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Statement of Faith and Order Guidelines
General Guidelines We invite all believers to join, as well as all people who will at least try to believe in Jesus for a personal healing miracle. Our rules for membership and posting are presented
here as general guidelines that we apply as best we know how. It’s a big document, but it’s also a big unity we seek,
one that includes all believers, so bear with us while we try to find
the words together to get it right. Although it’s a big document, we
nevertheless urge you to read this entire document very carefully,
because our policies may significantly affect whether you choose to
register as a Member here. All Christians are welcome to join and post prayers or comments in spiritual Christian unity, and we try to be as inclusive of believers as possible, but with some significant limitations on inappropriate posts. We mainly just look for the fruit of the Spirit of brotherly love to be found in all posts, in agreement with the new command of Jesus to love one another. Of course, we also love all our neighbors in this world, even our enemies, but our primary focus here is, first and most especially, our love for our Lord Jesus Christ, and for all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This Prayer Group is for all Christians, but also for any non-Christians who might want to just try praying to Jesus. That may sound a little odd, because it puts doubting sinners to pray together with faithful believers, but it’s not odd if you realize that Jesus was sent to sinners, and so are we believers sent today.
Jesus, Himself, was willing to grant compassion to those who, in spite of their doubts, sought His help in the past, so we’re sure He still hears their prayers today, as we compassionately join them here in prayer to Him.
Another reason we believers are willing to pray with anyone who will give Jesus a try is because we realize that no matter how long or how faithfully we have served God, none of us believers has any righteousness of our own that remotely compares to the righteousness of God that was first given for the world through the perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus, as the starting point of faith for all Christians.
Whether we separately believe we may be reckoned with all of God’s righteousness now in this life, or whether we separately believe we may be judged to receive all of God’s righteousness only later in the life to come, yet we believe together now that it is God, alone, in the unmerited gift of His eternal, unbounded grace and mercy to us all in Christ, who ever reckons our faith, and judges our works. We agree that for all of us, only God reckons our faith in Christ as His righteousness in this life, and only Christ comes again to judge our works done in this life for the next.
With separate beliefs about some issues of our common salvation and eternal life in Christ, yet we believe together in Jesus as the One source of righteousness for us all. With Christ as our common source, none of us are ignorant of the fact that all this righteousness comes to us only from the eternal mercy and grace of God, to whose righteousness we have all submitted ourselves according to our beliefs, never seeking to establish righteousness of our own.
We thus unite here to declare to the world, not our own, but only the righteousness of God shown to us all in Jesus Christ lifted up where the world can see him, in the sacrifice made for us by God, Himself, in the sacrificial blood of Christ to pay for all our past sins in repentance through our common faith in what He, alone, has done on the cross for all, whosoever will believe it so.
We believers join together here to pray in faith of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to show the world He was sent to earth by our Father, not merely as holy, righteous and wise, but as Himself the very holiness, righteousness and wisdom of God Himself in human flesh.
To us believers praying together here in this Prayer Group, we agree to say together to the world, in one common meaning, that together in Christ, "The LORD is our righteousness", and we are together in Christ, "The LORD our righteousness."
The righteousness of God given to all believers in Christ is what we want to pray here believing together in, with all who will come to receive it, now and forever. So we rejoice to pray to Jesus along with the ignorant doubter, but while, at the same time, we believers are praying in our own, full confidence that the goodness of our Lord, who showers sweet rain upon both the righteous and the unrighteous, will remove all doubt, leading all to repentance, just as He does for every one of us.
Are you a non-Christian who would like to just try praying to Jesus for a personal healing miracle? Then you’ve come to the right place.
Don't let your past sins keep you from trying to believe in Jesus for a personal healing miracle. Some sickness has nothing to do with the sins of those involved, but is only for the glory of God, to show how much Jesus loves you in the healing.
Jesus worked many healing miracles without requiring the petitioner to repent of sins before the miracle was accomplished. From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus certainly taught repentance and remission of sins, so repentance could surely be expected after doing a miracle healing, but He worked the miracles first to prove that forgiveness of sins was His to give.
