God cares about "the Church," which consists of all true
believers-no matter what denomination they belong to. God sent His Son to
establish the true Church. You can belong to that church simply by accepting the
free gift of salvation that Jesus offers to each and every person. Jesus did not
come to earth, draw men unto to himself and then say, "Okay, you Methodists go
over there, and you Catholics and Lutherans go over there..." In fact, His purpose was to
unify all people. Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave
nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The denominational tug-of-war began when men got too involved in
the minor issues and forgot to focus on the majors. Churches began to be built
upon their unique spin on doctrines or traditions, instead of on the simple
saving grace of Jesus Christ. Denominational differences have caused innumerable
conflicts and divisions among believers. That is not God's will for the Church!
God calls us to be united in serving Him. "Make every effort to keep the unity
of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). He is not interested in
which denomination you belong to; He desires that you love Him and serve Him
with your whole heart and that you choose a church that teaches the Word of God.
God wants us to love one another, regardless of our differences.
We are to love one another as Jesus told us to, not just people in our own denomination, but we are to love every member of the Body
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7 comments:
Oh, I agree. Doctrinal divisions have always bothered me. We need to focus on the fundamental truths and encourage each other.
God has taught me from many different perspectives. I grew up learning about salvation in a fundamental Finnish Lutheran Church. Was involved with Bible study through Intervarsity when in college. I was married in the Reformed church. I currently worship and participate with an Evangelical Free Church.
When my daughter attended a Jesuit University and a Catholic Church we discussed life issues and the Theology of the Body as written by Pope John Paul II. I have learned in everyone of these situations.
Different denominations could learn from each other and be blessed!
I worship Bod at home, but I release my wife to attend church and she has chosen a church much different than the one she grew up in. However she is loved there and allowed to share her stories on occasion so that is good.
I got rid of my captchas as they discourage comments. Here is how:
1. Your blog is automatically doing captcha because you are probably on the new "Blogger Interface." Log on to your Blogger dashboard and hit the gear button, then go down and choose "Old Blogger Interface". Be sure to save your work.
This may fix the problem. If not try fix #2
2. At your Dashboard click on settings then on comments. Under comments moderation – check the box “always” (the top choice.) Add your e-mail address in the box below it. It should cancel your captcha. Then SAVE what you did.
I agree with this post.. in fact it is in my Statement of Faith... thanks for sharing it. Blessings, Glenys
Your "began when men began to focus on the minor issues" is dead on. I believe the devil loves it when we begin fighting over "issues" instead of sharing the redemptive power of the cross.
That is so true! Thank you for sharing the wisdom of your words of love. I'm following your blog and would like to invite you to visit my blog. Blessings to you!
Amen. Unfortunately I grew up in a denomination that wouldn't have agreed with that (they wouldn't even consider themselves a denomination), but thankfully I had parents who taught me to see differently and more broadly.
Jesus never did draw lines like that; why should we? Great post.
I agree. There was a time when I thought unless you belonged to one particular group you had no hope of going to heaven. I believed that that church followed
God's example of what the true church was and it was the "Lord's Church". Gradually I began to realize that no church is perfect, not even that "true church". I'm glad I no longer believe that and realize that God has a lot more children than I formerly thought. Jesus prayed for unity. We need to unite around Jesus and not around theology.
Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Charlotte
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