To Christians: If God still speaks to people's hearts today....?

Question

why are there so many denominations and a variety of different beliefs? Why doesn't God speak to everyone and let them know the correct way to believe so that the denominational barrier is broken? I know that most of them have the core belief that Jesus is God and died for us and rose again from the dead, because that is the central belief for christianity. But, there is still division and a house divided against itself can not stand. Churches of Christ believe you must be baptized to be saved, Most Baptists believe you have to be baptised in a Baptist church for it to be a true baptism, Pentecostals believe the gifts of the spirit are still active today, Catholics have their whole range of different beliefs, etc.

When my brother was on his death bed, people came to the hospital and said that God told them he was going to be ok and recover. He died a few days later. I've seen this kind of thing happen many times. So, how do you know that it's God speaking to you and not something in your head that came from yourself? Another example, my grandfather told us that God told him a few months ago that it was his time to die. We all gathered around waiting for him to die. He is healthy as a horse right now. So again, how many times has God really and truly spoken to someone and how many times was it their own mind doing the speaking?

Sam, this is my point. That is YOUR belief. Other denominations who follow God would not agree with you. So, how do we know who's right? IMO, it all depends on how you interpret what the Bible is saying. So again, why doesn't God make it clear for everyone?

Answer 1

Your key to this question is "Christian." No matter the denomination Christians all believe in Jesus. There is a very good verse in the Bible that covers this, The disciples went to Jesus and told Him there were those that was doing things in His name. They wanted them to quit, Jesus told them to let them alone, Whoever is not against me is for me. Let them be they believe in Jesus. They are not divided. The only things divided are the man made by-laws for the church. The true church are those that truly believe in Jesus, which can you choose that does not. I will not choose for I can not judge. We are all brothers and sisters in Jesus, His love ,compassion and mercy no matter the religious affiliation.

Answer 2

I do not think the problem is that God does not speak, the problem is our we listening? I totally agree that all denominations that believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead and is coming back for His own should pull together in unity- however unfortunately a lot of churches feel that the little things that separate is biblical as well. I went to a church for 11 years and then our pastor retired and their new pastor decided that they needed to cut ties from all churches in the area because they taught false doctrine, or did not believe all the minor details the same. When I left that church and went to another very biblically based church in the same area, I invited my former church to join us in a community prayer meeting for churches in the area- the reason they could not come? Because we believed differently- I told them that we believed and taught the fundamentals of the Christian faith- and they replied- I know that you are Christians however we cannot associate with people who feel that women can lead at all anywhere in a church- They said, "we can worship together in heaven, but not now- God did not speak that to the other church, GOd does speak but is us who choose to hear what He says.

EDIT- it can be hard to know if it is God speaking or not, however, if you continue to listen and when He really is speaking what comes true is of God. If it is not of God, it won't. Today I woke up with someone on my heart in a huge, way, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was to pray for this person, it turns out her dad may need emergency surgery today, and this morning I did not know that = however this does not happen all the time. Trusting is hard,

Answer 3

Anyone who has been baptised with water and the holy spirit is saved and goes to heaven, regardless of their particular denominations beliefs. Some churches believe in "the Rapture", some do not (Catholics and many protestent denominations). Some churches believe you can be baptized more than once and others do not. But the point is, once you are saved, you can look forward to a better life after this one.

Answer 4

Denominations started after the church became corrupt. Sinful people were using the church's power to take advantage of other people. This was especially easy to do because there was not separation between church and state, so the church could use the power of the governments' militaries to enforce its decrees. We can expect corruption in this world because we are selfish, power-hungry, greedy, lustful people.

A huge correction took place at that time, but then the pendulum swung the opposite way and we got off course again. People got the chance to interpret the Bible themselves and came up with lots of crazy ideas about what they thought it is saying. This is the same type of thing that has been happening since the beginning of time. It is clearly documented in the Old Testament with the Israelites. The people of God would be loyal to him for a few generations and then fall apart and worship other gods. Then something would happen to get them back on track and this cycle would repeat itself over and over again.

