else.
KMF, SE Conference, Mid Atlantic, and typical Beachy are basically all the same. (Fundamental- or moderate-conservative; in the past Keystone was considered more “liberal” but I would say they are about the same as the other groups now.)
Funny, JayP! First they would need to get Mennonet through Compass which is going to be hit or miss and secondly they will need to decide what the regular reminders over the pulpit and at council concerning "not participating in groups that discuss church or church matters" actually means. But maybe there is enough humor here that it doesn't qualify as anything serious??? 