That's why you won't find a sinner's prayer here to post on this website, not that you don't need to pray one to God when you are ready to believe, just like we all do. Jesus says we believers all need to pray expecting His forgiveness to us for our own sins, in equal measure to the forgiveness we give others.
But if you're just now trying to believe in Jesus, it isn't required for you to confess your sins to us here first, in order for Jesus to prove Himself to you by working the personal healing miracle you seek. Besides, confession gets into issues of requirements for salvation and eternal life that we here leave to the various Christian faith groups to believe and teach in their own way, as they each feel led by the Spirit to do. We simply agree together here that you'll certainly find forgiveness of your sins in repentance by starting with faith in the power of God's love and forgiveness in Christ. That's the same love and forgiveness in which He asks us all to believe, and to have for one another, if we expect to receive miracles at His hand.
Are you a Christian who has fallen into sin of any sort? Then this place is for you, too, a place of restoration and support in brotherly love, because we all know that temptations surround us in this world. Again, not that you ought to confess your sins to us here, either. You're a believer already, so you should already have a local Christian faith group where you can do that. But if you can see here our forgiveness for one another in Christ, and the forgiveness of God freely available the same in Christ to us all, and God's expectation of repentance in all us believers, then you can surely remember your need, the same as ours, for His eternal, unbounded forgiveness to us all in repentance.
Regardless where each of us believers may presently be in our walk of faith with Jesus, no matter how long, or how well, or even how poorly we may have served Him in the past, we still know that our walk with Him here on earth is a continuous process, requiring the ever-present forgiveness of God that is made available to each of us through the blood of our Savior. That continuing grace of God’s forgiveness, and that ever-present gift of undeserved righteousness from God we see in Christ on the cross, draws us all closer to Him and in Him, leading us to sanctify and set apart ourselves from sin, seeking to live ever more holy lives in Jesus. Not that we have attained perfection of ourselves yet, but that we follow after Jesus, to become ever more like Him.
So, if there is one aspect of Jesus that we want
most for the world to see here, it is His forgiveness. We most want the world to know the gospel, good news of
His forgiveness
that is freely available to anyone who will begin by believing the sacrifice of
God’s Son, Jesus, which paid for the sins of us all.
We hope and pray that all people will see here in us believers,
who are members of this Prayer Group, that same, loving forgiveness
by us to the world, and also to one another in Christ. The walk of a Christian is a life-long process of
being continually transformed into the likeness of Jesus. This process
brings us, step-by-step, ever closer to God and tangibly shows the
gospel message to the world. There is no clearer demonstration of a
transformed heart and true love for Christ than when we forgive one
another. The simple fact that it's so difficult makes forgiveness a
blazing light into a dark and dying world. The unity obtained through
forgiveness causes the world to be drawn closer to Christ.
Being united is never a call to compromise the essential truths of the gospel; but it's clearly a call to put aside quarreling over lesser important issues and stamp out all jealously, envy, and one of the greatest evils known to man...pride! Pride keeps more people separated from God and more relationships locked in unforgiveness than any other sin. Continued forgiveness demonstrates the gospel because it requires us to honestly face our pride, place our trust in God, and walk in absolute humility. Forgiveness is not something we can do in our own strength. We have been "wounded," unfairly treated, misunderstood. Our pride wants things to be "even" - demands the other person to confess, repent, and bow to kiss our feet. True forgiveness of others brings us back to the cross where we must confess the ugliness of our heart, acknowledge our own need for His forgiveness, and, once again, remove our self from the throne. Continued forgiveness requires a daily crucifixion of our fleshly, pride-filled self, a submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and a complete trust in our Heavenly Father to continue the process He has begun in our life and to fully work in the life of others (according to His perfect timing). This is a life that definitely shines and causes the world to notice, and it is our life together in loving forgiveness for one another, which we share in Jesus, that we pray shines forth from here to light the darkness of the world. One general rule we try to abide by here in the Prayer Group is to give no offense to the faith of any Christian, anywhere. Our concern is that the reader might infer any offense, intended or not. Therefore, please take all care not to offend any doctrine of any Christian faith there is. Please also use wording that makes it clear that
you are not here attempting to promote unity only in any one, particular
Christian denomination or group, which is an assertion that could be
taken as offensive to all other Christians.
