I couldn't see going along with traditional practices of the denomination I was affiliated with. It seemed simple enough; but the old skins just couldn't handle it. They were already set in their ways.

And when you hear the unbelief and skepticism that is expressed by so many ministers today. Unbelief in the Bible as God's inspired word. Unbelief in the virgin birth in Jesus Christ. Unbelief in the atoning death of Christ. And yet they call themselves ministers. And yet they are part of major denominations. And yet they are embracing all kinds of ungodly doctrines. And many of them are extremely opposed to any fundamental view of the scriptures. And especially to any evangelical approach to men.

And I think of how tragic it is and what a poor witness to the world that the church is so divided and so fractured. Now that is not an indictment against denominations. I see the purpose of denominations; I have no problem with that. The only problem I have is when people get denominational, when they cannot see the whole church and the whole body of Christ, but they see their own little segment only and exclude the rest.

And I believe that there are many people that have been turned away from Jesus Christ because of that terrible faction and party spirit that exists in Christianity, as people have put up their denominational barriers and confined themselves. You know, "We are..." And people look at the church fighting and competing among itself. They see the bitterness that arise and the church is not that witness that Jesus would have us to be.

G. Campbell Morgan said that "I have noted that the more spiritual a man becomes, the less denominational he becomes." Had Paul been writing to the church today concerning the divisions among it, I'm sure he would say, "But some of you say I'm a Baptist, and some of you say I'm a Presbyterian, and others say I'm an Episcopalian, and then others say, well I'm a Nazarene, and there are those who would say well, we're of the Church of Christ." Again he'd say "Is Christ divided?" and he would urge toward unity within the body to realize that we are all of Jesus Christ. Paul was sent to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of words, something that they were very familiar with there in Corinth.

We have some friends who were pastoring a church in the same denomination that we served for so many years, were we got packaged programs from the denomination. Quit convenient, you didn't even have to think of one, they thought of them for you. All you had to do is get your committees and inaugurate them. And of course every year you get two of them. You get your spring enlargement program, and that you get the one to beat the summer slump program. And so this church was going to go all out. I mean they had everything all lined out.

And John answered saying:" Master, we saw one who was casting out devils in your name, and we forbid him, because he did not follow with us." (the beginning of sectarianism, denominationalism) And Jesus said onto him:" Don't forbid him, for he that is not against us, is for us." Ready to stop others who don't follow along with us. The Lord says;' no, no, no, if they are not against us, they are for us."

This party spirit or denominational spirit is a mark of carnality, to refuse to recognize the whole body of Christ. To break down the denominational barriers and be able to love another man even though he is Baptist, or even though he is a Nazarene, or even though he is a Presbyterian -- to be able to accept him as a brother in Jesus Christ -- is so important that I not see these differences.

Part of the problem was the divisions that existed within the church as they were dividing off into little sects of sorts, little denominations, I am of Paul, I am of Peter, I am of Apollos. And Paul said this was a mark of carnality, Christ was not divided, those ministers who ministered to them should have had complementary ministries, not competing ministries.

The communists have planted many men in places of position in some of the major denominations across the United States. The World Counsel of Churches is close to a Communist front organization and espouses almost every Communist cause and supports every crooked thing going. I could get carried away with this. I'll tell you I would not give one dime to a church that is a part of the World Counsel of Churches or the National Counsel of Churches.

It wasn't until I forsook the role model the denomination I was in maintained, that the evangelist is the highest calling, and instead was satisfied with what God had equipped and ordained me to be, "Chuck, a pastor-teacher by the will of God," that I began to experience a real fulfillment in my ministry.

Because I wanted to be an evangelist, because that is what the denomination recognizes. I wanted to see souls saved, because the first thing I had to report on my report every month was how many people were saved this month. Terrible to put zeros in there. The hierarchy, the bishops will never recognize you unless you have converts.

A few months ago I received a letter where I was invited to speak at a certain denominational meeting and I got a letter this week after I responded, I thought well that is interesting I will accept that and so I wrote a letter of acceptance and I got a letter back this week from the minister who had invited me to speak and he said, "I am awfully sorry but when I brought up your name, a lot of the ministers were afraid that some of our ministers might be influenced by you and because you believed in the validity of the gifts of the spirit it might draw some of them away so they decided that they don't want you to speak.

There should be a unity in the body of Christ and the thing I like about being non-denominational or inter-denominational is that it does give us a comfortable posture whereby we can accept and love and feel free to fellowship with anybody from any denomination who really believes in Jesus Christ. Now there are some denominations that will not accept the baptism of another denomination. Some churches that will not accept the baptism of another church. Oh you were baptized by them, will you will have to be baptized again before we can receive you into membership. There are some churches that have closed communion, when they pass the broken bread. You can't take it, unless you are an approved member of that church. Walls by which the body of Christ is divided.

This so often happens when man sets up a hierarchy. It will degrade into something less than when it was started; a political institution instead of a spiritual organism. One of the problems with most of the major denominational churches today is that they have become political systems rather than spiritual organisms.

Just about every message that I preached was evangelistic; because, in the denomination where I served, evangelism was the big thing. I came to the realization, after years of frustration, that preaching is for the unconverted. The converted need teaching.

