{"id":39332,"date":"2021-11-12T14:46:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T20:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=39332"},"modified":"2021-11-12T14:46:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T20:46:21","slug":"i-am-a-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-a-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"I am a Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tBy Cecil May,<br \/>\nDean Emeritus, Faulkner University College of Biblical Studies,<br \/>\nin the October 2019 Gospel Advocate\n<ul>\n<li>I am a disciple of Christ; I seek to learn from Him and follow Him&#8230;but I am not a Disciple of Christ.<\/li>\n<li>I am a methodist; I try to follow the biblical method&#8230;but I am not a Methodist.<\/li>\n<li>I am a baptist; I have been immersed in water for the forgiveness of my sins&#8230;but I am not a Baptist.<\/li>\n<li>I am catholic; Christ added me to His universal church&#8230;but I am not a Catholic.<\/li>\n<li>I am part of an assembly of God; we assemble each Lord&#8217;s day&#8230;but I am not of the Assemblies of God.<\/li>\n<li>I am presbyterian; my congregation is shepherded by elders (Greek, <em>presbuteroi<\/em>)&#8230;but I am not a Presbyterian.<\/li>\n<li>I am episcopalian; my congregation is overseen by bishops (Greek, <em>episcopoi<\/em>)&#8230;but I am not an Episcopalian.<\/li>\n<li>I am a member of a congregation which is Christian and independent&#8230;but I am not of the Independent Christian Church.<\/li>\n<li>I am a member of the church of Christ; He built it and purchased it with His blood&#8230;but I am not Church of Christ.<\/li>\n<li>I am a member of the church of God; He purposed it before the worlds began&#8230;but I am not Church of God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By the grace of God, I am a Christian.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Cecil May, Dean Emeritus, Faulkner University College of Biblical Studies, in the October 2019 Gospel Advocate I am a disciple of Christ; I seek to learn from Him and follow Him&#8230;but I am not a Disciple of Christ. I am a methodist; I try to follow the biblical method&#8230;but I am not a Methodist.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[642,450],"class_list":["post-39332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-christianity","tag-christians"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90337,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-do-but-i-dont\/","url_meta":{"origin":39332,"position":0},"title":"I Do, but I Don&#8217;t","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Sasser I believe in proper methods, but I don't wear the name \"Methodist.\" I believe in baptism, but I don't wear the name \"Baptist.\" I believe presbyters (or elders) should oversee the local church, but I don't wear the name \"Presbyterian.\" I believe one should be holy, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61067,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-am-a-member-of-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":39332,"position":1},"title":"Why I am a Member of the Church of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0The Voice of West End, Vol. 5, No. 23, Feb. 16, 1964. People have offered a variety of reasons for their religious connections. I am here to present my reasons for being a member of the church of Christ; but, first, some negative thoughts: Not because of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-in-1492\/","url_meta":{"origin":39332,"position":2},"title":"The Church in 1492","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton The world of 1492 was very small. Men knew very little about the earth as we know it today. Christopher Columbus sailed this important year with a crew of 87 to discover a new world. His adventure literally changed the face of the world and man came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/Columbus.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-solution-to-episcopalian-church-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":39332,"position":3},"title":"The Solution to Episcopalian Church Problems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, October 7, 2007 For those unfamiliar with it, the Episcopalian Church in America is a denomination that has its roots in the Church of England. These churches, along with Episcopalian denominations in other nations, are collectively\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29355,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/denominationalizing-the-work-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":39332,"position":4},"title":"Denominationalizing the Work of the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry F. Bassett Sentry Magazine, March 2003 To denominate is \"to give a name to: designate,\" according to Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. This same source defines a religious denomination as \"a religious organization uniting local congregations in a single legal and administrative body -- denominational\" being the adjectival form\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86033,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/vessels-for-gods-glory-a-conversion-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":39332,"position":5},"title":"Vessels for God\u2019s Glory: A Conversion Story","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles N. Spence, Jr. via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 3, September 30, 1990 I'll never forget the first sermon I preached: \"Jesus Is Love,\" just before I was ordained a Methodist preacher in the AME Zion Conference. I never imagined that the thoughts expressed in that lesson would become\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}