We all believe that our own Christian faith group is best; that's why we
worship there. But here we're trying to show non-believers those
areas where we can all agree to begin in Christian unity, not promote
doctrines where we disagree.
Instead, please make it clear in all posts that you agree in
spiritual unity in love and holiness with all who repent in Christ, right where they are, in
every Christian denomination, non-denomination, group, or congregation
in the world. Right where they are is important. We intend great increase to each Christian faith group, by the grace of God, in retrieving the lost from out of the world, as all behold the increase of our mutual love for one another and holiness together in Jesus. We also ask that in posts here you give no offense to any Christian of any political party, racial or ethnic group, government, or nationality. If a prayer is offered for peace, make sure it has no political implications for the rightness or wrongness of either side in a dispute. We all allow one another liberty in Christ in such matters, and there are hundreds of forums elsewhere on the Internet where Christians can, and should, express such freedom of thought as they see fit. But on this website, we unite in spiritual things, not in political strategies. We do not seek worldwide unity here with all other Christians in any specific actions of nations or governments, but we rather seek spiritual Christian unity with believers of every nation on earth. We ask that you please don’t post prayers here regarding controversial subjects on which believers are greatly divided, or debatable subjects on which good Christians can be found on both sides of the issue. Try to make sure that every Christian in the world, without exception, can pray your prayer here along with you. This is a place for agreement, not debate, so if you add a prayer or comment here, make sure yours is, quite evidently, one of agreement and support for the prayers of others, and the expressed purposes of this entire Prayer Group.
Guidelines
on the Purpose and Basis for Membership It is our simple intent for membership in the Prayer Group here to find agreement in, and give expression to, our spiritual unity together in God's love and God's righteousness given to all who will come to be in Christ. We see and acknowledge that gift of righteousness and love in one another as believers all given His Spirit, drawing us together with one another in Himself ; and by our love for one another as repentant brothers and sisters in Christ, we unite also with the Father in His eternal love and holiness for all believers, which love is Christ, Himself. As the Father’s repentant children together in Christ, drawn together with one another into His Spirit we see in us all, we thus spiritually unite here to pray together as one with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in their eternal love and holiness for us all, both believing to repentance in Jesus for the remission of our sins, and also loving all such believers, now and for all eternity.
We only seek to join spiritually those with whom we
are already in agreement. We
offer to God our prayers in agreement here together with all who already
agree in the gospel, good news message of what Jesus did for us all at
the cross. We are all aware that there is much debate among
Christians as to where to start identifying brothers and sisters in
Christ with whom to unite. Christians
have been divided for a long time over many issues, including the
issues of the requirements for salvation from our sinful selves and for
eternal life in Jesus.
We do not purport to teach here those issues where we differ, one way
or the other. We seek to avoid such divisive issues by applying to one
another
the same love with which Christ first loved us all, sacrificially giving
himself while we were yet in our
sins. We agree here that Jesus is the one Truth that all Christians recognize: that the sacrifice of His life's blood that He shed at the cross for our sins is of utmost importance, more than any other requirement for salvation and eternal life, so much so that to us believers it is the power of God working in the life of each and every one of us. So we choose to start here united together in love and forgiveness for all who repent and claim the blood of Jesus of the Bible for the remission of our sins, loving all who so believe in Him, as our equal brethren in Him.
