Church of God in Christ

Here in the Philippines, there's a church called Church of God in Christ Jesus. The founders of this church actually were expelled ministers of the Iglesia Ni Cristo or Church of Christ.

After few years of its existence, a minister of the Church of God in Christ Jesus went out and build his own and called it, Church of God in Jesus Christ the Pillar of Truth.

After more than decade of its existence, a minister of it named, Eli Soriano, went out and build his own church with the same name in English but is different in Tagalog. In Tagalog his church is called Iglesia Ng Dios Kay Kristo Jesus Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan. While his former church in Tagalog is called Iglesia Ng Dios Kay Kristo Jesus Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan.

Later, the church built by Soriano became well known in the name Dating Daan. Later, he changed its name to different names. Now his church is called Church of God International.

However, outside the Philippines, I learned that there's a church called Church of God in Christ. But of course it is different to the Church of God in Christ in the Philippines because they have different doctrines.

The Only Christian Church

I understand that there are many religious groups or sects that exist today. There's the Roman Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Iglesia Ni Cristo and the Protestant Chuches.

But among these churches, only the Iglesia ni Cristo which teaches that Christ is not God and that the only true God is the Father.

But even if almost all churches teach that Christ is God and almost all of this attack the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the church remains firm to its teachings.

I sometimes wonder what are the secrets of this church why it stays strong even if almost all other religion are attacking its teachings. And one thing is, it always gains more members. And if you'll read its magazine, the Pasugo, you'll learn that they already had established their local congregations in various parts of the world.

They all Claim They are the True Church of Christ

Sometimes I feel like in trouble thinking that all the Churches exist today claim that they are the true Church of Christ.

For example, the Roman Catholic Church said that it was built by Christ in Jerusalem during the 33 year AD. But is it really true.

Now, if we will read all the books except the Bible, you'll find out that the Roman Catholic Church is really the one built by Christ in Jerusalem.

But it is of course obvious that the thought will be like that because most of the authors of these books are Catholics, or if not, they simply quoted the statements found in any Catholic books.

But there is one collection of books that a good researcher should refer when examining if the Roman Catholic Church is really the true Church built by Christ in Jerusalem. And these is called the Bible.

You see, the new testament writers are all witnesses of the establishment of the Church of Christ during the first century. And if you'll scan the entire new testament of the Bible, you will never find even a single statement that can be used to prove that the Roman Catholic Church is really the church built by Christ.

What we can find is that Christ build his own church. Apostles called it Church of Christ not Roman Catholic Church. Besides, the Bible is telling us that the church built by Christ is not Roman Church but Church for all whether Jews or Gentiles.

But why are they claiming that they are true church? It is of course obvious... They want the people not to leave the church. Remember that priests, bishops and other authorities in the Roman Catholic Church are earning money from the Catholic services. If people will leave the church, then who will pay for their services? None. So, if that happens, people who are depending from the church's income will be having the hard time to live.

But how about those other church that claim to be the true Church?

Well, they're just simply the splinters of the Roman Catholic church. If you will really believe the Bible, you'll not be tempted to believe that church built by Christ are those churches that merely the splinters of the false Church, the Roman Catholic church. If the origin of these splinter churches is false, then it also true that these splinter churches are all false.

You better believe in the Bible. And the Bible will tell you which of these church is true. And I am sure, that there is only one true Church that exist. And that is what we should strive hard to find it.

But don't ever forget that the name of the true Church is Church of Christ.

Does Your Church Set You Up For Spam Or Viruses?

I get a good amount of correspondence both about churches and from churches. I subscribe to a lot of church messaging systems. Some are through organized email list sites such as Aweber and other list management service providers. I know how I got on those lists. There are some churches who maintain their own database for email correspondence and at least with some of those, I am not sure how my email address ended up on their list (especially the ones who address to my work email account).

