Pop Rocks + Coke = deadly combination ??

It’s funny how easily we believe what we hear without doing our own research. Take for example, the conversations you used to have as a child during recess or lunch breaks. Johnny: did you hear that if you eat pop rocks and soda at the same time your stomach will explode? Now, if you were like me (cute yet gullible) you would have believed Johnny. Or maybe you were like me in the sense that you were too ‘chicken’ to succumb to his dare to eat some cherry flavored Pop Rocks while chugging a fat Coke to prove him wrong. Now I’m not suggesting trying to find the truth by doing something that might compromise your health if it is found to be true, but I am merely challenging you to not be so quick to believe everything you hear, without checking it out for yourself. Oh, and for the record, pop rocks WILL NOT cause your stomach to explode. Myth Busters tested it out and you can find the results here

Now, on to more serious things. I was raised Catholic, and when I first attended Frontline (non-denominational church), my parents were convinced that I had joined a cult. Also, yesterday someone told me I went to a 'fake church' and I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. See below for the dismantling of these myths.

Myth 1: Frontline has to be a fake church. Worship songs are played using electric guitars, and the stage sometimes has a fog machine and or different colored lights. The service is held in an auditorium. There are no stain glass windows or pews. There was a simple cross in the auditorium, but it didn't even have Jesus on it! Am i taking crazy pills?!?! ? HELP!

Truth: Contrary to popular beliefs, a church is not a building but instead is a body of believers! Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” The universal Church is the Church that consists of all those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” We see that anyone who believes is part of the body of Christ. The true Church of God is not any particular church building or denomination.

Myth 2: Frontline is definitely a cult. Each Sunday at 5:30pm, 3,000 young people between the ages of 18-40 gather together. Sometimes a few people are seen with their hands in the air during worship songs.

Truth: Wikipedia definition of a cult: a cult may refer to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding population considers to be outside the mainstream. According to www.gotquestions.org in distinction from a religion, a cult is a group that claims to be Christian, yet denies an essential truth of Biblical Christianity. The two most common teachings of cults are

1.) that Jesus was not God

2.) that salvation is not by faith alone.

As you can see, a cult is no where defined by large amounts of people gathering, or people putting their hands in the air. Furthermore, Frontline is not a cult because it believes that #1 Jesus is God, and #2 that the only way to get into heaven or receive salvation is by trusting Jesus to be your savior (i.e. faith alone). For a more complete description see Frontline’s statement of faith .

If you are curious, what would qualify as a cult, two examples are the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons believe many things that are in agreement with and/or similar to what the Bible teaches. However, the fact that they deny the deity of Christ and salvation by faith alone qualifies them as a cult.

So please, before you make false assumptions, do your research. I love Frontline and think you will too. For service times (including internet campus i.e ability to watch if you don't live locally) go here.