Jesus loved us all, and died for us all, while we
were yet in our sins. So in
honor to the life He laid down for us, we believers agree in our prayers here
together, that we do, each, lay down for one another our pride, if any,
in being given by God to know a truth other believers have not yet
found, and which we continue to believe and teach in our own group as
requirements for salvation and eternal life, without relinquishing our
beliefs, but acknowledging our differences with respect for one another
through faith
in the name of Jesus. On
this basis, we agree in all our words and prayers expressed here, to
love and forgive all other believers in Jesus, forgiving what may be
their errors regarding issues where we differ on the requirements for salvation If your group, for example, teaches that some form of water baptism is required for salvation and eternal life, we humbly ask you to forgive those who teach no such requirement. If your group teaches that nothing more than faith is required for salvation and eternal life, then we humbly ask you to forgive those who add something like water baptism, knowing that they also, most certainly, require faith in Christ. We could go on and on, with dozens of such examples. We simply ask here that all who believe to repentance in Jesus unite in love with all others who so believe, as loving sisters and brothers together in Christ, forgiving one another for all the rest, as Jesus forgives us all for every sin we ever did. We believers do not agree here together in water baptism as to the form it should take or when it should be done. Yet we believe together that there is a spiritual kind of baptism that is required of every believer throughout our lives, so we start here with the baptism in which we can all agree. No Christian faith group teaches the need to be baptized with water every day, but we all hear Jesus call us to each take up our own cross, and spiritually follow Him daily in His baptism in death: to die to ourselves and to sin, die every day to our lusts for the things of this world, and be raised with Him daily to walk in newness of spirit.
We believers are to, by and through the Spirit, constantly mortify and put to death the sinful deeds of the body, emerging from that baptism in death to sin and self, daily baptized into life in His Spirit, who leads all the children of God.
As believers in Christ, we are all called every day to die to the flesh, and arise alive in the Spirit, with our minds constantly renewed and fixed on the things of the Spirit of Christ who is in us all. Though the body is dead because of sin, we spiritually walk daily in newness of life, in the same, one Spirit who is life because of righteousness.
That's the daily baptism in death to sin to which Jesus calls all believers to join with Him. If you’re not a believer already, that’s not all you need to learn about baptism, but it’s where you need to start. Faith in what Jesus did on the cross to give us a way out of sin is where we all started, and that’s all we’re trying to show here. You can go to church to learn more about baptism. We’re just trying to help you here get started believing in Jesus, not finish the job. If you're not a believer yet, then our mission here to you, is our mission in ourselves as believers, and God's mission in us all: we're trying here to help you start believing in the Jesus who died, and now lives again, living right now in all power and authority in heaven and on earth, in order to give us all to be spiritually born again through His eternal word, the gospel, into an eternal, personal relationship with Jesus, and with all who believe in His name for remission of our sins in repentance; born again into His one Spirit, who is both the Spirit of holiness, and also the Spirit of fervent brotherly love; love together eternally as equal sisters and brothers in Christ, for all who find holiness in the gospel, good news of Jesus.
He calls us all, both believers and those trying to believe, to come as one together in and into the body of Christ, therein to undergo daily baptism in death to our sinful lusts of the flesh, including death to our former lusts which caused wars, fightings, conflicts, and disputes among the various Christian faith groups. Together here in Christ, we die daily to all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander of believers who happen to be in a Christian denomination or group other than our own. We spiritually come together here setting all our hope on the grace soon to be revealed in Christ Jesus, as obedient children called by our Father to be holy, newly born again with hearts purified in repentance, and all obeying the truth so that we have genuine mutual love for one another in the body of Christ, seeking as the younger to serve all the others. We come in service to the whole household of God, to be built together as one on the living, Chief Cornerstone, as lively stones in His spiritual house; a house where whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed to stand, serving one another there as a holy priesthood to one another, and offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
With this spiritual unity in brotherly love and holiness together in Jesus as our basis, we will allow no post here that calls into question any teaching regarding additional requirements for salvation and eternal life, one way or the other, or calls into question any other doctrine or teaching, of any Christian group. We leave the teaching of all other doctrine for the denominations, non-denominations, churches, ecclesial communities, and congregations of Christians everywhere to believe and teach as they feel led by the Lord, allowing each to worship in the manner they judge correct, and to which each person is fully persuaded and convinced in his or her own mind.