I maintain a list for my homechurch. It is an opt-in type email server. So, the only way you are going to get email from that list is either if you subscribed or either you email/let me know personally you wanted to begin getting church messages and I will add you. Most folks add themselves. Recently, I got an email from an individual that just said "February Newsletter". It didn't say from what organization. These days, I don't just open up any email, but after some deductions understood who it came from. Imagine my surprise when I opened the email and saw not just my name in the "TO" address fields. Instead I saw a bunch.

To say the least I was concerned. I protect the list for my home church that I maintain vigilantly against spam and people joining the list just to push products and/or viruses. So I emailed the Minister and the email originator. I told them of my concern. Not wanting to just be a whiner, I also provided some best practice techniques of how to send out bulk email and not expose recipients to unwanted spam which in many cases can lead to viruses. Some of those best bulk email practices were:

• To make your life easy, create a Distribution List (simply a group of email addresses attached to one email name. So if you want to send an email to 1 person or 1,000, all you have to is to put the Distribution List Name in the appropriate slot). The other benefit is that it is very easy to maintain.
• When sending out any email (but more importantly bulk emails), using the proper term in the "Subject" line can make the difference if it survives the spam filter of many email software programs. Sending out a generic "February Newsletter" subject as was done in this case is going to cause suspicion of many spam filters as well as human filters. In this day and age, we don't want to open an email to find out what is inside it. The fact that the newsletter was an attachment is going to result in many people NOT opening up the document for fear of viruses.
• If you are going to send a newsletter, it is easier on everyone's bandwidth (and peace of mind virus wise) if you either you include the content in the body of the email or if you put a link where people can either download or view the document.
• When sending from an organization, the originator should have the organization's name as the "From Name". Putting a person's name that you may not be familiar with is less likely to be opened.
• When you send out a bulk email such as a newsletter, ALL recipients (whether individually or by using a distribution list) should be in the "BCC" field. This will result in each person getting an email with just their email address on it.
• The email originator should have their address and their address ONLY in the "TO" field.

The first response was from the originator. I believe she misinterpreted my recommendations and rationalized the process. The bottom line response in that email was if I didn't like their approach, I could happily be removed from future emails. The next albeit belated response from the minister was to the effect of "we will look into it and we will call if we have questions" Needless to say, my response to the minister was until the policy changes, please remove me from this list. When they get a better procedure or incorporate a true list management system, I will be back. I want the information.

I got a virus recently. It didn't come from the above mentioned email (or I don't believe it did J). But I had to take 3 hours (which would have been more without the help of a friend) to resolve it. I actually think I got it just looking at a website that Google had directed me to (actually a polling site that I was researching for another article). The bottom line is that it happened quickly. I also know that the most common viruses are spread through emails. I worked at a company that literally had a rule against opening ANY email that had an attachment from an unknown person. And if you opened it up (especially if it had an attachment), you were liable to be terminated. That was how serious they took it as they had experienced all to often the aftermath.

Bottom line, your email address is exposed to spammers and to viruses when for whatever reason it is in a bulk email and is either in the "TO" or "CC" fields. In lieu of a email list service and you are sending out bulk emails, then put the recipients in the "BCC" field if you care about them. As I said, I want the information, but not at the risk of getting a virus that a friend may not be around to help me out so quickly. As for the rest of you, my recommendation is if you receive email from an organization and your name is lumped with a bunch of other names in the TO/CC fields, remove yourself immediately. It is the only way that you can safeguard yourself from spam/viruses.

John Panico is the author of this article. He has consulted with literally hundreds of companies in different capacities.

He is the General Manager of Local Guys Equities, LLC, a company through marketing built a multi-million dollar portfolio in less than 12 months. He consults real estate investors at REI Minute.

John also runs Unity Church Marketing and is in regular attendance at his home church.

4 Reasons Why Your Church Marketing Isn't Working

When you put your church's marketing plan together, you knew that you were on your way to success. But something happened along the way and it isn't close to where you want it to be. And everyone is looking at you because this was YOUR idea You are wondering yourself what went wrong.

