kBOY said,” One of my first endeavors following my exit was to engage in my own early church history and biblical scholarship studies, primarily to understand why what I had believed for so long now felt so badly to miss the mark. Not only was it as rude of an awakening as my exit, but it did much to explain why Christianity has racked up such a high body count for the last 2000+ years. Where LOVE fosters no harm, religion is infamous for it.”
I took similar steps, for the same reasons as kBOY and it sounds like Apostle Dog is on a similar trail. Jesus promised that if we would seek, and keep seeking, we would find. The eye opener for me was to come to grips with the fact that many of the teachings of TLWF were exactly opposite to what Jesus had taught. While TLWF is concerned with the “upward flow”, Jesus is concerned with how we treat “the least of these my brothers”. There are many more examples – perhaps they are hidden from the casual seeker for a reason. What is amazing to find is how they are hidden in plain sight – you just have to be willing to obey and put them into action.
I’ve come to appreciate the safety of Jesus’ words. It’s Paul’s words that tend to get distorted – one layer out from the source. Jesus said to call no man leader, teacher or father and yet Paul established all three. Jesus did not seem to have a problem with teaching – he sent his disciples out to teach. The problem was setting up a position of teacher where you became a substitute for God. TLWF is a classic example of what not to do.
Even Paul said of himself, “ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.” That doesn’t sound like the rock stars claiming to be apostles today. He was also concerned about the divisions in the church that they would follow him or Apollos. So much for being John's sons - how about God's sons? And most of all, if you had every gift functioning but did not have love, you had nothing.
I took similar steps, for the same reasons as kBOY and it sounds like Apostle Dog is on a similar trail. Jesus promised that if we would seek, and keep seeking, we would find. The eye opener for me was to come to grips with the fact that many of the teachings of TLWF were exactly opposite to what Jesus had taught. While TLWF is concerned with the “upward flow”, Jesus is concerned with how we treat “the least of these my brothers”. There are many more examples – perhaps they are hidden from the casual seeker for a reason. What is amazing to find is how they are hidden in plain sight – you just have to be willing to obey and put them into action.
I’ve come to appreciate the safety of Jesus’ words. It’s Paul’s words that tend to get distorted – one layer out from the source. Jesus said to call no man leader, teacher or father and yet Paul established all three. Jesus did not seem to have a problem with teaching – he sent his disciples out to teach. The problem was setting up a position of teacher where you became a substitute for God. TLWF is a classic example of what not to do.
Even Paul said of himself, “ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.” That doesn’t sound like the rock stars claiming to be apostles today. He was also concerned about the divisions in the church that they would follow him or Apollos. So much for being John's sons - how about God's sons? And most of all, if you had every gift functioning but did not have love, you had nothing.