Posted by Dena on December 16, 2003, at 22:37:20
In reply to Re: Blasphemy and Accusatory Snide Remarks!, posted by Dog on December 16, 2003, at 15:58:28
Dear Dog -
I had hoped that nothing more would be said which would seem to be "bait" for further sparring.
You see us as being at odds. How ironic. You think you know where I'm coming from, based upon a couple of statements which have been taken out of context. Before you respond to me further, please take a few moments to read over some of my previous posts, starting in January of last year. Particularly the ones in which I was banned for unabashadly defending Christianity 101.
Based on your eloquent & detailed statements of your faith, I understand your position, & I've been where you are. But you've not been where I am, for there's no going back. Don't assume that I'm misguided, or under deception, or that I'm in need of correction. God alone can judge adequately, & the Holy Spirit alone can convict & correct.
I don't disagree with your beliefs - I'm just not limited to them. Ever since I was born again at the age of 15, I've been emeshed in the Protestant Church (Lutheran, Methodist, Bible church, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Pentacostal, Charismatic, Nondenominational ... I belonged to them all as I spent many years traveling around with the military). I freely worshipped wherever Jesus was proclaimed as Lord. I attended Bible college. I married a Messianic Jew who has gone through four years of seminary (I helped him study - though I don't have the degree, I have the knowledge). I am homeschooling my seven children using Protestant curricula. My entire family of origin is Protestant. My entire church is full of those who grew up Protestant, but who are being led by the Lord on a journey back to His One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church.
We haven't "added on" anything. To the contrary, we have re-discovered the roots of our faith. We have relaimed that which was lost to us as Protestants (much good, along with the bad, was thrown out with the Reformation). My denomination's website is here: http://www.iccec.org/index1.html It's called the Charismatic Episcopal Church (although we have nothing to do with the Episcopal Church, USA). The Protestants say we look too Catholic, & the Catholics say we look too Protestant. The Orthodox say we're trying to reinvent the wheel. God birthed this church - we're not trying to do anything but to follow His lead - this is where we are for now.
We have taken everything we were taught as Protestants, & have embraced the rich heritage that we had been deprived of until recently. There is nothing we believe or practice that wasn't believed or practiced by the Apostolic Church - the Church that Jesus Himself established & entrusted to the apostles. He charged them with safeguarding & passing on all that Jesus had taught them (read the last verse of the book of John to remember that Jesus said & did far more than what has been recorded in the Bible). This was revelation to me - that Jesus Himself established the Traditions of His Church (remember, there was no canonized New Testament until the 4th century). The Traditions of the Church are the Traditions of Jesus - not the traditions of men.
I was amazed to realize that the Church had been alive & well throughout her history - not dead until the 1500's as I'd been taught. But the Church has never gone into apostasy -- how could she when Jesus Himself promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against her? Yes, there were various heretical groups that popped up here & there throughout the years (just as they continue to do now). But they were, & are, the minority. The Church of Jesus Christ has always been alive & well! Praise God!
Be very careful of what you declare to be "added on", or even "blasphemous", before you're very sure of Who established those very Traditions.
Remember, the Church gave us the New Testament; it wasn't the New Testament that gave us the Church. The Traditions of Jesus & the Words of Jesus (as written in the Bible) were always intended by Him to go hand in hand.
No one has ever been able to show me where in the Bible it states that the Bible is meant to be the only source of our faith (which is what I once was taught & believed). If so, how did the early Church not only survive, but thrive in the face of deadly persecution? Because they held to the Traditions of Jesus, as passed on through the Apostles, their disciples, & so on, faithfully throughout the generations. It was out of that Tradition-minded Church, that the leaders of that Church selected the books which were determined to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit, & canonized them into the Bible we know (although the Reformers removed some of those chosen books - did you know that Martin Luther wanted to also remove the Revelation & the book of James? How presumptous for one man to determine what was inspired, against the entire council of Spirit-led Bishops who were in unanimous agreement?).
I've said a lot here that I imagine might stir you to rebut. But again, please read what I've previously posted before doing so. Perhaps once we understand each other, we can lay aside all but the essentials, without any "one-upmanship" or bait for further sparring.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:289364
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030908/msgs/290778.html