by Robert Jackson<\/p>\n
I became a member of the Methodist church in Charlotte, Tennessee, at the age of twelve. This was the result of being brought up in a Methodist family. I was taught that one should believe in Christ and then join the church of his choice, and his choice, as a rule, would be the one of his parents. June 5th, 1940, I obeyed the gospel of Christ, thus leaving the Methodist church. Since that time, I have often been asked, “Why did you leave the Methodist church?” I will try to answer this question as briefly as possible in this article.<\/p>\n
First, I will state some of the reasons why I did not leave the Methodist church:<\/p>\n
After my discharge from the Navy in 1946, I had again made my home in Charlotte, Tennessee. In 1947, Grover Stevens moved to Charlotte. I was attending many of the services of the church of Christ where he was preaching and became very angry at some of the remarks made by Brother Stevens. During this same time, Brother Leonard Tyler conducted several meetings in this area, which I attended and at which I was made angry. I became so mad at some of their remarks that I began to study my Bible to try to justify myself as a Methodist and, at the same time, to find errors in their teaching, which I would have been happy to expose. Finally, I saw that I was fighting a losing battle, and I either had to obey the gospel or stay with the Methodist church. I must say that it was a very difficult battle, knowing that I would be leaving that which I had been taught from childhood up, knowing that my personal friends would turn their backs on me, and knowing the heartache that it would cause my mother to see her only child leave the family religion. I made up my mind to put God first and obey His will.<\/p>\n
The results of my leaving the Methodist church were because error was exposed, and truth was taught in plain speech and yet with love. I am deeply grateful to such preachers.<\/p>\n
My first impression was that the Methodist church was wrong in name. No such name is found in the Bible. I was called a Methodist, but no one in the Bible was ever called such. I was taught that they were called Christians (I Peter 4:16; Acts 11:26). I immediately saw that I could not scripturally justify using the name Methodist.<\/p>\n
Clearly, John Wesley, not Jesus Christ, founded the Methodist Church. If I wanted to be a member of the church that Jesus built, I could not be a Methodist. Such preaching stirred my spirit to the extent that I became dissatisfied with being a member of a church that John Wesley built.<\/p>\n
I had always believed that one was saved by faith only. This is exactly what the Methodist church teaches about salvation. However, when I was told to read James 2:24, I was made to see in words that none could misunderstand that “faith only” was wrong. I began reading more and discovered that Jesus required faith and baptism (Mark 16:16).<\/p>\n
I had always been taught in the Methodist church that there are three ways to be baptized: 1. Sprinkling; 2. Pouring; and 3. Immersion. I was led to believe by Methodist preaching that it was up to the individual to select his own choice. To become a member I had selected sprinkling. The preaching that I heard exposed this error. I was told to read Colossians 2:12 and then Ephesians 4:5. Even with a mind as weak as mine, I could see that according to God’s teaching, there was but one baptism, but by Methodist teaching, there were three. I believed God.<\/p>\n
We had the instrument of music in the services of the Methodist church and were led to believe that it was only an aid in the worship. It was proven to me that such was not an aid but an addition to the word of God. I was then reminded of John 4:24, which states that one must worship God in truth. I was told that my worship would be in vain if done by the doctrine of men. (Matthew 15:9)<\/p>\n
In the Methodist church, we would have ice cream suppers, rummage sales, etc., to raise money for the church. The preaching I heard by Brother Stevens and others brought to my attention I Corinthians 16:1-2. This was God’s plan of having the church members raise money, and the pie suppers, etc., were ways of men.<\/p>\n
These are some things that caused me to see the way of my error. Of course, since that time, I have studied and discovered many other errors within the Methodist church. I have never regretted leaving the Methodist church. I wish all would see their errors.<\/p>\n
Thank God for Christ, His Gospel, and His church.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Robert Jackson I became a member of the Methodist church in Charlotte, Tennessee, at the age of twelve. This was the result of being brought up in a Methodist family. I was taught that one should believe in Christ and then join the church of his choice, and his choice, as a rule, would…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[782],"class_list":["post-83910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-methodist-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33108,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-left-the-methodist-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":83910,"position":0},"title":"Why I Left the Methodist Church (Howard)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond A. Howard Like many, or I might say most, I played church for a number of years. I only went because my friends did or it was the right thing to do. After I married, my wife is probably the reason I went, to begin with (I realized\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25288,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-me-understand-more-about-the-free-methodist-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":83910,"position":1},"title":"Can you help me understand more about the Free Methodist Church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you help me understand more about the Free Methodist Church? Is it a charismatic church? I know of a church that has been praised for all the good it does in the community and the world. 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