Here are some reasons that church marketing programs fail, so you can avoid them when you start your next campaign.
- Limiting beliefs/choices - There are times when we just don't think "big enough" That old saying of "go big or go home" is a pretty good one. Look to The Secret when you are formulating your marketing campaign. Don't think about the how you will accomplish what you are wanting to. Think what it is on what you want to accomplish.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say..."We can't do that because..." or "That may work with other churches, but it won't work here." Those thoughts shouldn't be accepted when you are formulating a marketing plan/objective.

Not long ago, I heard this phrase, wrote it down on my white board across from my desk as a reminder...

Take Massive Action!! (pretty comes later)

When you dream big, others catch on to the idea. Not all of them are going to resonate with it at the same level you either envision or implement the campaign. So, your dreaming big will motivate others as to the possibilities that are out there. The result is almost always better than your original objective.

1. Doing just good enough or taking shortcuts - I ran across a quote the other day and it hit the nail on the head. It was by Saadi and said the following: All things are difficult until they become easy! Let's face it. We live in an instantaneous microwave society. We want results and we want them now. As such, we easily rationalize why we can only do this or that. In essence, we take shortcuts. Well, here's a newsflash for you folks...and one that many ministers, CEO's and others may not like hearing. Marketing may need to simmer before it is ready. So use your best ingredients, resources and talents to get the best possible result.
2. Cost - Make no mistake about it, running a marketing campaign has a cost. And the cost is not always measured in financial outlay. I used to run sales organizations back in another life. When I did sales training, I would always, always, always ask the question..."How many of you want to make $100,000 this year?" Almost everyone without fail would raise their hand. The next question would be this: "Of those with your hands raised, how many are willing to do what it takes to make $100,000 this year?" I can tell you that while most still had their hands up, the reality was much different. Why is that you ask? Because many of the marketing programs you are currently running or plan to run fall into the following: Simple, but not easy! The ideas and concepts that you want to promote may be simple. We have to be willing to give up something in order to get what we want! So if you or your church or organizations are not willing to pay the cost, then maybe you should be rethinking what you are doing! (This sounds harsh until you look back on your first campaign that fails and see that the cost was too high.) So, the question to ask yourself is this: What will you do vs. what can you do????
3. Problems/Issues/Challenges - In your marketing plan, everything had a perfect ebb and flow to it. In the real world...not so much. So you should expect (you put in the term you are most comfortable with J ) problems, issues or challenges along the way. Few campaigns go perfectly or without something that wasn't planned coming up that could drastically affect your objective. Expect it. In the same manner, expect that not everyone will agree with your approach. I have a simple rule that I put into place up front that seems to work for me...you have to be part of the solution or you are part of the problem.

It is okay for you to offer (once again, insert your term here) "constructive criticism" about the project. But if you are going to participate, then here are the rules:

1. You have to bring 3 solutions to the table. We all know there is more than one way to get something done. I want you to have thought about it BEFORE you come to me. You just may come to the conclusion that the current approach is a good one (I didn't say the best, but a good one!)
2. You have to be involved as a part of at least one of the solutions. Unless you are willing to take an active approach to solving the challenge, then my response generally is "Thank you for sharing" and move on.

I will also tell you that I have been guilty of this myself in the past. But in the end the campaign will benefit best when it is surrounded by problem solvers, not problem finders.

So, there you have it. Want your church's next marketing campaign to be a hit? Be sure that you avoid the above marketing mistakes to insure that you have a success!

John Panico is the author of this article. He has consulted with literally hundreds of companies in different capacities.
He is the General Manager of Local Guys Equities, LLC, a company through marketing built a multi-million dollar portfolio in less than 12 months. He consults real estate investors at REI Minute.
John also runs Unity Church Marketing and is in regular attendance at his home church.

