Interlude 1

" the Church exists for nothing else , but to draw men unto Christ ...If they are not doing that all the Cathedrals , clergy , missions , sermons , EVEN THE BIBLE ITSELF , are simply a waste of time. " , God became man for no other purpose , It is even doubtful , you know whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose " C.S. Lewis



When I first accepted Christ I had a vision of Christians surrounding themselves with walls and ramparts building strong fortifications against the world , and raining arrows and pouring hot oil on the people clamouring to break into their fortress ...I also saw Christ coming back and tearing these walls down , filling in the moats the oil was no longer hot but instead fragrant and healing ....

Of course I was a young Christian in those days ...Saved by Grace and passionate to understand more about God ...I devoured books and commentaries ...I read the Bible daily and went through a list of Christians Writers that included Chuck Swindol , Charles Stanley , Max LUcado , Phillip Yancey , Tony Compolo , RC Sproul , John McArthur , Dietrich Bonhoeffer , Francis Schaeffer ... and many many more ...and a curious thing happened ...I moved away from grace ...I began to fancy myself quite the Bible scholar and I even had a Hebrew Greek Study Bible to prove it ...I found my self wondering why more CHristians weren't as well read as I was ...I was always a little bit startled to find older more mature Christians who seemed to struggle with finding Ephesians , or Titus in the Bibles ....I began to judge my walk with God with my vast knowledge of things Bible ...I began to involve myself in meaningless and trivial arguments about trivial and meaningless minutia ...I was in short overlooking the forest for the trees ...About three years ago God had enough of that ...He moved us to a Church where I was hit square in the face with Worship and Praise ...in hindsight I can see that I moved from a sitting church , to a doing church ...We praise Him in music , Song and dance , we have genuine fellowship , we accept each other as Christ accepts us , with spots and stripes , with worn out luggage , ties and tee shirts ...We are encouraged to read the scriptures , we are encouraged to pray ...but always with the purpose of loving Gods Children ....all of them .

In my past I would keep a running " debate " with the Pastor preaching , Here in the new terrority God placed me in there was none of that ...each word from all of our pastors and speakers ...was appointed to find its way into my heart to set me free from the bondage of the walls I had built up myself separating myself from other Christians . My Pedantry , and Scholarship had no meaning in a sanctuary filled with Love and Grace ....

Gods Kingdom is here and there ...it is heaven ward and it is inside each of us ...I believe true Christianity , finds its expression in accepting others as Christ has accepted us ...there are no exams ...our faith is not measured by our knowledge of the difference between Armenianism and Calvinism , between Pre Mil and post Mil , mature Christians which I am so thankful for express their faith in Love ...Love does not separate , love does not hold a record of wrongs , love is patient and long suffering ...How can you say you love God , when you do not love His people ...all of them .

It now seems to me if your time spent in study of God through the Scriptures , if your time spent in front of a pulpit ,( if you do so) leads you to believe that fewer and fewer men/women are " true believers " ...that if your time in private fellowship with God makes you hard as flint , if it separates you from mankind , from your brothers and sisters in Christ ...if you spend your time studying the scriptures in a effort to separate yourself from the common and the less " committed " followers of Christ . you need to close up the book , get on your knees and ask God for forgiveness ....The Christian call is one of action , not meditation ...while many religions have set themselves up as centers for personal enlightenment , the Christian faith was one of going out ...moving boldly into the world , not fortifying itself against the world ...

Paul was quite clear ...Christ and Christ Crucified is the main course of our faith all else is garnish . I Believe there are seasons in our Christian life , and all have their merit ...I have gone through seasons of study and solitary introspection , a season of vanity , a season of grace , a season of Sovereignty , but all of these should lead me to Faith expressing itself in love ...and how do we show God how much we love Him ?
by Loving His people , by loving His children despite their faults , their imperfections , their theology or lack







IF WE ONLY HAVE LOVE




If we only have love
Then tomorrow will dawn
And the days of our years
Will rise on that morn
If we only have love
To embrace without fears
We will kiss with our eyes
We will sleep without tears
If we only have love
With our arms open wide
Then the young and the old
Will stand at our side
If we only have love
Love that's falling like rain
Then the parched desert earth
Will grow green again
If we only have love
For the hymn that we shout
For the song that we sing
Then we'll have a way out
If we only have love
We can reach those in pain
We can heal all our wounds
We can use our own names
If we only have love
We can melt all the guns
And then give the new world
To our daughters and sons
If we only have love
Then Jerusalem stands
And then death has no shadow
There are no foreign lands
If we only have love
We will never bow down
We'll be tall as the pines
Neither heroes nor clowns
If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun, and the stars.


Jaques Brel



1 Corinthians 13
The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.