As to what is correct (or true), God HAS revealed himself to us in two ways, through nature and the Holy Bible. These two means are without error, but only the Bible reveals God's plan of how he will get us out of the mess we have gotten ourselves into.

Any other means of knowing what God is saying (dreams, visions, feelings, etc.) are subject to possible error. The truth is still being transmitted out there by God, but we have broken our receiver to the point that we receive a lot of garbled messages. Some of it comes across correctly and a lot doesn't. We always should compare these kinds of revelations (and teaching in church for that matter) to Scripture to discern if it could be true. If it disagrees with Scripture it can't be correct. If Scripture doesn't speak directly about it then we just don't know for certain one way or the other.

We are in a broken world so until Christ returns we cannot expect a fully united church. So what do we do in the mean time? I suggest taking the Bible and read it for yourself (start in the Gospel of John). Go to a church that has a high view of God and of Scripture and put yourself under good teaching. Get in a small group and help each other figure out what God is really trying to say.

The truth is that the Bible really has a very simple basic message, called the gospel (or good news):
1) Every single one of us is screwed up and deserves eternal separation from God because each of us has been disobedient. (Remember that death is the consequence of disobedience.)
2) God decided to give us a way out by sending his son who perfectly obeyed every single commandment (the only one to ever do it) and then died in our place. (He would not have otherwise needed to die because he had never sinned.) He was punished for our sins and we got his righteousness. It wasn't fair but he did it anyway, because he loves us.
3) Our duty is to respond in faith and repentence (a sincere regret for our sins and a desire to change) and to surrender our lives to Christ. Faith is another word for trust. Surrender means that we must be willing to put God's wishes above our own.

We will still mess up, probably every single day, but we can trust that we are forgiven. That doesn't mean, however, that any of us, Christians or not, are excused from being obedient. We are all called to be obedient, but those that truly trust in Christ can have confidence that they are forgiven.

As for this person saying he heard God say this or that, use Scripture to discern if it makes sense or not. Also, don't get too hung up on the details that different denominations argue about.

PS - Baptizing has never saved anyone. The only way to be saved is the way the Bible describes it (3 paragraphs up).

Answer 5

God speaks to us from His Word the bible. It is man that makes the mistakes in interpretation, so if you want God to speak to you go to the bible & as you read God will give you the understanding that nyou need, I believe that there differant churchs & denominations because God allows it to protect the church from total coruption. Peace!!!

Answer 6

Don't go for what the church says, go for what the Word of God says.. follow and read the bible, because we as humans tend to do what we like.Don't follow what other people says, that is a big mistake. Of course people can be used by the Holy Spirit, but if what they do or say don't concur with the word of God then it is false or wrong doing.
Ask God for wisdom to differ what is right and wrong.

Answer 7

Becasue MAN can never agree. YHWH(GOD's real name) puts the info in your hands and you choose to focus on what you want to make you happy. Thus so many religions. Paul even wrote to the church test what I the BIBLE says to be true dont just take MANS word and people dont open there minds up to check for themselves they just follow what they know because its easier to remain constant then change everything.

Answer 8

Many if not most of the church systems today are built upon the traditions of men. Some of their congregation may have faith. But the system itself is not built on faith. I may go out on a limb to say this but; the churches may be built upon the system of Babylon (one being of confusion). Much of what comes out of our churches actually came from the Roman catholic church - which came from pagan Rome - which came from ancient Babylon.

Christ's Church is faith centered and is built upon Him as its solid spiritual foundation. The churches of today are built upon the sand. This is an unstable foundation. The Bible should be our sole source of truth not the imperfect assertions from man's contemptuous heart. It is the Testimony of Christ Himself that is our guiding light. If we live by what He teaches us there should be no stumbling in the darkness and confusion.

Answer 9

Because people don't listen to HIM now just as they didnt all during man's history, look at Noah, Moses, and even JESUS, they crucified HIM.
If you want to know what the ORIGINAL church believed,it's ALL in the book of acts and the epistles.

Answer 10

Jesus said you can only serve one master and unfortunately thou god is still speaking to his people most of the churches are listening to another master, sorry but true.