It's personal

Abba, FATHER, how utterly amazing You are and how blessed I am to be Your child.  Sitting here this morning, thinking about so many different and random things – and then recalling the scene at the end of John’s gospel.   How You asked Peter twice, “do you love me” and Peter’s answer “yes, Lord, I like You” and then You asking “Peter, do You like me” . . . You knew he couldn’t rise up to Your level of love, Your agape for him and so You came down to his level and met him where he was – in his humility and his shame over his denial of You . . . in his brokenness.   

And then recalling how You came to me, when I couldn’t seem to rise up to You, You came down to me and met me where I was – and loved me, in spite of my own weakness and brokenness.  There are no words, my precious Lord, my dearest friend – only a heart filled with a desire to worship and adore You.

Musings on church history

"As I have been talking about early church history (2nd and 3rd century) we do see a good bit of that confusion. But these people were pioneers, leading the way in doing the great work of defending the faith, stating the faith, and living the faith. We honor them for that even though they made many mistakes. It was a time of productive confusion. . .The church had to try to decide what really is allowable, what is true and what is not. Gradually there was an answer to that question. We call that answer “orthodoxy,” the orthodox position of the church. “Orthodoxy” means “right belief.” And we call everything else heresies. Originally that word simply meant “an opinion,” “a party,” or “group.” But eventually it came to mean something that is wrong, something that is opposed to true teaching."

This is a quote from a study on church history I’m reading.  It’s interesting to me that through out much of the church’s history there have been areas of division, points on which two (or more) sides can’t seem to agree.  

I do appreciate all those who wrestled with these issues and believe it was necessary to establish parameters of truth. 

I just sometimes wonder if the church, like the rabbinical Jews, spent too much time focusing on “doctrine” (which means teaching, much like the word torah) and not enough on just following Jesus.  We seem to like well defined “rules” that we can point to and say this is right and this is wrong.  If we really understand loving the Father, loving one another and living loved, it just seems we wouldn’t need to be so concerned with defining it.

Augustine is attributed with saying “"In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.”  I guess the question has always been, what are the “essentials”.  I think that’s a reason why the Father gives us His Spirit, so that we can discern what is essential and leave the rest in His hands.