the imperfect church

i am writing this to vent.

we are human beings. we are imperfect. would it not stand to reason that our reasoning skills would also be faulty? that we may not ever have all the answers?

that we don't have all the answers?

that we aren't the end-all, know all with regard to anything?

does the buck stop here? does it stop with us? who do we think we are?

do you know that no church is perfect, especially in light of it being run by HUMANS?

so here's the deal: you tell me your church has a big ole screen and plays david crowder band in the background during worship and i will ask you when i can hook up and worship with you. i tell you that the bishop is coming and will preside over Mass and it doesn't interest you. that's cool. i am not going to hold that against you because Mass is my gig and you don't like it, that's okay by me.

i am totally cool with that. you like the big screen, i like the Eucharist. we go to different churches, practice different religions, ascribe to different things that are ~~gulp~~ set down by the traditions of men (or you can go ahead and substitute the word "elder," i don't mind...) - for instance, you have communion once a month - that is your particular faith's tradition. i am a daily Communicant - that is something offered by my faith, it works for me. you think i am deceived? well, that's cool with me too.

'cause guess what? until the Holy Spirit convicts me of some wrongdoing, i am going to go ahead and worship the way i want to, read and study Scripture the way i feel led to, share books and art and music with you, my readership and friends who i now feel are my brothers and sisters because that is what i do.

what you do at your church is your gig, not mine. unless you are sacrificing babies at the altar, i don't know that i'll have a lot to say about how your worship or how your pray or how you baptise or who leads your church; i am not going to question these things because they are all basically window dressings to our faith.

i want to know Who it is you follow. i want to know Who you feel you are going to appear before at the Judgment. i want to talk about what Jesus means to you and what you think this Word means or if you feel you received a word from the Holy Spirit that moved you.

if i wasn't walking the walk, please believe me when i tell you: GOD HAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO LET ME KNOW. He is not known for his subtlety with me; when i am in sin and apart from Him, i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is something wrong in me. then i will come to you, my brother, and apologize for this speech on my blog.

until then, peace be with you all.

/rant.