"Heretic!!"

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

 ⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. ⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?-1 Corinthians 4:5-7


I read a lot of blogs, comments on articles, etc. on spiritual topics in my search for things to write about.  One day last week I came across this interesting quote (can't remember where I saw it):

"You know, the more I read different theological view points and arguments, I am increasingly seeing the beauty of the Bible....it is profitable for under-girding just about any theological point of view one chooses to espouse...and furthermore, it can be very useful in undermining all the theological points of view that I may happen to disagree with. What a wonderful book!" 


It is estimated that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 Christian denominations!  Each one with from slightly different to radically different beliefs from the other.  There are those who believe that only those who believe and confess in Jesus Christ in this life will go to heaven.  There are those who believe that God has predestined a chosen few that will go to heaven and the rest of us have no say in the matter.  There are those that believe that all will eventually go to heaven.


... and they ALL have scripture to back up their own beliefs.


...and they ALL have scripture to refute every other belief.


hmmm...Maybe God WANTS us to struggle with our faith.  Maybe we CAN'T put God in a box built with dogma and religion.  Maybe God wants us to learn to appreciate all the different ways people see him.  Maybe we are not supposed to have God all figured out.  Maybe God loves to watch babies being baptized and also loves watching his older children make the decision to follow him. 


I think it is time we stopped pointing fingers at each other as we shout, "heretic!"  I think it is time to  embrace one another and respect how the Holy Spirit has shown the Father to others.  We are all God's children.  We are all brothers and sisters.


Lord,
Help us to be more comfortable with the faith and beliefs of others.  Show us how to be more respectful so that we may be respected.  We all love you.  We all want to believe the "right" things.  If there is indeed heresy in our beliefs, show it to us and keep us from it.  Amen.


Joys:  BEACH TIME!


note:  I don't know if I will have wireless where we will be staying.  If I do, I will try to continue to write daily.