We only seek agreement here in that gospel, good news in which all Christians already agree, which is that our salvation and eternal life are shared together in common by us all in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and Him risen, and Him living both in heaven, and as one Spirit in the love, forgiveness, and repentance in the hearts of all Christians, and us in Him.
Guidelines on Love and Holiness in Posting It's important to explain what we mean by the words, "spiritual Christian unity in love and holiness", for which we pray here together in Jesus, and how we apply it to posting policies. When we say we pray for it, it means partly that it is a goal for us, because we all expect to be led into a closer, spiritual unity with and in Jesus, not only as individuals, but also corporately, both within our own Christian faith, and also together with all other Christian believers as well. It does not mean we are perfect persons.
We all make mistakes. We
all sin. We believe that, as Christians, our lives are a work in progress in which the Holy Spirit leads us, both as individuals and together, into all truth. It does not mean we are always perfect people, but that we live in faith of Christ, walking with Him in a life-long process of being continually transformed into His likeness. We depend on Him to teach us all we need to know that pleases Him, and to provide for us all that we value in this life and the next, including our faith itself, of which Jesus, Himself, is both Author and Finisher. Thus, living in faith of Christ, we depend on Father God to reveal to us our sinful selves, and to lovingly correct us throughout our lives.
We agree to love all believers here.
But we know God teaches us to love one another much more,
together in Jesus. We agree in holiness here. But we know God leads us all into much greater holiness, together in Jesus. Yet that reference we make to "spiritual Christian unity in love and holiness together in Jesus" is more than a distant goal, because we also pray with the certain knowledge that we receive what we pray and live in faith for, praying here in agreement that God has already done His part. For instance, regarding unity in love, we know that God already loves us, along with all believers, with an eternal love for all His children in Jesus that is equal to His love for Jesus, Himself.
So we're already one in His eternal love for us, together in Jesus. That's the love we want the world to see in Jesus.
Regarding unity in holiness, we also pray with the certain knowledge, together with all believers in Jesus, that the righteousness of God, and the remission of our sins, do surely come to us, and only as the undeserved gift given through the sacrifice of His blood for us all. Christ has no sin but ours, and we have no righteousness but His. With thankful and humble hearts for such unmerited grace, our faith in Jesus leads us all to repentance of all forms of sin, of immorality, lusts of the flesh, greed, pride, jealousy, carnality, and strife amongst ourselves in the body of Christ.
Further to the subject of unity in holiness, there is some considerable debate within Christian
groups as to sexual conduct and holiness.
We want to make it clear that no post will be allowed here
that expresses opposition to the traditional Christian doctrine, in
which it can be stated that the use of the sexual function has its true meaning and
moral rectitude only in true marriage.
We believe that marriage is a holy union of one man and one woman
in which they commit, with God's help, to build a loving, life-giving,
faithful relationship that will last for a lifetime. If the Christian group you belong to is engaged in internal debate as to sexual conduct and holiness, and you personally agree with this Prayer Group, then please join as a Member here and offer prayers on their behalf. We'll pray with you, together in Christ, for the Holy Spirit to guide them into the truth in these matters that we agree upon here, as fundamental to all forms of the Christian faith. Together we'll try to find the words of God's love to pray for them, with no condemnation or judgment from us, only our forgiveness, as we ask God to forgive ourselves.
We'll simply ask God to show them His righteousness and His words, not ours. We'll follow Jesus' example and pray God to show them the words of the Bible where we can agree here the meaning is clear in these matters, and let His word do the judging in the end. In the meantime, we'll depend on the Holy Spirit to lead them back to the truth of God's call to be holy that all Christian faiths used to know.
We'll pray for them here together in humility and in our own repentance, seeking forgiveness together in Jesus, and forgiving one another in Jesus, knowing together that for all us believers, we receive forgiveness in direct proportion to the forgiveness we give our brothers and sisters in Christ.