The Myths About the Catholic Religion

I am a Catholic and very proud to be. I hope that was not enough to make you stop reading this article. Usually it only takes the fact that I am Catholic for those that are not Catholic to stop talking to me about religion. This is because we are all human and I have to admit that I do not have the deepest understanding of many different religions, but I would like to clear up a few of the myths about the Catholic religion.

First, Catholics do not worship statues. This is a myth and one of the most popular ones. Many protestants want you use this myth to say that Catholics worship idols, but this is just not true. Why do we have statues in the Catholic church? Simple, back when there was not the great printing press and bibles were more expensive than most men's wages for 3 years, the Catholics used statues to teach their children about the bible.

If you think about it for a minute and you picture the statues in the Catholic churches you will realize that they all have to do with one of the passages from the bible. This made it much easier to teach children about the bible. It is visual and a parent can tell the story that the statues or stained glass windows represent to their children.

Second, Catholics worship Mary and the Saints. This is so false that it almost makes me laugh. Anybody that says that Catholics worship Mary or Saints needs to study more about the Catholic religion before you start telling us what we believe. Sure we pray to the saints and to Mary, but why would we not. It only makes sense to ask those that are up in heaven to pray for you. We ask our family members to pray for us and our friends to pray for us, so why not the saints and Mary.

On another note about Mary. The forth commandment is to honor thy father and thy mother. So if we are all the brothers and the sisters of Jesus Christ, then Mary is our mother and we are supposed to honor her as well, right?

Last, the Catholic church thinks they are better than all other faiths and is above them. This is an attitude that comes from HUMAN BEINGS, not the Catholic church. The one thing I run into more than any other thing is that the Catholic church did something, like molest little boys. You have to understand that even Priests are HUMAN BEINGS, they sin. We are all humans and this means that the Catholic church is also not hypocritical because that is the HUMAN BEINGS in the church not the Catholic religion.

Do you really want to understand the Catholic Religion? There is more to it than you probably know, go here to discover more:

What is the Reform Catholic Church?

The Reform Catholic Church (RCC) is a worldwide conglomerate of churches that were created in the 1960's, however, the concept was created long ago.

The name was chosen out of hundreds of options in an effort to maintain a connection to traditional Orthodox and Catholic churches and beliefs systems while, at the same time, realizing the necessity for an ongoing reform of the methods used by the Church to communicate with its members. Many Reform Catholic organizations use acronyms as their names.

It was Roman Catholic priests that first bound together to form the RCC, as well as Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox who, in some way or another, were displeased with some, or many, of the activities and decisions of their churches.

This led them to search for a more fulfilling way to practice their beloved Christian religion. As one of the goals, the founders looked to create a Christian church that was inclusive, tolerant and quenched the spiritual thirst of the todays people while making the life of Christ as described in the Bible more meaningful to them.

As an example of the beliefs of the RCC, it encourages membership or transition to Orthodox, Catholic and other Christian churches, because of it's belief in the communion of those Christian churches.

For the most part, the RCC adheres to the religious beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. However, one difference is that the RCC believes, if qualified, both men and women have the right to become clergy members, due to their inherent spiritual equality.

Clergy are allowed to marry in an effort to allow them to more fully participate in the normal daily lives of the people around them. This, actually, is no different than the faith of the Roman Catholic Churches, since many of them who are in full communion with the Vatican allow their clergy to marry, as well.

At this point you may be wondering what type of prayers the RCC uses. For the most part, it uses the same ceremonies and prayers that you would find in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches.

Various methods of birth control are accepted. However, as a general rule, abortions are disapproved of. In truth, it is understood that there may be certain circumstances in which an abortion would be justified.

The sacrament of marriage is performed as it is in many other churches, in such that God, through His clergy, joins together the couple who want to be married.

Divorces, as well, can be granted to those who want them. Divorce, however, is not looked upon favorably and only a married couple that are fundamentally incompatible and in which a true marital relationship does not exist will be granted one.