The purpose of the TruthDirectory website is to provide a resource for Christians traveling in unfamiliar areas to find sound congregations. There already exist several directories for congregations who have a “church of Christ” sign on their building without regard to what they might teach or practice. That is not the purpose of this site. Due to the myriad of facts contained and the frequency of changes in addresses, phone numbers, and service times keeping any directory up to date is almost impossible. We are dependent on you, our readers, to ensure your congregation’s information is as up-to-date as possible.

About This Site

The prior version of this website was based on a MS Access database. This website required that data be migrated into MySQL. I have done my very best to ensure that every piece of information made it to the new site and will display in the best format. Despite all that, I am sure I have missed some pieces of information or made errors in how the information is presented. Please accept my apologies if your information is not correct and notify us so that your listing displays the most up-to-date information.

Which Congregations are listed here?

This is a listing of many non-institutional churches of Christ throughout the World. Our intent is to list only congregations that would describe themselves as “conservative and non-institutional”. In short, congregations which do not support human institutions such as:

• Use of Church Treasury to build “Life Centers”, “Fellowship Halls”, etc.
• Orphans Homes
• Missionary Societies (where churches send money to a central
  sponsoring church – which then distributes money to preachers).
• Use of Musical Instruments in Worship

For more information on the definition of these terms see: Collection of Articles on Institutionalism

What is Different?

There are already several good directories out there and there would not be much point in simply duplicating their efforts. One of the things this site offers which I have not seen anywhere else to this point is a map showing the location of every known congregation within a specific geographical area such as a state. I consider this handy because if you are traveling and find yourself unable to reach your desired location in time for services, you now have a map showing you all the congregations which are in that area.

I find it encouraging to look at this map of the eastern United States and see all the representations of assemblies of the Lord’s people. You will notice the density of some of those locations in the states like Alabama, Kentucky, in my home state of Texas. Our faith has never been one that should be dependent upon needing to be in a majority to feel right. However, it is only human nature to feel encouraged in knowing there are others who want to work and worship God as we do.

Welcome

This is a group for those who create and maintain church of Christ websites. The purpose of this group is to answer primarily technical questions, offer advice, and provide resources to assist in creating and maintaining websites. The moderators of this group have been chosen for their experience and willingness to offer their advice and technical assistance free of charge. If you are having a problem of a technical nature, it is probably one already encountered by one of the moderators.

Please consider…

when asking your questions and understand the moderators have plenty of other things to do. An emergency on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on their part.

Future Plans

I intend for the pages and files to be enhanced to include answers to common questions and resources helpful for all.

COC Web Servants

Visit this group

A Common Practice?

I did not have recent statistics on the percentage of wireless networks which are not secured. I can venture an educated guess that is the majority of networks although I believe the percentage to be shrinking. Far too many people from ignorance and apathy stop once the wireless router is working and fail to take the additional steps to secure it.

Humphrey Cheung, the editor of a technology Web site, tomshardware.com, measured how plentiful open wireless networks have become. In April 2004, he and some colleagues flew two single-engine airplanes over metropolitan Los Angeles with two wireless laptops.

The project logged more than 4,500 wireless networks, with only about 30 percent of them encrypted to lock out outsiders, Mr. Cheung said.

“Most people just plug the thing in,” he said of those who buy wireless routers. “Ninety percent of the time it works. You stop at that point and don’t bother to turn on its security.”

Public WiFi hotspots

There is nothing wrong with using a wireless network within an establishment which has provided that convenience for its customers. You would be well advised to be cautious about which Internet sites you visit and the information you access when on a public network. Those networks are inherently insecure and doing your online banking or accessing other sensitive information would not be advisable from such a location. If you use these networks you should be especially diligent about having your security software in place and up-to-date.

Using Your Neighbor’s Wireless

I know no one would even consider tapping into their neighbors water line or electric line and then try to excuse it as harmless. Using someone else’s broadband service without their permission may be illegal. In some states, even with your neighbors permission may be illegal. Don’t be fooled by believing accessing a network wirelessly is equivalent to accessing a network anonymously. It is possible to track you down if you are using another’s network wirelessly. It is also incorrect to assume law enforcement agencies are ambivalent to this crime and will not prosecute.

• 2006 – Illinois man David Kauchak was fined for unauthorized use of a local agency’s Wi-Fi access point
• 2005 – a Florida man faced felony charges for piggybacking onto a neighbor’s Internet connection without their permission

Not only are you opening up your computer to security threats, if your neighbor is using his network for nefarious purposes, you will have a lot of explaining to do if he is ever investigated.

Your Wireless Network

If you have an account with an Internet service provider and have purchased a wireless router to use in your home, take the necessary steps to install the security. There will be information provided with the hardware you purchase on how to complete this process. If you no longer have that information, you can look it up on the website for the manufacturer of your router. The process should only take about 15 to 20 minutes. Because you would not want to be associated with a neighbor who might be downloading child pornography on his network, secure your network so that he cannot take advantage of your generosity. If he decides to break the law, guess whose door they will be knocking on first?

The first website is www.netbiblestudy.net/denominations and is entitled: “Denominational Doctrines” This study contains brief descriptions giving where and when each of the denominations listed began and who started them. Also given are some of their basic beliefs especially what they falsely teach and practice that one must do to be saved and why what they teach is false.

The second web site is www.netbiblestudy.net/faithfull It is an interactive Bible study course entitled: “Are You Being Faithful To The Lord Until Death?” consisting of 26 lessons. The purpose of this course is to encourage the faithful Christian to remain faithful and committed to the Lord, to help the Christian who is weak in the faith to become more faithful, and for the Christian who has become unfaithful to come back to the Lord.

The third web site is www.netbiblestudy.net It is an interactive Bible study course entitled: “Are You Really Sure Of Your Eternal Salvation?” consisting of 25 lessons. The purpose of this course is to teach the non-Christian what he must do to be saved.

The fourth web site is www.netbiblestudy.net/worship It is an interactive Bible study course entitled “Are You Worshipping God In Spirit And In Truth?” consisting of 24 lessons. The purpose of this course is to teach one what the Bible says we must do to worship God in spirit and in truth.

The fifth web site is www.netbiblestudy.net/evangelism It is a 13 lesson study entitled: “How To Do Personal Evangelism” and has a 4 lesson Bible study that you can download and print to help you teach others the gospel.

The sixth web site is www.netbiblestudy.net/bulletin It is entitled “Biblical Church Bulletin Articles” and has a number of short articles suitable for inclusion in church bulletins or used as tracts. Each article is Biblical and doctrinally sound. Feel free to utilize these in your church bulletins, or in any other way to the glory of God. From time to time I will be adding additional articles to the list.

The seventh web site is www.netbiblestudy.net/lessoins It is entitled “Bible Class Lessons” and has a number of Bible class lessons on various subjects to help ground us in sound doctrine of the Bible. These lessons are suitable for Junior High, High School, and Adult classes.

The eighth web site is www.netbiblestudy.net/mdr It is a seven lesson interactive course on what the Bible says about marriage, divorce, and remarriage and is entitled: “Are You Married, Divorced, & Remarried?”.

I fully expect we will see more congregations offering videos as well as live streaming in the coming months. The cost of this technology (cameras, discspace, and bandwidth) have gone down significantly in the past couple years.

Link: http://www.seminolepointecofc.org/

Site Link: Searching the Scriptures.net