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Welcome to my blog where I will be posting previously written articles and new articles. There are many topics in my archives, that I look forward to sharing with you, that covers a broad spectrum of subjects. Feel free to share these writings with your friends and family using Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, etc. Feel free to reprint any of these articles in its entirety in bulletins and newsletters. When you do, please cite this website -http://bryanhodge.net. It is my hope that you will find these articles informative and encouraging. Check back often for new postings or, better yet, I invite you to subscribe to my blog. I would also appreciate your comments or emails.
Thank you for your visit!
~Bryan
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Categories
Category Archives: Stats
Denominations: Baptist Church (Part 1)
Ascertaining accurate total numbers is difficult. The Baptist church is greatly divided. The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) indicates that their fellowship of 241 conventions and unions, in 126 countries and territories, comprised 47 million baptized believers in 2020 (members unions, … Continue reading
Posted in baptism, calvinism, denominations, History, Race, Stats
Tagged 13th year of decline for sbc, 1608, 1609, 1611, 16123, 1630, 1633, 1638, 1663, 1845, 1850, 1905, abcusa.org, alabama, american baptist association, american baptist usa, amserdam, anabaptist, apnews.com, archive.org, associated baptist press, baptist beginnings, baptist world, baptist world alliance, baptisthistory.org, baptistnews.com, baptst church, baylor univerity, baylor.edu, bob allen, book a gerneral history of the baptist denomination, book a short history of the baptist, book following the denomination called baptist, book handbook of denominations, bwa, calvinism, christianity today, church of england, david benedict, denominations, doctrinal statement american baptist, england, english seperatism, fast facts, frank mead, freewill baptist, general baptist, general v particular baptist, gerald foster, gordon l. belyea, gotquestions.org, henry c. vedder, history, holland, john clarke, john smyth, king charles ii, landmarkism, leon mcbeth, limited atonement, london, martin luther king jr, massachusetts, massachusetts bay colony, mennonite, national baptist of america, national baptist usa, nbca, nbcusa, netherlands, new port rhode island, non seperatist, numbers decline, oklahoma, old landmarkism, orinigin of baptist church, our history, particular baptist, pnbca, pouring, primitive baptist, progressive national baptist, providence rhode island, reformed baptist, regular baptist, rhode island, roger williams, roman catholic, samuel hill, sbc, sbc.net, slavery, souther baptist convention, spitalfields, split northern and southern baptist, split over race, split over slavery, sprinkling, stats, tennessee, thearda, thegospelcoalition, thomas hewys, top states, travis loller, types of baptist, waterland mennonites
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Denominations: Congregational Church/United Church of Christ
At the beginning of the 21st century, there were about 2.4 million Congregationalists worldwide (congregationalism, britannica.com). There are about 802 thousand members of the United Church of Christ in the U.S.A. (2020 Statistical Report, ucc.org). The top states for UCC … Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, calvinism, Church Organization, denominations, Doctrine, History, Stats
Tagged 1546, 1620, 1629, 1636, 1648, 1707, 1801, 1852, 1931, 1948, 1955, 1957, Abortion, aids, authority, bear lake minnesota, beliefs and pratices, benard manning, bible, book handbook of denominations, california, calvinism, cambridge platform 1648, ccclamasa, christian connection, church autonomy, church government, church organization, congregational christian church, congregational christian conference, congregational church, congregationallibrary.org, connecticut, continual revelation, council of trent, creeds, decentralized calvinism, encyclopedia britannica, england, evangelical and reformed church, familysearch.org, fccmiddleboro, first united church of christ, firstucc, frank mead, general synod, generalsynod.org, gotquestions.org, gracie allen, gun control, harvard, henry david gray, history, hiv, holyoke massachusetts, illinois, independants, infant baptism, jack zavada, james o'kelly, learnreligions, leiden holland, lgbtq, massachusetts, massachusetts bay colony, mayflower, mnparkviewucc, national association of congregational christian churches, netherlands, new light, ngo, northfield minnosota, ohio, our statement of faith, parkview united church of christ, pennsyvania, period or comma, pilgrims, plan of union 1801, plymouth plantation, politics, presbyterian church, puritan to progressive, puritans, ready to harvest, reproductive justice, resolution process, sacraments, samuel hill, social justice, stats, the Lord's Supper, ucc, ucc.org, uccholyoke, un, united church of christ, united nations, velda love, yale
