By Jennie Allen
For as long as I have known my God, my salvation has come down to this: I was stuck in my own mistakes and mess until Jesus, the Son of God, bought me with His blood and by His grace through faith alone. I am a child of God forever.
This is the Good News, but it’s probably not new news to you. For more than 2,000 years, people have made a similar confession and placed their faith in Christ. They have walked through that door from death to life.
Yet beyond that one door, we have discovered (or erected) 100 more doors—and behind every door of doctrine or denomination there are 100 more waiting. It seems many of us have walked through thousands of doors, until we find ourselves in a very small room with a very few like-minded folks.
Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/fixing-divided-church
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“For more than 2,000 years, people have made a similar confession and placed their faith in Christ. They have walked through that door from death to life.”
death to life in this world or death to eternal life, that’s the issue. Biblical doctrine is we must die to self while we’re still in this world in order to be perfectly transformed. death to self is a long painful grueling process. only the strong of spirit survive. answering the call is just the first step. as we know, many are called, few are chosen. ultimately those who are dead to this world end up feeling very much alone, correct, that’s been my experience, and that of many others. Saint Paul is one of the best examples of total transformation, from active in this world to solitude. basically all that’s left is trust of Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit. the problem with many ministers, deacons, elders, of any faith, is they’ve never actually walked the walk. going to school, being surrounded by other like minded souls, constantly bombarded with worldly stimulus, it’s almost impossible to get the message about death of self in that kind of environment. God whispers to the soul, speaks like a gentle breeze, from my experience it’s only possible to hear him in silence. few are willing to spend prolonged periods of time in solitude. if we had less talk and more silence/contemplative prayer among all people of faith a lot of these problems we’re seeing could easily be avoided. i often read websites like this one and have to wonder, if people are so wrapped up in all this stuff we’re reading about, how can they possibly have an active prayer life. worldly activities and strong relationship with Jesus tend to be mutually exclusive, or at the very least, are at opposite ends of the spectrum. searching around for a perfect church, of any denomination, is pointless. been there done that, even after i converted to Catholicism. i calmed down about it only after i accepted the fact that it’s Jesus who i’m going to visit, not a priest or congregation. as long as the church is one of sound Biblical doctrine, of course. therein lies the problem. what we’re being told, and what i believe, is ultimately Jesus will not be present in some of these churches that are following false doctrine. from all indications that’s already happening. if we’re in the end times as many of us think we are now, it won’t be long until everyone knows the truth and has to decide, one way or the other. there are only two doors left at the end of the road.