Tag: institutional church

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The Church Is Not a Democracy….

RJ Walters

We in the U.S. know that one of the primary foundations of our democracy is freedom of speech. That is being able to say something different from our leaders and not suffer serious consequences. In my opinion this is what has allowed our country to remain so strong over the centuries. Many times criticisms lead to change and though we might not realize it at that time that is good for us. It makes us better; it makes us stronger. Without freedom of speech I doubt our country we even exist today. Anyone who has studied church history at all … Continue reading The Church Is Not a Democracy….

Having My Say

My Evangelical Friend…

RJ Walters

I just went another short round with my radical right gun totting evangelical friend on helping those less fortunate than us.  Here are some of his words replying to a post I made on FaceBook. The root cause of most of our deficit problems is still those that work and produce must pay for the existence of all those that do not work or produce goods and services. Few functions in the government produce a good or service worthy of a salary. My conservative evangelical friend very very often shouts that there are just too many “free loaders” in our … Continue reading My Evangelical Friend…

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Is the Church Christian?

RJ Walters

Here is an excerpt from a book entitled “If the Church were Christian” by Philip Gulley. Several years ago I visited a museum and saw the skeleton of a dinosaur. As I read the plaque, I learned only a handful of the bones were original, that the remainder had been fabricated based on a paleontologist’s extrapolation from the authentic bones. In many ways, this is similar to what the church has done. There are only two passages in one gospel (Matthew 16:18 and 18:17) where Jesus mentions the church, and even those references are dubious. Many scholars suspect the Matthean … Continue reading Is the Church Christian?

Having My Say1 Comment

Institutional Purity (Part 2)

RJ Walters

The idea of institutional purity is noble in purpose but very faulty in delivery. The idea goes something like this: “Since we are the only ones to really understand the true nature of God we must protect our ideas from getting polluted by the rest of the world and in particular other Christians who think differently but are wrong. In other words we must fight the barbarians at the gate to insure God’s truths are kept pure. “ The main fallacy of this idea is that we, and we alone, know the true nature of God! When we are convinced … Continue reading Institutional Purity (Part 2)

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Institutional Purity & the Diet of Worms

RJ Walters

I know some of you might be confused by the title of this post. Let me assure you up front that it is not about how you make your body pure by eating worms :) . This topic is much too heavy to settle well in your stomach even if it were steak. The theme of the next three posts is really about is that we have done a great disservice to the Body of Christ by believing that we are the only ones who totally understand what being a Christian is really about. The belief is that since we … Continue reading Institutional Purity & the Diet of Worms