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Denominations: Anabaptist/Mennonites, and Amish
The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) reports that there were 2.13 million Anabaptists in their fellowship in 2018 (membership, map and statistics, mwc-cmm.org). Africa is the continent with the most members, approximately 36%. North America is second, approximately 31% (ibid). Anabaptist … Continue reading
Posted in denominations, Doctrine, History, Stats, Technology
Tagged 1496, 1527, 1531, 1561, 1632, 1644, 1693, 1708, 1720, 1730, 1995, a priest who had not read, adult baptism, adventist, amish, amish and mennonite split, amish community not anti-technology, amish history, amishamerica, anabaptist, arian, authority, automobiles, ban, baptism, beliefs and pratices, benedict schneider, bible, bloemkamp, bolsward netherlands, book handbook of denominations, brethren, buggies, christianitytoday, church discipline, communism, confession, confession of faith, confession of faith in a mennonite perspective, dallin crump, dallincrump.medium, denominations, division, do amish use technology, dordrecht confession, dutch mennonites, en-academic, eternal security, etown.edu, excommunication, executed for rebaptism, Exodus 20:4, falling from grace, feet washing, foot washing, france, frank mead, friesland netherlands, gameo, generators, gotquestions.com, hans reist, harry scull, history, horses, infant baptism, inner light, jakob ammann switzerland, James 1:27, jeff brady, lancaster county, lancaster pennsylvania, lancasterpa, Lord's Supper, menno simons, mennonites, munster germany, munster rebellion, new jerusalem, npr, ohiohistorycentral, oldeklooster, ordnung, original sin, pacifism, peter simons, phones, pictures, polygamy, rebaptism, roman catholic, ryan reeves, salvation, schleiheim, sicke freerks snijder, sola scriptura, sprinkleing, stats, swiss brethren, swiss mennonites, technology, television, thirdwaycafe, tractors, transubstantiation, unwritten ruless, usatodday, violent revolutionaries, william penn
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What’s Your Cause?
It is normal for one to want a cause in life. By “cause,” I mean: “a goal or principle served with dedication and zeal” (yourdictionary.com). A person desires meaning and purpose in life. A Christian has a cause. Jesus taught, … Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, culture, Ethics, evangelism, History, Priorities, Soul Winning, Stats, stewardship, Technology
Tagged 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 1 Corinthians 9:27, 1 Peter 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, 1845, 1860, 1900, 1920, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2020, Abortion, activist for cause of Christ, activist for Jesus, Acts 8:4, amazing grace, angus reed, angus reed 2020 poll, angus reed institute, animal rights, apocalypse now, bbc, black or white, california, california bans plastic bags, canada, cause, civil rights, coal, cotton bag, Deuteronomy 22:4, distraction, environment, evangelism, examine yourself, feminism, forests, fossil fuels, gas guzzling, Genesis 1:27-30, Genesis 2:15, glorify God, gospel, great commission, human fallibility, lgbtq, Luke 13:15-16, Luke 14:1-5, Luke 14:5, Luke 15:1-7, Luke 19:10, magnify Christ, marxism, Matthew 10:29-31, Matthew 12:11-12, Matthew 18:12-14, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 6:26, michael rosen, michael shellenberg, national geographics, npr, oil, paper bags, paper or plastic, Philippians 1:20-21, plastic bags, plastic straws, politics, priorities, Proverbs 12:10, Proverbs 16:32, purpose, reusable bags, reuseable bags, sarah mclachlan, silent night, social activism, social issues, Soul Winning, SPCA, stewards, suicide, suv, test all things, the american interest, tom edington, trade offs, trees, united kingdom, whales, which bag is best, woke, yourdictionary
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Western Religions: The Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) Part 3
Beliefs and Practices 1. God. Joseph Smith wrote, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost” (The Articles of Faith 1). The Father and the Son have a body of … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, heaven, Judgment, mormon, Mormons, Premillennialism, Stats, World Religions
