@fredsbend An application of seriously considering the ANE background of book of Job is this short paper The Book of Job as an Apologetic Parallel to The Babylonian Theodicy I cached here which doesn't solve theodicy but making it softer and remove the guilt from both Job and God.

@fredsbend An application of trusting not individual fact in the Bible but the community which elevated the books into Scripture, shifts our trust to the character of God portrayed in the books, like how the Psalms present God. Instead of the Bible becomes God's literal words (biblicism) the books become a pointer to God whom we direct our prayer and worship. We become Job, Moses, Jacob, David, etc. who relate to God as our accountability partner and who owe us blessings.

@fredsbend Moving on to Problem C. You ask "what is my religion? How I answer it: it's not reading Bible, it's not the church culture, it's not works of mercy, it's not praise and worship, it's not even prayer per se but the core is in seeing my life as a gift from God to be offered back to Him as a holy thanks offering like in the OT style harvest time festivals. Gratefulness leads to offering. Concern for holiness leads to repentance and sanctification.

ANY created things become the medium of receiving blessing and the giving back of offering: resources we have at the moment, relationship, skills, opportunities, career. ANY practice directed to God (prayer, personal/corporate worship / mass, fasting, disinterested works of mercy, etc.) becomes the means of increasing holiness because holiness is what pleases God. The measure of spiritual health is the thankfulness level and the repentance level. It's that simple.

We can commune with God through nature, reading theology, reading philosophy, enjoying beauty in its various manifestation, genuine fun with friends and families, reading good literature like Chronicles of Narnia, living out Psalms by crying out to God in our needs (Ps 94) and giving thanks (Ps 92). The focus is with God out there (as a living being) instead of generating certain devotedness / closeness within. Again, CS Lewis has plenty to say about this and he said: surprised by joy.

I agree with John Piper characterizing the core I was talking about as Christian Hedonism. Genuine (not manufactured) joy is the key, and as bodily creatures, all good visible things properly used will lead to joy. See this article for example. The idea that grace perfects nature illustrated in C.S. Lewis's "The Four Loves" is also essential.

@Tim What attributes of both churches are you trying to find out? If it's political, the Pew research report is sociological measure (aggregate of individual member preference) rather than official church stance. If it's teaching, Salvation Army is Holiness movement while the City of Hope Intl seems to have Pentecostal root (with Assembly of God denomination) but later became non-denominational but possibly maintaining Pentecostal leaning (Joseph Garlington is charismatic).

@GratefulDisciple Thanks. Both. Churches do hold some stances, while leave others to their members.

I am actually more interested in the political and social stances of either churches or their members.

Assembly of God is Evangelical and most of its members are right leaning. That the second church you mentioned has ties to it makes me concerned

@Tim Assembly of God is Pentecostal, and most evangelicals will not call themselves Pentecostal. If they emphasize some Holy Spirit elements, they would call themselves Charismatic. Most churches will NOT identify with a political party, since the purpose of a church is to teach about Jesus and to help develop the faith of their members.

@Tim Some churches DO take position on some election issues like abortion or same sex marriage, but it's not because they are officially Democrat / Republican but because the Christian faith has some say over public moral issues that manifest themselves in supreme court decision, or position in the issue of a publicly elected official where the church is located.

@Tim Churches that are overly political are suspect because the true mission of a church should be faith formation, discipleship, teaching the Bible, spreading the good news about Christ, and showing love to the local community. If they say to their members: "in order to be a member in good standing, you have to vote like this", then it's suspect and in the USA the church may even have its non-profit tax status revoked.