I have a friend who had a very remarkable conversion. He lived out in the area of Victorville. He owned about five different businesses out there; he was an extremely successful person. He owned a tractor agency, he owned an excavating company, and just had many business interests. He was an Episcopalian, very nominal Christian, one of the Christmas/Easter variety.

Now, there is within the Pentecostal churches that thing that is called "Shepherding" which is the deeds of the Nicolaitans. 'You come to us and we will advise you what God has to say concerning whom you should marry, and what you should sell and what you should buy and when you should do this or that and they seek to exercise a lordship over the people. It is the deeds if the Nicolaitans - that shepherding movement.

Somewhere along the line, the Pentecostal churches have gotten a mistaken notion, that God often speaks to the church through tongues and interpretation of tongues. That is not scriptural!

Now the Catholics assert that the church was build on Peter. There are problems with this. Number one, Jesus said onto him," thou art Petros,( which in the creek is a little stone) and then He declared," upon this Petra,(which is a giant stone) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

For one is your father, which is in heaven." So the title of father was prohibited by Jesus. In my associations I have become acquainted and friends of many ministers within the Episcopalian Church, and also within the Catholic Church. And I have extreme difficulty in knowing how to address that. Because for the life of me I can not call them father so and so. Because Jesus said not to. And so, to me it creates a difficult thing, as to how to address them, because they are usually introduced,' this is father so and so,' and I just have a hang-up with this, but I just can't address a man, father, in a spiritual sense. I don't know, do what you want, but I just have problems.

The Protestant reformation came as a protest against the evil practices that had arisen within the catholic church. Especially the selling of indulgences. For the Pope was desirous to built a great Cathedral in Rome, St. Peters. And the money wasn't coming in, fast enough to build this glorious monument, that he was desiring to put up, as a symbol for Christianity. And so someone in the counsel came up with a bright idea. Everybody likes to sin, why don't we sell them forgiveness for sin's. And they can buy an indulgence, before they ever indulged. So as they indulging, the thing is covered, because they've already buyed their forgiveness. So you want a little escapade on the side. You want to go out and get drunk? fine, go down and buy your drunk indulgence. You want to have an affair? go down and get an adultery indulgence. And they started selling the indulgences to the people. And this so incensed Martin Luther, that he took his 95 thesis, his objections, to the practices that had developed within the church, and he taged them on the door, and he protested. And thus the name Protestant. Beginning of the Protestant reformation.

And it is tragic to me that so many people, rather than identifying themselves with Jesus Christ, identify themselves with a particular church that they attend. Are you a Christian? Oh, I'm a Baptist. Are you a Christian? Well, I'm a Presbyterian. Are you a Christian? Oh, I'm a Catholic. I think that's tragic. Rather than being able to identify with Jesus Christ. Are you a Christian? You bet your life. What church do you belong to? His church. When did you join? I was born into it by the Spirit of God. To see the whole body of Christ.

It is a sad error of the Catholic church to declare that Peter is the foundation upon which the church was built. Taking Matthew's gospel chapter 16, where at Cesarea Phillipi Jesus said, "Who do men say that I am?" And they began to say the current concepts that people had about Jesus.

We really weren't baptized a Baptist or a Christian Church or a Methodist or Catholic we should have been baptized into Jesus Christ. Not into a church. Because a church cannot save you. There is only one baptism and that is the baptism into Jesus Christ.

There is sometimes within the Protestant circles perhaps a backlash to that position that the Catholics have sought to place Mary in as the intercessor, and even some today, the coredemptress, and there is that backlash among Protestants often times to sort of put Mary down.

And we see it in the Catholic church where the priest says, "You come and confess your sins to me and I will remiss your sins and I will go to the Father and I will take care of things for you. It is putting a man between you and God. We will see the system develop when we get to the church of Thyatira but at least the church of Ephesus says 'I hate it and the Lord says I hate it too.

And these are the dominant issues of the Roman Catholic church; their love and their service and their faith and their patience and their work. And this they have a lot of - a lot of good works and there are some marvelous people in the Catholic Church, highly admired. Mother Theresa, such an unusual person. Marvelous. It's not saying things against those individuals because God has his overcomers. It is just talking about the system.

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold I will cast her into a bed, and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds" Here is now first of all, the indication that the Catholic Church would exist right up to the coming of Jesus Christ and the rapture of the church, because he talks about them being allowed to go into the great tribulation.

There was a Lady who came to church here at Calvary Chapel invited by some of her friends, and she was visiting here from Missouri. And she happen to belong to the Missouri Senate Lutheran Church, and after service she came up to me, and she was shaking, she was so angry. She said," why didn't you face the altar when you prayed." I mean she was really upset. And I said,"what?" she said," when you prayed you didn't turn and face the alter, why didn't you?" I said," well, I guess because I don't think Jesus lives in the alter." But the traditions you see:" why didn't you turn towards the statue of Jesus when you prayed?" But by traditions there is the violation of the commandment of God that says, we're not to have any images.

This the fallacy of those who are called faith teachers, who have become so popular on television and in the Full Gospel circles. This is the tragedy of the Full Gospel circles today, their lack of theological depth. The people who are involved in these circles are so shallow that they run after every new "wind of doctrine". Paul warns us, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Eph. 4:14) Cunning men, going around with some new concept and everybody running after them.