Tagged 1 Corinthians 15:29, 1890, 2 Nephi 10:23, 2 Nephi 2:27, aaronic priesthood, adam is God, adam of genesis is God, adam-God view, alcohol, Alma 13:3, alma 34:35, baptism for dead, beliegs and pratices, bickertonite, blood atonement, book handbook of denominations, Book of Moses 6:9, book the kingdom of the cults, book the truth about mormonism, branches of mormonism, brigham young, brigham young wives, buzzfeednews, celesial, celestial marriage, church split, civil marriage, coffee and tea, community of Cgrist, D&C13, D&C132, D&C20, D&C76, D&C84, D&C88, doctrine of progression, enclyclopedia britannica, fairlatterdaysaint.org, frank mead, free will, fundalmentalist, genealogy record, God, God has flesh and bones, heaven, heaven and hell, hedrickite, Helaman 14:30-31, hell, hildale utah, hot drink, hot drinks, independance missouri, independence missouri, joseph smith wives, Jounal of Discourses VOL 1, Jounral of Discourses Vol 3, journal of discourses, Journal of Discourses Vol 4, lindsey bever, lorenzo snow, man, man accountable, marriage, mckay coppins, melchizedek priesthood, millenial eschatology, modern day miracles, monogahela pennsylvania, monongahela pennsylvania, morals, Mormon 9-19, Mormon 9:9-10, mormon church splits, mormon underwear, Moroni 8:18, number of wives, orson hyde, polygamy, premortal existence, proxy baptism, religionfacts.com, reorganized church, rigdonite, salt lake city utah, salvation, sam hill, samuel s. hill, strong drink, telestial, temple lot, temple marriage, templet lot, terrestrial, the articles of faith, The Articles of Faith 1, The Articles of Faith 2, The Articles of Faith 3-4, the book of mormon, the church of jesus christ latter day saints, the grand destiny of the faithful, the pearl of great price, three levels of heaven, tobacco, two priesthoods, two types of marriage, types of mormon churches, walter martin, washingtonpost.com, water in Lord's supper, weldon langfield, weldon long fied, weldon longfield, wilford woodruff, wine
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Western Religions: The Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) Part 1
This is a sub-division of a series on the religions of the world. The sub-title, “Western Religions,” does not mean that these religions are confined to the West. It indicates that they originated in the West. The Church of Jesus … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, History, mormon, Mormons, Stats, World Religions
Tagged 1 Nephi 1:2, 1801, 1805, 1820, 1823, 1827, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1834, 1838, 1839, 1840-1841, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 1852, 1857, 1869, 1877, 1890, 1896, aiken party massacre, april 6 1830, bank fraud, baptist, Book of Joseph 2, book of mormon, book the mormon war, brandon g. kinney, brigham young, carthage illinois, church of christ, commerce illinios, commerce illinois, communal life, constitutioncenter.org, D&C20, D&C21, doctrine and covenents, europe, excommunication, Executive order 44, fayett new york, flee to rockies, golden plates, Governor Boggs, governor ford, great britain, hill cumorah, history of book of mormon, history of mormonism, history.com, hyrum smith, iowa, james buchanan, jane law, Joseph 2:64, joseph smith, june 25 1844, june 7 1844, kirkland ohio, kirkland safety society, manchester new york, methodist, missouri, mob kills joseph smith, mormon 9:32-33, mormonism, moroni, mountain meadow massacre, nauvoo expositor, nauvoo illinois, nauvoo legion, numbers, october 1838, october 27 1838, palmyra new york, palmyra newyork, path tp statehood, pearl of great price, peter whitmer, polyandrous marriage, polyandry, polygamy, presbyterians, printing press destroyed, quincy illinios, reformed egyptian, safe-haven for thieves and robbers, scandinavia, september 11, september 1845, september 21 1823, september 27 1827, sharon vermont, sidney rigdon, slander, spetember 11 1857, spring 1820, susquehanna pennsylvania, the church of jesus christ latter day saints, the great salt lake, the pearl of great price, utah, utah statehood, utah war, western new york, western religions, wilford woodruff, william law
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Rethinking Our Role as a Church
It is my educated opinion that many Christians have much too narrow of a view of the role of the church. They are comfortable with the church proclaiming the Gospel, what one must do for salvation, how the church is … Continue reading
Posted in Chruch, Fellowship, Mental Health, Stats
Tagged 2 Peter 1:3, A.A., alcohol, alcoholic anonymous, anoint with oil, book koinonia, confess faults one to another, confess trespasses one to another, Coping: A Biblical Approach, depression, e. fuller torrey, fellowship, heart of a servant, James 5:14, James 5:16, jimmy jividen, martin and deidre bobgan, mental health issues, post traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, role of church, spousal abuse, stats, steven lloyd, we are family
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