If our brothers and sisters in any Christian faith group have made a mistake about God's holiness, we'll patiently wait for the Father to show it to them, just as He so patiently waits for all of us. And when they do hear again His call to holiness in Himself, we'll never remember their past mistake, any more than our Father remembers all of ours.
Whether already in the household of God, or coming in from the outside, we gladly join with all who will come so we can all be built together on the foundation of faith in Christ for the remission of our sins in repentance. We hate sin and say so, knowing God hates sin in us all, yet we remain adamant in our love for all sinners, and in our commitment to our job of loving all sinners into Christ.
It is our intent to love sinners in to the body of Christ, and also let them see our love for one another in Christ, so that all men and women the world over will come to see the gospel, good news of God's love and redemption from sins that is available to all who follow as disciples of Jesus.
We keep our focus here in this Prayer Group on our
love for one another as believers, and we list in our introduction just
a very few of those many, many Christian denominations or groups of
believers that we recognize as including some of our loving sisters and brothers
who are together with us
in Christ. Yet we are well
aware that there are some other groups, who claim the name of Jesus,
while yet teaching hurtful or hateful things about other Christian
groups or denominations. For instance, there are some that name the name of
Christ, yet teach that only persons of their own denomination will get
to heaven. We believe such
teachings of theirs are sins against the body of Christ, and as with all
sins in others, we forgive them here.
But it is our fervent hope and prayer that if they see the love
of God in us for each other here, in Christian unity in love for all
believers, and want to join us in prayer, then they will come to have
love in themselves for all believers, too, and see the error of such
hateful, hurtful teachings against the body of Christ. It is not necessary or intended here to judge persons or groups that so offend other believers. We simply ask them, out of consideration to those other believers they offend with their teachings, not to post such false teachings here, because they offend other Christians who definitely are believers to repentance in Jesus, and who love and forgive all other believers without giving such offense. If you are a Member of such a group, one that claims that only members of your own Christian denomination or group will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus, and if you choose to show that group in your Membership Registration in the Christian faith group affiliation you name there, it can only be allowed with the understanding that you herewith refuse agreement in such false teachings that directly offend our Christian brethren, and you instead agree with us in the eternal spiritual oneness in love and holiness of all who believe to repentance in Jesus. You may otherwise prefer to register simply as "Christian", but that choice is yours to make. Many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ prefer to be known only as "Christian". However you name your Christian faith group on the
Registration form, we feel we are forced to exclude posts here that
convey any such false teachings that would directly offend or reject
other believers. It would
be unfair to ask other believers, who are our dear brothers and sisters
in Christ, to pray in agreement with such offenders, who show by such
offensive teachings that they do not regard them as their own brothers
or sisters in Christ in the first place.
Because they choose to give offense and to reject even one
believer in Jesus, we feel we must reject their posts to that effect
here in the Prayer Group. There is no love in such offensive teachings of
theirs, wherein they first reject any of our believing brothers and
sisters in Christ, and wherein they force us to choose one or the other. Please also take note: we rigidly enforce the restriction on all posts that there must be absolutely no commercial interest involved whatsoever, whether Christian operated or not. No commercial interest SPAM, in any form, will be tolerated at all, either in your posting Signature, or any other part of posts here. Neither are posts allowed that may reflect any beliefs whatsoever of any obviously non-Christ-centered cult groups. Please be advised that any text you post here may be freely copied by others, subject to the provisions and inclusion of our copyright notice, as shown here:
In final summary, posts that reflect offensive teachings about other Christians, or that give offense to other Christians, are not allowed. Nevertheless, all persons that agree to effectively disclaim and avoid all offensive teachings of their group here, or register as being at least "Christian", and who only offer prayers in agreement to, and within the stated guidelines and purposes of this group, are welcome to do so. We are as inclusive as we know how to be, while enabling believers to also pray with conviction, with every reason to believe in their hearts that they are praying in love and holiness with other believers, in the Spirit of God's love and God's righteousness, freely given to us all in Jesus.
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