We have a live Bible study group that meets and talks over Skype calls, but before I explain how to get involved with our Bible study group, please allow me to explain what the Word of God reveals to us concerning joining the church. In the Bible, Paul was (in my opinion) one of the most humble men who ever walked the face of the earth, and yet, when he first tried to enter the church, he was turned away.
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.
-Acts 9:26-30
The disciples required some evidence of his conversion, otherwise they did not trust him to join because one of the purposes of the church is to protect young Christians from harm by those who might deceive and hurt them. This is even more important to consider when speaking with people online because due the fact that people can hide their faces and names, so it can be dangerous to bring in a potential false convert who would lead Christians astray.
One of the misconceptions most churchgoers have today is that the church is all-inclusive, meaning that those who are not members can just walk in the front door and join in. There are many Biblical reasons why that can be dangerous, both for them and for the church, but to keep things short and simple, there are one of three things I have found in Scripture that a Christian needs in order to join a church:
1. Evidence of your public profession of faith, or published writings. This would be anything that shows public preaching, which could include websites, audio, video, blogs, etc, but they must be authored by you.
2. A Christian within the church to act as a witness to your public profession of faith. This means that someone who already knows you and is also a member of our church could speak on your behalf.
3. If you do not have one of the first two, something else that would allow our church to see your conversation in Christ, and that would be your conversation directly with us.
Of course, most people who have contacted us with a desire to join do not have either of the first two, and so we encourage you to use the third option, which does not take very long, and is open to anyone.
The way to achieve the third option is by this very forum:
Register an account on this forum, make at least 20 posts in conversation with us, and you should have your account upgraded to access the "Born-Again Christian" group, which is a private section of the forum. Once that new section is open to you, there is a board where you can request to join us in our live Bible study group, and once you receive approval from other members of the church, we will invite you to become a member and send you instructions on how to connect with us.
Many people find this to be "too much" to do, but that is typically because they are used to the lazy American method of instant gratification, and sadly, they do not care that the church is meant to be protected. We want to protect our family of sanctified Christians. Achieving 20 posts could be done in an evening, and if anyone reading this does not want to do that, then we wish you well on your journey to find a place that God will provide for your fellowship.
I ask that people do not write me saying, "I have donated money, so add me to your church group." We have a number of people who have donated to us in the past that have turned away and now hate our ministry today, and so we do not make these types of decisions on spiritual matters based on money. Also please do not attempt to bypass these requirements by showing us licenses or certificates because those are all man-made, and we want to see your conversation in Christ, not the approval you received from a leavened church building.
If you have any other questions, make a post here on the forum and ask; most of our church has accounts on this forum and are active here, and one of us can try to help you as best we can. If you decide you want to join us and make the effort, we look forward to fellowship with you. And again, if you decide this is too much for you, then our church is probably not the right place for you, so we wish you the best, pray the Lord Jesus Christ will help you find what you are looking for, and you are welcome to try back again anytime.
